This page includes tips about improving PC system performance. This Page is being developed on the basis of several messages sent (starting in Jan, 2001) while learning about these procedures, primarily in the context of being a new user of media players, and how they can help overload your system. Our plan is to reduce some of that overload. We have made good progress.
Go Home. ___ Go to Media players.
Improving system performance topics
. . . Part 1. Overloaded with hyperactive media players?
. . . Part 2. Slaying TSR dragons!
. . . Part 3. Deleting temporary files
. . . Part 4. Deleting TSR re Sympatico Access Manager
. . . Part 5. Disabling the Image Bar In Microsoft Internet Explorer 6
Improving system performance: Part 1. Overloaded with hyperactive media players?
Symptoms
I have been hit with numerous interrupts that generate temporary files in Windows 98, ranging from 1 or 2 K to 44 K. Media players are prime suspects! I have downloaded and used a half dozen media players (which I have reviewed, at Players ) -- so they are prime suspects. This is especially so, as, out of the blue sometimes, RealOne pops up a message complaining that either MusicMatch Jukebox or Winamp has requested a re-association of software away from the RealOne primma donna. When I then choose the More info option, I get a fatal exception! (No, not Fatal Attraction -- that was a movie, wasn't it?) Not good!
Complicating this, however, is the fact that I have also recently upgraded to Internet Explorer 6, so that might be a factor too. Otherwise, however, it has been operating smoothly. So, I am proceeding on that front with a bit of detective work. In the process, I am trying to find a way in which I can delete such temporary Windows files en masse instead of by point and click one at a time -- especially as I sometimes have about 130 of them built up. That is apart from the Temporary Internet Files, which I delete several times per day.
I have been working on improving system performance. Until now, when I boot up, the System Resources Free (SRF) is at 71 to 73%. Logging on and connecting to the CNN home page brings that down to 60%. Bringing up Outlook Express mail brings that down to 51%. That gets reduced even further if I then put some music on and also bring up my Front Page Express for preparing Web pages. In the latter case I have a Desktop active and the FP Express. To deal with my Radio-TV-music pages, the FP Express itself then has 11 of its own windows open -- nine Pages for the main content, and two index Pages. In turn, each of those Pages (one Page being Latin Music, for example) can be up to about 34 pages long. I should really reduce that to more like 20 pages per Page for faster online access. That is why I had already split the index Page into three Pages.
Tentative improvements
All that is by way of preamble to indicating my incentive to improve performance. So, I started looking into Terminate-and-Stay-Resident (TSR) programs. For a start, I found that if I did a three-finger salute (Ctl, Alt, Delete), which brings up a Close Program menu, then left click on vTuner, then on End Task, I get an improvement in performance (SRF) of 6%. If I were running with an SRF of 60%, that might not mean too much. However, if I am chugging along at 33%, it can be quite significant. So I started looking for other TSRs that might be fair game for deletion, and whose deletion would not cause an earthquake somewhere! I also scoured the Web for more info on the matter. I will add more detail in a later message. The upshot of it is that I can fairly easily gain about 10% in performance by just deleting a few TSRs. Permanently deleting them from the Start list is a more risky business, I am advised. I am not expert enough to want to try that -- at least not yet. As for fiddling with the Registry? No way! I learned later that some of what I call TSRs are not really TSRs, but just shortcuts. For our present purposes, this distinction matters not.
I still have a bit of experimenting to do, and will follow this up, with a mixture of my own experience and some good pointers and cautions gleaned from the Web. It should be useful whether one is using either Netscape or Internet Explorer. I have not tried out Netscape for years, but might do so one of these days. I had used Netscape when I first started on the Net with a previous provider, and was quite pleased with it.
Improving system performance: Part 2. Slaying TSR dragons!
Apart from my rampant plagiarism that follows, my contribution to this effort starts at Disabling TSRs, far below.
Smart Computing-Editorial: http://www.smartcomputing.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles%2F2001%2Fs1202%2F07s02%2F07s02%2Easp What's Really Running On Your PC. How To Find & Close Background Applications. . . . Right-click My Computer and click Properties, and the Performance tab to see the free percentage of your system resources. If you have less than 90% or so available, you might consider freeing up some resources with the steps below.
