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TG00Premium
join:2001-09-22
Long Island
| Windows ME....Performance This was not written by myself but by a person who has used ME for quite awhile and I have found many of the things he says here useful in helping others with their ME problems so I decided to post it here and I didn't edit any of it(spelling etc).. I feel it is one of the better informative pieces of information about keeping ME running as trouble free as possible...It's a bit detailed so you might want to print it out if you find it useful to you..
1. First, set a system restore point so that you can go all the way back if you want to (Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore)
2. Disable all forms of power management (Right click on desktop, Properties, Screensaver, Settings, set the turn offs and the standby to “never” – while you’re in screensaver set it to none). Disable power management in your PC Bios as well (reboot, press Delete until you see the Bios, put in the password if you have one, find the power management section and ensure power management is disabled, save and exit – reboot)
3. Check various hardware settings. Make sure that DMA is enabled for your CD drive, DVD drive, hard disks if they are DMA compatible - right click on My Computer then go to Properties, Device Manager, find each device and click on it, then go to its properties box, settings tab and check the DMA box. Again, don't worry - if it isn't able for DMA it should uncheck itself on a reboot - you can look again and see. Enabling DMA makes a huge difference to games and DVDs in Windows ME. Check the Video card settings (Right click “My Computer”, Properties, Device Manager, Performance, Graphics, set accelerator to maximum), While you’re in Performance, click File System, Hard Disk, set the sliders fully to the right and change the role of the PC from desktop to network server even if it’s not – this increases speed of access). Click Floppy Disk and uncheck the search for floppy drives box. Click CD Rom and check the cache size is large and the optimisation box is correct for your drive. Click removable disk if you have one and enable write behind caching. Don’t go near “troubleshooting”.
4. Run the Direct X tests. Start, Run, type dxdiag, press Enter, go through the tabs and look at the reports at the bottom, run the sound and video tests, update any drivers it suggests at component manufacturer’s website. (If in doubt try www.drivershq.com or www.driverguide.com )
5. Disable all the potential conflicts that come with ME, such as all scheduled tasks in Start, Programs, Accessories, System tools, Scheduled tasks, by using the properties box on each task (right click to get it). Remove Universal Plug and Play if it is installed (Start, Settings, Control Panel, Add Remove Programs, Windows Setup, Communications, Details, uncheck the box). This is a program which is designed to tell your central heating etc to start in Microsoft’s future world, but what it does is call home on the internet, so it can conflict with lots of things. Disable Windows automatic update (Start, Settings, Control Panel, Automatic Updates, check the third setting). Don't let Norton (or equivalent utilities or anti-virus programs) run any scheduled tasks - when installing Utilities or Systemworks 2001/2002 or equivalent, tell it that you will do all your tasks manually, except for virus autoscan. Running System Doctor in the background causes many problems. Note that Norton 2000 is not compatible with ME.
6. Disable active desktop, it uses resources (right click on the desktop, active desktop, make sure the web content line is unchecked). Don’t use wallpaper while troubleshooting (right click desktop, properties, background, set wallpaper to “none”).
7. If you have Office installed disable Findfast (first go to Start, Settings, Control Panel, Find Fast, delete the indexes, look in the menus and uncheck “run at startup”. Next get out your Office CD 1 and in the maintenance mode of the setup program go to Office Tools and make Find Fast unavailable.) Disable the Office toolbar while troubleshooting if you use it. It causes some conflicts. Make sure you have all appropriate service releases installed if you are using Office with ME.
