That's my best tip. It decreases by an estimated 95% (or maybe more) the explorer crashes, freezes and unexplained slow downs that everyone knows so well even on freshly installed systems with the best service packs as we have here..

I think that most of the benefit of 98 lite comes from the removal of this file which is a part of the Active Desktop component introduced with Internet Explorer 4.

This file is the plague. It is permanently loaded and do nothing else but bugs your system. If you don't use a web wallpaper that needs to be regularly updated online, you don't need this file running. But it runs even if Active Desktop is disabled everywhere you can tick at for that purpose.

Thanks to TaskInfo, I have quite easily spotted it some time ago. When explorer would almost freeze, instead of of rebooting, I would manage to load Taskinfo (sometimes waiting 10 seconds or more) and always explorer, instead of being idle as it should be, would take up from 10 to 40% of CPU time while apparently doing nothing. That's where TaskInfo came handy as it is the only utility I know that indicates not only processes CPU use but also the CPU use of the modules loaded by the processes. So I found out that it was systematically always webcheck.dll who was responsible for the explorer load. I took the risk to remove it from DOS. Since I have discovered that it can simply be unregistered to obtain the same benefits.

I think Gape could include this fix in his next service pack.

Strange though that the Microsoft experts have never spotted it themselves in their quest for stability.

Too juicy in technical support I suppose.

Would you please try and tell me if I am not dreaming.

Difference for me is almost like, say, night and day.

You're 100% right.
I have removed webcheck.dll a long time ago, and never use Web View in 98SE.

In XP/2003/Longhorn things are completely different thou, u can't disable/delete the DLL, Web View is always enabled, to show that MS "integrated" MS IE into the desktop UI even deeper.

Webcheck != Web View in any sense.
Web View in 9x/Me/2k != "Tasks Panes" in XP/2003/+.

Thanks MDGx and many thanks for your great site as well, one of the best on the planet.

I am very sure you will be pleased to include in your software list this little pearl I have dugged out of Vector : Quick Terminator.

If I may add, I have removed it from dozens of computers in the last few years and never had any complaints. Most people didn't even notice.

GL

Did u mean "Task Pains"?

Careful wi' that axe eugene! Unregistering 'webcheck.dll' can have unwanted side effects! I use a third party program to share this PCs internet connection with my laptop. Unregistering the dll caused this program to run 'winipcfg.exe' about every 5 seconds, confirming behavior mentioned in the above posts. Because it's an 'exe', 'winipcfg' runs it the foreground, half busy cursor and all. Really slowed this puppy down. So, lesson learned. Other people are as smart as us, they will use unorthadox methods to get the job done, making use of existing resource (like webcheck.dll whether active desktop in enabled or not) instead of 'reinventing the wheel. It did save me an average of 2% CPUsage 'till I ran the server.

There shouldn't be any reason I can think of that your computer(s)/laptop(s) should periodically or otherwise check/verify the connection among/between them, and by all means, not by running winipcfg. [what?!]
When you connect PCs/laptops/terminals/servers/clients/etc they stay connected unless you [or the OS if u program/schedule it] on purpose run(s) a network/LAN/WAN/P2P/etc timeout/idle/disconnect/shutdown/sever tool/service/TSR/process, and that is not needed by the proper operation of your connection.

MS made a big thing out of Web View [part of MS IE integration into the OS UI] back in the late 90s [1997-1999], to force users to use the default, built-in, bundled [or whatever u want to call it] web browser. But the world started to notice, and why do u think is MS involved in so many law suits nowadays? One of the biggest beefs lots of people had with MS was their "browser integration". Ms said that everybody must be on the internet sooner or later, and if they are, better make it the MS's own internet. :-(

The trick to completely remove webcheck.dll from the registry and memory, is to also:

1. delete all these registry keys from a REG file [cut+paste into Notepad and save as NOWEBCHK.REG (example)]:

CODE

REGEDIT4
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\CLASSES\CLSID\{E6FB5E20-DE35-11CF-9C87-00AA005127ED}]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\CLASSES\CLSID\{ABBE31D0-6DAE-11D0-BECA-00C04FD940BE}]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\CLASSES\CLSID\{F5175861-2688-11d0-9C5E-00AA00A45957}]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\CLASSES\CLSID\{08165EA0-E946-11CF-9C87-00AA005127ED}]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\CLASSES\CLSID\{E3A8BDE6-ABCE-11d0-BC4B-00C04FD929DB}]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\CLASSES\CLSID\{E8BB6DC0-6B4E-11d0-92DB-00A0C90C2BD7}]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\CLASSES\CLSID\{7D559C10-9FE9-11d0-93F7-00AA0059CE02}]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\CLASSES\CLSID\{E6CC6978-6B6E-11D0-BECA-00C04FD940BE}]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\CLASSES\CLSID\{D8BD2030-6FC9-11D0-864F-00AA006809D9}]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\CLASSES\CLSID\{7FC0B86E-5FA7-11d1-BC7C-00C04FD929DB}]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\CLASSES\CLSID\{1BE1F766-5536-11D1-B726-00C04FB926AF}]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SyncMgr\Handlers\{7FC0B86E-5FA7-11d1-BC7C-00C04FD929DB}]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ShellServiceObjectDelayLoad]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WebCheck]
[-HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Webcheck]

2. then delete/move/rename these 5 files from %windir%\system [usually C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM]:

SENS.DLL
SENSAPI.DLL
SENSCFG.DLL
WEBCHECK.DLL
LOADWC.EXE

Note that these 5 files are updated to newer versions by MS IE 5.5 + 6.0, all editions.

