Getting the most out of MEImproving your Windows ME experienceThis page is an attempt to consolidate a few of the things that I've learned over the years, about running ME without tears, and getting the most out of it. In general, the order in which the ideas are presented is the order in which they should be applied - but each can be done independently of the others (except where noted!) You've got a nice shiny new Win ME installation, with everything
still at the default settings? There's a lot you can do to help things move
along a little faster (note - not a LOT faster, just a little, but it will
eventually add up to a lot less waiting around or troubleshooting!). More
stuff is available for Win98/SE from MS - look
here - but I've
not tested them in ME Let's divide the list into a few sections - none of which are compulsory, despite the headings :) MUST DO:-Make sure that
System Restore is running appropriately Should do:Safe Mode Device Manager check Could do:Disable Animated menus Regular Maintenance stuff:Monthlyclear TIF and TEMP Weeklyfull Virus scan DailyUseful Free UtilitiesAIDA32 AVOIDRAM Managers |
Make sure that System Restore is running properly - look here for detailed instructions - also first check that the '290700 patch for System Restore' is installed, by using Windows Explorer to go to the C:\Windows\System\SMGR.DLL file - r-click on it, and look at the Version information. The version should be 4.90.0.3003. If it's not, then the test will fail, and you'll have to install the patch and then test again. If you get problems with System Restore, then look at this page for help. |
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Turn off Active Desktop - Active desktop, when it works, is good - the problem is that 1) it uses resources (which are scarce in Windows9x) and 2) it tends to break with monotonous regularity, and resulting frustration. There's no real need for Active Desktop as a rule - if you want a fancy background that comes in a jpg file (or other compressed format that 'requires' Active Desktop), then simply use a graphics editor to convert the file to a .BMP format file the same size as your screen resolution. To turn off Active Desktop, right-click on a clear area of the desktop, and select Properties - then click on the Web tab, and UNcheck 'Show Web content on my Active Desktop' |
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Turn off PCHealth Data Collection - PCHealth is part of ME that controls System Restore, System File Protection, Help&Support, and other things - but the Data Collection part of it is totally redundant. The idea is that every 10 minutes, it launches a small program that takes a snap-shot of what's running, and then goes back to sleep. The problem is that occasionally, the program throws a wobbly and either forgets to go to sleep, or spawns multiple instances of itself. |
Check Startup axis for excess content "Huh?" - it's really very simple! The registry contains a fairly long list of items which Windows runs when it starts - some of this list is necessary (like your Anti-Virus) and some of it you definitely don't want to start up (say, a virus!), and some you'd rather were only started when YOU decided they were actually needed (Adobe Reader, maybe). Cleaning up your Startup axis can speed up your boot time significantly, and speed your pc up as well - it also ensures that you have as much free RAM as possible, and as many free resources as you can get. Unfortunately, it's not a simple subject - so I'll devote a separate page to that, which you can find here. One point to note is that there should be TWO entries in the Startup list for LoadPowerProfile - they are there by design, and are needed! (more details here). |
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Remove Norton - "Remove Norton?" I hear you say "Why should I do that, it's my protection!" - No it isn't!! It's one of the most damaging pieces of software known to users of Windows Millennium Edition. It WILL kill your system sooner or later, I promise you!! The biggest problem is that all Norton Software comes with LiveUpdate attached, and this utility at some stage is likely to prevent System Restore working properly. I routinely remove all traces I can find of Norton software on my clients' machines - replacing the necessary bits with more ME-friendly apps - and I've never had a complaint (yet!). To uninstall all things Norton, use the Add/Remove Programs wizard, and then follow up with the appropriate cleaning tools from this list, and/or follow the instructions here. |
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Install Anti-Virus - ALL PC's that have any contact with the outside world need an anti-virus! and you MUST keep it up-to-date regularly!! Choose your Anti-Virus carefully (especially if you're going to pay for it!), because you will be relying on it for protection. You should aim for a stand-alone AV, rather than one of the integrated jobs, as I find that frequently people like the AV but not the firewall (or vice-versa) - if you happen to know that you like both bits of an integrated app, then fine - whatever floats your boat! :) There are a number of free AV's available for download from the net - most of them pretty good. Personally, I use AVG Free (and paid) edition, because I work on the KISS principle, and the Free version is very simple to set up and get working. One word of caution for any AV - do NOT let it scan your Outlook Express emails, or sign them! for a variety of reasons, none of the AV manufacturers have managed to create a proper working plug-in for OE (in the case of AVG, the option not to install the plug-in comes in the install - pick the Custom option - and it's better to avoid installing it, than it is to disable it once installed). |
Install Firewall
- firewalls for Win9x are not as essential as they are for WinXP or
similar OS's, because of differences in the way the systems work - but they
can be a valuable means of protection, not only for the user, but for other
on the internet if by some mischance the user gets infected with a worm.