8. ME instals a compiled VXD driver called VMM32.VXD which can cause crashes and hangs and sometimes gives a message mentioning VMM. It is supposed to be a compilation of drivers appropriate to your particular PC but sometimes does not work properly. It is replacing other drivers available in ME which can be installed individually into the System folder. The relevant devices will then choose the single driver instead of the compiled one by preference. So, go to C:\Windows\Options\Cabs (or C:\Windows\Options\Instal on some PCs), find Win 20 which looks like a Zip file (it’s an installation Cab), use an Unzip program to look inside and find these 8 drivers, for example – vcomm.vxd, vdd.vxd, vflatd.vxd, vdmad.vxd, vmouse.vxd, configmg.vxd, ntkern.vxd, and ios.vxd Extract these files to the C:\Windows\System directory and reboot. These changes can, in certain circumstances, solve a lot of hanging, crashing, startup and shutdown problems in ME. It is important not to download any other copies of these drivers from websites because they may not be the correct versions for your installation. If this was not your problem, it is perfectly safe to remove these drivers again.
9. Disable unnecessary programs in startup by going to Start, Run, type msconfig press enter, go to Startup tab, uncheck any unnecessary programs, especially PCHealth, Load power profile (usually there twice), Scheduling agent, anything that mentions scheduling. Look at »www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm for detailed advice on this. The freeware program End it All can also be useful for this and is available here »home.ptd.net/~don5408/toolbox/enditall/
10. Update all device drivers to the newest ME compatible versions from the manufacturers’ websites. (If in doubt try www.drivershq.com )
If all this hasn’t solved your problem and especially if you are experiencing video, vmouse or VMM (01) problems, update VIA chipset patches at »www.viatech.com/jsp/en/dr/driver.jsp or, if you have an Intel chipset, download an updated ATA storage driver from »support.intel.com/support/chipse···iver.htm If you don’t know which you have right click on My Computer, go to properties, device manager, expand the + sign beside system devices and scroll down the list. If you have a whole load of VIA stuff at the end, you have VIA chipset drivers.
11. Update graphics card BIOS if it has one, update PC BIOS if you have serious resistant problems and have tried all other points in this post. PC Bios update is a mission critical one, easy to explode in your face if you have a power failure while it’s in progress, so do some advanced reading before you try it. For example, »www.mitre.org/research/cots/FLASHBIOS.html
12. For a general performance boost, If you have room to create a separate partition for your Windows swap file, do so. Start, settings, Control Panel, System, Performance, Virtual Memory, Let me specify my own virtual memory settings, and type the new drive letter for the swap file (e.g. D:\). While you're there, manually set the size of the swap file. It should be at least 150 Mb in size but much larger is helpful. If you have the space, set it to 1Gb (type 1000 in minimum and maximum). Reboot and run scandisk and defragment. If you use Norton Utilities to defragment you don’t even need a separate partition because it will defragment the swap file and place it at the beginning of your hard drive for you. Another performance boost can be obtained by turning off animated menus (Start, Settings, Control Panel, Display, Effects, uncheck the “use transition effects” box).
13. If you have to format your C drive and reinstall ME because of problems, set it up as above, and install only one of your programs at a time. Test your problems between each program installation. If you find it’s a program, uninstall the program, do a system restore and see if there’s a patch at the manufacturer’s website.
14. If you play games on your PC it is helps to reboot before and after each game.
15. Some people recommend disabling system restore for a performance boost. Doing so will boost speed a little but I do not support this recommendation unless you have a total backup of your system (i.e. a Norton Ghost cloned drive or a tape backup copy including the registry). System restore can get you out of a lot of trouble.
16. After you have set up your system as you want it, keep your PC running well by using scandisk/defrag regularly or Norton versions which are better (how often? – once a month if your usage is low, once a week if you use a lot of programs and/or the internet, every time after you uninstall a large program and again after installing a program), run Adaware from »www.lavasoft.com to keep trojans away from your PC and every few days completely clean out your internet files. Also delete everything in your C:\Windows\Temp folder after ensuring that hidden files are showing (if you don’t know how, go to Windows help index and search for “hidden files and folders, showing”). If you also keep your anti-virus up to date and run a personal firewall such as Zone Alarm or Tiny Personal Firewall, you should have a well run, neat and tidy installation of Win Me.
