Automatic Tune-ups
With all the utilities in Win 98 to tune-up your system, you'll want to take advantage of the Windows Maintenance Wizard to automate the task.  To open this Wizard, choose Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and Windows Maintenance.  To let the wizard walk though the steps to customize the tune-up, you should choose "Change my tune-up settings or schedule.”  In the resulting dialog, you must select either the Express or Custom setup option.  Unless you're in a big hurry, Custom is the better choice because it gives the user much more control over the details.  Choose Express if you want the system to pick the most common choices.  The following steps apply to the Custom feature.  Click Next and select the desired tasks and then Next again.  At this point choose whether or not you want the programs listed on the next screen to be run at startup.  Click Next and choose whether or not you want the Start menu cleaned followed by Next.  Using this same procedure, determine whether or not you want the drive defragmented, the hard disk scanned for errors, and unneeded files deleted.  In each instance click on Next and conclude all of these steps with Finish.   In addition to scheduling tune-ups for your system, you can use the Windows Maintenance Wizard to force an immediate tune-up by choosing Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Windows Maintenance, selecting "Tune-up my computer now," and clicking OK.

Backup Files
In addition to backing up your working files, you should also do the same task for your Configuration and Initialization files.  If these files are lost in a crash, virus, etc., you may not be able to get your computer back “on line.”  Therefore, if you have not already done so, back up the CONFIG.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT, WIN.INI, and SYSTEM.INI files as a contingency recovery plan.

Clean Boot
Clean Boot is a WinMe feature that allows you to identify and rectify system crashes or slow operations in your Windows startup.  Clean Boot allows you to selectively choose or eliminate functions in Windows to  isolate the troubling element.  To do a Clean Boot, click on Start, Run.  Now type MSCONFIG and click OK.  The MSConfig screen will come up with numerous options.  In the General tab, choose Selective Startup.  On the same screen, click each one of the checked boxes to clear them, click the Startup tab, and select the Statemgr check box.  Click OK and allow your computer to reboot when prompted.  Go back into MSCONFIG using the same aforementioned method.  Make sure that all of the formerly unchecked boxes are still unchecked.  Sometimes, third-party products will automatically refill this value.  If that happens, you'll need to contact the vendor.  One at a time, check a box, then reboot.  When your system slows down again after a reboot, you'll know the location of the problem.  To undo your Clean Boot procedure, in the MSConfig General tab, select Normal Boot and you're back to your regular system.

Computer Analysis
Microsoft (MS) Win 9x, Me, 2000 and XP all include the free System Information tool.  You can access it by selecting  Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Information.  This user interface is an Explorer-like tree of folders including System Information, Hardware Resources, Components, Software Environment, Internet Explorer 5, and Applications.  For an analysis of your computer’s hardware, it's under Hardware Resources.   If you’re curious to see a list of all running programs, including their version numbers, manufacturer, description, path, type, and "part of" description, try Software Environment.  Many panes allow you to switch from Basic to Advanced view.  In Win2000, select View then choose the desired mode.

Disk Cleanup
In Win98, Me, XP you will find a Disk Cleanup utility.  Using it you can remove unnecessary temporary, Internet cache, and program files.  To run Disk Cleanup, click Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and Disk Cleanup.  If there is more than one drive on your computer, select the one you want to clean from the drop-down list and click OK.  Disk Cleanup will display how much disk space can be recovered and from what areas files will be removed.  If you do not want the files removed, uncheck the box, click OK and Yes when you see the confirmation message.

Dr. Watson
Dr. Watson is a MS program that gathers information about your computer when a problem occurs with an application.  Once activated, Dr. Watson studies your computer and takes notes on the system.  If an application develops a problem, it’ll take a system picture called a snapshot and post findings and recommendations to solve the error.  Win98/98SE and Me disable Dr. Watson by default.  To access it, click Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and System Information.  Windows will open a MS Help And Support window where you can select Dr. Watson from the Tools menu.  If your system is prone to application crashes, consider automatically running Dr. Watson each time you boot Windows by adding the program to Windows’ Startup folder. 

Modem Diagnostics
Win95 can inspect your modem connection to see if there are any bugs with it.  To find and fix some potential problems, choose Start, Settings, and Control Panel.  Double-click the Modems icon and then click respectively the Diagnostics tab, the port for your modem, and the More Info button.  Any errors will appear in an explanation dialog box.  After viewing them, click OK and close the Control Panel. 

