deteriorated boot up time

[johnny]

What's more or less the normal boot up time for Windows 98
SE. I don't have any startup programs but the bare
essentials. My computer used to be faster it is 4 1/2
years old. Is it the age and how can I get it back to
previous performance?

[Jim Eshelman]

johnny wrote:
> What's more or less the normal boot up time for Windows 98
> SE. I don't have any startup programs but the bare
> essentials. My computer used to be faster it is 4 1/2
> years old. Is it the age and how can I get it back to
> previous performance?

How long it takes depends on the hardware and other factors. In your case,
the main clue is that this same computer, with the same Win98 install, used
to be much faster.

Many people found that they needed to reinstall Windows 95 about every 6
months, and Windows 98 about once a year. This isn't an absolute rule by any
stretch of the imagination, and you are correct to ask first about how to
clean up the existing system! Furthermore, you've already examined the first
step, which is to look at what is launching at startup, though you may have
a lot more running than you know.

Practical steps: Computers without extraneous items running at startup start
slowing for two primary reasons. (1) Various temporary caches are clogged.
(2) They have acquired various parasites - spyware, adware, hijackers,
etc. - which are eating up machine cycles.

Go to my Computer Health page - http://aumha.org/a/health.htm - Start with
Step 4, "Taking Out the Trash." Follow the steps there. Then go to my page
on screening for and eliminating parasites on your computer -
http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm - or, if you wish, first read more about
parasites on "The Parsite Fight!" - http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm. Go
through the protocol steps in the order given. Then return to the Computer
Health page and go through the other health steps.

And let me know what works for you, please!

If these steps don't make a difference, double-check your startup load by
launching MSCONFIG from a Run box, or by checking the lists on
http://aumha.org/a/loads.htm - In the unlikely chance that all of the above
hasn't given you a more spry and frisky computer, you may be looking at a
reinstall of Windows 98 to regain its lost youth.

--
Jim Eshelman, MS-MVP Windows http://aumha.org/
AumHa Forums: http://forum.aumha.org/
The Parasite Fight: http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm
Computer Health: http://aumha.org/a/health.htm
Troubleshooting: http://aumha.org/a/tshoot.htm