Some helpful tips from Michael Hamilton, "The PC Doc"
Things that slow down system bootup
-
You don't have enough free RAM - you should have a minimum of 12 megabytes,
but 32 or more is better.
-
Your hard disk is too slow - try optimizing it using Defrag. If you have
some money burning a hole in your pocket, you might want to invest in a
new, fast, huge hard disk.
-
You don't have enough free disk space for a swapfile - you should have
100 to 200 megabytes of free disk space.
-
You have tons and tons of fonts installed (like over 200). If you can survive
without all those fonts (and most users can!), try removing 600-700 of
them to see if that makes a difference.
-
Your network drivers (LAN, Dial-up Networking) take too long to load -
try disabling them to see if it makes a difference.
Speed Up Your Dial-Up Networking (Internet Service Provider)
Connection
Dialing into your Internet service with the built-in Dial-Up Networking
in Windows 98 seems to take forever. You'll notice that a connection is
established long before Dial-Up Networking finishes the connection. You
can speed up this process with a few quick clicks:
Part I:
Double-click on the Dial-Up Networking icon in My Computer.
Right-click on the desired connection and select Properties.
Choose the Server Type tab, and uncheck support for Log on to network.
Under Allowed Network Protocols, uncheck support for NetBEUI and IPX/SPX.
(Careful: make sure to leave TCP/IP turned on!)
Click OK and then OK again.
Part II:
Double-click on the Network icon in Control Panel.
Highlight the Dial-Up Adapter, and click Properties.
Click on the Bindings tab, and uncheck all items in the list other
than TCP/IP.
Click OK and then OK again.
Windows 98/95 Networking
Here are two easy ways to copy Dial-Up Networking connections from one
PC to another. Windows 98 users can skip down to the second method, which
is easier once you know the trick.
Windows 95 or Windows 98 Users:
If you have ever wished you could copy your Dial-Up Networking (DUN)
connections – also called connectoids – from one PC to another, here is
a method that copies all connectoids in the DUN folder by exporting information
from the system registry.
Open the registry (Click Start/Run, type "regedit" into the Open: box
and click OK) and
navigate to this key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\RemoteAccess\Addresses\
With the Addresses folder selected, choose Registry/Export Registry
File from RegEdit's menu bar. Give the file a descriptive filename, and
allow it to be named with the .REG extension.
Next, copy the file to the new PC via a network or floppy disk. Open
RegEdit on the new PC and choose Registry/Import Registry File from the
menu bar, and select the .REG file. You don't need to navigate to the Addresses
key during import because that happens automatically. After the import
is completed, close the registry and you should find all the connectoids
in the Dial-Up Networking folder.
All they need are some minor adjustments. Right-click each icon in turn,
choose properties and adjust the Connect Using field to show the correct
modem. Next, double click each icon in turn, enter your correct user name
and password, click Save Password (if preferred) and dial the connection.
Windows 98 Users only:
Windows 98 makes it easy to copy Dial-Up Networking connectoids between
two PCs. You can literally drag-and-drop-copy a connectoid over a network
(or via floppy) to another PC's root directory or desktop, and then from
the other PC, drag and drop the connectoid directly into the Dial-Up Networking
folder to recreate it there.
To make this trick work, double-click My Computer, double-click Dial-up
Networking, drag and drop each connectoid - one at a time - to your desktop.
Note that his won't work if you select multiple DUN icons at once.
As you drop, each newly created icon will appear with the .DUN extension
in its file name. Now simply copy it over the network or via floppy disk.
Make a copy on the desktop of the other PC. Now drag and drop them one
at a time into the Dial-Up Networking folder of the second PC. They
will be automatically created, with their original settings intact.
As in the first method, you will need to change the properties of each
to reflect the new PC's modem and you may also have to re-enter the user
name and password.
What do those Netscape Communicator bookmark icon marks mean?
If the bookmarked site has not changed since you last visited it, Netscape
will do nothing. Otherwise, Netscape will mark your bookmarks one of two
ways.
-
If the site has changed since your last visit, Netscape marks the bookmark
with a light-blue slash through the existing green slash.
-
If Netscape could not reach the server for whatever reason, it indicates
this by putting a small question mark next to the green slash.
Bill Houston, RLP, LandInfo Services, continues to serve
as NLA’s Webmaster. Please be sure to pass along any comments,
suggestions, web links, etc. to Bill at 775-746-2434 or wghouston@juno.com.
FEBRUARY
5, 2001
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