Performance Enhancement
To increase the performance/speed of Win98, you can right-click My Computer and select Properties.  Next click the Performance tab and then the File System.  If the entry blank next to Typical Role Of This Computer reads Desktop Computer or Mobile Or Docking System, click the down arrow and choose Network Server.  Now, click the slider bar next to Read-Ahead Optimization and drag it all the way to the right.  Finally, click Apply, OK, Close, and Yes to restart your PC.

Power Management
Win98’s power management settings can help you conserve power.  If your PC is a typical home or office desktop unit or a laptop, Windows turns off the monitor after 15 minutes of nonuse and shuts down the hard drives after 30 minutes.  If your computer is configured as Always On, those times are then doubled.  To adjust your power management settings, click Start, Settings, Control Panel and then double-click the Power Management icon.  Now select a different power scheme from the drop-down list.  These same power management settings can also disrupt processes such as recording a CD, running a compiler, or downloading a file.  However, you can place a Power Management icon on the system tray to temporarily disable power management by clicking Start, Settings, and Control Panel.  Double-click the Power Management icon, and then click the Advanced tab.  Next place a check mark next to Always Show Icon on Taskbar and click OK.  You can right-click the Power Management icon whenever you need to adjust the power settings.

Proper Shut down
The proper way to shutdown Windows is to quit each program, click Start, Shut Down.  In the Shut Down Windows dialog box, click the Shut Down radio button and OK.  You can easily shutdown each of your running programs from the taskbar located next to your clock on the lower, right hand side of your screen.  Right-click those icons and choose Exit or Close from the options lists.  If you do not follow this procedure so Windows can neatly put away all settings, your computer could lose data from not exiting individual programs and ruin configuration files.  Win 98 and SE have a glitch that often requires an excessive amount of time to shut down.  You can overcome this problem by shutting down the aforementioned “running” programs first and then the computer.  If you continue to experience this shut down problem, go to Accessories, System Tools, System Information and then to the Tools menu there.  Now click System Configuration utility.  On the General tab, click Advanced followed by the Disable Fast Shutdown check box to clear it and finally OK.  Now restart your computer.  Hopefully you will no longer have this problem. 

Restart without Rebooting
You can restart your computer without rebooting by clicking Start, Shut Down.  Next choose the Restart button in the dialog box.  Now hold down the Shift key, click OK, and keep holding the Shift key until you see the Restarting Windows 95 message.

Safe Mode
If your computer system crashes because of a newly loaded video card, a Web site that caused your system to become sick, or, the system works, but there is no way to undo the changes, there is a possible solution.  To solve these problems, you can force your computer into Safe Mode by holding down the Ctrl key while the system is booting.  A menu will appear.  Choose the Safe Mode option.  Now your system will reboot with bare bones Windows and you can undo your change.

Suspend Bug
This is a little known bug in Win98 that causes the computer to hang when it is in suspend mode. You get this bug when a drive letter is lower case in the SYSTEM.INI.  You can fix this by clicking on Start, Run, typing msconfig in the Open box, then pressing OK.   Next select the System.ini tab and click the + sign next to the [386Enh] section to expand it.  Now select the line PagingFile= and click Edit.  Finally, change the lowercase drive letter to uppercase, click Apply, OK.  When prompted, restart your computer.

System File Checker
Win98 provides many tools to keep the system running smoothly.  Among them is the System File Checker, a utility that can search out files that are corrupted or versions that predate the ones on the computer. To access the repair utility, click Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Information, Tools, System File Checker.  To prevent unexpected hang-ups, run System File Checker after you install new applications and every other month as a matter of maintenance.

Windows Update From The Web
If you want to have the latest MS updates, close down all of your applications, connect to the Internet and go to WINDOWSUPDATE.MICROSOFT.COM.  From there, Explorer will receive a file that will compare what Microsoft has out there as the latest update, and what you have on your PC.  Then it will inform you of what you can download.  If any of the downloads are labeled Critical, download those first.  You may be required to reboot your PC.  Before doing updates, save your work.

Summary
There are several warning signs that your computer software has problems. 

• Your system slows upon launch and thereafter performs in a sluggish manner. 
• Menu choices are grayed out and/or unavailable for use. 
• Application features that used to work well now don’t launch.  They also crash, cease to function, run simultaneously with other ones, or cause the dreaded Blue Screen of Death when performing an operation or activity. 

If experiencing these problems, you might want to perform a clean “operating system” installation.