System Tray
The lower right corner of your screen is called the system
tray. You’ll probably see icons there representing TSRs,
such as a yellow speaker that leads to the Volume
Controls. You can click these icons to open their
programs’ interfaces.
You can temporarily
disable most TSRs by right-clicking them and
selecting the proper command such as Disable, Suspend, Hide, or Exit. For example,
right-click the Dr. Watson icon and select Exit Dr. Watson to
shut it down. You usually
want certain TSRs, such as antivirus software, to run but not
while you’re burning recordable CDs, for example. An easy
way to restore TSRs to active duty is to restart your computer.
If you don’t want a TSR
to ever run, click it to
open its interface. Look for an Options
or Preferences item that keeps the TSR
from launching along with Windows, or
re-enable the TSR if you change your
mind. For example, in FileQuest 2.0, click Tools, Options,
Preferences, the Startup tab, and Run FileQuest Every Time
Windows Loads.
Close Program
You can see other applications running on your PC by
pressing CTRL-ALT-DELETE
simultaneously. ( NOTE: Don’t
press this combination of keys twice, or you’ll reboot your
computer.) The Close Program
window will appear with a
list of programs. You might recognize some as nonessential
applications, such as Realplayer for RealNetworks’s RealPlayer. Others are less straightforward, such as MMJB Database for MusicMatch
Jukebox.
To exit an
application in Close Program, click it and select End
Task (not Shut Down).
Don’t exit Explorer; here, it’s
referring to the Windows interface, not
Windows Explorer or Internet Explorer. You can restart these TSRs through their parent programs or by
rebooting your system.
System Configuration
Utility
Win98 and WinMe users have more control over background
applications than Win95 users. The System Configuration Utility
lets you choose which TSRs
automatically launch at startup.
To open it, click Start and Run.
In the Open field, type msconfig
and press ENTER. Click the Startup
tab for a list of TSRs. The ones with
checkmarks load at startup. Certain applications, such as
antivirus utilities, place components on this list during
installation. Click the boxes next to the entries you don’t
want and click Apply and OK. Click OK
if you need to restart your computer. Some entries might be
redundant, but you should examine them letter-by-letter before
you get rid of any.
If you don’t recognize
a TSR by name, read the file path next
to it for clues. For
example, we didn’t know that EM_EXEC had to do with our
mouse until we read its file path, C:\ MOUSE\SYSTEM\Em_exec.exe.
If you later decide you want the TSR to run after all, go back
into the System Configuration Utility and recheck the box. Click
Apply and OK twice.
Win98 and WinMe users can also remove some TSRs from the startup list by right-clicking and deleting the
icons from the STARTUP folder (Start, Programs, and STARTUP). We don’t recommend this
method, *** because not all TSRs are
listed in STARTUP. More importantly, the deleted icons will go to
the Recycle Bin, where they might be lost for good, making it
harder to restore a TSR to the startup list.
Although you can improve your PC’s performance by freeing up
system resources, always restart and test your system after each TSR
you disable. That way, if any change to your startup list causes
errors, you’ll have an easier time figuring out what’s
wrong.
Optimize95: http://www.ccgnv.net/admitone/optimize95.htm
Tip #8 How to disable TSR programs.
Exit all programs.
Display the "Close Program" dialog box by pressing "Ctrl", "Alt", "Delete". The dialog box will appear displaying a list of all applications running. If programs other than Windows Explorer are listed, make sure they are not starting automatically at Windows startup. Windows automatically starts programs in the Startup folder, or those programs listed in the "load=" and "run=" lines of the Win.ini file. (Note: Click Start/Run/type "Sysedit" hit "Enter" and you'll see a list of configuration files including Win.ini, Sys.ini, etc, that can be easily edited.)
To prevent TSR programs in the Startup folder from loading during Windows startup choose "Start","Settings","Taskbar". In the Taskbar Properties dialog box, click the "Start Menu" Programs tab, then click "remove." In the Remove Shortcuts/Folders dialog box, click the "+" (plus) sign next to "StartUp" to display TSR programs. [But, see warning *** above.]
