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Allan - 07 Oct 2005 00:08 GMT

My computer has suddenly started running extremely slow no matter what I do,
internet, OE or word. I had trouble with my Norton programme not responding
& the computer was a bit slow then but I disabled it & downloaded a free
trial of another programme from a free disk which came with a magazine which
at one point said it had changed the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Since then my
computer has run at a snails pace. I have got rid of that programme now &
downloaded AVG which is working well but the computer is still so painfully
slow to to point that sometimes programmes stop responding. Can someone tell
me what to do to get it back to normal speed please?

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Don Phillipson - 07 Oct 2005 01:55 GMT

> My computer has suddenly started running extremely slow no matter what I do,
> internet, OE or word. I had trouble with my Norton programme not responding
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> slow to to point that sometimes programmes stop responding. Can someone tell
> me what to do to get it back to normal speed please?

For a start, rename AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS
because standard installations of Win98 do not require them.

When did you last do basic housekeeping?
-- AV and malware check
-- Delete junk files
-- SCANDISK
-- DEFRAG

Signature

Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

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chris - 07 Oct 2005 02:09 GMT

> For a start, rename AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS
> because standard installations of Win98 do not require them.

Yeah, the standard installation of Win98 does not require autoexec.bat or
config.sys. However, some installed applcations might!

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ernie - 08 Oct 2005 12:24 GMT

Check your file system performance via Control Panel > System > Performance tab.
It should say 32 bit.
If Compatibility mode is reported, post back.
Regards,
ern.

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glee - 09 Oct 2005 05:39 GMT

Please tell us the name of the program you installed from the magazine disc.

Click Start>Run, type MSINFO32 and click OK.
In the left pane of the System Information window, click the + sign to expand the
"Software Environment" category.
In the left pane, click to select "Startup Programs"....they will appear in a list
on the right.
Press Ctrl-A on the keyboard, which will highlight everything in the list on the
right.
Press Ctrl-C to copy the list to the 'clipboard'.
Open a reply to this message, click in the body of the message and press Ctrl-V to
paste the list from the clipboard to the message, and post back to this thread.

Also, press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to bring up the Task Manager and post back with what is
listed there when you experience the slowdown.

Signature

Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

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Allan - 09 Oct 2005 14:43 GMT

I think I got rid of the magazine disc program it was an earlier version of
McAfee/Network Associates. Startup also painfully slow takes forever. Done
Scandisc & Defreg but little improvement. Outlook Express also struggling to
send attachments. Here are the details from MSINFO32 "Startup"

KODAK Picture Transfer Software    Startup Group    "C:\Program Files\Kodak\KODAK
Picture Transfer Software\pts.exe"
Watch    Startup Group    C:\Windows\TWAIN_32\1200USB\WATCH.exe
Digimax Viewer 2.1    Startup Group    "C:\Program Files\Samsung\Digimax Viewer
2.1\STImgBrowser.exe" /s
WinZip Quick Pick    Startup Group    "C:\Program Files\WinZip\WZQKPICK.EXE"
ScanRegistry    Registry (Machine Run)    c:\windows\scanregw.exe /autorun
SystemTray    Registry (Machine Run)    SysTray.Exe
LoadPowerProfile    Registry (Machine Run)    Rundll32.exe
powrprof.dll,LoadCurrentPwrScheme
MPTBOX    Registry (Machine Run)    C:\PROGRA~1\CANON\MULTIP~1\MPTBOX.EXE
POINTER    Registry (Machine Run)    point32.exe
Dcfssvc    Registry (Machine Run)    c:\windows\System32\Drivers\dcfssvc.exe
TPP Auto Loader    Registry (Machine Run)    C:\WINDOWS\TPPALDR.EXE
Multimedia Keyboard    Registry (Machine Run)    C:\Program
Files\Netropa\Multimedia Keyboard\MMKeybd.exe
Onscreen Display    Registry (Machine Run)    C:\Program Files\Netropa\Onscreen
Display\OSD.exe
mps    Registry (Machine Run)    C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\mps.exe /s
Omnipage    Registry (Machine Run)    c:\Program
Files\ScanSoft\OmniPageSE\opware32.exe
AVG7_CC    Registry (Machine Run)    C:\PROGRA~1\GRISOFT\AVG7\AVGCC.EXE /STARTUP
AVG7_EMC    Registry (Machine Run)    C:\PROGRA~1\GRISOFT\AVG7\AVGEMC.EXE
AVG7_AMSVR    Registry (Machine Run)    C:\PROGRA~1\GRISOFT\AVG7\AVGAMSVR.EXE
Hidserv    Registry (Machine Service)    Hidserv.exe run
Machine Debug Manager    Registry (Machine Service)    C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MDM.EXE
avgfwsrv    Registry (Machine Service)    C:\PROGRA~1\GRISOFT\AVG7\AVGFWSRV.EXE
/srvfsys

> Please tell us the name of the program you installed from the magazine disc.
>
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
> > slow to to point that sometimes programmes stop responding. Can someone tell
> > me what to do to get it back to normal speed please?

