My machine momentarily freezes,(mouse, loading pages, program activity,) every 7 - 10 seconds and stays that way for three seconds. Very annoying...AMD K2-700 with 390MB RAM. SIS 305 32mb graphics, Yahama YM-724 sound card, 98SE. I'm going nuts.... please help!!

Have you made any changes to the "stock" MS Virtual Memory settings?

Is there plenty of hard disk space on the drive that your swapfile (Win386.SWP) resides on?

Some AV programs (Symantec Norton is one) or "Recovery" programs routinely scan drives/activities which can cause these symptoms.

What processes are you running on startup?

Post back with any further info you can provide.

Dan,
Thanks for replying...
Windows is managing the swap file
Hard disk is 19gb with 15gb free
Start up programs;
AVG Anti-virus
Zone Alarm
Wise Choice S4F Internet filter
X3 watch website monitor
ethernet card program
power profile
systray
task scheduler
When I test directX, I totally freeze on the input portion of the test. I have DirectX9 installed... I would rather have ver 8 but I don't think I can un- install w/o re-formatting. That's the only lead I've come up with.
Thanks so much for your time. I appreciate you... Buster

DirectX Eradicator claims to remove DirectX, with additional features. I haven't used it (no need yet). Make sure you have the DirectX version you want on hand before removing DirectX9.

I would check your Preferences/Options settings on;

Zone Alarm
Wise Choice S4F Internet filter
X3 watch website monitor
and maybe Free AVG (I haven't used it in quite a while.....)

One (or more) of these may be doing scanning etc., or, possibly conflicting with one another.

Dan,
I will try the directX solution and let you know. I thought winoldap may be the culprit, but it does not show up in the task manager that often. I'm really amazed at this web site you guys have. I'm starting a part time service helping foks out with their computers. I'd feel a lot better about it if i could fix my own machine here!!! Thanks again man...

Originally Posted by jordansrus

Dan,
..... I'm really amazed at this web site you guys have. I'm starting a part time service helping foks out with their computers. I'd feel a lot better about it if i could fix my own machine here!!!....

Glad you like it here, and we're glad to help. It's a good team.

Dan,
The directX uninstall works great but that was not the problem. I disabled all but necessary functions of filter/ antivirus/ firewall. Not the problem either. I did test memory in Norton's and I'm getting a failed test around the same address. Would temporary freezes be a symptom of that? I dont know how reliable Norton's is because I have three sticks of 128MB each and they all tested good individually in this machine but failed when installed together.
This problem does not alway occur right after boot up. I've booted up several time with no symptoms and began experiencing them after dragging files or opening new windows. It sure seems like something is trying to access in the background. I just took a look at the CPU Usage meter in Nortons and I have a regular 74% spike in the graph view that cooresponds with the freezes!
Would bad memory do that with no load on the processor?
Still chewing.... Buster

Yes, bad memory could be at the root of all this. If you haven't already, download and make a boot floppy with MemTest86. Test the memory with this program, test each memory stick seperately if you can afford the time. Any failures signify bad memory. At the least the testing will eliminate the memory from the problem equation.

Yes Dan,
Twas a bad stick of memory... Of course I moved around some PCI cards for better access and had a time getting everything back in order... typical Win98 snafu.
THANKS again for your help and also the "problem equation" outlook on all this. That line of thought helped me keep all this "pooter-biz" in perspective. I'm a former roughneck from the oilfield and I've been trained to fix everything with a sledge hammer and a 36" pipewrench!!
Thanks again and God Bless You! Buster

Heh heh. Yeah, computers need a more deft touch. Sledge hammers are for when you've got a new one and you're ready to take out frustrations on the old one.

You're welcome. Glad to help, and to hear the problems solved.