Select a TSR program in the Startup folder, then click "Remove." Repeat this step for each TSR program listed. Click "Close" to exit the Remove Shortcuts/Folders dialog box, then click "OK" to exit the dialog box.
In Windows 98 go to "Start" then "run" then type "msconfig." Uncheck everything.
Tip #9 How to prevent TSR programs listed in the "load=" and "run=" lines of the Win.ini file from starting automatically during Windows startup:
1. Make a backup copy of the Win.ini file in the Windows folder.
2. Open the original Win.ini file in sysedit or Notepad.
3. Locate the "load=" and "run=" lines In the [Windows] section. If either the "load=" and "run=" lines list any applications, insert a semicolon at the beginning of the line.
Example:
;load=
;run=
Save, then restart Windows.
If you have to use your computer for word processing, surfing the net, etc., then you'll need to create a profile used specifically for editing. In Windows 95 each user profile has its own preferences and options. I would highly recommend that you not use your machine for playing video games as these tend to slow down your system because of all the dll.'s they load, and in some cases are incompatible with video editing, so with that in mind you may want to consider having another machine for everyday task. I have an old 166mmx with 128 meg of ram I use for word processing and internet. What more do you need?
Cutting The Edge -
Windows Quick Startup: http://www.cuttingtheedge.com/hardware/articles/2001/quick_start/printer.shtm Tip1:
A simple Suspend
The first tip is more of a workaround. If your boot up
time is taking too long and you hate waiting, . . .
Tip2: Get away from my
clock.
The next step to speeding up your startup is to clear any TSRs (Terminate-and-stay-resident programs).
TSRs are mini programs that load up
every time Windows starts. These programs can be found in the
system tray next to the clock in the lower right hand corner of
your desktop.
Most of these programs have an exit command in a menu when you right click the icon. However, this just shuts the program down until the next time your computer is rebooted. If you decide that you don't want certain TSRs loading, you can first go through the programs the menus and search for an option to not have it to load up next time. If you don't want to use the program any more, you can simply uninstall the program by going to the "My Computer" icon in the top left corner of your desktop and double-clicking it. That should bring up a new window that shows the drives installed in your computer and also should have another folder called "Control Panel." This control panel provides access to many other features that can be dangerous getting into if you don't know what you are doing. After double clicking the control panel folder, you will have new options. In the new window you have an icon labeled "Add/Remove Programs." Double click this icon if you are ready to uninstall the software. There is a list of programs installed on your system, which you can remove. Scroll down until you find the program, which you want to remove and click the "Add/Remove" button just below the list. If you didn't find your program in the list sometimes it can only be found in the start menu under "programs." Under "programs" in the start menu you can find a shortcut to just about any program that is installed on your computer. Once you find the name of the program, it should have its own uninstall feature. A vanilla installation of Windows 98 will already have two icons in the system tray. One is for volume control and the other is called "Windows Task Scheduler." If you have never heard of "Windows Task Scheduler," then you probably don't use it. To get rid of the task scheduler you can simply double-click the icon and, once it comes up, select the advanced menu. Then in the drop-down menu, click "stop using task scheduler".
To get rid of the volume control (which doesn't need to be loaded every time you start up), go to the "My Computer" icon in the top left corner of your desktop, and double-click it and go into control panel. Find the icon that is labeled "Sounds and Multimedia" and double-click it. That will bring up a menu for all the volume settings in Windows. At the very bottom of the opened window there is a check box labeled "show volume control on the taskbar" Make sure this box is unselected.
RealPlayer
RealPlayer is notorious for hiding its option to get rid of the system tray icon deep inside of its program. To get rid of the RealPlayer icon, right-click on the icon and select "preferences." Under the section labeled "Enable Smart Center", click the "settings" button and then uncheck the box labeled "Enable Smart Center". The icon will disappear and not reload on startup.
