HELP....WINDOWS98 keeps crashing

[sagamol]

i need HELP ....BAD..... i got WIN98 and it keeps crashing, especialy when i'm in YAHOO , playing pool, i have to FORCE a shutdown and then when i reboot sometimes it freezes up again, more then once, and i have to reboot again..repeatatly... i have a no clue whats wrong. did a disk maint. defrag, scandisk, PLEASE, somebody help me !!!!!
Thanks, Tommy

[Cricket]

Hi sagamol,

Is this a new build or old machine? What kind parts are inside?

It could be locking up because of weird Java script on the Yahoo site. Don't know what you can do about that though. Turn off Java script in Internet Explorer options?

Does your system work well when you aren't on-line?

It could be locking up because it's overheating, or from some kind of software conflict, or from a hardware conflict.

To check if it's a over-heating problem, remove the side of the case and use your computer as you normally would. If it doesn't crash anymore, you have to improve your case cooling.

It could be because you have a lot of programs running in background and one of those programs don't like it when another program is started up.

Check your IRQ assignments in Device Manager and see if your modem or NIC is sharing resources with any other devices.

Go into Internet Explorer and the to Tools> Internet Options> Temporary Internet Files box and click on Delete Files.

Go into Windows Explorer> c:\Windows \Temp and delete all the .tmp files in that folder.

Did you installed anything new prior to the problem starting up?

Cricket

[sagamol]

for your reply....i dont know where to start...i wil print out your reply and go through the suggestions you gave me.... its very much appreciated....i dont know whats inside of my computer. never seen the inside of it either....how do i find out what all the hardware is inside? it a compac presario 7360...its about 1.5 years old and its been running great...
thanks again for your help....
Tommy

[sagamol]

Cricket, i started out with looking in WinExplorer for the tmp. files...there are different types....do i delete all of them? example _istemp0.dir, pft7272~TMP,...TMP.tag,and then there are a bunch of JVM2331.tmp (numbers are different in each of them), there are also a whole bunch of these... x31 ( all diff. numbers behind a lower case "x".... as you can see, i'm really leary about deleting anything.... messed up on my first computer and deleted dll files....BIG MISTAKE....LOL
thanks again...
Tommy

[Kento]

You can delete files with a .tmp extension especially if they're in the temp folder at c:\windows\temp. Delete everything in the temp folder.

But when you say crash is it freezing? Does it freeze only when on the net? Does it freeze when off the net as well? Open the case and see if the fans are working especially the one over the processor. You might be overheating which is common with amd processors. Freezing can be caused by lots of things including faulty hardware. An easy way to tell if you're overheating is to open the case and blow air on high into it with a table fan and see if it stops freezing. If it does you know the problem.

[sagamol]

Hello Kento, thanks for your reply. before i answer anything, i want to appologize to the GURUS, about us morons that come here for help and dont know our ass from a whole in the ground...BUT...i'm learing something new every day from ALL the posts i read. so,all your efforts in trying to help us novices is not in vain..today i learned that i have a DEVICE MANAGER that lists the hardware components of my bought of the shelf PC ( Piece o Crap).. i read the post in the general forum about BEING SPACIFIC....i will try to do that...
this is what the problem is. i have DSL, so i'm on the net all the time. i go to a page in my browser (IE6) and sooner or later i will get a "ILLEGAL PERFORMANCE" message, or the darn thing just freezes and nothing is moving ( pointer) so i can't go to start and do a reboot. i am on YAHOO messenger alot talking to friends and familie and YAHOO CRASHES repeatatly....in the middle of a game of pool, or when i try to type a IM.....PUUUFFFF gone...my webcam does not work on yahoo either anymore...so, i desided to download the beta version and see what that gives me. now for my specs... ( oh, i will try that fan suggestion you told me to try tomarrow )
i have a :
GENERIC IDE DISC TYPE 01
COMPAC SC-140S
Trident MVP4 display adapter
i have 56.0 MB RAM
WIN98 SE
a AMD-K6 ( 3D ) Processor
a really great wife and a morgage.....LOL
i dont know what else i can tell you about my system and what can cause the freezing and the error messages...i have not installed any new hardware lately, expept for my 3COM HomeConnect webcam, that worked flawlesly until about 3 days ago. i went into the ADD/REMOVE program and uninsalled it, then re-installed it...i did come across a problem uninstalling it, when i tried to uninstall a component listed , it said the file i was trying to uninstall cannot be found...i dont remember what the file was called (GGGRRRRR should have wrote it down)...
the only other NEW thing on my system is , my daughters bought a game called Roller Coaster Tycoon , ( sim game) and thats the only new thing on here...everything worked great until about 3 days ago...and it started with YAHOO and my webcam.....
Now.....what about this DELETE EVERYTHING in the WINDOWS TEMP folder?... do you mean EVERYTHING EVERYTHING???????? there is nothing in the TEMP FOLDER that i need to run my computer? is that what you are saying?? Sorry if i sound a bit taken by this, but i am totally nervous about that little "delete" button on my keyboard.... please let me know exactly what to delete in the TEMP FOLDER....ok, i'll shut up now......thank you and hope to hear from you soon....
Tommy

[Cricket]

Hi sagamol,

Yes, you can delete everything in the c:\Windows\Temp folder (unless you put something in there that you want to keep). The Temp folder is just that...a temporary storage area that Windows uses to hold files that it's working on. Unfortunately, Windows doesn't clean up after itself so you have to do it. When you delete the files and folders in the Temp folder you may get a message that says a file is in use by Windows. Just skip over that one and keep deleting the rest.