FYI:
If using Briefcase or Synchronize Web Wizard, u need to keep the 3 SENS*.DLL files in %windir%\system .

You may have to reboot after running REG file above, to make sure none of these files are still resident in memory.
If u do all this, the periodic checker will never come back to haunt u.

Of course, it depends if you use Web View on your computer, which per se consumes extra CPU cycles.
If u do, and if u also subscribe to any news/weather/ticker/stock/etc channels, which update their info periodically by downloading packets from their servers, than u do need webcheck.dll + loadwc.exe files + reg entries.
But IMHO I'm against using Web View, and anything useless that bogs down my CPU.

Then of course, we can go deeper, and instead of removing Webcheck, we can tweak its security policies, to effectively disable webview/channel checking/logging/loading/scheduling/downloading/etc [scroll down to where u see "MS IE 4.0x/5.xx/6.xx Web Check tool (%windir%\System\Loadwc.exe launched by %windir%\System\Webcheck.dll)"]:
http://www.mdgx.com/newtip9.htm#RESTRICT
particularly these 2 DWORD registry values:


Make sure they both show 1 in the Decimal box.

More WebCheck tweaking: run Regedit and go to:


Replace auto with no .

Some of these settings may require rebooting to take effect.

Hope this helps.

As there seems to be some confusion, I want to point out that unregistering or removing webcheck.dll DOES NOT affect web view for folders as this function relies on webw.dll.

I do not notice any stability or speed difference by using or not using web view on my Athlon 2600.

I do not use web view normally as I do not like it but I have just turned it on to make sure and it works fine.

To avoid any other confusion, I will point out as well that unregistering or removing webcheck.dll does not affect at all the taskbar/toolbar system which is another IE4+ component. I have 12 toolbars (+ quicklaunch toolbar) on 3 taskbars at the moment and this works just extremely fine without webcheck.dll.

You can't notice any slowdown even with Web View enabled, if u are not subscribed to any channels or have any web sites displayed on your Dekstop that update periodically their info or are scheduled to periodically d/l stuff, and that of course is more obvious if u have a slower CPU, and eventually older computer hardware.

Webcheck.dll has only 1 function: to check servers/IP addresses for updates, and only if set to do so by enabling/scheduling channels, news, updates, desktop features which require downloading files from the internet, etc....

FYI:
The 3 SENS*.DLL files I mentioned earlier are also used by Briefcase + Web Synchronize Wizard, so if u use any of those features, u need to keep them in %windir%\system .

to quote MDGx:


Make sure they both show 1 in the Decimal box.

More WebCheck tweaking: run Regedit and go to:


Replace auto with no .

Some of these settings may require rebooting to take effect.

This does help! The 'M' in MDGx must stand for 'Master'! Of course this is the perfect solution. My internet sharing software works fine now. Webcheck (and it's minions) do not load at startup, I still get my 2% CPUsage savings. Even if Webcheck becomes active when my server kicks in, that is the way it should behave. It may even 'unload' now when I 'disconnect' fron the internet. Even if not, I can always reduce the size of the .dll by replacing the inbedded 'Icon groups' with a single 32x32x256 colour icon. I've done this with many .exe and .dll files on my system with a savings of over a meg of ram at boot. Windows will look for the best icon it needs or 'dither' and resize the icon it finds if nessesary, so I sacrifice a tiny amount of perfomance for a big memory savings. You can replace an 'Icon groups' with 'Reshacker' by saving a group, deleting un-nessesary icons with you favourite icon editer and then 'Replace' the new 'Icon group' with the old one.
A bit off topic, but we are talking perfomace inprovement here. The same goes for inbedded bitmaps, save, reduce colour depth to 256 colours and replace for a big savings. I have reduced the size of some .exe and .dll files by more then half with this trick.

Why 32x32x256 and not 1x1x1? No icon, but saves bit more!

Tihiy:

Again, off topic. But, in a way, if we stop un-nessesay '.dll's from loading, why not un-nessesay icons from loading into memory with the dll? Lame tie-in but oh well...

a 1x1x1 icon would work it it were never shown. I settle for a single 32x32x256 icon 'cause it is the best comprimise for a good display. Dithers nicely up to 48x48 and down to 16x16. I use 256 colour icons, as opposed to 16 colour, 'cause, (of all folks, you'll understand) I will not sacrifice a good look for performance. I'll make my gains in other ways, thank you!

It may or it does ? There is a big difference between the two. You obviously don't know what you are talking about here.


