Ie 5.5

[Summer]

I have Windows 98 and IE 5.5
I have not had any problems until I went to the Microsoft site and downloaded upgrades of virtual machine and shockwave.
Now periodically, but frequently, when browsing the internet my computer totally freezes up. It always freezes up when loading .gif
I have to hard boot it, can't even do a control, alt, delete.
Any suggestions on how I can fix this without uninstalling and reinstalling. Why would virtual machine or shockwave mess this up??
Thanks!!

1)Go to Start->Settings->Control Panel

2)Double click on the System

3)Goto the performance tab and click on the Virtual Memory Button

4)click on the "let me specify..." radio button and check the disable Virtual Memory Button

5)restart the computer and run scan disk and defrag

6)go through steps 1 through 5 this time enabling virtual memory and selecting the radio buttong "let windows manage..."

There should be an increase in performance

More specs on your computer are required for an accurate assessment of what the problem is.

[reboot]

A couple of problems.
You will get a nasty message if you try to disable virtual mem.
Second, you probably won't be able to start the computer without it (depending on amount of RAM). Just set it to 256 both min and max, then restart.
Personally, I don't think it's a swap issue at all.
How about getting DX8 installed to see if that helps?
Updated drivers for your video card too.
If by Shockwave, you mean the Shockmachine, then it's plagued by bugs, and probably isn't your problem at all.
Try a repair of IE.
Go to Control Panel, Add/Remove programs, select IE5 and internet tools. Hit the remove button, and select "Repair" from the menu.