Reply to this Message

glee - 09 Oct 2005 20:21 GMT

Do a clean boot and see if the slowness still occurs:

How to Perform Clean-Boot Troubleshooting for Windows 98
http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=192926

http://grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm

Follow the procedures here to ensure the problem is not with parasitic software:
http://www.aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm

If the problems persist, I suggest you make sure the hard drive is OK, by running
the diagnostics from the
hard drive manufacturer's web site.

If you don't know what brand the drive is, you can download the limited-use free
edition of OnTrack Data Advisor from this location:
http://www.ontrack.com/freesoftware/#dataadvisor

When you click the download link on that page for Data Advisor 5.0 Free edition, you
will be taken to a page to register with the OnTrack site, then you will be able to
download the diskette creator file.

The downloads are diskette creators. They are to be run once from a working Windows
system and will guide you through the process of extracting the Data Advisor onto a
3.5" floppy disk.

Download and Use Instructions:
http://www.ontrack.com/dataadvisor/downloadinfo.asp

As far as I know, Maxtor's diagnostics will also work with any brand of drive, and
the older versions of Seagate Seatools also, but I am not sure about the new
version.

Hard Drive Diagnostic Programs by Vendor:

OnTrack Data Advisor:
http://www.ontrack.com/freesoftware/#dataadvisor
IBM/Hitachi Drive Fitness Test:
http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm
Western Digital Data Lifeguard Tools:
http://support.wdc.com/download/
Quantum/Maxtor PowerMax:
http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/powermax.htm
Seagate SeaTools:
http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools/index.html
Download:
http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools/B7a.html
http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools/seatoold_reg.html

Signature

Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

> I think I got rid of the magazine disc program it was an earlier version of
> McAfee/Network Associates. Startup also painfully slow takes forever. Done
[quoted text clipped - 54 lines]
> > > slow to to point that sometimes programmes stop responding. Can someone tell
> > > me what to do to get it back to normal speed please?

Reply to this Message

Lil' Dave - 10 Oct 2005 10:00 GMT

Betting its mdm.exe making a buttload of zero byte files in the windows
folder. They're all temp files filename beginning with "fff". Deleting all
these will probably clear up the slowness problem.

> Do a clean boot and see if the slowness still occurs:
>
[quoted text clipped - 106 lines]
> > > > slow to to point that sometimes programmes stop responding. Can someone tell
> > > > me what to do to get it back to normal speed please?

Reply to this Message

glee - 10 Oct 2005 15:03 GMT

I've not heard of that causing anything like the slowness the OP is describing, but
all the same:

OFF: How to Turn Off Machine Debug Manager, Mdm.exe
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=321410

OFF2000: Files Whose Name Begins with 'fff' Appear in Windows Folder"
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=221438

Signature

Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

> Betting its mdm.exe making a buttload of zero byte files in the windows
> folder. They're all temp files filename beginning with "fff". Deleting all
[quoted text clipped - 143 lines]
> someone tell
> > > > > me what to do to get it back to normal speed please?

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Allan - 10 Oct 2005 20:26 GMT

I've looked in the Windows folder & there's a shedload of files all starting
with either ffc or ffff & ending in .tmp. Could they be the problem & should
they be removed?

> I've not heard of that causing anything like the slowness the OP is describing, but
> all the same:
[quoted text clipped - 151 lines]
> > someone tell
> > > > > > me what to do to get it back to normal speed please?

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Gary S. Terhune - 10 Oct 2005 21:06 GMT

Yes, and yes. That's exactly what the links Glen provided tell you how to
do. Delete the files and stop MDM from creating more.

If you have MS Office installed, run the Setup and uninstall the Indexing
tool, also.

Signature

Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP Shell/User

> I've looked in the Windows folder & there's a shedload of files all starting
> with either ffc or ffff & ending in .tmp. Could they be the problem & should
[quoted text clipped - 155 lines]
> > > someone tell
> > > > > > > me what to do to get it back to normal speed please?

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