need help win splash screen

[momotata]

My problem is this as my machine is going thru the boot process.... prior to the splash (win 98) screen it stops at the start menu with out pushing any of the (f5 f8) keys ...after selecting to start normally you get splash screen for apx 15 sec. and then the start menu text screen again...select normal start up again and apx 20 sec later it will boot to windows.
Any help is greatly appreciated thanks

[GaryRouth]

Hi momotata

Did this just happen after you installed a new program or some new hardware?

Have you been using the msconfig utility for selective startups?

1) Might as well run a full-system "thorough" antivirus/antispyware scans - from Safe Mode: just to make sure malware isn't complicating things.
2) While in Safe Mode, check in on Device Manager - and see if there are any flagged devices (yellow exclamation points or red Xs). Start/Settings/ControlPanel/System/DeviceManager
3) Check to see if the Boot Menu has been set to display at startup: Start/Programs/Accessories/SystemTools/SystemInformation . . . and from the "Tools" menu, select "System Configuration Tool", then "Advanced" - and if there is a checkmark in the box "Enable Startup menu", click on the box to remove the checkmark.

Then post here what you've found. There are some other quick fixes, but we'd want a little more details before we try them. [especially interested to know if you've an antivirus installed, and if you've made any system changes recently]
. . . Gary

[ . . . and Welcome to the PC Mechanic forums! ]

[momotata]

thanks for the input the problem has been resolved the start menu was checked now it seems like the splash screen is there a long time before its in the gui mode and also it starts looking fora shortcut or says shortcut missing to aol=tray.exe and finaly gives error message. and im thinking about just upgrading to 2000 pro any advise
thanks

[scomac]

Make sure in your msconfig that there aren't any AOL things set to start up. One other place to look is in Start/Programs and look in STARTUP. Make sure there isn't anything in there you don't want starting up when windows starts. I've had programs lurk in there and want to start, even though they were unchecked in msconfig.

Scomac

[GaryRouth]

Here's a good reference to look through, that can give you a lot of helpful information on startup programs. It's at pacs-portal, a well-known site: http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm The tips you learn in the articles can help you whether you decide to stay with Win9x or move to either Win2000 or WinXP.

The tray.exe isn't necessary, aol will start fine when you need it just by clicking it's shortcut icon. You really don't have to have their background process taking away system resources every second that the computer is running. If it's not in the Startup group in the Start/Programs/Startup menu, check the info in the pacs-portal article: it will tell you the places to check to see where it's being called from (could be in the Registry, or from an .ini file). If you no longer have aol on your system, it looks like the uninstall didn't go well, and you may want to run a Registry cleaner to mop up a little. There are some OK freeware/shareware titles at places like download.com [for Win98, if you don't run MS Office 2000, you can use the free Microsoft utility RegClean - also available at download.com]

Win98 2nd edition is a fairly good choice for older machines, and Win2000 is a very good choice, so long as the hardware is supported. If the machine is used primarily for gaming, Win98se and WinXP tend to be more game-friendly. If you've been happy with Win98 until some recent trouble, it might be most cost-effective just to get Win98 running smoothly again.
. . . Gary