Tip4: Update Your Windows
One of the other reasons your computer could be loading up so
slowly is that you haven't visited the Windows Update page for a
while, or at all. The Windows
Update Site
provides as easy way for users to keep their operating system in
tip-top shape with the latest patches, big fixes, and application
upgrades. You can find a shortcut to the "Update Site"
at the top of your Start menu. Microsoft has made several
enhancements to Windows 98, both for cosmetic enhancements and
fundamental performance boosts. The section you will want to
watch the most on the Update Site is the "Critical Updates
Section." Original
Windows 98 users should specifically target Windows 98 Service
Pack 1, which addresses
several boot-up issues.
Emptying the Recycling Bin
Now you will want to empty the recycling bin. When you delete
files, they aren't deleted completely from your hard drive unless
you have previously changed the recycling bin settings. Right
click on the recycling bin on your desktop and click on
"empty recycling bin". If you don't want files to go to the recycling
when you delete them, and you want them to really be deleted when
you delete them,
then right click on the recycling bin and go down to properties.
Here you have all the options to change your deletion settings.
You can click on a box to set it so that when you delete files,
Windows really does delete them. You can also set Windows to
never give you a delete confirmation, but that setting is more
for advanced users.
Removing Temporary Internet
Files
You will want to empty your Temporary Internet Files
before running Scandisk and Defrag,
as well.
Internet Explorer: Go to Start, Settings, Control Panel, Internet Options (this menu can also be accessed through IE under the tools menu). Under the section labeled "Temporary Internet Files," click the "Delete Files" button. By clicking the "Settings" button you can also determine how much space IE uses to store your temporary Internet files.
Netscape: To clear temporary files from Netscape Navigator or Communicator, open the browser. From the Edit menu, select preferences. Click the "plus sign" next to "Advanced" and select "cache". Click the button labeled "Clear Disk Cache."
Clearing Windows Temporary
Directory
To delete temporary files, open Windows Explorer.
Double click on your Windows directory and find the "temp directory" inside the Windows directory. Now
click on the temp directory. Any files in there can be deleted.
To delete files, without them going to your recycling bin, hold
down shift when hit the "delete" key. This will remove
them from your hard drive. Windows
is supposed to keep the "temp directory"
empty, but Windows
forgets what's in
there on lockups where you have to just power down your computer.
Now you are ready to proceed to the next step.
To finalize your preparation you will want to ensure that you don't have a screensaver or energy saver active. On some computers the "energy saver" feature has been known to lock up a system while it's scanning the disk or defragging. To check both these features and make sure they are disabled, right click on the desktop and go down to properties. Up at the top of the window that just opened, there is a tab labeled Screen Saver. After clicking it, make sure that no screensaver is active. Right below the screensaver option is the energy saver option also. After clicking on settings, make sure the "system stand by" and "Turn off hard disk" are both turned off.
You also have to make sure that you have no TSRs . . . running. These programs will cause scandisk and defrag to restart or to completely stop. When running both "scandisk" or "defrag," you can't use your computer for this very reason. These programs are accessing your hard drive intensely and are not designed for the computer to be in use while they are doing their job.
Now you are ready to run Scandisk first. . . .
Tip7: The Task
Scheduler from Hell!
We talked about how to remove the task scheduler
previously . . .
Disabling Memory-Resident Programs (TSRs) in Windows: http://pagemakersupport.adobe.com/adobeknowbase/root/public/pm2efa.htm?DREID=5472
What's Covered
Conflicts with TSRs While Installing and Using Applications
Disabling Windows TSRs Using Safe Mode in Windows 95 or Windows
98
Disabling Windows TSRs in the Win.ini File
Disabling Windows TSRs in the Startup Group
Disabling Non-Windows TSRs in the Autoexec.bat and Config.sys
files
Disabling TSRs
It is fine to suggest, as these articles above do, to disable TSRs to improve PC system performance; however, which ones could one safely disable? I shall try to answer that question first, but only in terms of temporary disablement by use of the Close Program window, accessed by pressing Ctrl Alt Delete, selecting a program name by use of a left mouse click, then clicking on End Task -- not on Shut Down! I shall not pursue the more risky approach of deleting such programs from the Start list. Thus, the measures I suggest will last only until the PC is restarted; however, it will be without much risk, as far as I know. One will have to repeat those End Task procedures after each time that the PC is re-booted. That, in itself, is a welcome fail-safe mechanism.