_______________________________________________________
[text was edited by author 2002-02-09 22:23:58] | | |
|
 jmacd27Premium
join:2001-05-13
Toronto, ON | As an ex ME user I agree with that article. Good advice for those using ME. | |
Reviews:
 ·Shaw
| reply to TG00
Very helpful post. I am newbie to computers and I have a question concerning para. 8 and the VXD driver. To remove the 8 drivers that are extracted to the system directory (vcomm.vxd, vdd.vxd, vflat.vxd et al.) is it a matter of merely deleting them from the directory or should I be looking for another uninstall process? I haven't done this yet and would like to know what I have to do, before I extract these files. I realize that when all else fails, system restore provides a fall back, but sometimes its like using a hammer to hunt a gnat. Thanks in advance. | |
| Upgrading rather than a clean install, causes many of the "issues" found in paragraph 8.
To date, I have found many variables to the VMM32.vxd
These usually include references which are found when installing new hardware with it's own software, which also calls for the use of the VMM32.vxd file.
I.E. A webcam | |
ROBNYC$Premium
join:2002-02-10
New York, NY | reply to TG00
Yea If you have another OS installed on the computer u gonna install XP do not upgrade, try doing clean install if u have the upgrade version if u a newbie, if u a advance boot from the cd and erase the current partition & do a deep format. | |
 rockotman...Blown On The Steel BreezeEmerging Research
join:2000-08-06
DSotM | reply to TG00
Good set of tips, Tommyg. I had just about all of them implemented except for the VXD trick. I'm going to try that now to see if it clears up few remaining beefs about ME, occasional lock-ups when rebooting after a proggy install, and occasional lock-ups during log-in or shut-down. Other than these little problems, I really have had no complaints about ME since I started running it last summer.
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...I'll see you on the dark side of the moon... | |
TG00Premium
join:2001-09-22
Long Island | reply to TG00
A Bump for other ME users | |
bruzzesPremium
join:2001-04-26
Euclid, OH Reviews:
 ·AT&T U-Verse
| reply to TG00
Great article Tommy!
Here are a few sites with articles that a WinMe user should have access too. Along with a few additions that I run.
I forgot how I got the Registry Tweak for the cache, so kudo's to the originator.
Some nice tweaks for ALL Windows here...
Batch files to clean Disk
»www.langa.com/downloads.htm
Tweak settings for Windows
»www.pureperformance.com/
Device Driver Support Articles
»support.microsoft.com/default.as···tr%2Easp
Via Drivers
»www.viaarena.com/?PageID=2
Copy Regedit4 and paste in Notepad. Save As Cache.reg
My computer saves it in My Documents.
These are added choices to desktop and network performance settings.
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\FS Templates]
@="Max Cache"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\FS Templates\Super Cache]
@="Super Cache"
"NameCache"=hex:00,ff,00,00
"PathCache"=hex:ff,00,00,00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\FS Templates\Max Cache]
@="Max Cache"
"NameCache"=hex:00,18,00,00
"PathCache"=hex:c8,00,00,00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\FS Templates\Huge Cache]
@="Huge Cache"
"NameCache"=hex:80,13,00,00
"PathCache"=hex:90,00,00,00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\FS Templates\Large Cache]
@="Large Cache"
"NameCache"=hex:a0,0f,00,00
"PathCache"=hex:80,00,00,00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\FS Templates\Medium Cache]
@="Medium Cache"
"NameCache"=hex:20,0f,00,00
"PathCache"=hex:50,00,00,00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\control\FileSystem]
"NameCache"=hex:00,18,00,00
"PathCache"=hex:c8,00,00,00
Info on Memory Management
»www.aumha.org/a/memmgmt.htm | |
 MSengPremium,Ex-Mod 2001-08
join:2000-07-13
Ork
kudos:6 | reply to TG00
Nice post Tommy G. Thank you for sharing this. Although written for WinME, many of the tips could (and should) be followed for just about any OS.
--
Life not only begins at forty, it also begins to show. | |
 bbrcatHelp Defeat CancerPremium,MVM
join:2000-12-09
NH
kudos:2 | reply to TG00
Very good advice from a current ME user
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USA,USA,USA !!! | |
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