Win 98 SE very slow

[LDaveM]

I have a client whose PC PIII-450, 128 MB RAM is running very slow. If you try to open the system icon in control panel, the hour glass comes up the closes, no system info. Also, other icons in CP will not open either. The same results. Ran Ad aware on system, clean it out. Cannot run Nortons AV, as that program does the same thing, hour glass but will not open.
Any ideas on what is wrong?
Thanks,
Dave

 

[cdogg]

Explore the suggestions in these FAQ's:

faq615-3144
faq615-786
faq615-246

[blue]* Pay close attention to 'msconfig' and anything to minimize the amount of processes running[/blue]


And go here to ensure you have all spyware off your system:

http://www.geocities.com/cc210026/spywareinfo.html

Good luck!


~cdogg
[tab]"All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind"
[tab][tab]- Aristotle

 

[LDaveM]

I read most of these articles, no where does it mention why some programs don't start. Thanks to cdogg

 

[ccrb]

Sounds like you have a virus that disabled norton. Restart in safe mode, run Norton. Typically, when I see things like you describe, it's a virus and Symantec has specific removal tools for each one. Trouble is, you need to identify the virus first.

If you have Internet, try Pandasoftware.com ... they have an on-line virus check.

 

[LDaveM]

Ok I'll try that. Yes they have DSL, but it doesn't open either.
Thanks,
Dave

 

[oldkatz]

i looked at a couple of computers doing about the same thing in these cases they had litterly dozens of programs loading and running in the startup window. so many things to look for. 128 meg of ram is that shared ram. like is 32 meg used for video.
what opperating system are they using.
winme is realy bad for being a memory hog. i use ram idle to free up my memory on winme. plus got rid on everything in the startup window except the basics.

 

[cdogg]

LDaveM,
The purpose of those articles is to speed up your system and eliminate spyware which can cause the problems that you described. Of course, doing a complete virus scan with an up-to-date utility is the first thing to do. Then if you're still having problems, try cleaning up the PC next.

~cdogg
[tab]"All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind"
[tab][tab]- Aristotle