Now, what are those programs, and how much performance could their disablement gain us? When you see in the list in the Close Program window the entry Sqstart, for example, how much of a bell does that ring? One would have hoped that if Windows were a bit smarter one might be able to just right click on that entry and be provided with an easy answer. Maybe Windows XP has such? I am using Windows 98. Instead, here is how I proceeded.
To initiate a search for the full pathname of the program in question, click on Start, then Find, then on Files or folders to bring up a dialog box entitled Find All Files. Type in the program name in question, with leading and trailing (wild-card) asterisks -- for example, *Sqstart*, then click on Find Now. Result: two entries, having suffixes exe (executable file) and ini, in the path \Program files, including the name Sonique, and a third entry, indicative of a log file (suffix lgc), and dates and times. It appears that we have stumbled upon the home of the media player Sonique. Disabling that program by means of the Close Program menu leads to no improvement in system performance. Not to be undaunted -- at least just yet -- I tried the same approach on the entry vTuner, to find, somewhat to my dismay, that it was home to fifteen entries relating to vTuner and RealPlayer! Disabling vTuner via the Close Program menu led to an improvement in performance of 6% points. Maybe we are on to something, after all!
It is informative to try this out while playing streaming music, as it throws the music playing into either a hiatus or a loop! My other such experiment was to do a fractal calculation. That really prevents the music from playing as the CPU is kept very busy number-crunching for millions of cycles, even though there could still be some cycle-stealing going on.
Here are some observations of the type noted above.
TSR programs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Close Program entry Found name Performance gain upon disablement. Comment.
===============================================================================
vTuner vTuner, RealPlayer 6%. RealOne and RealPlayer media software.
Rsrcmtr RSRCMTR Leave as-is. Resource monitor, I presume.
Sysmon HELP, AOpen Leave as-is. System monitor, I presume.
FindFast FINDFAST, MS Office 4% or 0%.
Shcenter APPLOG, hjpro 0%. My added Hijaak Pro pgm for image conversion.
Mediadet Creative, Share/DLL 2%. Creative Soundblaster audio software.
Ctnotify Creative, Share/DLL 1%. Creative Soundblaster audio software.
Atitask ATITASK 0%. ATI video monitor?
Aticwd32 ATICWD32 0%. ATI video monitor?
Navapw32 Norton Antivirus Leave as-is.
Winampa Winamp, with icon 3% or 0%. Winamp media player.
Ahqtb Creative\SBLive\AudioHQ 0% or 2%. Creative Soundblaster audio software.
Nsched32 Norton Antivirus Leave as-is.
Cg16eh Norton CrashGuard Leave as-is. Does the eh signify Canadian version??
Cgmenu Norton CrashGuard Leave as-is.
Qttask WINDOWS\SYSTEM Leave as-is.
Expander hjpro\bin 2% or 3%. Hijaak Pro pgm for image conversion.
------------------------------------- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ------------------------
Total potential improvement: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21% points?
===============================================================================
It might be that the individual potential improvements noted above are not independent of each other, which could imply that the most optimistic total improvement of 21% points is not attainable. There is one way to find out. Let us shut down the PC, re-boot, and then disable most of these TSRs in stages, and observe the resulting performance levels. The Performance level will be noted in the following format, as obtained by hovering the mouse over an icon in the System Tray: [System, User, GDI]. The figures are in units of %. NR means not recorded.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Action taken or status of PC Performance level
===============================================================================
Freshly booted up, with following windows displayed:
a. SONICBOX media player.
b. Advertising msg from RealOne.
c. Microsoft Windows 98 initialization message. [66, NR, NR]
End file of a,b, and c. [71, 71, 84]
Log on to the Net, and Internet Explorer v 6, then displaying Wayne's home page. [63, NR, NR]
Activate Outlook Express 6 (mail). [54, 54 70]
Display one mail message. [53, 53, 64]
Start disabling TSRs - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Disable vTuner. [59, 59 74]
Disable FindFast. [60, 60, 75]
Disable Mediadet. [60, 60 75]
Disable Ctnotify. [60, 60 75]
Disable Winampa. [63, 63, 75]
Disable Ahqtb. [63, 65, 75]
Activate Close Program menu, then Cancel. [65, 65, 75]
Type more of this message. ** [63, 63, 75]
Total gain from disabling TSRs = 63 - 53 = 10% points.
