Hi again Well I just wondered. Thanks for having a look at them though. Those links indicated that other applications running can slow properties response time down. The fact it moves to a rather consistent time suggest windows is calculating the properties each time. It should be saving results to a tempory cache file of sorts. I was sort of hoping if such a file exist it would be set to read only. That was the purpose of asking how many read only files in c:\windows . I have seen other "strange problems" occur as a result of some files in windows having a read only status. Have tried different versions of 98se so the likelyhood of a corrupt dll etc is nil. Same problem each time. You have this problem immediatly after a install - which is slightly different to what others have experienced. I am stumped. Really long shots: - It can't be hardware as xp performs with no problems. Ok How big is the partition is c drive? How much free space left? What is the processor / motherboard?

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hey, I think i found a cause of this problem. What i did was i disabled virtual memory and opened properties of some files, and the properties box poped up in no time!!!. then i renabled it again and as usual it took 15-30 secs to open file properties. which probably indicates problem with virtual memory management. just to let u know. it might be useful. And about my system 20 gb maxtor hdd with two 10 gb partion and 40% free space intel 733 mhz pentium 3 and intel d815egew board

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Hi again Thanks for posting back that vital clue. It sort of opens up the doors on why this problem does pop up from time to time. {slow response etc] Access of ram memory is much faster than Hard disk access. There are a number of different issues which need to be explained together. [This is difficult so bear with me} What I normally do with virtual memory: NO I don't let windows do as it please. I confine swap space so it isn't writting to the whole of the drive. There is less need to defrag as well. There are other benifits as well, which I'll get to. As a rule I alway set the virtual memory min and max [and to the same value]. The accepted rule of thumb is to use 2 - 3 times your Megabytes of your ram. I have always used 400MB as a "good" amount regardless of the amount of sdram. Most of the time it will never use anything like that amount, but I like to set the swap file which should stay on the drive until the next reinstall. GETTING ON TO THE EXPLANATION The speed of acessing the swap file. Are there any factors which effect swap access speed? If the swap file is near the beginning of the disk access will be quicker. An example is the use of Nortons speed disk to change the position of the swap file. Listed below is a URL's - Refer to the last section which refers to Norton Speed Disk http://r.maclean.home.att.net/ http://r.maclean.home.att.net/performance.htm HOWEVER when you set the virtual memory the folder is moved to your c:\ directory [ also know as root directory] The c:\ directory IS at the begining of the disk. Refer to the last Microsoft URL: [So you do get a speed benifit from managing your own memory!] [PS use a value which is below the available free space as well. Don't be tempted to use all availabe free space as swap space] The first Microsoft URL refers to the read only status of the swap file. I don't think you always get error messages for this to apply. Visit these 2 Urls http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;239094&Product=w98 http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;240196&Product=w98

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hi, don't have norton speed disk. but i do have diskeeper 8 for doing defragmentation. which shows number of page file fragments to be 5. Now, 5 fragments of page file wouldn't have caused such a slow down. or would it? Also tried setting virtual memory manually on the default partition as well as on a different partition with maximum size of 400 MB. but doesn't solve the problem . i tried those links too. but i didn't find any solution. thanks anyways

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Hi None of those ideas worked - pity. The page file needs to be on c: in the main parent directory. Actually, I don't know if you found out how many read only files were in c:\windows The swap file is fragged in 5. I am not exactly sure on how windows manages the data within the swap file - so I can't answer that question. Just a thought: Was the properties tag slow before you loaded up disk keeper? Any program which is running in the back ground monitoring file activity, could be interfering with the speed which explorer.exe acts. I wondered if there where some issues with compatibilty of your 815 and 98. [XP is working well and I know XP has a lot of generic drivers included that 98 lacks.] Didn't actually find anything major with 98 but I found a very curious driver issue. (see urls below) I haven't really paid all that much attention but I think generally 98 installs - I don't control which order they are installed. I just update some of the generic drivers afterwards. So these are 2 Intel URLs - I hppe it may offer a clue in solving this interesting conundrum. http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/D815EGEW/ http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/D815EGEW/inffirst.htm

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hey, There are 22 read only files and 1 read only directory in C:\windows. The propeties tag is always slow at all times before and after loading diskeeper.Also, i always follow the driver installation order.I've looked at those urls , doesn't solve the problem.