For this reason, I recommend that everyone runs with some form of firewall
in place. If you're running on a cable or ADSL Internet connection using
a router, then that is usually sufficient. If your machine is linked using
a USB ADSL modem, or a dialup modem, then you really do need to install
a firewall (preferably before you connect to the internet - but let's get
real, here! <g>). Do a Google Search for free firewalls, and see what comes
up. Personally I would steer clear of Zone Alarm in ME - it frequently causes
problems with System Restore, and is a bitch to remove properly!! |
Update IE to IE6SP1
- If you haven't already done this, you really should. Win ME shipped with
IE5.5, and that browser is now considered rather like Swiss cheese for vulnerabilities!.
Don't believe horror-stories that hat you may have heard on the Internet,
the upgrade is easy, and trouble -free, providing your system is clean of
malware before the update. I would recommend downloading the complete set
for offline installation, and doing the install from Safe Mode - this prevents
interference by things like your AV (Norton is renowned for causing problems
here). Look here for instructions on how to download the complete set -
How to Download IE. |
Update
Windows - Just in case you didn't know, Microsoft are still (at
least until June 2006) releasing periodic Critical Updates for Windows ME
and for IE6. You should go to Windows Updates at least once a month (the
Wednesday following the second Tuesday of the month is best), and install
ALL the 'Critical' updates, and as many of the 'Recommended' updates as
you feel happy with . I recommend NOT installing drivers for hardware -
instead, go to the manufacturer's site for these (they will be more recent
than any offered by Windows, anyhow) |
Install
your applications - what's an application? - a program, a game,
basically anything other than data. Windows includes a number of applications,
but you will almost certainly want to install others for improves usefulness! |
RAM count tweaks - This only applies if you have more than 512MB of RAM installed on your system (or are about to add RAM which will take you over that point) - look here for details (<link to come later>) |
Limit TIF - the Temporary Internet Files folder - In ME, the TIF maximum allocation is set by default at 10% of the size of the c: drive. This can get to be truly HUGE on modern drives, and instead of doing what it's supposed to (i.e. speed up browsing) it can actually make life very much more difficult on the internet - slowing down the opening of IE being the most obvious symptom. My recommendation is to limit the setting (in Internet Properties | TIF | Settings) to 40MB - which is more than enough for most purposes. |
Swapfile The Swapfile is more commonly known as 'Virtual Memory' - in Win ME, the memory management was/is the best of that available in the Win9x series - and no matter what you read elsewhere, there is no third-party manager that can improve on it!. My recommendation is always to let Windows manage the size of the swapfile, but there are some good arguments (especially in systems with limited RAM) for allocating a minimum file size of say 100 MB. |
Safe Mode Device Manager check This is just a quick check in Device Manager to make sure that there are no conflicts, and no faulty device installations - look here for more info. |
DirectX test/update Many games will require DirectX 8 or even DirectX9 - and WinME shipped with DirectX7.1 All later versions are compatible with the earlier ones - although your Video card may not support all the potential of DirectX9. Downloads of DirectX are available from here (note that DirectX9 is not available for Windows 98/SE). Once installed, test it using the DXDIAG tool from the Start | Run box. |
Uninstall UPnP - unless router/modem requires it Universal Plug-n-Play is a technology that allows your computer to talk to household appliances like your cooker and fridge! - it also in some cases is used to control ADSL modems. If you're not using an ADSL modem, the chances are high that you don't need UPnP, and it is considered a security risk in most instances. As a result, I recommend uninstalling it from Add/Remove Programs | Windows Setup| |
Uninstall FindFast/CTFMON FindFast and CTFMON are programs installed by MSOffice applications. In a home PC there is never a need for FindFast, since its primary usage is for indexing thousands of Office documents on a fileserver. CTFMON is a program that allows 'Alternative User Input' - in other words, writing tablets, and microphone commands/dictation in Office - and as such, it tends to be a resource/CPU hog in most systems running ME - both need to be uninstalled, rather than just disabled, as otherwise Office has a nasty habit of re-enabling them when you update it! |
