2. Pick Up the Pieces
Defragging is always a good idea, but it’s triply beneficial in Win98. The Defrag applet (\WINDOWS\ DEFRAG.EXE) performs three tasks to enhance performance: It places the pieces of all your files into fast-loading contiguous areas of your hard disk, moves your most frequently used files to the front of the disk where they’ll load fastest, and groups your applications’ separate pieces into the most efficient load-order. Defrag often. Nortons Speed disk does the same thing. 

3. Be a Software Chiropractor
Win98’s WAlign 
(\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\WALIGN. EXE) can restructure programs on your hard drive for the fastest-possible access once they’re loaded into RAM and your CPU’s cache: You can see load times improve by 20% or more. But on its own, WAlign only works on Microsoft Office programs.  To align other apps, you either need to spend $70 for the full Win98 Resource Kit (which has a more powerful version called WinAlign) or you can grab a free copy of WINDOWS Magazine’s WMAlign at http://www.winmag.com/win98/winalign.htm

4. Take Out the Trash
Win98 is a packrat. As you work, it collects a prodigious number of temporary files, and it does so for good reason: The \WINDOWS\TEMP, \WINDOWS\TEMPORARY INTERNET FILES and Recycle Bin files all exist to give you fast access to items you might need again. But there’s a point of diminishing returns. And you can end up with hundreds of megabytes of these files, wasting space and decreasing performance as the operating system tries to wade through the rubbish. To keep the trash to a manageable minimum, periodically run Disk Cleanup from Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools. 

5. How’s Your Memory?
Win98 wants to manage your swap file (virtual memory) on its own. Windows is good at doing that for routine use: The swap file can grow or shrink as needed, and it doesn’t have to be all in one place. But Win98 will work faster if the file is all in one place, and if the operating system doesn’t have to constantly take time to enlarge or reduce the swap file area as you work. Right click on My Computer/Properties/Performance/Virtual Memory and select “Let me specify my own virtual memory settings.” If you have more than one hard drive, place the swap file on the fastest drive you have. Now choose a minimum size for the swap file; a good starting point is to specify at least 2.5 times your system’s RAM. Setting a large minimum size means the swap file will usually be large enough for your needs. Reboot when asked, and run Defrag to ensure the swap file’s all in one piece. After you’re done, you should experience noticeably less disk-thrashing. 

6. Try a High-FAT Diet
Many systems that came with Win98 or were upgraded from Win95 still run the old-style 16-bit File Allocation Table, or FAT16. Win98 also supports FAT32, which is better for several reasons.  It makes far more efficient use of large hard drives. It can recover from some kinds of damage to the root directory or to other critical data structures on your disk. It allows programs to load up to 50% faster due to its better use of disk space. And it allows Defrag to relocate portions of your applications and their supporting files in the actual order they’re called, for the fastest possible loading. If you’re still running FAT16, select Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Drive Converter(FAT32) and follow the on-screen directions. If you’re not sure which FAT you’re using, launch the Driver Converter and click on Next. 

7. Are You Being Served?
Windows retains some internal performance settings carried over from the days when RAM was expensive. Today they’re obsolete and even counterproductive. 
For example, in My Computer/Properties/Performance/File System, the typical role is usually Desktop Computer. But if your PC has more than 32MB of RAM, it’ll operate slightly faster if you select Network Server even if it isn’t really a server. (The Network Server setting uses a little more RAM for various disk buffers and caches to speed disk operations.) For most systems with abundant RAM, it makes sense to use the server setting. 

8. Redo DUN
By default, Windows’ networking protocols are optimized for LAN-based communication. If you connect to the Web via a LAN, you’re probably fine. But not if you use Dial-Up Networking. LANs and the Internet use different packet sizes, so the resulting packet fragmentation slows you down. Other default settings may slow you down as well, but all can be fixed by changing several Registry settings. The freeware application EasyMTU (available at most download sites) can do it all for you in seconds, and get your dial-up sessions operating at top speed 

9. Tweak You Must
TweakUI lets you improve your PC’s responsiveness by setting faster menu speeds, adjusting your mouse’s double-click sensitivity, turning off time- and CPU-cycle-wasting animations, and much more. On most Win98 CDs, you’ll find TweakUI in the \TOOLS\RESKIT\POWERTOY directory.  Right-click on TWEAKUI.INF and select Install.  After it installs, open Control Panel, click on the TweakUI icon and tweak away. 

10. When All Else Fails...
Sometimes, subtle problems can put the brakes on Windows. 
Check out or http://www.winmag.com/library/1998/1001 /fea0045.htm If that still doesn’t help, it’s time for a reinstall. But relax, you don’t have to do a full reformat. You’ll find a safe, easy no-reformat method at this site: http://www.winmag.com/library/1998 /1001/fea0045i.htm#won’t_work Reinstalling is the last resort, but it’s still the ultimate fix for sluggish Windows. 
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