System running slow after it sets overnight 1

[angels2]

I normally leave my computer(win 98) on 24 -7. I have security camera connected. When i come in in the morning my computer is sluggish and slow. I restart it and it works fine. On monday mornings after it running all weekend a blue screen comes up saying the memory is very low and will not run norton virus. I shut the computer and restart it and it works fine. I thought the DSL was causing it but I disconnected the DSL this weekend and it did the same thing

 

[ski]

How many programs are running in the background? (do a Ctrl-Alt-Del on the Desktop to determine this)

What is the % system resources in System Information when it's running slow?

How much unused physical memory is available, and is the swapfile being used when it's running slow? (you can find determine these with System Monitor)

 

[J741]

Run SYSEDIT. In the SYSTEM.INI file you will find a section starting with [VCACHE] which may be empty. Change it as follows...

[VCACHE]
MinFileCache=2048
MaxFileCache=51200

This will force Windows 95/98/ME to keep it's cache of file activity between 2MB and 50MB (a size I have found to be more than sufficient for most situations). Otherwise the file system cache can easily consume most or all of your memory, and starve your programs.

see Microsoft Knowledge Base article #253912 at

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;253912&Product=w98

for more technical details.

- James.

 

[J741]

Also, make sure you do not have a virus. You can run a free on-line scan at

http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/home.asp?productid=symhome&langid=ie&venid=sym&close_parent=true

This is a free scan from Symantec (the makers of Norton AntiVirus) which will check your computer for free, but will not cleanup any virus activity. I use it to double-check my system, along with my regular anti-virus program.

And check for advertising and spyware programs. AdAware is a simple, effective, free program that I use for this purpose. It can be found at

http://www.lavasoftusa.com

- James.

 

[HeddaLora]

I would do the above (particularly checking for viruses and for spyware). A couple of other things you can do to speed things up:

--Delete all temp files (c:\windows\temp\*.tmp)
--Delete temporary internet files (c:\windows\temporary internet files\*.*)
--Run Disk Cleanup (Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Cleanup)
--Download Diskeeper (

http://www.executive.com)

and defrag your computer.

Hedda Lora

 

[mattjurado]

I have a couple clients with security systems, typically I see they run a dedicated PC with at least 256mb RAM, and the system does nothing else.

Video is very memory intensive. If you aren't doing e-mail on that computer, I would consider uninstalling Norton Antivirus. That's going to affect things big time. At the very least, run MSCONFIG, go to startup tab, and uncheck all background apps that you don't need. Hit OK and reboot.

In addition to the steps already mentioned, I also suggest you periodically delete and recreate the storage area allocated by the video capture software (it should have one), and be careful defragmenting your system. That software may not like another application trying to defragment the space it takes up, it could wreak havoc on your filesystem. If you must defrag, make sure that storage area is deleted, then defrag, then recreate it.

Matt J.

Please always take the time to backup any and all data before performing any actions suggested for ANY problem, regardless of how minor a change it might seem. Also test the backup to make sure it is intact.

 

[cdogg]

Lots of good suggestions above. As you can see, the solution could be anything, because the problem has not yet been identified.

Cleaning up your drive and defragmenting is often a good idea to do on a regular basis, but it won't solve this problem. It is obviously a program that is running consuming resources at a constant rate. Perhaps J741's suggestion will work around the problem, but I suggest you try everything in this FAQ as well:

faq615-3144

Particularly pay attention to the msconfig suggestion, which will help you manage apps/processes that are loading with Windows. By keeping this down to a minimum number, it should help. Also, be aware that one program could be causing this whole mess. If the FAQ doesn't help you get to the bottom of it, narrow down the cause by temporarily disabling one app at a time and let it sit overnight.


~cdogg
[tab]"All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind"
[tab][tab]- Aristotle
[navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[J741]

There is also a small utility program called Memory+ which I have found to be useful. It will graphically display your system's memory usage in both line graph and pie chart formats.

You can find an evaluation version of the program at

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,6514,00.asp

The developer of this program seems to have gone by the way side, but the program is still useful.

- James.