Advice for old machine using cable modem?

[Lobo]

I would try redownloading or repairng IE first, here how:
To repair IE
Go to contol panel,add/remove programs
Select IE and internet tools from box
Click remove
A box will come up asking if you want to repair or remove IE
Click on repair

To redownload IE
Go to www.microsoft.com (http://www.microsoft.com)
Under downloads click on download center
Select which which version you want and select your OS
Click on run from this location when download box comes up
good luck
:)

[davlm]

Thanks Lobo. I repaired IE and rebooted, but unfortunately it runs the same. I know cookies get written to the hard drive, but I hear that thing take a hit every page I go to, even ones I've recently visited.
BTW, sorry about the loss of Dale. Didn't care for his tactics sometimes, but he was an awesome talent and a great guy off the track. Go Little E! :cool:

[davlm]

I downloaded IE 5.5, no improvement. To give an example, my hard drive was accessed about 5 seconds before this page came up. Any ideas, anyone?

[davlm]

I just got cable modem, and I'm limping along with a 200mhz Pentium with 32MB of 66mHz SDRAM. I am getting decent ratings from the speed sites, but my hard drive is getting a workout and pages don't come up as quick as my T1 line at work. Any advice? I was wondering if I'm running out of memory and maybe it's having to use the swap file on disk, but I'm only guessing. My graphics card is a 2mb dinosaur too, but I doubt that's the problem with non-video sites. Thanks for the help in advance. :confused:

[davlm]

I forgot to mention I'm still running Win95. I know, I know.... :rolleyes: I did download the Winsock 2 update.

[crazyman]

well first off,don't compare it to the T1 at work,second,yes processor speed and ram and overall basic system benchmarking and performance have much to do with internet surfing speeds.ok,add some more ram,it's so cheap right now it's insane,even if you plan on NOT keeping that box for long ,ram is almost disposable,especially 66 mhz stuff.you could buy a couple 64 mg boards for about $21 a piece.and then try these patches...
http://www.speedguide.net/Cable_modems/cable_patches.shtml

[ 03-04-2001: Message edited by: crazyman ]

[davlm]

Thanks crazyman. Guess the old rule of more memory is always better still applies. Just wanted to get some confirmation that it was worth trying.

[Lobo]

You must backup registry before appling any patchs, also with WIN 95 you need the patch vtcp386 Fix (Small v) here are some guidelines:
First bring up REGEDIT, type REGEDIT in your run box and hit OK.
Under Registry at the top of the box, click on that, now click on Export Registry File, a box will come up asking where you want to export it to, just put it in your C drive, then name it at the bottem of box, Registry. Click on ALL at the bottom so it copies all of your registry.
Click on save.
Now if you ever get in trouble or want the old regestry back, bring REGEDIT back up and click on Registry and click on import registry file, go to your C drive and click on registry and click open, reboot and your good to go.
Anytime you add a new program, backup again, any program, back it up to the same place as the last one, it will overwrite it. If you do not backup after each new program is instaled you will not have those setting's in regestry if you have to backup for some reason.


Do nothing else in this box as it is the heart of your computer, just what it says above and no more!!!!!!!!!!!! 1. You probaly need to PRINT these instructions!!!!!!!!!!!!

Go to main page on Speedguide, go to patch page (Listed on left)
2. Download the faster loading of webpages for your OS, download the speedpatch for your OS, becarefull, there are alot of patches on this page. Please read installation instructions for these patchs on patch page.Please read how to install speed patch.
3. Download the back to default patch for your OS, do not install this patch, just download it in case you ever want to change patches.Please ead instructions on patch on how to install speed patch.
4. Download Vtcp386 Fix patch if you are running WIN 95,98 or 98SE and install (Big V). Additionally, if your OS is Win 95, you will also need to download and install the vtcp386 .zip (small v) and the Windows Socket Two patch.
5. Go to www.dslreports.com/tools (http://www.dslreports.com/tools) bookmark this page as you may wish to return. Run tweak tester, check the verbose box, turn off firewalls, if you have one, copy the results by highlighing everything in the box with your mouse, then hit Ctrl & c, with your key board, come back to Speedguide and in same post you were in reply, when box comes up , cursor blinking at start of box hit Ctrl & v, this will copy results in box so I may look at them.
7. I do not recommend adding any other patches, all these tests change by the minute so don't be fooled an start adding patch after patch.
8. The best time to test for speed is early in the morning when no one (or not many) people are on the net.
9. Nothing should be running during any test, no virus stuff, firewalls,
and always clear (Delete, no this will not harm your system) your temp internet files before each test, not once during testing, after each test.
10. Do not add other speed patches on top of each other, always go back to default before trying another patch, I am aware of only one patch that will remove previous patch without having to return to default.
11. In the future, here are some other sites you may wish to visit, go to www.testmyspeed.com. (http://www.testmyspeed.com.) Please bookmark that page as well as www.pcpitstop.com (http://www.pcpitstop.com) so you may return. Also another good dowload site would be www.happypuppy.com (http://www.happypuppy.com) click on 10 demos and a large download file, do not download the whole file, just most of it.
12. You may in the future wish to go to www.AnalogX.com (http://www.AnalogX.com) and download Net Stat Live, run this while downloading a large file.
13. Please take your time and good luck. I would suggest at least 128 RAM and read up on all this, but be care full.
14. The most accurate way of testing speed is downloading large file as explained above from somewhere like www.happypuppy.com (http://www.happypuppy.com) (not all of it, just most of it). All other speed test sites will vary, www.AOL.com (http://www.AOL.com) is another fast server, you may download from this site also, remember to delete temp internet files before doing test. Try both sites as 1 may be having problems.
When refering to speed Kb is Kilobits, KB is Kilobytes Divide by 8 kilobits to get kilobytes.
Also you may wish to download Dr.TCP from www.dslreports.com (http://www.dslreports.com) to adjust MSS, MTU. RWIN and other numbers in future, this is for advanced people and I do not recommend changing any numbers that patches put in.