Go to another site from mine, then return. [63, 63, 74]
Auto hide clock (from icon in System Tray) *** [63, 63, 74]
Activate FPXpress, with nine subpages, and Desktop -- for editing my Web pages. [57, 57, 68]
Activate Live365 media player screen, but do not start play yet. (Adds one window.) [57, 57, 67]
Activate music playing with Live365: live stream at 56 KB/sec. (One more window.) [51, 51, 60]
There are now seven windows active, as shown on the Task bar.
From the Live365 large menu page, go to site http://www.distantsuns.com. **** [53, 53, 60]
Delete one advert window, sent to me compliments of Live365 & Zappos shoes! [54, 54, 60]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
** I suspect that it is not the typing of the message, nor the added information storage that is relevant. Perhaps it is background TSRs carrying on their nefarious activities underground!
*** Hiding the Clock icon was of no help, and has made the whole lower Task bar and System Tray not visible now while typing. Not a good move!
**** I just heard an advert for this site on Live365, and took a look at it, seeing as how this planetarium (and lots more) site was highly endorsed by Arthur C. Clarke! It's worth a look! Furthermore, as stated on its site:
Welcome to both current owners of Distant Suns and curious onlookers. First, note that the background image to this frame is not a NASA photograph, but was created with the newest version of Distant Suns for Windows, version 5.
Over 16 million stars
Wonderful package for the whole family (much more fun than Quicken!) [That seems faint praise to me. Shoveling snow would also be more fun than Quicken!]
"Distant Suns cost me $800, since I had to go out and buy a telescope..."
"Tell Mike Smithwick that my wife is really mad at him. I received Distant Suns for Christmas, and told her I would spend only an hour with it before coming to bed. I finally got to bed at 4AM".
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So, we have had some success. The music is playing quite nicely without any blips, and Windows is not warning me about running out of horsepower!
Next, I shall see if the clutter of temporary files is a problem and how it might be overcome. During this session I seem to have been free of additional interrupts (assumed to be from media-player TSRs Winamp and Musicmatch Jukebox.) I started out with about fifty such files. It appears that no more have been added. Perhaps we have slain that dragon -- at least temporarily!
Improving system performance: Part 3. Deleting temporary files
This carries on from my previous message Improving system performance: Part 2. Slaying TSR dragons!
I thought that I knew what Internet Temporary Files were, and how to delete them. (I am using Internet Explorer v 6. ) My method has been as follows: Left click on Tools on the Menu bar, then on Internet Options, then, under Temporary Internet files, click on Delete Files, then, in Delete Files, click on OK.
Having done the above, I proceed to list my files having the suffix < .tmp >, only to find that I still have a bunch of such files. I had been assuming that such files were Temporary files, as that is what the suffix seemed to imply. A 576-page book entitled Using Microsoft Windows 98 fails to discuss this question, nor to define exactly what Temporary files are. The only mention it has of how to delete them is to use Disk Cleanup. That facility informs me that I have 0.58 MB of Temporary Internet Files that I could dispense with. That information is accessible by double-clicking on My Computer, right-clicking on the C drive icon, then clicking on Properties, then on the Disk Cleanup tab in the Properties window.
So, I return to the Internet and delete Temporary Internet Files, using Tools, as per the above. Now I am informed, via the Disk Cleanup window, that I have 0.0 MB of such files. Great! But, if I return to the Find Files procedure, I find that I still have many files that are listed, in part, as: C:\WINDOWS\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5 as part of their pathname, and with the suffix < .TMP >. < .TMP > is indicated, even though I typed < .tmp >, which I find to be rather bizarre, and not just trivial. That unfortunate tendency of programs such as Windows, but not some others, to equate upper- and lower-case letters has led to problems for me previously (when, for example, jpg was not recognized because of an automatic conversion to JPG). It seems to me to be as ridiculous to equate "T" with "t" as it would to equate coffee with tea! Or, maybe, Windows with DOS?