This is indeed totally off-topic but nevertheless : I permanently run 13 additional background tasks to improve Windows's functionality and I use 32 bits icons and a 1280x1024 32 bits wallpaper. I have got ~ 400 MB out of 512 MB of free memory after startup and all consumes less than 1% of CPU time when idle. I am curious, how little RAM have you got on your machine that you need to strip system files from their icons and bitmaps to gain UP TO ONE MEG OF RAM at startup ? Ditch your 486 (or 386 maybe as you are so desperate of saving 1 meg of RAM), we are in 2005 and if you are interested in advanced interface hacking, have a look at WinT's mods. He does not like icons so he has reshacked many system files as to have a totally iconless system including in tree views. Very interesting.

My point about webcheck.dll was not about saving some CPU cycles or a few MB of RAM which are both abundant enough today not to care too much about. My point was to speak about a totally misbehaved file which is responsable of 95+% of the explorer crashes and freezes which force you to constantly reboot your machine and spoils your computing experience.

Yes that's finally what I said in my first post :


All the other files can remain registered in the system as they perform without affecting stability. Indeed, enabling Webview on low spec system affects speed but that's another question alltogether and one about which I wouldn't have bothered to post anything as this should be obvious for even beginners : more stuff and cosmetic functions you use, more it consumes resources which is more visible on low spec systems.

Just type regsvr32 /u webcheck.dll in the run box and notice the difference.

And if after that you suddenly miss sorely needed functionality just type regsvr32 webcheck.dll in the run box and webcheck will be back to crash your system.

As simple as that.

eidenk:

Your right, I don't know what I'm talking 'bout here, it's been a decade since I wrote any decent code. But... I built my first 2 computers 25 years ago, one from scratch (I even etched my own pc board.
). When I was at my peak, I wrote my own language (an extention of good ol' Basic) 'cause it let me tailor my projects to my customers needs.
We really needed to save every byte o' ram and disk space then.
This PC is 200mhz MMX, 96meg RAM and I'm running 18 enhancers at startup taking 'bout half my RAM and running 3% CPUsage.

But, in general, I do know my stuff. As far as Webcheck.dll goes, the solution mentioned above is still the way to go. Unregistering Webcheck broke a third party internet sharing program. Not only did modding those 4 registry keys not hurt this proggie at all, it actually fixed a bug, too! When another PC on my network dialed up through this machine (instead of me dialing up from here and then using another PC) I got the same behaviour as I mentioned before, Webcheck calls 'winipcfg.exe' every 5 seconds. With this fix, though, that behaviour dissappears! Webcheck has now been tamed. Would have never figured it out on my own, so thanx to everyone on this board! I'll do my best, as a retired programmer, to contribute.

Respect.
My hat off to you, nitebat.

Thanx for the support, MDGx:

Not leaving well enough alone, I have messed around with the WebCheck 'fix' to see what was causing this behavour. My 'base' machine and a Dell laptop have a 'cheap' form of 98Lite. I discovered from an article on the web (about 4 years ago) about how to 'transplant' the Win 95 'shell' into Win 98. The three files are Explorer.exe Shell32.dll & ComDlg32.dll (I'm sure this is not news to you). 98Lites' idea was to inprove performance and to 'unplug' web integration. Now, it turns out that my version of Windows was 95c which shipped with Internet Explorer 4.01 and web integration! My Explorer.exe is version 4.72.2106.4 .

Two points;

What happened with Webcheck may have been the result of the 'oddness' of my systems. My current IE on both PCs is 5.5 sp2.

What did the 'c' stand for in 95c? That version no. above. Is that a Win 95 Explorer.exe? It was smaller then the one that shipped with Win 98se (and I made it smaller still by 'ResHacking' it to death).



Oh, one last point. This setup allowed me to have a web integrated Win 95 shell on Win 98se, an option 98Lite doesn't offer. I like web integration up to a point! I usually 'turn off' 'Active Desktop' by simply removing any referance of it from menus and such. Recently, my 'base' machine somehow had Active Desktop turned off. That's what caused Webcheck to go bonkers. My internet sharing software needed Active Desktop to function properly. So, a rare ocurrance, still the right solution. WebCheck must be registered even if 98Lites' 'Sleek' option is enabled (Win 95 shell without web integration).

I'll try to find that '.reg' file that removed the Active Desktop menu items.

This removes the Web tab in display properties and the Active Desktop entry in the desktop right-click. Reload of the explorer shell neccessary for changes to take effect.

I repeat that unfortunately disabling or enabling Active Desktop through editing policies registry keys does not prevent webcheck.dll from being loaded. It must be unregistered if one wants to achieve a huge stability gain.

Just change it as it is flawed in design and use eMule which is the best. It is resource hungry but you can disable the progress bars to make it resource friendly.

eidenk:

Yes, there we are with the registry keys. That was part of my fix, but... hmmmm. Drat! Only MDGx seems to be able to keep track of everything!

Oh, and the net sharing software I use shares the internet between the PCs on my LAN, not peer to peer, sorry.

?????????????????????

As for your soft that you could have named it in the first place, (you still haven't) it is still flawed in design even if it is not P2P. There is no reason why you should compulsorily need Active Desktop to access the internet from a LAN.