Suggestions ?

[NoNameRequired]

My computer's performance seems slower than it could be. Here are my specs

AMD Duron 800 Mhz
KT133+ Motherboard with onboard sound
256MB Ram
20 GB 5400RPM
GeForce 4 MX 440
Windows 2000 Updated

The first problem I noticed is that my hard-disk is reported as having a 33 ATA. Should it not be 100 ?

Also, would anyone have any tweaks I could apply ?

 

[LT.Homer Simpson]

http://www.the-group.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5634

http://www.the-group.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5631

http://www.the-group.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5633

Try this first---and get some more ram would help.

 

[Darthtoast]

I HEARD (keyword HEARD) that if you have two ATA devices on the same IDE cord, they'll both run at the slower speed.

Keyword = heard

 

[MachitoMan]

i may have the same problem as NNR, but i need some win98 (se) tweeks

 

[baseballcap]

well First thing to check on the harddrive is to make sure CMOS doesn't have any settings to make it ATA 100 then you have to make sure that your harddrive cable is an ATA 100 cable. (there are more wires on an ATA 100 and they are a bit thinner then ATA 33 or 66.

Also Are you running anything like Cacheman? I have noticed improved system performance with that and I would run at least 3 different registry cleaners on a weekly schedule (if Win 2K has registry)

If you don't want to run cacheman, alternatively make sure your system is set up for network server, which will improve the cache system

 

[baseballcap]

oops accidently pushed alt - s (darn ICQ)

Also try system mechanic it has some good tweaks in there and is a very safe program to use, (as long as you are carefull with the security tab) Be sure to disable startup and shutdown screens which will shave precious seconds off of boot-up and shutdown times.

If you are feeling a bit more adventerous try X-tech X-Setup, it is imho the best windows tweaker out there, with hundreds of adjustable settings


I don't know if Win 2K uses the config.sys file or not, but I will be posting another thread on advanced config.sys settings, which will also improve win 95/98 performance

 

[NoNameRequired]

I realise Windows 2000 is not the best for someone who plays games. I tried Windows ME again (Not giving up on it) and the memory management is poor. I fixed everything else, but when I tried playing an MP3 with Warcraft III, my computer started crawling. Heck, just minimizing the WMP7.1 caused the playback to lag for a second or two. Disabling Fading Effects fixed that but I never had such issues under Windows 2000.

Long Shot - Is there anyway to make ME's memory management like Windows 2000's ?

I prefer ME's installtion size, boot time, exploring speed and built-in features. Too bad the memory management is crap.

Also - How do I enable ATA 100 for my hard-disk ? It does not work. Maybe my cable is no good.

 

[LT.Homer Simpson]

No 2k and Me have totally different memory management--I personally think Me sux. It has very little support from Microsoft. I would stick with 2K or get a copy of Win98se.
It may be possible that your mob doesn't support ATA 100. If so the only answer would be an ATA 100 controller card.

 

[Swilo]

Does your HDD say it's ATA 100?
If the HDD is only designed for 33, then it can't go any faster.

 

[baseballcap]

I disagree, ME uses the same windows system 9X uses I can run any game out there at this time, no matter what the specs and I have an amd athlon 700 I realize that ME has it problems, but once you Remove The recovery system and pc health and set it to conservative memory system you can be very happy with it. I have have ME installed on my system since ME came out, and I have never had to re-install, and I go MONTHS without a blue screen error

 

[baseballcap]

oh, and about the memory management? I use cacheman, set to clean the memory on a regular basis. That helps a LOT

 

[NoNameRequired]

Would you know why minimizing Windows Media Player causes the MP3's playback to lag ? Would you know why I can't have an MP3 playing and try to start Warcraft III without having the computer completly hang ?

I did try numerous tweaks for Windows ME. Perhaps I tried too many though.

Maybe my on-board audio does not like the Windows 9X/ME series ?

 

[baseballcap]

hmm, sounds like a priority issue to me download X-setup from download.com, it allows you to set priorities. (plus more tweaks than any other out there) and may be able to fix your problem

 

[NoNameRequired]

Is there any way to fix these issues without 3rd party applications ?

 

[Wargasm]

yeah it is called format and reinstall

 

[Grimlock]

and that one is a guaranteed fix