To further complicate the issue, I also have several files which are listed as having the following as part of their pathname: C:\Windows\TEMP. They also have the suffix < .TMP >.
At this stage, I am wondering whether there are at least three types of Temporary files. That book and Windows seemed to imply that there were only two types, at most, one of which was used to store fond memories of Windows 95 for those brave souls who had migrated to Windows 98, but who might later chicken-out and want to return to the loving arms of Windows 95. But that was not an issue here. I must have been brave enough, as my cache of such was 0.0 MB, thanks, I presume, to the person. far more expert than I, who installed it!
Let's see what I can find on the Net about this. One article mentions that there are nine kinds of Temporary files. Here are some more detailed articles:
Smart Computing-Editorial: http://www.smartcomputing.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles%2Farchive%2Fl0502%2F20w98%2F20w98%2Easp How To Use Windows 98 Feb 1999 Vol.5 Issue 2 Windows Explorer The Internal Map For Windows 98 . . . Disk Cleanup. This utility is also located in the Properties dialog box. A graph appears, showing you how much space you’ve used and how much is left. Next to the graph is a button marked Disk Cleanup. Click it if you want to utilize this utility. A new window appears where you can choose four types of temporary files that can be deleted in bulk: Temporary Internet Files, Downloaded Program Files, Recycle Bin, and Temporary Files. . . .
Computer (In)Security: http://www.ceepeeu.com/b55clean.html File cleanup. This page lists files you can discard. Windows 98 includes a disk cleanup utility in Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools. Disk Cleanup can be configured to remove the most common types of temporary files [Which ones?] and to empty the Recycle Bin. I put a shortcut to it on the desktop and use it nearly every day. You can also use Disk Cleanup to remove optional Windows components but I wouldn't make that part of my daily house cleaning. If you don't have Disk Cleanup add the following files to the list of files [What list?] to be deleted:
All files in the c:\Windows\Temporary Internet Files ** folder. You can also set your browser to empty this folder when you exit the Internet (Web sites are made up of text and image files that are copied to this folder, then displayed)
All files in the c:\Windows\Downloaded Program Files folder (Some web sites load programs, called ActiveX Controls, to this folder where they are executed)
All files in the c:\Windows\Offline Web Pages folder except any you wish to save.
All files in the c:\Windows\Temp ** folder. This is a staging area for program installations. The install program unpacks the files to c:\Windows\Temp and then installs from there. (Some people have experienced problems with installs when this folder contains files from previous installs. I am not convinced of the relationship but why take a chance?)
The standard Windows installation includes a c:\Temp folder. It doesn't seem to have any "system" purpose so I use it as my personal "work" folder. I generally empty it before and after any project that uses the \Temp folder. Be careful about deleting unknown files from here since I don't know where they would come from. Move them to your DELyymmdd folder until you are sure they aren't needed. . . .
Files you can delete:
1. All files with the extensions of .gid, .cnt, .fts, .ftg, .ann or .bmk (Help sections, they'll regenerate when needed)
2. All files with the extension of .avi . . . and many more . . .
It would seem from the above ** that the lingering tmp files that I retain, even after, the Tools method of deletion, store not just ordinary temporary files, but temporary installation files. These are time-stamped, and indicate that such installation files appear at intervals from two minutes to two hours, even though I have not been using the media players for many hours now. I still suspect those aggressive media players!
I had mentioned previously that I was seeking a way to delete more than one of these temporary files at a time. By trial and error, I found such a way. In the Find Files named screen, right-click the mouse just above and to the far right of the first entry to be deleted, then drag the mouse down below the last one for deletion, and to the far left. On the menu that pops up, click on Delete. Why wouldn't that book have mentioned that?
There is still a bit of mystery left in this subject, but, with the above, I can manage for now.
Bandwidths of MusicMatch & others
I had been asked re the bandwidth of the premium (MX) service of MusicMatch Jukebox. In particular, would it, for extra $, really deliver 128 kbps? Short answer: it appears to me that it certainly would.