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Hi again Great progess! Normally in this 98se system there are 3 files in c:\windows which are read only. When "things" are going haywire - I find many read only files. How or why these changes happen that hang the system is a mystry, all I know is it happens. Strategy: Windows knows which files it "likes" to keep read only. So I reset all the files. At next startup there are 3 [In my situation] files reset to read only. To do this - After freshly starting up go to the ms dos prompt. Not being sure how many applications are loading up in your system, it is probably an idea to enter safe mode to use the prompt or the ms dos proper. At c:\windows type [ie all action is carried out in c:\windows] attrib -s -h /s then attrib -r /s each time it should state files have been ... then check by dir /ar /s No files should be listed. Reboot into 98. Hopefully any "weirdness" is gone. Windows will set important files back to read only. Hopefully nothing during startup has reset the rest of the files back to how they were. [About 3 files should be reset to read only]

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hi, I tried to issue those commands from dos prompt but 98 wouldn't allow me to do so . an error message " sharing violation " came up as i tried to issue those commands but i have XP so i issue those commands from C:\windows. Now after a reboot , i found only two read only files , 1 less than expected. But, didn't solve the problem. Still slow response and high disk activity while opening properties box.

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Hi again Yeah, I must have been mistaken when I thought I sucsessfully reset those files under 98. I get the same thing with the sharing violation. As soon as it finds the really hidden file in tempory\content.IE5\desktop.ini it puts up the Abort/Retry/Fail message. I guess I must use dos. So anyhow, the reseting didn't help either. With the swap file in c:\ main directory - that didn't help. What are the properties of the swap file now? Under the system properties/performance /file system /hard disk. Read ahead is set to? Have you adjusted that up and down to see if there is better response. I have done a fair amount of searching, and nothing really fits the bill. However the following URL "looks" like a number of pages. [most pages talk about just deletting the index.dat files] This URL talks about Too large My Document folder? It also goes on to mention it may slow the rest of the files in Windows Explorer. http://the-it-mercenary.com/forums/Help/posts/8929.html

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hey, The read ahead is set to "full". The url u've given doesn't talk anything about properties box slowing down. besides i don't have any files in "My documents" folder. And, about the swap file: 384 MB max and min size on C:\windows set to "archive" attribute ( i've tried to unset this attribute but doesn't help.)and only 1 fragment of swap file.

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HI I mention settings like read ahead as it won't be the first time ajusting settings down or up like mouse speed, graphic rendering, acceleration etc results in better game performance or other. I usually do this "on the fly" so I find myself unable to give any specific situations. I know sometimes it doesn't appear to have any obvious connection. Anyhow I just suggest a few of these things as something has to be causing the slow response to the properties box - which is part of a function of windows explorer. Archive tag on swap file - Good. I was just checking in case something internal (problem) was resetting it to read only. Curious how you have virtual memory set [it should move automatically to c:\ ] Did you place it back into c:\windows intensionally? The URL previously mentioned - is about slow windows perforance. The properties function would lag if the system was slowing down. Thought it might apply to any of the other special folders like favorites etc as well. Personally, I have kept 200 meg or more in My docs and not noticed any problems. Included below are some other URLS which are just out of interest and may shed some ideas. How acurate they are I can not say exactly. The pages that chirp about "let windows manage its own ...." "don't set min max", all I will say is I can't understand how they ever came to that conclusion for a GENERAL recomendation for others. There are a few tricky instances with virtual memory, but with the humungous drives available, I can't really see any major problems setting aside a deticated space for swap. {However the swap file left to it own, can lead to quicker fragmentation, less likelyhood of rescuing deleted files etc...] http://www.geocities.com/~budallen/98tuneup.html This page below, towards the end; mentions swap file fragmentation. http://www.access-one.com/rjn/computer/hdthrash.html

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hey, my mistake. The swap file is located at C:\ and not "c:\windows". i also tried setting min and max disk cache size to different values by editing system.ini file as was suggested in those urls but doesn't help solve the problem. i think the problem lies in the registry. i forgot to tell you that when this problem came up, i reinstalled win 98 , i installed the drivers and opened file properties after each driver installation , the properties box poped up quickly each time. i also backed up my registry each time. Then i went on to install some softwares and again opened file propeties after each software installation to check. The problem occured after i installed "nero burning rom 6" . So, what i did was i restored the backed up registry( the one which didn't have problems with file properties). After that i opened file properties, it poped up quickly. So i thought nero was causing the problems. Just to check i installed nero again and opened file properties, the properties box came up quickly again. i thought the problem was solved. But, after i installed "powerdvd" and acrobat reader, the problem came up again.(which probably means the problem can occur after any software installation). Then , again i restored the registry , the problem was solved. Just to check again, i reinstalled windows again, and the problem continues to occur after some software installation (has also occured after a driver installation, that too being random) So, the problem may have sth to do with the registry. i think this is also causing slow disk performance especially disk write speed.

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Hi again It sounds if the problem is with installing other software that access your cd rom and dvd.(ie may hook into explorer.exe or some of the smaller components that explorer.exe uses. ) I think you may have to repost a new question. State that you have backed up registry etc and detail what you mention above installing nero and dvd etc. Someone is bound to have had similar circumstances. Nero can cause strange problems, but it is not necessarily always nero's fault. Below is a URL of one of Nero's help pages. http://www.nero.com/en/helptool/185.htm

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