Windows 98 IRQ Sharing

[NoNameRequired]

My computer is using the same IRQ for the network and multimedia controller. Could this cause a problem on Windows98SE ? No actual conflicts are reported but my computer crashes or slows down quite often. Sometimes my available RAM memory goes quite low when playing certain games. When I surf the internet using IE6, my connection sometimes stops responding. I click on a link but no activity is shown by my connection. My Start-up process is rather slow. (I suspect the hub to be the cause) I've tried many programs from download.com but none seem to help... I did however find a program that boosted my download rate from ~30KB/sec to ~101KB/sec. (256MB downloaded in about 40 Minutes is fine for me)

My Specs are :

AMD Duron 800Mhz
256MB Ram
ATI 3D RAGE PRO (8MB, latest drivers)
Sound Card is Built-in Motherboard (VIA 97' Audio Controller)
KT133+ A07 Motherboard (Made by VIA Technologies)
Ethernet Card (Latest drivers from Windows Update site)
My internet connection uses P.P.P.o.E
Using VIA's "4-in-1" drivers (v4.36)
20GB 5400RPM Hard-Drive
Windows 98SE (Including all critical updates from Windows Update site)
Using a hub for connection sharing.

Let me know if any other information is needed.
Anyone has any suggestions to speed up my computer ?
Any safe tweaks suggestions are welcome.

 

[Nelson]

Ok with W98, you have greater control over your various IRQ's than in 2K/XP.

best way to easily assign different IRQ to different PCI cards is within BIOS itself. Most bios will allow you to assign specific IRQ to specific PCI slots, so first.. check in Windows what IRQs are not being used, then enter bios, identify which slot each card occupies , then find the IRQ settings and manually assign each one.

After that, modify your system.ini file under the ehn386 heading (or something like that ) with something like IRQ5=1024(or 1mb), that will allocate a specific ammount of Ram to handle buffering for data sent to that particular IRQ ( this can assist with cutting down on lag and choppiness if you do it to your NIC)

also for Internet access check out the following pages : www.dslreports.com check thier TweakTester for suggested improvements. and www.speedguide.net for some reg patches for various operating systems.

Also regulary clear your Temp Internet files, cookies, and make sure you are using between 60-80mb of space for temp files...not the windows default of 10% HD.

also clean up that Registry with some sort of Registry checker or registry cleaner.

Frequently Defrag and scandisk (1/month)

Check out a RAM defragger such as RamPage, Memturbo, RAMBOOSTER - as they can assist also ( however you will experience some slowdown when the actual defragging takes place)

Ram usage increases with each app that is opened, and alot of various apps are notorious for hogging up ram and not releasing it when they are closed.

Set your windows Page file to be no greater than 2 1/2x your actual RAM.. so it should be set at about 764.


If I can think of anything else, I will let ya know.

 

[NoNameRequired]

Thanks for the information Nelson.

Something is bothering me tough...I downloaded some connection tweaking program off download.com which boosted my connection very high. I reformated today and reinstalled that program but the results are not close as good as before. What could have caused this ?

 

[t'kron]

It all depends on the load on your DSL or Cable at various times of the day. My DLS connection downloads early in the morning at 1256kbps, but by the evening it may only download at 200kbps, I have even seen it go as low as 37kbps once.

 

[cloudberry]

I agree with t'kron. It's probably nothing wrong with your connection, it's just that sometimes the speed is really low, and sometimes it's really high. An example:

I just tested my speed. I have a great T1 connection, but sometimes the speed is terrible. Right now I got 3650 kbps, but yesterday I got only about 1000 kbps. When I test it on Cnet, I'm happy if I get as high as 500 kbps.

Here's a great link for testing your speed towards different ISP's:

(Try testing it towards another country, like Sweden if you're in the States. The results are...interesting.)

http://www.testmyspeed.com/index.html

 

[Nelson]

www.2wire.com
www.dslreports.com (the speed tester)

both pretty decent speed test sites also

 

[Rapmaster]

bah don't mess with the IRQs, it's a pain and it's not your problem anyway

do you think you can do a better job than Plug&Play ???

 

[Nelson]

you mean Plug and Pray?

 

[NoNameRequired]

Originally posted by Rapmaster
bah don't mess with the IRQs, it's a pain and it's not your problem anyway

How is it not my problem ? It's my computer !

 

[Rapmaster]

I am randomly diagnosing that that is not the cause of your problem :0 I'm not really basing that on anything other than the fact that 1) IRQs are throwback to the old days and Windows is generally OK at managing them and 2) it's not reporting any conflicts