OT - Speeding Up Dial-up on Win98

  • Thread starter Thread starter jacaranda
  • Start date Start date
J

jacaranda

This is probably OT, but there may be a freeware solution as well. Like
possibly a web accelerator? In any case, here's the situation:

Okay, I've been having problems with slow browsing on my dial-up
connection. I thought it was the ISP, but they say nothing's wrong with
the network. They suggested something must be wrong with my computer. But
it works fine otherwise. This is what I've done:

- Defragged
- Cleared cache and cookies
- Run anti-virus and Spybot
- I have 200MB free on my 10G drive, which is actually a lot for me - I've
run it successfully with 80MB free
- I haven't changed the number of TCP/IP programs I have going at the same
time as my browser - email, firewall, etc.


BTW, I run Firefox, though the problem is browser-independent. And I
connect at 49 kbps, but the actual browsing is WAY slower than that.

Any suggestions why my computer might suddenly be making my web pages load
more slowly?

Any freeware solutions for speeding things up?

Thanks.
 
You have done a lot, I think now you are at the stage of leave no stone
unturned.

More than one virii, spyfile & trojan check is necessary.

Use of CrapCleaner to clean up all your temps etc will help.

Also, from Windows Explorer, Delete all the files ( except the read
only file ) in Windows > Applog. Taskmon will rebuild the Applog file.
http://support.microsoft.com/defaul...port/kb/articles/q218/1/60.asp&NoWebContent=1

To view Applog, do this.
Windows Explorer > View > Folder Options > View, click on Show all
files. Click OK.
http://www.windows-help.net/windows98/start-17.shtml

==================================

These will keep temp's clean for the future.

W95/8
http://pensacolasgreatest.com/tempfiles.html
Start > Run, type in msconfig & press Enter.

2 lines to be added in Autoexec.bat
Right click & Copy > deltree /y c:\windows\temp
Click on Autoexec.bat, click on New & in the new box, right click &
Paste.
In an empty part of the window, left click.
Right click & Copy > md c:\windows\temp
Click on New & in the new box, right click & Paste.
In an empty part of the window, left click.

Click Apply & OK to exit & then reboot ( make sure everything is closed
down )

Deletes & recreates the Temp folder every reboot.

===========================

CCleaner
http://www.ccleaner.com/
CCleaner (Crap Cleaner) is a freeware system optimisation tool. That
removes unused and temporary files from your system - allowing it to
run faster, more efficiently and giving you more hard disk space. The
best part is that it's fast! (normally taking less that a second to
run) and Free. :) Windows 95/98/NT4/ME/2000/XP/2003

==============================

Online Virus check ( free )
http://www3.ca.com/virusinfo/virusscan.aspx
http://housecall.antivirus.com/
http://www.coledata.com/virusalert.htm
http://www.cybertechhelp.com/html/misc/av.php
http://www.pandasoftware.es/activescan/activescan-com.asp
http://www.ravantivirus.com/scan/
http://www.bitdefender.com/
http://www.pcpitstop.com/antivirus/default.asp
http://virusscan.jotti.dhs.org/
http://virusscan.jotti.org/
http://www.virustotal.com/flash/index_en.html
DrWeb CureIT
http://www.klitetools.com/comments.php?id=2088&catid=46&highlight=Dr.Web+CureIT!
http://www.klitetools.com/comments.php?catid=46&shownews=2088

==================================

Online trojan scan
http://www.trojanscan.com/
http://www.pcflank.com/
http://www.spywareinfo.com/xscan.php
http://www.windowsecurity.com/trojanscan/

=================================

Free online Spyware detector
http://www.pestscan.com/
http://home.ca.com/dr/v2/ec_main.en...lient=ComputerAssociates&sid=35715&CID=188513
http://www.spywareguide.com/txt_onlinescan.html
http://www.webroot.com/services/spyaudit_03.htm
http://download.zonelabs.com/bin/promotions/spywaredetector/index_za.html
Or,
http://www.spywareinfo.com/xscan.php
Screen for Adware, Spyware, Scumware, Diallers, 'Jackers and other
unsolicited commercial software.
 
Here are some more thoughts.

Run scandisk.

========================================

How to Disable the Find Fast Indexer
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q158705

8. THE TRUTH ABOUT FIND FAST
http://www.remainsecure.com/whitepapers/hacking/mshidden.htm

====================================

Computer Speed and Performance May Decrease
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;q259161&FR=1

=================================

This may only be for your own satisfaction.

PingLog
http://www.securitysoftware.cc/apps.html
PingLog - Does you ISP Suck? Some of my clients had intermittent
connectivity problems with
their ISP. The support guys kept coming out but never found a problem.
(Funny how it always
worked when they were there) I wrote this program to create detailed
logs of the connectivity
problems. Their attitude changed as soon as I sent them the log.
 
