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Topic: Browser freezing up every time! |
Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Posted 28 Jul 2000 1:51 pm |
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I'm typing this on my laptop because on my desktop computer (IBM type), my browser (thru AOL) is freezing up every time I try to load a page, then I have to CTL>ALT>DEL to get out of AOL and start over! I can read my mail, etc. but I can't go to any websites like the Forum, etc. The progress bar at the bottom shows that it has loaded the page to "100%" but the "100%" never leaves the screen, as it ought to do, and then my cursor is stuck and dead.
I've re-installed AOL and this has not helped. I could maybe reinstall Internet Explorer, but that came with my computer and I'm not sure I even have it on CD-ROM to reinstall. Oh, I thought it might be virus-related too, so I ran McAfee and found no virus. Of course, my McAfee files are several months old, but I can't update to the new files because that would require me to go to a website (and it locks up at the McAfee website too, of course).
Any ideas on what's going on and how to fix it? Thanks!
Jim |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 28 Jul 2000 3:06 pm
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It could be the number of windows (programs) you have open or the number of programs that open when you startup windows (low resources). It could also be AOL doing something to you. Can you access the web through the regular AOL web browser?? If that works then it gets back to 'probably' Internet Explorer or the number of programs you have running in the background.
When you first boot up your computer and start windows, you should be around 80% free resources. Anything less and problems could arise, especially if you do not have much memory and or free hard drive space. WIN95 runs marginal with 32Meg and even 64Meg is barely adequate. Win98 or Win2K need even more memory and 128Meg is the minimum for comfortable operation. |
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Posted 28 Jul 2000 9:16 pm
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Thanks, Jack. For some odd reason, it's letting me through tonite; don't know why. But I just checked my system resources and it says only 64%. No other "programs" are open per se, but when I do Ctl>Alt>Del to see what else opened up just by booting up the computer there's a boatload of stuff. Here's the list:America Online, Explorer, Findfast, Realplay, Avconsole, Tsystray,Loadwc, Reminder, Vsstat, Mm_tray, Vscvol88, Systray, Vshwin32, Webscanx, Vsc88cnf, Aoltray. I guess this stuff is all opened automatically on bootup. Is this an abnormally long list, that might be the heart of the problem? I don't even know what most of them do!
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 29 Jul 2000 2:21 am
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Some of that is in the WIN startup file. Stuff like RealPlayer does not need to be in the startup file. Some of the others may just be programs that are currently open and others are some that have to be there.
A lot of programs what to put a quick start icon in the tray on the lower right side. Every one that is there is started with the win startup file when you start windows. As I said before some are necessary and some aren't. Another one that's unnecessary is AOL. You probably have a shortcut to AOL on your desktop and don't need to have it in the system tray. Every program that is running there is taking away resources.
Do a restart (or when you first start windows), check the system resources the first thing before you do anything else. This will give you a more accurate reading. As you use windows, open/close programs, etc., many still leave fragments in memory and the system resources will start going down - which is a good reason to restart windows after it has been running for a while.
The system resources (low resources) can also affect the modem connect speed, on a PCI type modem. PCI modems use the system resources (CPU) for part of it's modem processing instead of doing it all onboard the modem board, as the older ISA buss modems do. If the system resources start to get low, many of the PCI buss modems will also slowdown.
It's all a big game and tweaking PC's is not an exact science. Each one has to be treated individually.
To see what is in your WIN startup file, click START, then RUN and enter the file MSCONFIG. then click OK. When the screen comes up, click on the Startup tab. This will show you what is starting up. CAUTION Be careful when deleting (unchecking items) as many of those are system items thar are required for your PC to function properly. (If you remove something that should not have been removed you can always start windows in the safe mode and fix it). |
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Posted 29 Jul 2000 5:31 am
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Jack, I can't seem to find any msconfig.* file at all on my system! Just did a file search and came up empty. But I did Right-click on various icons on my tray at the bottom-right of my screen and got rid of them (stuff like RealAudio player, McAfee virus scheduler (not the actual Virus Shield, though), AOL, mp3player, etc.) I'll let you know how the system resources look once I reboot later today. Thanks!
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 29 Jul 2000 8:39 am
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Jim, are you on WIN95? if so there isn't any "msconfig" and you have to go to a config file in the windows folder to permanently eliminate the unwanted startup items. All you do, when you close them as you did is to remove them until the PC is rebooted again.
I don't recall off hand what file you have to edit to remove the startup items in WIN95. May be WIN.CFG, WIN.SYS - just not sure.
Someone with more WIN95 experience come to my rescue.
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 29 Jul 2000 11:55 am
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Jim, I did some more investigating and in WIN98, the startup data is in the Windows Registry file. I don't know if that's where it's at in WIN95.
In WIN98 it's at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
It may be the same registry entry for WIN95. CAUTION make sure the registry is backed up before you make any changes. |
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Posted 29 Jul 2000 6:56 pm
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Jack, my system is Windows 95, not 98. But, in any case, it has stopped freezing up for now, so I'm gonna leave well enough alone. Thanks for your advice, though!
You can close this thread now, or just let it gradually vanish from sight.  |
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