bocabill22

Hello All.
My home brew system running Win 98SE has been running very well, but
occasionally has a problem of freezing, which it will do about 4 or 5 times a day. ALT-CTRL-DEL or Reset will clear it and restart it. I think that the Register may need some sorting out. There are many ads for Register
repair and system cleanup downloads, costing from 29.95 to upwards of $60.00 on the internet. My question is, do these do what they say they do, and which ones would you say are the best?
Could a register problem cause this freezing, or might there be other reasons? The system works just fine (as far as I can see) apart from this
problem. Any comments and suggestions will be appreciated as to how to solve this problem.

Thanks in advance...
Bocabill22

Geekgirl

I have never trusted a third party registry cleaner to clean up my registry. Too many horror stories to tell ya about the problems it may create.

As far as your freezing goes, does this do it at random?
Have you tired running the System File Checker?

Go to the Run box on the Start Menu and type in:

sfc /scannow ( sfc if not reconized)

This command will immediately initiate the Windows File Protection service to scan all protected files and verify their integrity, replacing any files with which it finds a problem. You will need your Windows cd.


Windows 98 has a database of information "The Registry" that controls how windows and all the programs should operate and cooperate with each other. As new programs are added and old programs are removed, the registry can become damaged. Many times this damage will cause the computer to become unstable. More freezes and error messages. Some times the only solution to this kind of problem is to completely clean your hard drive and reinstall the operating system and all other programs.
How long has it been since you reformatted the hard drive?

I do suggest visiting the Windows Update Site and downloading all of the Critical Updates and Service Packs.

Also keep your anti-virus updated and run anti-spyware programs once every 2 weeks.


Freezing is also known as crashing or hanging. The computer locks up and the mouse and keyboard do not respond. You may lose data and you certainly lose time and patience. Typically, you need to press Ctrl+Alt+Del to see the programs that are running and to try to close the program that is not responding, or you need to force a restart.

Here are some Common causes of freezing:

Low memory

Low disk space

Fragmented disk

Too many programs open simultaneously

Low CPU speed

Corrupt files

Software bugs

Overheating - random lockups that start several minutes after you start up the PC are often the result of the processor cooling fan not working properly

Some non-standard applications are suspect with freezing problems

Memory chip problems

Virus infection


Try these:
Do a disk cleanup (cache, temp files, old or unused files, recycle bin) .. click here for instructions.
Do not run any more applications at one time than you need to.

If the freezing happens consistently with one application, uninstall and reinstall it - files associated with the application may have become corrupted. Always use Control Panel/ Add Remove programs, or the uninstall program belonging to the program to uninstall a program.

If the freezing has been occurring since you installed a new program, uninstall it.

Uninstall any programs that you may have downloaded and installed in the past, but no longer use.

Free up resources

Run ScanDisk



Defragment your hard drive.

Obtain the latest drivers for your hardware - go to the web sites of the hardware manufacturers and get the latest drivers for your video card, sound card etc

Windows has a built in defragmenter, which is located at:

Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter

It is a good idea to run this program once a month in Safe Mode.

Dixie

I have been using Reg Cleaner for years and it's free.

Have you defragged lately? If you haven't that will cause freezing sometime. Also you can boot to MS/DOS and at the prompt type in scanreg/fix and the command doesn't need a space.