Whenever I'm using my system and am very active, such as working with large files, opening and closing many files, browsing for long periods of time, etc., my pc slows down dramatically. I get what I call "micro-freezes," where the computer completely stops responding for anywhere from one to several seconds. The cursor doesn't move, and the hard drive LED isn't active. It occurs mainly when switching between apps or windows. Restarting Windows always fixes the problem, but only until I start working again. The only apps that are running (aside from the ones I'm working with) are Zonealarm and Pelmiced (adds functionality to extra mouse buttons). My hard drives are relatively empty, and are regularly defragmented, especially the c drive, which holds only Windows and associated apps. The problem is time-independent, as I can have the computer running for hours with no problems, but the problem can occur within 15 minutes of startup if I'm very busy. Could this be a virtual memory problem, or is there another explanation? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I would suggest that you do a ctrl-alt-delete and see if you have any suspicious programs running.

Download a spyware finder/remover if you haven't already, such as Ad-Aware. Derek

After a run-in with a trojan horse several months back, I routinely do a ctrl-alt-del check periodically out of habit. Here's what I have running at the moment (which generally reflects what I usually have running): IE (this page) Explorer Zonealarm Pow (AnalogX popup killer) Pelmiced (extra mouse button functions) Systray It's pretty rare for me to have more than eight or nine programs listed when I hit ctrl-alt-del. I only have the popup killer running when I'm browsing.

Sorry, I probably should have included it already... I've run Spybot S&D, and found nothing.

Sounds to me like it's an issue with free resources. If you have a couple large files and applications running at the same time, then you are using up a lot of RAM. Right click on the My Computer icon, go to Properties. Then go to the Performance Tab. Look for System Resources. Currently I have 76% free. If that drops below we'll say 60%, then you will run into a performance issue. Even if you don't have a lot of programs running, you can be low on resources that are free. As programs are shut down, it doesn't always free up resources. I've noticed that with Windows 98, the only way to get back the free resources a lot of times is to reboot. It's a hassle, but needs to be done. Best thing to do is regularly reboot your system and try to minimize the amount of programs and files being used at once. YOu could also upgrade your RAM. Get more. Sounds like you might only have 64MB to start with.

I have 384mb installed. I guess this is just a case of Win98 not freeing everything up after I'm done using it. I guess I'll just have to keep restarting to fix it, at least until I can get a new OS. Thanks for the help.