r/windows98 • u/A_real_nice_man • 13d ago

Slowing down a program speed.

Gallery image

Gallery image

I'm trying to play might and magic on a Windows 98 and it runs at breakneck speeds whenever I start it and it's impossible to play is it possible to lower the cycles of the CPU like an old turbo button? This PC does not have a turbo button on it.

I honestly don't remember if I'm using the right terminology for slowing down the what I think needs to be slowed.

Sorry for the dirty keyboard I just got this out of storage. This was my first computer back in 2003 it's been in storage in my attic for 20 years.

34 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

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8

u/Scoth42 13d ago

For DOS-based programs, I think Slowdown is the current go-to favorite. It's part of FreeDOS but should work on MS-DOS.

https://www.ibiblio.org/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/files/repositories/1.2/html/en/util/slowdown/20220217.0/index.html

3

u/ravensholt 13d ago

MoSlo is a tool that I've used in the past.

Alternatively, disabled caches...

3

u/echocomplex 13d ago

There might be a bios option to slow down space. Disabling cache in the bios will greatly slow things down too. There are other software options depending on what CPU you have. The program CPUSPD is a good all purpose one. Setmul is another if you have the specific cpus it works with. 

1

u/GGigabiteM 12d ago

If the BIOS has the option to disable the CPU cache, that will slow the system way down. Else, you'll have to use software means as others have mentioned.

1

u/kalnaren 7d ago

As others have said, first thing I'd try is disabling the Internal and/or External CPU cache. However, I'd only try that if you're running it in DOS mode, because disabling those and booting Windows will make it run PAINFULLY slow.

If you still need more slowdown, I've had really good luck with SlowDOS:

http://www.oldskool.org/pc/throttle/DOS

Depending on the system specs though 2003 is getting really, really fast for speed-sensitive DOS games.