Another thought, try this, can always go back to original.

Start > Find > Files or folders, type into the top space > Hosts (no
extension, just Hosts. Make sure you are in C drive ) & press Enter.
You may have 2 hosts files, 1 is a sample ( SAM ) file, no need to
touch that one.
Rename it to Hosts.txt

=================================

Not networking, this will help.
1) Tools -> Internet Options
2) Connections tab
3) LAN Settings
4) Uncheck "Automatically Detect Settings"

=====================================

Dial-Up Adapter and TCP/IP Protocol Settings

Open up the Control Panel (once again), and double-click the Network
icon. Under the Configuration tab, select the Dial-Up Adapter and click
Properties. Go to the Bindings tab and uncheck all boxes except the
TCP/IP box. Select the Advanced tab and set Enable Point To Point IP to
No (unless you routinely accept incoming calls using your modem, in
which case leave it enabled), IP Packet Size to Large (normally I would
recommend Auto, but due to a bug it can cause problems with certain MTU
settings above 576), and Record Log File to No. If you mostly use the
Internet to download files and view webpages, enable IPX Header
Compression,
otherwise disable it. Next, select the TCP/IP protocol (if you have
multiple copies of the protocol installed, use the one for your dial-up
adapter/modem) and click Properties. Select the WINS Configuration tab,
and choose the Disable WINS Resolution option. Click the DNS
configuration tab, and select Disable DNS. Go to the Bindings tab.
Uncheck all the boxes.

Note: Sometimes, certain ISPs will give you specific instructions for
your network settings. If your ISP is one of these, you will probably
be better off using their settings... they know their particular system
better than anyone else could.

Next, open your Dial-up networking folder and go to the server-types
tab. Make sure that TCP/IP is enabled (and compression if you want web
pages to load faster, and don't care about ping), and everything else
is disabled (unless you have specific instructions from your ISP
otherwise). This will help you connect to your ISP faster.

===================================

http://www.aumha.org/a/memmgmt.htm
To improve swap file ( Virtual Memory ) usage on systems ( W9x/ME )
with more than 64Meg RAM.

DON'T set any min/max parameters. Let Windows handle it!
Put this entry in the system.ini file under [386enh].
ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1
Check on your swap file occasionally; if you haven't been playing games
or running intensive apps, the swap file often will be 0 (zero).
 
Okay, I've been having problems with slow browsing on my dial-up
connection. I thought it was the ISP, but they say nothing's wrong
with the network. They suggested something must be wrong with my
computer. But it works fine otherwise. This is what I've done:


Any suggestions why my computer might suddenly be making my web pages
load more slowly?
Click to expand...

If your pattern is that the connection comes in fits and starts (whoops,
my keyboard wanted to spoonerise that) you may have a problem with
contention, which was why I went to broadband, only to find it was _way_
worse!

What times of day? when school comes out?

Xnews displays it very clearly on the loading progress bar, I expect
there are some other apps to tell you.

Typically you get a spell at decent speed, then very slow or stop, then
another burst when it's your turn at the circuit again.

If this is true there's nothing to be done - you could try anther ISP,
but if they use the same wires and terminal equipment (BT?), they're all
in the same boat, and BT is not averse to making the competition look
bad. Allegedly.

An independent communications firm might be better, but there's never
been one round here.

mike
 
This is probably OT, but there may be a freeware solution as well. Like
possibly a web accelerator? In any case, here's the situation:

Okay, I've been having problems with slow browsing on my dial-up
connection. I thought it was the ISP, but they say nothing's wrong with
the network. They suggested something must be wrong with my computer. But
it works fine otherwise. This is what I've done:

- Defragged
- Cleared cache and cookies
- Run anti-virus and Spybot
- I have 200MB free on my 10G drive, which is actually a lot for me - I've
run it successfully with 80MB free
- I haven't changed the number of TCP/IP programs I have going at the same
time as my browser - email, firewall, etc.


BTW, I run Firefox, though the problem is browser-independent. And I
connect at 49 kbps, but the actual browsing is WAY slower than that.

Any suggestions why my computer might suddenly be making my web pages load
more slowly?

Any freeware solutions for speeding things up?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

You might find that using a ramdrive will help

http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/acf/programs/1227.php

You then need to move Firefox's cache to the ramdrive, and don't
forget to reset its size ( the default is a little on the large side,
I feel )

http://www.mozilla.org/support/firefox/tips.html#oth_cache

Have you tired filtering web content? I use both Proxomitron and
Firefox's adblock extension - really helps to speed things up.

Regards,
 
(e-mail address removed) wrote in @g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:
Here are some more thoughts.

Run scandisk.
Click to expand...

Yup, did that when I defragged.
How to Disable the Find Fast Indexer
Click to expand...

