problems with Windows ME

[tchiphead2]

I've had a problem using my maintenance wizard. It starts and runs awhile, then the message appears: scandisk has started more than 10 times....I run defrag....it keeps starting over and over. I didn't get a Win Me cd with this computer...what can I do? This machine is very slow, I'd like to clean this thing up properly and thoroughly. Any advice? Thanks

 

[ski]

There may be something running in the background that's conflicting with both ScanDisk and Defragmenter.
Go to Start/Run, type msconfig, click the Startup tab, write down all of the items with checked boxes, uncheck all of the boxes except ScanRegistry and System Tray, click OK, restart the computer, and run ScanDisk and Defrag.
If that does not work, then run them in Safe mode.
After running them, go back to the Startup tab, recheck each item that had a check mark, and restart.

For the slow overall performance of your system, uninstall all unused programs from Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel, delete all files from the Temp and Temporary Internet Files folders in the Windows folder, update your AV program and remove all viruses, run Ad-aware and Spybot to remove any spyware, and prevent any unnecessary programs from running in the background by unchecking them in the above mentioned Startup tab.
If it still runs slow, then check if your virtual memory is activating. If it is, then your system needs more RAM.

 

[G0AOZ]

Try starting ME in Safe Mode by hitting the <F8> key immediately after switch on. This cuts out programmes normally loading at start up and prevents screensaver or power options kicking in to thwart scans etc.

Be aware that viruses, adware and spyware etc., can also sometimes cause slowdowns...

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[SkipCox]

Good advice above. Like other OS's, Me can use some tweaking to make it friendlier. Follow Trev's advice at

http://www.burzurq.com/forum/trevtweak.html

Skip

http://skipcox.net

 

[dberg35]

ME was one of MS worst OS, would sugest upgrading to XP if possible. Also Excutive Softare makes a great defrag program that work well.

 

[BionicJohn]

ISTR that disconnecting WinME from t'Internet would ensure Scandisk ran without restarting.

Trev's WinME page is good. Nice one, Skip.

LIVERPOOL FC - FA Cup Winners 2006.
Iechyd da! John
Glannau Mersi, Lloegr.

 

[cdogg]

dberg35,
I'm afraid you've fallen victim to a lot of the folklore surrounding ME.

ME is nearly identical to 98SE (about 98% of the code is identical). There are only a few slight differences:

- improved USB support
- system restore
- upgraded user interface (pretty graphics)
- more driver support
and a few others...


But for the most part, ME could have well been called Windows 98 Third Edition because of how similar it was. The reason you hear a lot of bad wrap is because "power users" got sick and tired of hearing the complaints. A lot of users, who were barely able to run Windows 98 on their outdated Pentium I PC's, really struggled with ME's higher resource usage (mainly due to system restore and prettier graphics). Also with Windows 2000 coming out around the same time, no one wanted to fart around with ME.

As a result of all this, ME wasn't dealt a fair hand. Personally, I didn't care for ME because the price was never justified. The extra features weren't worth more than $5 to anyone who already had 98SE. There wasn't enough reason to leave 98SE until Windows XP came out.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[cdogg]

tchiphead2,
Sorry to get off topic there for a second...

The solution, as the others have pointed out, is to run scandisk and defrag in Safe Mode. After that's done, then you can try ski's suggestion to use msconfig and see all the junk that's starting with Windows. With some time and searching on the internet, you should be able to turn off what you don't need. Hopefully, that'll help in the long run so you don't have to use safe mode every time.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[SkipCox]

cdogg makes a good point here...get the job done in safe mode, try to clean the machine of unnecessary crap and get on with life.

I also agree that Me ain't worth the big bucks for better driver recognition and a better defrag engine than 98se. It's handy stuff but still worth only about 5 bucks. DOS8 is also a step backward from the earlier versions of DOS.


Skip

http://skipcox.net

 

[dglienna]

Could be sign of a failing disk drive, also.

-David
2006 Microsoft Most Valueable Professional (MVP)
2006 Dell Certified System Professional (CSP)

 

[SkipCox]

Sure it could David but, the proof is in the puddin'. If cleaning up processes that are trying to write to the hdd during defrag doesn't do the job, I would be inclined to add a failing drive to the argument.

We've talked about "crapware" here for several days but a perfectly good antivirus application is the most common defrag killer.

At this point, I still stand by the argument made by cdogg and ski...safe mode, unnecessary apps off, and then see what happens.

Skip

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