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    Wisconsin Lawyer
    April 01, 2003

    Technology

    If your firm is still squeezing the last ounce of life out of Windows 98 on some of your PC systems, you need to read this to learn some coping techniques.

    Ross Kodner

    Wisconsin Lawyer
    Vol. 76, No. 4, April 2003

    Coping with Windows 98

    If your firm is still squeezing the last ounce of life out of Windows 98 on some of your PC systems, you need to read this to learn some coping techniques.

    Ross KodnerRoss L. Kodner, rkodner@microlaw.com, is a lawyer and founder of Milwaukee's MicroLaw Inc., a legal technology consultancy and systems integrator. He chairs the ABA Law Practice Management Section's Computer & Technology Division and was a member of the ABA Techshow Executive Board from 1997-2001. He is chair of the 2002 Wisconsin Law & Technology Show.

    by Ross L. Kodner

    The typical law firm Windows 98 user can experience anywhere between one and five of what Microsoft tactfully refers to as "incidents" per day. These can include, but are not limited to:

    • General slowdowns
    • Erratic operation - keyboard input slowdown and speed-up
    • Illegal page fault errors
    • Seemingly inexplicable application errors (in both Microsoft and non-Microsoft products)
    • General protection faults
    • Fatal exception errors
    • Random lock-ups with no error message at all
    • The (in)famous blue screen of death

    Many of us have come to accept these incidents as a fact of life with Windows 98 (95 and Windows ME, too). The best solution is to bite the bullet and move to Microsoft operating systems that actually work: Windows 2000 Pro (my all-time favorite desktop operating system) or Windows XP. Incidents with Microsoft's newer operating systems are quite rare - I would be surprised to see a well-set-up system have more than one incident per month. But migrating to Windows 2000 or XP has its own "gotchas," involving suitability and compatibility of the PC systems on which they will run, software and peripheral compatibility, and so on. So if your firm isn't quite ready to relegate Windows 98 to the dustbin of techno.history, there are some steps you can proactively take to make those systems somewhat more reliable.

    The following are some things that can be done to help with system slowness and instability (until you move to new network PC stations and the more stable Windows 2000 Pro or XP Pro operating system).

    Defragmentation

    Defrag the hard drives and run "full" Scandisks periodically. System maintenance needs to be performed regularly. The Defragment utility is found under Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools. Run this at least quarterly. This also can be more automated and made more accessible for the people in your office: defragmentation can be done either via a Windows desktop "shortcut button" or by manual selection from the Start menu system.

    A "full" Scandisk should be done, especially if users frequently use the PC's power button or reset button to shut down their systems (often because Windows 98 has a tendency to "hang" during shutdown) and periodically bypass the subsequent prompt upon rebooting to run the Scandisk process. Again, found under Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools - a desktop shortcut to the utility can make a lot of sense. Run a full Scandisk at least monthly (the even more complete Scandisk with a "surface scan" is different - run that more exhaustive and more time-consuming test once a year).

    Stop Windows Brain Drain

    Remove resource "sappers" from the Windows system tray. Each item loaded in the system tray uses some of the limited and finite Windows "system resources." By removing the unnecessary items from the system tray, you actually make those resources available to be used by the workstation's applications. Some of these may be removed from your startup programs group. You can access this group by right-clicking on the Start button, then clicking Explore. Scroll down the folder tree to Start Menu | Programs | Startup. Rather than delete items, especially if you're unsure if that's a safe thing to do, consider making a subfolder called "Not Startup" and moving the items from the startup group rather than deleting them. Other items in your system tray may need to be removed from the Windows registry. I strongly caution you not to remove such items if you are not absolutely, positively certain you know what you are doing when it comes to the registry. If not, ask for help from someone who is.

    Clean the Temp(orary) House

    Clean out your Windows "Temp" folder regularly. Keeping the Windows "Temp" folder clean and empty will greatly improve the performance of the workstation. This is normally found at C:\Windows\Temp. Delete everything in it regularly. Windows 98 is supposed to do this automatically upon exiting the system, but often doesn't. It forgets.

    Lose the Pretty Pictures

    Turn off screen savers and desktop backgrounds. Screen savers and desktop backgrounds are two of the most common offenders in low "system resources" situations. This is especially true if these features have been downloaded from the Internet and are larger than the standard Windows-included files. These downloaded files often contain viruses or are "spyware" and can wreak havoc with other files on the workstation. Set the screen saver and background to "none." It is not necessary to have a pretty picture to look at on the computer - a colored desktop background in a solid pattern is fine, however. Note that Windows "Themes" are equally problematic (that is, settings packages that change icons, cursors, sounds, and so on).

    Is Less More? Is More Less?

    Minimize programs rather than opening and closing them. Closed programs do not return the same amount of Windows system resources that were taken up when the program was first opened. If a program is going to be used during the day, don't close the program after the first use - minimize it and restore to full-screen mode each time the program is needed. This will have a lessened impact on Windows system resources compared to actually opening and closing programs.

    Give Windows 98 a Break

    Close programs and reboot at lunch time. Often users will notice their system is slower or locks up more frequently in the afternoon or later in the day. Opening a program uses some of the Windows system resources, and closing that program does not recapture all of the system resources that were used when the program was opened; this often is referred to in Windows 98 as "resource leakage." It is better to keep a program open, minimize it, and then restore it to full-screen mode from the task bar when the program is needed again. Some features within programs require a lot of system resources (such as WordPerfect sorting, spell check, and merging). Rebooting the system during the day (at lunchtime) refreshes the system resources.

    Note too that Windows 95 and 98 can install a system resource meter on the task bar and actually have real-time monitoring of available Windows system resources. You also can check the system resource percentage available at any given time by going to the "My Computer" shortcut/icon on the Windows desktop and right clicking on it, then selecting properties. You will see the resource percentage on the screen that appears. There is not a hard and fast rule relating to available Windows system resources and system stability under Windows 98 (or 95 or ME). Generally, however, if the system resources fall below 30 percent, the probability of "incidents" skyrockets.

    Who's Watching You?

    Remove so-called "SpyWare" programs from your PC. These are uninvited and generally unwanted programs that can clandestinely self-download and install themselves onto your system. These programs do all sorts of scary things but are generally focused on transmitting marketing information about your Web surfing and even your purchasing habits to someone. Aside from the privacy issues, trespass questions, and so on, these programs can seriously destabilize any version of Windows. Download the free program called AdAware from Lavasoft Inc. Go to www.lavasoftusa.com/aaw.html for information. This program will scour your PC's hard drive for offending SpyWare software and can eradicate it. You'll likely be amazed at how many offending programs AdAware finds on your system and removes. Run this at least quarterly.

    Conclusion

    While nothing can completely eliminate the frustrating incidents, following some of these tips can definitely reduce the number of incidents and random freeze-ups, lock-ups, and slowdowns that are just part of life when using Windows 98. Your firm will benefit appreciably.


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