mrman, Kat, PEST.... et all...

[cyndy10]

I'm still holding my breath, but IE is holding up great. I don't want to venture a guess which thing fixed it, if it is indeed fixed, but I live on the computer and it has lasted way past the time it would normally start giving illegal op's and BSOD's.

I want to thank you all very much, my sanity is restored. I credit you 3 with this fact, and maxmillion too (sp?)...

Any of you have an idea which one it was?

Removing background programs
Removing Spyware
Scandisk, after several months
decreasing Hardware acceleration
Dumping the 3 Gig's of MP3's

Also the Ad-aware is totally cool and InnoculateIT is one of the best, if not THE best free software I have ever seen. I hesitate to call it freeware, it's much more than that.

Anyway, I will pop in in a day or two and let you know if it's still fine.

I am afraid to put the MP3's back on my HD. Do you think it is ok? I had almost 3 Gig's of space remaining with them on...(2.85) I have about 5 Gig's but I have almost half archived in Data CD's. For sure, I will run the InnoculateIT on the CD before I do if you think it's ok.

I'd offer you some music but I know you can get it as easily as I can. Is there anything I can do in return for all your time and brain power? Check my website, I do Internet Research, I'll do some for you if you need anything.

Sincerely,
Cyndy

[PEST]

I think a bit of everything helped.

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It says "CLICK NEXT".
What do I do?

[maxximilian]

It may sound a little wishy-washy, but I would think it was a combination as well. In looking at the list of spyware including Gator...that is quite an infestation and I'm sure your puter loves you for getting rid of it. At this point I would be methodical about putting things back on. Don't put all your music back on all at once. Put some on and see how things go and then some more. As far as background programs go. The lesser the better. We greatly appreciate you coming back and posting the results. Too many times we try to help folks and never know if we did any good or not. Happy Puting

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I crash...therefore I am.

[KatMac]

Hi Cindy,
Glad things seem to be going OK. Don't wait too long to exhale Your thanks is enough, stick around, you'll meet lots of great people here. Wanna see how nutty things get, head over to Windows98 forum tonight and check out the Mach 2 show

-Kat

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I have gone to look for myself. If I should return before I get back, please keep me here.

[mrman]

I have never used Gator, but based upon threads that I have read here, that seems to be the most likely culprit. Hardware monitoring software is also generally unstable if left on continuously. But, as usual, it is merely speculation what the fix was.

What we ask for in return is for you to post answers to others questions if you know the answer or have had similar situations. This forum is based upon many people who try to offer suggestion due to thier experiences, so another person is always welcome.

There are other forums out there bur VDr. is the best in my opinion due to the quick responses, the general friendliness of the members, and the willingness of the members to stick with you until you find a solution.


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ATHLON 750, GA-71XE, 256 SDRAM, 20 GB 7200 Maxtor, 32 MB G400, SB Live, win98se, Centurytel DSL

[cyndy10]

I will do that mrman. ISometimes answers come from the most unlikely source so I will do my best to assist others. Thanks for telling me how I can help, and the answer was SO obvious, I should have seen it.

An update, IE is STILL blazing fast, not a single problem, in fact, I have had other program crashes but IE stays UP and running through it all. Amazing... Netscape 6.0 is not all that great. I am considering uninstalling it and going back to 4.72 as my NS version of choice...

[mrman]

NS 6.0 looks great to me, but the performance is lacking.

You might look at reinstalling it as you may have compromised its stability with the removal of your internet software (Gator).

I run 6.0 without crashes, it's just slower and IE is a more "familiar" interface with the integration into windows.

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ATHLON 750, GA-71XE, 256 SDRAM, 20 GB 7200 Maxtor, 32 MB G400, SB Live, win98se, Centurytel DSL

[cyndy10]

Ok, I'll try that. It still crashes.

But IE is STILL blazing. It's a dream again, in fact I don't ever remember it running this good. It's smooth, and very fast.

[maxximilian]

Cyndy10,

Glad to hear that she is purrrrrriinngg along. Just curious, have you put your music back on yet?

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I crash...therefore I am.

[cyndy10]

Hi again, -NO- I have not put the music back on...

