Windows crashing programs crashing

[Chrissirhc]

Hello all
I have a problem with 98SE. Sometimes when I go to display properties, settings, to change the resolution of my desktop it just exits back to the desktop. Dr Watson says that graphics card driver is trying to access memory incorrectly or a non specific error. Also my computer crashes 8 times a day (estimate). It doesn't like the internet very much!. Is this normal I read somewhere that stable computers crash 7 times a day is this true.
900 thunderbird
a7v asus
30 ibm
128 sdram 133/3T
geforce 2

 

[Chrissirhc]

Oh and I have an external zip drive 250 usb which computer doesn't like using too long, my modem is usb MODULAR. And all the latest drivers for everything I think.

 

[edfair]

Heat problem or power problem most likely. Machines when set up correctly with good parts will run for days, weeks, months without crashes. SE's problem seems to be in shutdown. Suggest you monitor the pchardware forum.

Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com

Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.

Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[mhughes]

The biggest cause of crashes is user error. My hardware and attachments are close to yours and I have only a couple crashes a day. Try to insure that the machine is finished with one function before you ask it to do something else. You may also look at the number of progams you have running in the background ( loaded at startup), they usually have an icon in the systray and can be dissabled if you don't need them.

 

[Chrissirhc]

I have gone into the startup thing and deleted a lot of the programs that run on startup. This is what I have left running;

ICQ
ScanRegistry
TaskMonitor
SystemTray
LoadPowerProfile
wcmdmgr
AvconsoleEXE - Dr Solomons
Vshwin32EXE - Dr Solomons
VsStatEXE - Dr Solomons
SonicMAX Tray
McAfeeWebScanX - Dr Solomons
LoadPowerProfile
SchedulingAgent
Machine DEbug MAnager
Vhswin32EXE - Dr Solomons
McAfeeWebScanX - Dr Solomons
Microsoft Office StartUp
Drwatson

Some of these I would delete, but I'm not too sure what they do and if I need them. Be grateful if someone could tell me which ones to get rid off if that will stop the computer from crashing.

 

[disconockerated]

Cleaning and preventative maintenance

1. Take as much stuff as you can from running in systray. Light off each app and disable them from running in systray.

2. Run msconfig and take checkmarks out of all you don't need running in start-up. Experiment with different apps etc. to see how they affect your free resources.

3. Click on control-alt-delete and highlight an item and end task then look at system resources and it will give you an idea on how much an application is robbing from your resources.

Note: You can right-click my computer and go to properties and click on the performance tab and see what your free system resources are and check as you eliminate some items to see how you are doing!

4. Search your "C" drive for *.tmp, *.~ and *.chk and delete them. You can do this from start\find\files (make sure you have your “C” drive set to be searched)

5. If you are running any Norton stuff (it likes to use resources!) be careful, a very powerful program. (You may want to disable it for this troubleshooting and enable after you clear up your problem or it may be the problem if you are having resource problems).

6. Clear your browser cache!

7. Compact your e-mail folders and empty your deleted folder and send folder.

8. Empty the recycle bin!

9. IMPORTANT! If you see findfast when you hit control-alt-delete then highlight it and end task and get rid of the program per this url:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q158/7/05.asp

Note: It is installed by Microsoft products (Office etc>) and was a bad dream from Microsoft that will cause major resource problems.

9. Run scandisk and defrag!

B. Utilities

1. Run hwinfo /ui (don't forget the space between the o and the /) and this will identify any device or driver problems in red text.

2. IMPORTANT! Do not run this unless you have too! Run SFC (system file checker) be careful and back up and files you may want to restore! This utility can replace files that will cause you to have to reinstall some applications. Caution this file needs to run with care because you may have to load some applications again if you replace certain files.

C. Recommendations:

1. Update your IE5 to either 5.01 or 5.5 if you use these. Note: Reports of bugs in 5.5 are being reported by some.

2. Increasing Your System Performance:
If you have a little extra memory to spare, here's one trick that really helps speed Windows 95\98 along. Changing your File System Performance from Desktop Computer to Network Server (even if you're not on a network) will basically increase the size of the cache that that the operating system uses. Here's how: Right click on "MY COMPUTER" and select "PROPERTIES". Then click on the "PERFORMANCE" tab near the top of the dialog box, and the "FILE SYSTEM" button at the bottom. Change from "DESKTOP COMPUTER" to "NETWORK SERVER", click on "OK", and "OK" again. The changes will take effect the next time you reboot your computer.

Windows 98 Annoyances

http://www.annoyances.org/win98/

System Resources Decrease After Starting and Quitting a Program

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q185/8/32.ASP?LN=EN-US&SD=gn&FR=0

Computer Speed and Performance Decreases

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q259/1/61.ASP?LN=EN-US&SD=gn&FR=0

 

[lgebhart]

Next time you get into your computer after it has been shutdown, right click on My Computer, go to properties, the performance TAB and see what percentage of resources you have.

After that, (CTRL,ALT,DELETE)TASKMANAGER should pop up and start with getting rid of Microsoft Office Startup.

Go back and look at your resources again to see how much it gave you back, then get rid of ICQ and then one of the instances of Dr. Solomon and go back, etc. to check resources each time you END TASK one of the startup items.

After each of these END TASKS you might try to get on the internet (I'd be interested in knowing what % your resources are showing running all of these tasks) and see if you find you don't have the problems. Once you find out what works, instead of having to do CRTL,ALT,DELETE each time you start up, go into the Startup menu, by right clicking on the START button, Open, double click on programs, find the Startup directory and DELETE those items you used CTRL,ALT,DELETE to END TASK and they will not start up the next time you reboot.

It is not normal for a computer to crash! I run an AMD K6 2-300, Windows 95 with 96MB of ram and when mine freezes, which is only about once a week, if that, it is because I have left my computer on 24 hours a day and I'm on the internet about 8 hours a day and have used Microsoft Office 2000 several times a day and my resources are getting very low.

There is always a chance of a Virus or the fans aren't doing their job of keeping the CPU cool too. So if ending the tasks doesn't help, update your virus definitions, run the virus scan and see what happens. Check your temperature control in CMOS and see what the temp is on the CPU.

If this doesn't work, I'm sorry. I'm sure someone with more experience than me will come up with a fix for you!

GOOD LUCK

Lori

ggebhart@clover.net
I hope I never get too old or arrogant to learn something new!