I've just tested out MusicMatch Jukebox to verify that it does, indeed, deliver -- in its premium, for-$, MX service -- "CD-like sound" as promised. It fed a sample of ordinary vs CD quality through RealOne player, and, yes, I was very impressed with the sound. It was streaming in at 128 kbps, as verified by RealOne, independently of MusicMatch. It sounded just as good as CD to me.
It is a great hog on system resources, though. It probably is loaded with excellent features that I will never need. After all, Stroud in his review gave it five stars, without, though, even mentioning much, if at all, my main interest -- radio and Web streams. One example of some of its extraneous (at least to me) features that makes it so hoggish is Quick Key features whereby, for example, one can get to a file faster by using < Ctl f >, if you can imagine! We are keeping the relics of DOS here! Maybe they have not yet heard of Windows! Maybe that is why it takes up so much of the system -- 28% points. In my case at the moment, with six windows open, that zaps me down from 39% to 11%.
If it uses RealOne, it begs the question: why not just use RealOne to begin with and avoid all of that extra overhead, especially as RealOne has far greater choices of radio that MusicMatch (by a factor of ten?)?
Live365 gives me a wide selection of sources, including many at bandwidth T1/DSL (128 kbps), with excellent quality. It uses only 10% of resources.
I used SonicBox. Playing at 44 kbps, it was using only 2% points of my system, with very good quality sound from WCPE, Raleigh-Durham, NC (Classical). It has a far greater choice of sources, as does RealOne, than MusicMatch. By sources, I mean Web or broadcast radio, not individual pieces. I am not interested in downloading and saving music, except maybe for very special pieces. I also played MPEGRadioClassic at 112 kbps, with excellent quality.
These additional tests have strengthened even further my opposition to MusicMatch. I usually have at least five windows on the go, so the 28% figure alone makes MusicMatch only marginally acceptable to me. Add to that the relatively limited choice of sources compared to RealOne, Live365, and several others. When one is running at 11% of resources, everything slows down too much, Google searches, for example -- always on the go!
At the moment, with seven windows open, I am playing some great jazz at 128 kbps, at 42% of resources. I am happy with that.
Improving system performance: Part 4. Deleting TSR re Sympatico Access Manager
In my search for what I had termed Terminate-and-Stay-Resident (TSR) programs (wrongly, in some cases), I had listed the performance-improvement effects of terminating several TSRs (via the Close Program window, invoked via < Ctl Alt Delete >). Deleting those had led to an improvement in the System Performance Level of up to 10% points, as detailed above in Improving system performance: Part 2. Slaying TSR dragons!
I should have noticed this earlier; however, I have just discovered an obvious additional candidate -- at least for those using Bell Sympatico. The TSR is named something like AccessMgr. Its purpose (as part of Access Manager services) is to provide an additional, rather busy, task bar that is usually hidden at the bottom of the screen (by default), and which I seldom use. Deleting that TSR yields a performance improvement of 5% points! Those using some other provider might look for the its equivalent.
So far, the TSRs worth deleting (and potential improvement in System Performance Level ) appear to be as follows:
vTuner (6%), Mediadet (0 to 3%), Winampa (0 to 1%), Ahqtb (1 to 2%), and AccessMgr (5%).
I have omitted Ctnotify (1%), as it appears to be automatically deleted with the deletion of Mediadet; both are associated with Creative Soundblaster audio software, as is Ahqtb.
That adds up to an improvement of from 12% to 17% points, or from 11% to 16% points if Ahqtb is deleted by the deletion of Mediadet. Not to be sneezed at!
Improving system performance: Part 5. Disabling the Image Bar In Microsoft Internet Explorer 6
In Microsoft Internet Explorer 6, when you move the mouse over an image, a little toolbar pops up asking if you want to Save, Open, Mail, or Print the image. This annoyance I can do without.
To eliminate the image toolbar, run IE 6 and select Tools | Internet Options. When the dialog box opens, click the Advanced tab. Scroll down to the Multimedia section and deselect the Enable Image Toolbar button. Restart the system.
I am not sure whether -- or by how much -- this improves system performance; however, it at least gets rid of an annoying supposed 'convenience', which I would seldom use anyway. One could still do these things -- with one click on the image of the right mouse button.
Go Home.
You can e-mail me at waynerp@sympatico.ca.