I don't have Fast Find...that apparently requires that Office be installed.
PingLog
http://www.securitysoftware.cc/apps.html
Click to expand...

I may have a look at this but unfortunately, my ISP doesn't have standard
email support. So I'm not sure I'd be able to send them a log.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I guess I'm going to have to try a lot of
different things. :)
 
(e-mail address removed) wrote in @g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

You may have 2 hosts files.
Click to expand...

I'll try disabling my hosts file to see if that affects anything. Maybe
the file got corrupted...
=================================

Not networking, this will help.
1) Tools -> Internet Options
2) Connections tab
3) LAN Settings
4) Uncheck "Automatically Detect Settings"

=====================================
Click to expand...

Okay, I did that, and I'll see if that affects the speeds.

Dial-Up Adapter and TCP/IP Protocol Settings
Click to expand...

This sounds complicated...I'll have to process. Though a long time ago,
I did the bindings as instructed by the GRC site. So unless something
has changed, that should be good--at least from the security perspective.

Put this entry in the system.ini file under [386enh].
ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1
Click to expand...

If nothing else works, I'll try that. But usually my connection speeds
are fine, it's just that something has changed recently. And I don't
think the swap file behavior would change all of a sudden.
 
If your pattern is that the connection comes in fits and starts
Click to expand...

I haven't noticed it as fits and starts. It's just that web pages used to
load instantly, now (in the past month or two) it takes a while. It's like
web page loading has become really sluggish. And it happens all the time,
all times of the day.
If this is true there's nothing to be done - you could try anther ISP,
Click to expand...

I had a good ISP, then it was bought out by a larger company. Now I'm with
the larger company and they claim they don't have any extra 'overhead' or
anything on the line that would slow things down. And as much as I'd like
to think they're lying, haha, they may actually be telling the truth.

I think the fact that I connect at 49 kbps is instructive. That's a good
speed for me. But once I start browsing, it's more like 1 kbps or less.
So maybe that means something is up with my computer, but I don't know
what...since I keep it in good shape - getting rid of junk files,
defragging, keeping viruses and spyware away, etc.
 
(e-mail address removed) ( Steve H) wrote in
You might find that using a ramdrive will help

http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/acf/programs/1227.php
Click to expand...

I'll look into that, thanks.
Have you tired filtering web content? I use both Proxomitron and
Firefox's adblock extension - really helps to speed things up.
Click to expand...

Yep, I use Proxomitron and that helps a bit, but with pages that have a lot
of tables, for example, it still takes forever to load.
 
I'm wondering if Proxomitron is at loggerheads with Firefox.
Adblock & then in Firefox Options > Privacy > Exceptions you have
pretty well everything covered.
 
(e-mail address removed) wrote in
I'm wondering if Proxomitron is at loggerheads with
Firefox. Adblock & then in Firefox Options > Privacy >
Exceptions you have pretty well everything covered.
Click to expand...

Unlikely.
However (when FF is the _only_ browser used) it might be good
idea to turn off Proxo's filters for "stuff" covered by FF.

J
 
jacaranda said:
I haven't noticed it as fits and starts. It's just that web pages used to
load instantly, now (in the past month or two) it takes a while. It's like
web page loading has become really sluggish. And it happens all the time,
all times of the day.


I had a good ISP, then it was bought out by a larger company. Now I'm with
the larger company and they claim they don't have any extra 'overhead' or
anything on the line that would slow things down. And as much as I'd like
to think they're lying, haha, they may actually be telling the truth.

I think the fact that I connect at 49 kbps is instructive. That's a good
speed for me. But once I start browsing, it's more like 1 kbps or less.
So maybe that means something is up with my computer, but I don't know
what...since I keep it in good shape - getting rid of junk files,
defragging, keeping viruses and spyware away, etc.
Click to expand...

It means nothing much, just that at that time the line seemed good.

The TCP stack does play up, change an advanced property, change it back,
it reboots and rebuilds,
sometimes that can fix a problem.

or the line may be faulty
on system tools/system monitor
add dialup adapter crc errors ok

you may see a few per hour a few hundred an hour is bad
and means the modem is always renegotiating, hence slow
and intermittent
add dialup adapter bytes received per second
if thats the problem you should see a drop in bps for
10-30 seconds each time the crc count goes up

Some reset speed, some drop speed and stay slow for the rest of the
session, and it depends what the ISP equipment does their end as well.

due to bad phone line, other phone on line,
broadband playing havoc , bad local connection, fault in
junction box , trees or birds on the wire etcetcetc
 
(e-mail address removed) wrote in


Unlikely.
However (when FF is the _only_ browser used) it might be good
idea to turn off Proxo's filters for "stuff" covered by FF.
Click to expand...
I haven't found it makes any difference, and as Proxomitron is first
in the path from web to browser it'll just mean that there's less for
Adblock to do on occasion.

Regards,
 
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