MSCONFIG slow to respond.

[hotfusion]

Not so much a problem, more a case of 'why?'.
If I run 'msconfig, it can take several seconds for the window to appear, during which time there is constant HDD activity.
On some previous installs the window has popped up almost immediately, on others there is the delay as mentioned above.
Another possibly linked occurrence is after booting, when I go to access a drive/folder, there is a simmilar delay before it opens - this delay only occurs once, after which folders open as expected.
Anyone know why this might be, and if I can 'fix' it?
I run WIN98SE with 256Mb of RAM, and I observe the clean and lean rule - I have no unrequired programs on startup, do regular defrags, correctly set swapfile, 92% resources available and so-on.

Regards, Andy. My suggestions are what I would try myself. If incorrect, I welcome corrections to my rather limited knowledge. Andy.

 

[chaosinc]

sounds like you have a slow hard drive.
patientce is a virtue

 

[hotfusion]

Ahh.........you misunderstand.
On some previous installs on this system (I tend to re-install fairly frequently) everything works fine. Only occasionally do I get an install that exhibits this delay in responding, as is the case now. The delay manifests itself immediately I've installed windows, so has nothing to do with too many apps for example.
There must be a reason, as sometimes as I said, I can install and everything works fine.
Ideas anyone? My suggestions are what I would try myself. If incorrect, I welcome corrections to my rather limited knowledge. Andy.

 

[TyrantSSV]

Try to check your system for viruses. Slow responce may mean the presence of any trojan programs in your system...

 

[jnicks]

HotFusion,

Judging from your profile you have already eliminated the virus possibility. Also you have tried when little else was running.

One could take a 'quiet' system run msconfig then any or all of

- look at last used dates on files to see what was opened.

- Put a task list watcher in a loop and show what tasks were launched when.

- simlarly modules.


Any of those of interest?

 

[Marcs41]

I've seen this myself, there is no real explanation, but ..
What I did was either immediately reinstall, or reboot, run a full scandisk with all autofix options on, reboot, defrag, reboot.
Takes a while, but 1 out of 2 were OK afterwards.

 

[hotfusion]

Well, thanks for your replies - I think the only real option is to re-install, and immediately check msconfig's response, scrapping the install if it demonstrates the above symptoms, and trying another install. (The msconfig thing acts as a good 'barometer' for whatever this problem is.)
If anyone reads this and does know the cause, please post a reply! My suggestions are what I would try myself. If incorrect, I welcome corrections to my rather limited knowledge. Andy.

 

[paltask14c]

try running norton's WinDoctor (part of nortons system utilites, or system works) i've seen this on several machines, and this has taken care of the issue. The only thing you have to know is how to find the answer.

If it weren't for users, computers would work just fine....If computers worked I'd be unemployed!

 

[jnicks]

I've been running into perhaps related problems

So I just built tasklog which can be in the start up, or anytime, it just tells you what tasks are launched and what leave memory. It is ideal for two systems that are behaving differently, not so useful for one, but if you want to give it at try, let me know j@roninsg.com

It did help me get rid of MSWebCheck Monitor, which is reputed ot leak memory and is anyway pointless to harmful on non IE systems.

http://www.cpcug.org/user/clemenzi/technical/Parasites.htm

 

[hotfusion]

That was a very interesting site on parasites - I've encountered comet cursor before, but fortunately not on my machine!
Just to clarify, the reported sluggishness of my system, when it decides to behave like this, is present from the moment Windows is first installed, before anything else. My suggestions are what I would try myself. If incorrect, I welcome corrections to my rather limited knowledge. Andy.