Windows 98SE Boot Problems

[dthundar]

Hi all, im new to the forums.

I have a 1.3Ghz Duron, 64MB Ram, 80GB HDD, winfast 32mb gfx card.

My problem is when i bootup to computer, it passes the POST, then when it comes up to load windows it freezes, or somethimes it brings up the windows desktop and then freezes.

I though it was the antivirus software, as i selectivly installed programs when i installed windows 98SE, clean install, i installed all the programs in order, like office etc, and all was ok. Then i installed AVG Antivirus Free Edition and the computer started freezing as i said before.

So i booted into safemode, uninstalled AVG and the problem stopped there and then. Computer ran fine for a few days, but now the problem has started agin. Can anyone help me??

Thankyou,

dthundar

[GaryRouth]

Does the machine have a broadband connection to the Internet? [cable/dsl]

If so, has it been connected for any length of time without protection from a firewall, antivirus, and antispyware programs? (Or at least behind a hardware firewall built into a router on a local network?)

If yes - might be best to disconnect from broadband, wipe the drive, and start again. I don't think that AVG 7 should be the problem.

If you want to try saving the installation already in-place: shutdown Windows, power-off & unplug the computer, and open up the computer case (if your case allows it, you can just open one side of the case). Then put the power plug back in & start the computer with the case open, and go into the Bios Setup screens at startup & check your system temperatures. Let it run opened up for a while. If all is well and temps look OK, exit setup and boot the computer into Safe Mode. See if things run OK there. If yes, try restarting in Normal mode, and reinstall AVG.

Once AVG is active again, you can try reconnecting to the Internet. It would probably be best to be behind a hardware firewall built into a router, since a software firewall is going to be a lot of overhead for a system with only 64mb memory. In fact, with an increase of either another 64mb or 128mb, things will have a better chance of decent performance.
Then:
1) visit Windows Update for Security Patches
2) visit HouseCall and do an online scan ( http://housecall.trendmicro.com )
3) when done, make sure to update your AVG as well.
4) if you don't have spyware protection yet, try downloading and trying SpyBot Search&Destroy ( http://www.safer-networking.org ) and AdAware (http://www.lavasoft.com )

See if that does it.
. . . Gary