do i need external hardrive? is this a good one?

loopy_lass

OK.... i admit i know nothing, so bear with me.. i have a 40gb hard drive in me comp, but constantly getting error message
1) low on system resources
2) XYZ not responding
3) this programme has performed and illegal ... something
4) computer locks up and wont budge around 4 times per hour & needs restarting

im runnin the dreaded aol bb on windows 98SE. Ive just installed 512mb memory ontop of 215mb ... someone suggested i get a external hard drive so i can swap it around with my laptop i shall soon be getting.

apoloiges for this link i dont know how to do them, but is this one ok? and is it what i need?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00076WEQA/ref=pd_luc_mri/026-4225927-3065211?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

thanks loops

GlennTheBaker

It may not be your HD at all - 40GB should be sufficient to keep your PC running OK. Have you tried defragmenting your drive? Also your PC collects all sorts of crap as time goes on. If you haven't done so for a long time, you may consider re-installing Windows - make sure you back up first!

Number_6_3

How much of your hard disk is used?

External hard drives are well worth the money imho.

Western digital are pretty good. Also the Maxtors, and Lacies. Cheapest quality external 250gb is about £95. Try https://www.pcindex.co.uk for cheap prices in addition to the normal price runner etc.

Do you use any anti virus, anti spyware programme?

If your thinking of getting a external harddisk might be worth waiting for this and backing up your hard drive.

A quick cleanup probably wouldn't go amiss cleanup

ccleaner are pretty good free ones.

Theres a handy problem finder on ccleaner. Select the Issues tab on the left, then scan for issues. I've never had a problem removing all it finds, HOWEVER ALWAYS BACKUP YOUR SYSTEM BEFORE TINKERING!

Theres a good selection of anti spyware products here...all free. Worth downloading if you haven't got already...its possible something nasty is causing the problems.

anti spyware

I generally find AOL a bit intrusive...its could be this thats making the problem worse.

R

BenL

I'd ditch Win 98, i did.

I got 2 refurbed laptops, 1 for me and 1 for my sister going to uni.

I put Win 98 SE on the both as we we had some licences from old pc's to use up.

They have both had stability issues.

My sisters friend at Uni has got her a Linux installation on hers. I tried but my wireless card would not work so I am using Win xp.

The laptops both run like a dream and not 1 crash.

I'm going to have to buy another xp licence though as I only have 1- in use on my desktop (naughty I know but needed to test the laptop).

I wouldn't like to say but to me it looks like Win 98 is getting more and more unstable (to force upgrades) as time goes on. The laptop didn't really have anything challenging on it (Office 2000).

I never remembered Win 98 being this much trouble when most pc's ran on it.

ps, my laptop is Intel Pentium 266 with 128 ram and 4 gig HD. I didn't really expect it to perform this well.

Ben

inatomato

I basically agree with BenL et al - you're probably better off ditching win95/98. Of course, that means buying a license for 2000/XP...

Win 95/98 are no longer supported and don't handle disk space very well. You may also be more prone to viruses and trojans because of the lack of decent security products. I suspect that if you're getting a new lappy it'll have XP on it, so you'll be OK.

Do as the others suggest and clean it up using the tools suggested.

You could always check that your paging file is being managed by Windows and hasn't been set too low. The paging file is what's used when your RAM (memory) gets used up. If you don't know what this means don't worry, but if you want to check it:

Right-click My Computer, select Properties and click on the Performance tab. Then click the Virtual Memory button under Advanced settings. It'll say so;ething like "let windows manage my vitual memory settings". If it's already set, leave it, but if not try choosing this option and see if it improves the performance.

loopy_lass

:eek: :eek: :eek: ok... thanks for all the replies, im not sure where to start replying... ok, i have c cleaner etc, i have avast & AVG, i have de fragged and scanned me wotsits...

i probably do have a whole heap of stuff on here.. so am i rite in thinking if i get a external hard drive, i can bung everything on there, wipe the comp & re install windows? or xp?

and the virtual memory thingy is set to windows managing it....

thanks again.... ps... are your really in a tomato?

loops :beer:

Number_6_3

Assuming theres no spyware, virus, and you've cleaned out the temp folders etc. If you are still getting problems it could be any number of things...

The winded way is to investigate everything and track down whats causing the problem.

Quick way buy a external hard disk. Backup everything thats important. Format the hard disk and start again. End result smooth running system free of junk and you now have a handy device to backup with, take round peoples houses etc etc.

I think you would be wasting your money to upgrade from windows 98. Chances are you system hardware is a bit dated, and XP would run like a dog. Especially as you are going to get a laptop put the £60 plus towards the external hard disk.

Thats in my humble opinion

R

wazza

1. i would say to stick with wins 98.
2. unplug the broadband connection
3. get an external hard drive. use the cd provided to set up the driver for your pc to talk to the ext hard drive. copy all your important data to the external hard drive.
4. run ccleaner to get rid of temp files etc. and empty you recycle bin
5. run any anti virus scan to see if you have any nasties on your hard drive
6. defragment your old hard drive. it is recommened that you do this in safe mode.

just hope that this frees your pc up.

inatomato

Hehe - it's a long story loops... I used to be 'jesusinatomato' after a story I read about people flocking from hundreds of miles because someone had cut open a tomato and 'seen the face of Jesus Christ' in it. It tickled me so much I use it for a board name on the Internet. I'm not one to knock anyone for their beliefs, I just found the story amusing. The board mods, however, saw it differently and changed my name

Back on the thread... the 'illegal operation' and 'low on system resources' are synonymous with RAM errors. Is the extra memory you put in 100 per cent compatible with your machine? They all look similar, and some motherboards require matching pairs of memory sticks to work correctly. This is generally on older machines, and may not be the case. What you could try is running the machine with a single RAM stick - once with the 128 and once with the 512 and see what happens. If the memory has a physical error, it should show up.

As far as external drives go, have a look in places like Staples and PC World (never thought I'd hear myself say that as an engineer!) - but wait 'til after Christmas if you can. I've picked up a couple in each of these places around January and they've both been excellent.

Hope this helps.

Geoggy

amazon have an £84.99 external hard drive at the moment (250GB) - search for buffalo

loopy_lass

thanks, ive ordered the one on my link from amazon.... struggled with pressing the pay button for this amount, but should be worth it...

I shall bung everythin onto it and then format my comp... bit worried incase it doenst work on my comp tho cos it wont even recognise a mingy ole pen drive... will wait and see... have toffee hammer and black tape at the ready...

thanks everyone.....


loops