windows me slowing down

i have 256megs of ram 20 gig hd lots of space left. all of a sudden my son can't play any midi files-they play slowed down- if you right click on my computer then click on properties the music plays at normal speed??? we have only 65% resources? we tried scan disc and defrag - tried alterring swap file etc no good. do i need to reformat? please help. thanks

 

Go to Start/Run and type in MSCONFIG. Click the StartUp tab and see how many Apps are running.
You really only need a few such as...
ScanReg
TaskMonitor
SystemTray
your Antivirus & Firewall (if you have one).

Any questions about other... just ask.

Also you may want to check for SpyWare using a program such as AdAware.

 

tried that- doesn't help??

 

And since you're running ME, you need Statemgr and PcHealth in msconfig/Startup as well.

Please put the check marks back.

 

i put all the checkmarks back-the dealer tells me to reformat the drive and reinstall windows- says it should be done every 6months or so?? thanks for the reply
i still do not understand that by right clicking on my computer then on properties why media player plays ok??

 

If your son is "normal", he probably does a lot of surfing, which can leave all kinds of flotsom and jetsom behind in your computer.
Go to Internet Explorer, click on "tools", then "Internet options." There, click on "delete files" then "clear history" then "OK."
That should help. But be sure to do as has ben suggested and reduce the number of programs running in your start menu.
When you or your son do a lot of downloading, the sites you visit, as has been suggested, can and most times do-append "junkware" including the pervasive and insdious "Bonzi", itself spyware of the first order.
Go to control panel> add-remove > then delete ~EVERTHING~ your son (or maybe yourself) may have inadvertantly loaded while downloading other, useful programs.
**The programs (sites) where games or music are downloaded can do weird to bad things to your computer in terms of what they stuff in while the desired programs/sites are being used. Root them out!
***Wile you're in "add-remove", take off old (any) programs you don't ever (or hardly ever) use. They just hog up space.

Here's another ~STRONG~ caution: Me literally ~DESPISES~ some software. ~despises~ is not strong enough: ~HATES~ is the better word for the things (old programs mostly) which can make Me malfunction. Software ~not~ designed to run with Me also leaves behind a bunch of bad shortcuts, complicating the errors.
Me doesn't run well with old, out of date software; (for example, Me won't even try to run otherwise perfectly good but older versions of Norton AV) or software with missing drivers, or software designed to run in DOS mode. If you have such software, espcially DOS games loaded, TAKE IT OFF!; yep do a strip job on the old, out of date software your son may have loaded.
****There are no shorcuts: if Me and the other programs are imcompatible, take them off no matter how much your son objects.

 

EVERY SIX MONTHS!!! take no notice,you only need to format when YOU need to........and this aint that time,the dealer is wrong.
keep coming back in here and someone will get you up to speed.
you could try this instead of a format,it works just as well.

Do this to restore a clean working registry.
Boot to a real-mode DOS command prompt by holding down F8 while powering up and selecting "Command Prompt Only."
From the DOS prompt, issue the following commands:
CD \
REGEDIT /L:SYSTEM.1ST /E MY.REG
You just created a usable copy of your machine's original Registry settings. Next, merge those settings into the current Windows Registry that's causing problems. Enter: REGEDIT MY.REG.
The next time you boot into Windows 95 or 98, the system will behave as though you had just performed a refresh installation. It will rerun the Plug-and-Play hardware detection wizard and reinitialize the desktop. But Windows will also retain the cumulative program information on software and hardware that you've added since the original installation.
This trick takes 5 to 10 minutes to execute. On most Windows machines, it usually resolves shutdown problems, fixes power management problems, correctly reconfigures hardware peripherals and banishes general protection faults--preserving program information, the Internet history cache, and desktop settings.


and if you get the chance,add more ram,you will be surprised at the performance gain.

 

When dealers or 'support' personnel don't know what to do, they always advise you to format.

This is exactly the same thing as your garage advising you to buy a new motor, because your car won't start.

I last formatted my drive in October 2000, and this was only because I accidentally copied my (empty) D:\drive to my C:\drive while trying to familiarize myself with Symantec Ghost...

Greetz,

 

thanks to everyone who helped- my son found the problem-a problem with the joystick in start - we reinstalled it and now the computer runs fine

 

Thank for letting us know. It is surprising how smart kids are today. I hope you gave him a pat on the back?

 

yes i did
thanks