clear TIF and TEMP - All files within the TIF (see also here) and all files in the C:\Windows\TEMP folder, are temporary files. To clear the contents of the TEMP folder, first reboot the machine to ensure that any pending installs are completed properly, then open Windows Explorer (My Computer), and navigate to the C:\Windows\Temp folder - delete the ENTIRE contents (but not the folder itself). To Empty the TIF, go to Internet Properties, and on the front page, there should be a box called Temporary Internet Files - click on the Delete button there, and put a check in the 'delete offline content' box that will pop up, and click OK - wait for control to return, and then make sure that you have the right amount of space allocated for the TIF folders (about 40MB). |
scandisk - NEVER disable the 'ScanDisk after bad shutdown' option - because all that does is hide the problem, without curing it! Do a scandisk once in a while, in normal mode - and maybe once every 3 or 4 months do a full scandisk in Thorough Mode. If your report at the end shows Bad Cluster errors, BACK UP your data!! and think about possibly replacing your HD! |
Defrag - in modern systems, defragging is not as important as it once was, as HD's are much faster than they were - but the occasional defrag will help speed things up a little. If you use a third-party defragger, then keep on using it - don't swap back-and-forth between the Windows defragger (which is pretty efficient) and your one - or you'll end up doing a defrag every day, which just wears out your HD, and your patience, and wastes time and energy. DO NOT allow Norton's defragger to 'Optimise the swapfile', because that in fact severely limits the size of the swapfile, and can lead to severe problems (which can be very difficult to diagnose) |
Windows Updates - Microsoft are no longer releasing any updates for Windows ME, and Windows Updates is due to shut down for ME shortly - It's a good idea to make a list of the installed updates (using Belarc Advisor), and then go to the Windows Download Center, and get as many of the updates available there as possible. |
full Virus scan - I recommend doing a full AV scan weekly - and by 'full', I mean every file on every HD the system can see!. This means that in some AV's you may have to set the options specifically for this. Assuming you have on-access scanning enabled, then there's no pressing need to do a full scan more often (and the scan will complete a little more quickly if you do it immediately after emptying the TIF and TEMP folders) |
full Ad-Aware/Spyware scan - Do this as often as you feel a need to. DO NOT wait until you have signs of infection, but preferably make it part of your weekly maintenance routine. Use at least one of the following free tools (as well as an paid-for one that you may have!) SpyBot S&D, - for advice about which spyware utilities actually work, and which may be worse than the disease, look here |
AV update - Today's Internet is a bit of a minefield, and SPAM is a nightmare - and viruses abound (and they get worse!) - so an up-to-date virus scanner is essential for just about everyone. There's no point in having the best AV scanner in the world, if it's not up-to-date, as it won't recognise the latest viruses (or anything released after the date of the last update). So make sure that you get the updates delivered to you automatically, preferably at least daily |
RAM Managers - Windows ME has the best-of-breed memory management of the Win9x line - and it should be left alone to do its job! Various snake-oil products will claim to 'free up your RAM'. What they in fact do is use your resources and CPU cycles, and empty the RAM of stuff that's there for a purpose! Empty RAM is useless RAM - and might as well be framed and hung on the wall for all the good it does you! |
Norton - In the ME newsgroups I tend to frequent, there is no creator of software that causes more problems than Symantec/Norton. My own Win ME machine came with Norton installed - and it wasn't for some time that I realised that the version installed wasn't compatible with the OS! (even though Norton claimed it was a specially tweaked version for the purpose). There are two main offenders in the Norton stable - LiveUpdate (installed with almost all Symantec software), which tends to cause major problems with the System Restore archive; Norton System Doctor (which monitors your system in the background), which has a nasty habit of creating thousands of 0byte OEM*.INF files in the Windows\INF folder - breaking the installation of new hardware and software in the process. NAV itself is both a resource hog, and a CPU hog, and WILL slow your system down markedly. Norton Disk Doctor will attempt to persuade you to 'Optimise the swapfile' - what this does is severely limit the size of the swapfile, and lock its size, so that it prevents fragmentation of the file. This leads to situations (particularly in systems with limited RAM) where the memory required overflows that available, and the system either freezes, or crashes - with loss of data as a minimum consequence, and possible file corruption as a likely side-effect. In short - STEER CLEAR OF NORTON SOFTWARE IN ME! |
