Broadband on W98 seems very slow

[#1]

It'll report 192 as your graphics card will be on-board and will use "shared memory", i.e. 64MB of your 256MB is allocated for graphics and Windows won't see it.
Adding another 256 is probably the safest bet as you'll see if you get any improvement without too much outlay.
Given the age of the board, it's probably a 500MHz machine or less, so processor speed may be a factor here too and you may be into the realm of diminishing returns.

[#2]

Quote from: Paul_B

Adding another 256 is probably the safest bet as you'll see if you get any improvement without too much outlay.

If I bought a single 256 would that be ok to go in on it's own or do I need to get two seperate 128 and fill up the two empty slots.
I'm just thinking that if there is an improvement with the 256 then maybe I could risk buying a second 256 and put it in the remaining spare slot.

[#3]

It depends on your motherboard.
From the link to your board that you gave:

Quote

Do I have to install matching pairs? No, you can install modules one at a time, and you can mix different densities of modules in your computer. But if your computer supports dual-channel memory configurations, you should install in identical pairs (preferably in kits) for optimal performance.

It looks as though it should be OK to add one at a time.

[#4]

Thanks everyone for all your help, I really appreciate it.
I've learnt a great deal too.
I've ordered a 256 memory from crucial so hopefull this will do the trick if not I'll come back again.
PS - what is the netbui thing and should I remove it - if so, how do you do that on w98.

[#5]

Just one other thing....
Should I try and tweak the MTU & RWIN figures rather than just putting in the suggested amounts frm DR TCP.
Having read an article on Kitz it says try the ping technique. Do you think I will get a different result from the one I got frm Dr TCP?

[#6]

Quote from: Paul03

I've just installed a 256 memory but the system doesn't seem to have improved.
The PC has 448 ram now so should I be tweaking something as suggested in the article below?
EXCEPTION No. 1: For systems with more than 128 MB of RAM, setting a VCache maximum of about 70% of your total RAM is recommended as prophylaxis against run-away VCache growth in rare, specialized situations. (A tip of the hat to MS-MVPs Ron Martell, Ovidiu Popa, and Alex Nichol for months of experimentation and documentation of these details and recommendations.)

[#7]

I have found you a tutor one how to remove NetBEUI
http://helpdesk.princeton.edu/kb/display.plx?ID=8569 if you have ipx installed remove that as well as thats another unwanted protocol. Netbeui was a network protocol used in windows for workgroups and it just sent packets down the network like a ping on steroids basically not letting anything else get a look in.
 

[#8]

Quote

The PC has 448 ram now so should I be tweaking something as suggested in the article below?

It may be worth a try as may be Samurai's tip. 
However I suspect that you are definitely getting into the realm of diminishing returns given the age of the machine (a good few years -late 90s?-since the mobo is a GA-6BXE ).  Processor speed is also going to play a part given that it's probably a 600MHz Celeron or PIII.

[#9]

I followed Samurai's instructions and removed the dial up entry on Network.
There wasn't anything else to remove.
The speed hasn't improved at all even with the extra 256mb installed.
Is there abything else I could do apart from replacing the whole machine 

[#10]

Only thing I can think of left to try is to give a bit more memory over to graphics now that you've a reasonable amount installed.
If your BIOS allows more than 64MB to be given over you could try increasing it to 128.  That may speed up the graphics processing a bit.
You'll need to go into the BIOS to adjust that though so it depends how happy you are at tweaking in there (pressing DEL or F2 when powering up normally gets you into the BIOS).
Edit: typo

[#11]

That's a great idea, I'll give it a go and let you know how I get on.
Also, I was thinking about the page file - is there something I could do on these lines.
I seem to remember from years ago that something can be done to the page file.
If this is true can you advise me how to do this.
Maybe I'm completely wrong on this but you never know!

[#12]

You could have a look here and see what you think!

[#13]

Thanks Paul03 - interesting article. I'm going to give it all a try maybe tomorrow as I'm a bit tied up at pres.
Cheers

[#14]

Why not upgrade to W2K or even XP if your PC can handle it ?

[#15]

Quote from: Paul03

If your BIOS allows more than 64MB to be given over you could try increasing it to 128.  That may speed up the graphics processing a bit. Edit: typo

I went into the bios but there wasn't an option to increase the card memory. I did however stumble across a bit of info within the virtual memory tab which states the memory card as having 8mb. I wasn't able to change this though.
It does seem that the card is pretty useless or needs more memory as I put my laptop on the new cat 5 cable (that's feeding the W98 PC) and the connection seemed fine. So I think I've eliminated the possibility of a faulty cable etc.
If I can't increase the Video card memory then perhaps I should try changing it - any ideas as to where I could find a good compatible one.
On the other hand, I'm now starting to think about simply replacing the machine altogether seeing as though I've just bought 256mb of ram and nothing improved and now if the video card is going to be another outlay then it may be better to simply buy another pc?