RUN DEFRAG AT LEAST EVERY 2 DAYS
People runnng WIN 98 or 98SE should run System File Checker once a week to make sure you have all files, all you really care about should be the Windows files and subfolders. To get to this, start, programs,accessories,system tools, system information. Click on tools in System information and it will be there. More information about it in Help.


OK now we are having fun, you do need more RAM which you can install yourself, I recommend at least 128, here's how to do a speed test
How do do speed test
1. The best time is early in the morning (3 AM - 6 AM)
2. Make sure defrag has been run so no files are fragmented
3. Delete Temp internet files, not while testing, but after each test. IE browser, click tools, internet options, click on delete files and no this will not harm system, just get rid of temp files
4. Go to a fast server such as www.happypuppy.com (http://www.happypuppy.com) and click on 10 demos, select a LARGE file to download (not all of it of download, just most of it, before you click cancel) this will show you how fast you are downloading, it's not going to be quick except except early in morning when not many people on net. I recommend you go to www.analogX.com (http://www.analogX.com) and download Net State live, run this while downloading as it will give you avg of your download speed.
5. Probably the most important, nothing can be running during test, no firewalls, no virus stuff (some of you may have to go into BIOS to disable virus scanner, nothing running except Net Stat live
Scheduled tasks will run disk defrag, 98 & SE in Taskbar, WIN ME in control panel


Or if you wish you may go to www.testmyspeed.com (http://www.testmyspeed.com) and do one of the online tests, these vary to much for me but you may like them. Another one is at www.dslreports.com/tools (http://www.dslreports.com/tools)


:)

[nodave3d]

I also am on cable and have one of those dinosaurus of a machine 166mhz pentium with mmx which I am very partial to especially since I put it through hell can't seem to part with it. After four years I finally upgraded from 32 to 64 megs of ram becuse I kept receiving the out of memory error messages when running paint shop pro so I up'ed my memory and a few adjustments to my virtual memory and file cache and the RWIN setting now it runs pretty smooth.....And not to forget I bypass my proxy settings... it took some time to find the right settings for this machine.. and also the DSL Reports site is a great source of info.. ;) So is this one

[ 03-05-2001: Message edited by: nodave3d ]

[Lobo]

Am I missing a question in there, I'm not sure sir :)

[nodave3d]

No questions, Lobo just sharing some settings I made that sped up this old machine.
Thanks :rolleyes:

[ebrissette]

Well considering most providers say that P166 is the bare minimum requirement for the service.. I'm not so sure there is anything one could do about extensive HD activity.. your virtual memory is probably getting a real workout. Lets hope that poor machine doesn't have a stroke ;)

[Biketec]

what speeds are you actually getting?

[davlm]

My usual speed is 1.3-2mps. I saw as low as 560 once. But hey, even that's like 20 times faster than the 24.6 max that my phone line could handle. So I expect it to FLY, comparitively.
I wish it was an NT machine, I could see better what the heck was going on with memory. The options I know of in Win95's System Monitor won't tell you WHAT's taking up all your resources.
But it's a moot point now, I went ahead and bit the bullet and ordered a P4 machine. The wife got sick of it being slow, so it was an easy sell. ;) Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. :)

[Storm90]

Read the post at Microsoft IE5.5 is not for use in 95.If Possible remove it and go back to the 5.1 version. It files in Ie 5.5 will drain your memory bad. Plus you might want to add 64mgs more memory. If possible. Like was stated .then clear all the reg patches you have now and start fresh. I just did this for my neighbor. Due to she is running the same prosscer you are. Now she is getting great speeds on her cable service. GoodLuck! ;) If possible take it to 128mgs of memory. Their are a couple of web sites you can get it pretty cheap now. www.memplus.com (http://www.memplus.com) and www.computercomputer.com (http://www.computercomputer.com)
usaly have great prices. If you are working on a bugit.
;)

[ 03-12-2001: Message edited by: Storm90 ]