Registry cleaners - While there are occasions where registry cleaners are appropriate to use, I would counsel against their use as a system maintenance tool. The problem is that to be 'correct' in all the suggestions it presents to the user, it must know all about every piece of software installed on the PC - and no piece of software can claim that. What most cleaners do is simply follow a standard ruleset, and look for broken links. This used to be sufficient (back in Win3.x and possibly Win95 days), but particularly with Microsoft's use of 'Install on Demand' software, you're likely to find that what your registry cleaner thinks is a broken link is in fact a link to a potential install, and if you follow the cleaner's advice to remove the link, the install either won't happen when you want it to, or you'll get unpredictable error messages when it does install (or some combination of the two). |
Download Accelerators - Here, I have to be careful what I'm talking about, as the phrase 'Download Accelerator' means one thing to some people, and something totally different to others!! What I am NOT talking about is the Download assistants like GetRight (which I myself use) which may speed up your downloads by downloading a file in a number of segments, all at the same time - thereby more fully utilising your available bandwidth. These programs are mostly a Good Thing from a user's point of view (there are exceptions, like Download Accelerator Plus, where the program comes accompanied by other programs which are likely to be spyware or adware - but generally if you are expected to pay for the program it's likely to be safe to use) What I AM talking about is those programs which are claimed to increase your dialup access speed to that of a broadband connection. It sounds too good to be true - and it IS!. In some cases, a degree of acceleration can be provided, but ONLY if the accelerator goes through a compatible server - which means that there is an additional step between you and the site you're downloading from - and one that you may have no control over, who can insert stuff into your traffic that you don't need, or want! The way they work is by compressing the pages and/or files that are sent to you, and your PC then has to decompress them before they are displayed or saved. Obviously, if the file is already compressed (like a JPG file, or a ZIP file), there's very little that further compressions can achieve, and any speed increase is likely to be negated by the increased load on the CPU, and the extra link in the internet chain from source to you. Where it may have some benefit is if you're looking mainly at text files placed as web pages - but these are usually so small that there is no benefit anyhow. Is the loss of security worth the minimal benefits you're likely to achieve? only you can know that, but I personally believe it isn't! |
Disable Animated menus all those pretty animations and slides take CPU time - and that takes that time away from the time available for your programs. In fast machines, this probably won't matter, but if you're running Win ME on a P150 with 64MB RAM, it does make a noticeable difference (I know - I've done it!). Disable the fancy bits (like Active Desktop) of the Explorer interface from the Display Properties | Web options, and disable 'transition effects' and everything else in the Effects tab, and reboot |
Gamers tweaks - there's really only one gamers' tweak worth talking about here, and I'll simply refer you to the original site for that - it's THE “CONSERVATIVE SWAP FILE USAGE” TWEAK |
add vmm32.vxd to Scanreg - It's possible to add any file you like to the daily backups made by Scanreg - but it's best to limit it to just the one - vmm32.vxd. Why? - because if you lose this file, it's one of the very few that is on ME that cannot simply be extracted from the CD or the installer files - and you would have to reinstall Windows to regenerate it. Instructions for adding files to the scanreg backups are here |
Copyright © 2005-2009, Noel Paton
This page was last updated 16/05/2009