Each CD holds about 150 MP3's, and I have them half-assed organized by genre and mood so I pop one in and access the drive and just listen. The MP3 Player in CD Creator is much fuller sounding than Realjukebox anyway...

And I am checking each CD with InnoculateIT before I run them the first time after removal...

And an update. IE is still blazing. This morning I did wake up to a VXD VETMON95(01) FE error - but it was easily remedied.

FOr some reason the Scandisk auto scheduler is not operating right. It just doesn't come on. I am being a LOT more careful though and I ran it before I went to bed and Defrag went fine.

Without starting a new thread... I know to run Scandisk FIRST, but how often is it "good" to run those 2 utilities? I have Scakdisk set for once a week (have to check it and do it manually) and defrag every night. I realize it's often, but will it do any harm? I'm anal-retentive and something about seeing those bit sectors all nice and neat make me happy...

[mrman]

I Defrag rarely, unless I am installing/uninstalling many programs. This causes alot of defragmentation. Some fragmentation is normal and harmless.

I scandisk more often since it is faster. I almost never get any errors though.

I'll look into the VETMON95 issue. I had that issue too, but got rid of it. I just need to remember what I did.

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ATHLON 750, GA-71XE, 256 SDRAM, 20 GB 7200 Maxtor, 32 MB G400, SB Live, win98se, Centurytel DSL

[maxximilian]

cyndy10,

I can't advise on what is with the auto scheduler. I've had this puter for two years and have never used auto scheduler for anything. I run all maintenance manually. Hell, I even run my anti-virus on manual to keep the background proggies to a minimum. BTW I think VETMON is your inoculateIT. To be honest, I consider myself a heavy puter user and I don't defrag nearly that often. I do a thorough scandisk and defrag about every two to three weeks. However I don't install and uninstall things alot, which is where the defrag really comes into play. Is it bad? Well, I don't know. You should run this question by the folks in windows 98 forum. They probably can answer the auto-scheduler question too. We are usually so busy on that forum, that the really experienced ones don't get a chance to wonder over to this quiet backwater. I spend alot of time over here, because sometimes the 98 forum goes past my knowledge limit pretty fast.

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I crash...therefore I am.

[maxximilian]

WHOOPS...I just read my own post above and I realized that it comes off looking like I'm saying that there aren't knowledgable people lurking in the quiet forums. Sorry if I offended anyone. I just meant that the 98 forum attracts some real wizards at this stuff. Seems I can't get through the day without putting my foot in my mouth at least once.

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I crash...therefore I am.

[mrman]

The VETMON95 issue is a conflict with IPE's virtual device driver and some other hardware VXD on your system. (Sound/Video)

If it continues to be a problem, you can search the 98 forum for VXDfix and install that. (There is some controversy on whether that program does anything or not though)


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ATHLON 750, GA-71XE, 256 SDRAM, 20 GB 7200 Maxtor, 32 MB G400, SB Live, win98se, Centurytel DSL

[KatMac]

max: we know what you meant, don't worry

Cindy: I have a friend who builds PC's (he he built mine). His recommendation is to do scheduled maintenance tasks once per week. When I was a real newbie, that's how he set my schedule up, to run one task right after another on Sunday night. I just had to remember to leave the PC on, haha

Firstly, a lot of people do defrag with an install or uninstall, as maxx suggested. That's in addition to the regular schedule.

I got some good advice from the Win98 forum, there's a recommended order for performing maintenance. I'm paraphrasing the info below from a post back in December. That post went all over the place, so to save you rummaging through it, here's a summary:

• Do disk cleanup and remove all unnecessary files
• Next do scan disk, preferably checking 'thorough'.
• Then do defrag. Many recommend doing defrag in "Safe Mode", so there are minimal programs running in the background. (If you choose to do defrag in 'regular' Windows mode, they suggest closing all apps in Systray except for Systray and Scan Registry. Rather than manually go through all that, I just defrag in Safe Mode)
• Also, before running degrag, turn off any screensaver you have and disable your antivirus.

That's it. Glad to hear IE is still zipping along!

-Kat

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I have gone to look for myself. If I should return before I get back, please keep me here.



[This message has been edited by KatMac (edited 03-07-2001).]