Use Windows 98 or Windows 98se as your operating system?

AND

Have Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher installed on your system?

Is this your problem?:

Windows hangs, locks up, or goes slow after I delete large numbers of files.

OR

Windows hangs, locks up, or performs sluggishly after I delete large files, such as video clips and mp3's.

OR

Windows hangs or locks up when I empty the Recycle Bin.

Why is this happening?:

After upgrading to Internet Explorer 6 (IE6), some Windows 98 users have reported that their machines seem to lock up or perform sluggishly when they delete upwards of 100-200 files.

The same problems also seem to crop up when deleting large files, say greater than 50MB. For many people, this problem is a nuisance, because once it starts happening, it will keep happening every time you delete, copy, or move ONE SINGLE FILE.

Symptoms may include:

• A 60-second or greater delay in web page transitions
• 60-second delay or more before you can use Windows Explorer after moving, deleting, or copying one or more files within Windows Explorer
• A 60-second or greater delay in being able to click on icons or opening programs after emptying the Recycle Bin
• The windows for programs that you close remaining visible or partially visible for upwards of 60-seconds at a time.
• System locking up altogether
• Any combination of the above

FYI: Windows Explorer is the shell that allows you to delete, copy, and move files in Windows. If you open "My Computer" to delete a file, that's also Windows Explorer.

In many cases, it's the combination of Windows 98SE or Windows 98, along with Internet Explorer 6 (or greater) that is the culprit. Specifically, the version of Windows Explorer that comes with IE6 gobbles up all of a system's available memory resources whenever the user deletes a large number of files or empties the recycle bin. These resources are never given back to the system and the repurcussions snowball, affecting the user's ability to open programs, open files, manipulate files, and view web pages. The only way to stop the problem is to reboot the computer -- and then wait until the problem happens again. Because it will.

Imagine if you could only click on an icon or type a sentence on the keyboard once every 60 seconds. Wouldn't that annoy you? Thousands of people are going through that every day, and many don't know why the problem exists or how they might be able to fix it.

To make matters worse, Microsoft knows about the problem and has done nothing about it. It has been nearly 2 years since IE6 came out and there hasn't been a software update for this issue. They don't even have a FAQ for it in their Help Knowledgebase. A few helpful folks on Usenet came up with a solution, but this information is difficult to find through a standard web search. That's why I made this page: to get the info onto the WWW where it belongs.

There *may* be a solution:

The easiest thing to do is reinstall Internet Explorer 5.5 or lower. You can still find it at http://browsers.evolt.org. It should fix the problem, but may not allow you to use the most up-to-date browser features. Particularly, some banks require IE6 for you to use electronic banking. If you don't want to go this route, read the disclaimers below and continue to the next section.

Pre-Disclaimer: Before you try this, make sure you've done the "safe" things to try and fix the problem. Run Scandisk to check your drives for errors. Run Disk Defragmenter to make sure your files aren't fragmented all over the place. Make sure there are no more than 100 folders and sub-folders on your "My Documents" folder. Make sure you have fewer than 300 fonts active (long shot, Adobe Type Manager can help). Make sure your have enough free space on the drive. Make sure Virtual Memory is enabled. If you've tried all of these and none have worked, then continue reading.

Disclaimers: I, Frank Provo, warrant nothing about this solution. It worked for me. It may not work for you. The files offered on this web page were free of viruses (virii) at the time they were uploaded, but that doesn't mean they'll work with your system. If you download them, you try them at your own risk. You shouldn't download these files if your version of Windows 98 is anything other than the English US version. This solution may cause your computer to stop responding. It may cause Internet Explorer or any of your other programs to stop working. You should consider yourself an advanced user to try this solution, and if you don't, you should find one to read this page and decide if it's worth a shot. The choice in the end should be yours. You need to know that attempting this solution could cause have an adverse effect on system performance or stability. This web page is here merely for information purposes. I'm telling you "how to do it," but it's up to you to decide "if you should do it." If you're unsure, then don't do it! Also, if you have Internet Explorer 4 or 5 installed on your system, or you're using an Apple Computer, then this solution does not apply to you.

Suggestion: Make a boot disk or rescue disk before you attempt to solve this problem. That's always a good idea.

The solution:

Again, I'm providing this information, but I do not warrant that it will work for anyone. It worked for me. Before you try this, you ought to make sure you have a "boot" disk in case Windows won't load anymore. If you don't know how to make a boot disk, this solution may be too risky for you.

1. Look in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM for the files Browselc.dll and Browseui.dll. Copy them to C:\PROGRAM FILES\INTERNET EXPLORER. Make sure you COPY them instead of MOVEing them.

2. Obtain the IE 5.5 versions of those files. The full version # is v5.50.4807.2300. You can get the full installer at http://browsers.evolt.org. Use WinZip to extract them from the IE5.5 installer (look in iew2k_1.cab). Alternatively, you can just download the two necessary files from this website.