Sharon, before you buy a new machine, you might try reformatting your hard drive. Errors accumulate. And you might have some conflicts in your various softwares. The biggest problem I had was when I had both Explorer and Netscape in my computer, even though I used only Netscape as a browser. That may not be the case with your computer, just an example. But, it did cause freezes/crashes. When you say 68% of your "resources" are free, do you mean RAM or the hard drive? Websites are so graphics intensive and software is so complex now that it's hard to get by without at least 256 MB RAM and more is a lot better. It' real cheap to buy, if there's room on your motherboard for more. That is--if the type of RAM your motherboard uses is still available. That's the biggest problem with having a computer three years old: the parts change and the plug-in parts are no longer compatible with the old mother boards. It's cheaper to buy new. If you look for the best buys, you can get a good computer, just the box part, for $600-700. It doesn't have to be a "name" brand like Compaq or IBM to be good. It's usually better and cheaper to have the specific parts you want put into your computer, sort of custom made. You might also want to check to make sure your fans are working. Heat is what kills your computer. So, you want to keep it as dust free and well-ventilated as possible. I've noticed that when it overheats, there's symptoms like running slow and crashes. Fans wear out. There's only about $10 difference between a good one and a cheesy one. I have a cuple extras installed on mine, just to keep the air circulating and I keep the box on top of my desk--less dust than near the floor. Jan G. ----Original Message Follows---- From: "Sharon Workman" <workman@dreamscape.com> Reply-To: "Sharon Workman" <workman@dreamscape.com> To: BLACKSHEEP-CHAT-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [BSChat] Need Advice About Computer Date: Thu, 30 May 2002 15:30:46 -0400 Sheepers! Help! Question: should I be thinking about a new computer? I bought my first and only 'puter September 1999. It is an IBM Aptiva, E Series 245 running Windows98. It has been used many hours every day, with few problems and no serious ones that simple solutions couldn't fix. It is now chock full of programs and files, but "system resources" says 68% free. I run ScanDisk and Defrag periodically. That most recent ScanDisk found three clusters bad. I don't like the freezes and think I get too many. Most of the time, with a freeze, nothing works except to cut the power. This morning, Windows wouldn't load, except in Safe Mode. I followed all the directions from the Help file, to no avail, until I tried restoring the Registry to the previous day's backup, and that worked. Is my computer on a downward slide, past its peak and ready for a complete crash some day soon? Is it time to get a new one? Any help would be appreciated. I know NOTHING! Sharon IBSSG ==== BLACKSHEEP-CHAT Mailing List ==== Unsubscribe from the list: Mailto:Blacksheep-Chat-L-request@rootsweb.com?subject=unsubscribe&body=unsubscribe ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com

Thanks, Jan. Excellent advice. I am leaning towards a new computer. How long before Windows98 will no longer support programs, as 95 doesn't now? And this machine is only 64MB, expandable to 256, with 8 GB hard drive. If I knew more, I could fiddle and tweak the thing, but I know zip. Dust? There's probably enough cat hair in that thing for another seven to add to the seven I already have. :>( Sharon IBSSG ----- Original Message ----- From: "J. Garland" <zippywebgenie@hotmail.com> To: <workman@dreamscape.com>; <BLACKSHEEP-CHAT-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, May 30, 2002 6:21 PM Subject: Re: [BSChat] Need Advice About Computer > > Sharon, before you buy a new machine, you might try reformatting your hard > drive. Errors accumulate. And you might have some conflicts in your various > softwares. The biggest problem I had was when I had both Explorer and > Netscape in my computer, even though I used only Netscape as a browser. That > may not be the case with your computer, just an example. But, it did cause > freezes/crashes. > > When you say 68% of your "resources" are free, do you mean RAM or the hard > drive? Websites are so graphics intensive and software is so complex now > that it's hard to get by without at least 256 MB RAM and more is a lot > better. It' real cheap to buy, if there's room on your motherboard for more. > That is--if the type of RAM your motherboard uses is still available. That's > the biggest problem with having a computer three years old: the parts change > and the plug-in parts are no longer compatible with the old mother boards. > It's cheaper to buy new. > > If you look for the best buys, you can get a good computer, just the box > part, for $600-700. It doesn't have to be a "name" brand like Compaq or IBM > to be good. It's usually better and cheaper to have the specific parts you > want put into your computer, sort of custom made. > > You might also want to check to make sure your fans are working. Heat is > what kills your computer. So, you want to keep it as dust free and > well-ventilated as possible. I've noticed that when it overheats, there's > symptoms like running slow and crashes. Fans wear out. There's only about > $10 difference between a good one and a cheesy one. I have a cuple extras > installed on mine, just to keep the air circulating and I keep the box on > top of my desk--less dust than near the floor. > > Jan G. > > ----Original Message Follows---- > From: "Sharon Workman" <workman@dreamscape.com> > Reply-To: "Sharon Workman" <workman@dreamscape.com> > To: BLACKSHEEP-CHAT-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: [BSChat] Need Advice About Computer > Date: Thu, 30 May 2002 15:30:46 -0400 > > Sheepers! Help! > > Question: should I be thinking about a new computer? > > I bought my first and only 'puter September 1999. It is an IBM Aptiva, E > Series 245 running Windows98. It has been used many hours every day, with > few problems and no serious ones that simple solutions couldn't fix. It is > now chock full of programs and files, but "system resources" says 68% free. > > I run ScanDisk and Defrag periodically. That most recent ScanDisk found > three clusters bad. I don't like the freezes and think I get too many. Most > of the time, with a freeze, nothing works except to cut the power. > > This morning, Windows wouldn't load, except in Safe Mode. I followed all the > directions from the Help file, to no avail, until I tried restoring the > Registry to the previous day's backup, and that worked. > > Is my computer on a downward slide, past its peak and ready for a complete > crash some day soon? Is it time to get a new one? > > Any help would be appreciated. I know NOTHING! > > Sharon > IBSSG > > > > ==== BLACKSHEEP-CHAT Mailing List ==== > Unsubscribe from the list: > Mailto:Blacksheep-Chat-L-request@rootsweb.com?subject=unsubscribe&body=unsub scribe > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go > to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com > >

> Thanks, Jan. Excellent advice.< Jan's right about that heat factor, too. I found out the hard way with mine recently. It's definately a design flaw when they have the fan blowing air that's already hot onto the processor!! Seems like some good cross ventillation would be in order, but what do I know? My pc now has an additional fan on the thing and the so-called 'heat sink' has been completely removed. For the uninitiated, the heat sink looks sort of like a small but sophisticated bed of nails that is *supposed* to draw and dissipate the heat from the unit. Except that it doesn't work very well and the fan takes this dissipating heat and blows it directly onto the processor. At least, it used to, thx to my buddy, JT! :-) Best, SueB