Another thing to do is clean out the Temporary Internet Files folder. You should do this on a regular basis as part of a your regular system maintenance routine. You could have a corrupted file in there and cleaning out the TIF will remove it.

Don't go deleting files from any other folder in the Windows directory... stay out of the INF and SYSTEM folders.

Another thing you can do is make sure the NIC (Network Interface Card...your DSL modem is connected to it) is not sharing an IRQ with another device. Also make sure the setting for your ISP are correct. Go back to Device Manager, make sure the Computer icon at the top is highlighted and click on Properties. Look down the list of IRQ's and make not of any that are sharing the same number (don't worry about the IRQ Holder for PCI Steering, that's not a physical device. And don't worry about the primary and secondary IDE controllers and the Bus Master IDE controllers...those share IRQ's normally).

Since it seems your freezing problem happens mostly when you're on the web, you may want to make sure you don't have any spyware on your system. Go here and download Ad-Aware and the latest signature file: LavasoftUSA If that link is down, go here: Lavasoft European Mirror

Make sure you don't have a trojan on your system too. Doing a virus scan won't find a trojan, you have to get a trojan scanner for that. Tauscan and The Cleaner are both good trojan scanners.

Did you remove the sides of your PC to check if your problem is heat related? The AMD K6 processors did run on the hotter side. Make sure all your vents are clear of any dust build up. Also clean off the CPU heatsink with a can of compressed air. Overheating will cause lock ups and system freezes.

Cricket

[sagamol]

Hello Cricket, thank you for sending me the ad-aware program...i scanned it and it shows a whopping 180 spyware components on my system.... you want me to delete them ALL, right? i am going to be busy deleteing stuff today...going to go through and clean out ALL the TEMP stuff....there is a BUNCH !!! i never done this before and i'm a little nervous..... thanks again !
Tommy

[bosco]

If I was going to delete that many components(180),let ad-aware delete them and use the back-up feature incase there are problems.
Just a suggestion.

[Kento]

180? Wow that's alot. But some of those may just be cookies. The spyware may be your problem especially if it's set to load at startup which it probably is. That spyware uses up resources and low resources can lead to 'illegal operation' errors and crashes. After cleaning up with ad-aware see how it runs then. You may have alot of unneeded programs set to load at startup in msconfig's startup tab. (start--run--type msconfig and click ok--startup tab) Unchecking some of them will free up some resources. After cleaning with ad-aware download Startlog.com from here and run it. It'll create a text file on your desktop. Copy and paste the contents of it to your reply here so we can have a look. We can probably give you an idea of what to uncheck to free up some resources.

Have a look here:

http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.htm

http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup...artup_full.htm

[sagamol]

Kento, thanks for the links....there is quite a bit of stuff on this registry, but here it is....any further help is greatly apreciated.....

---------- C:\WINDOWS\desktop\StartUp.Log

Start-Ups checked at 03-16-2002 6:20:35.16p
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

StartUp Log for Windows 95/98 - Freeware by rmbox
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

Comments:

This is a log of all the programs on your computer that
are starting automatically every time you start Windows.
Using this log can be a quick way to spot trojans.

StartUp Log (version 1.56) - Release Date 3/11/2002

__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

StartUp Log Index

1. HKLM Run
2. HKCU Run
3. HKLM RunOnce
4. HKCU RunOnce
5. HKLM RunServices
6. HKLM RunServicesOnce
7. WIN.INI file
8. SYSTEM.INI file
9. AUTOEXEC.BAT file
10. StartUp folder
11. All Users StartUp
12. Misc. StartUp Configurations

__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

The following is a list of your current Start-Ups
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

1. HKLM Run - Registry

[RegPath]
"StartUp"


[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
"ScanRegistry"="c:\\windows\\scanregw.exe /autorun"
"TaskMonitor"="c:\\windows\\taskmon.exe"
"LoadPowerProfile"="Rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,LoadCurrentPwrScheme"
"SystemTray"="SysTray.Exe"
"VsecomrEXE"="C:\\Program Files\\Network Associates\\McAfee VirusScan\\VSEcomR.EXE"
"Vshwin32EXE"="C:\\PROGRAM FILES\\NETWORK ASSOCIATES\\MCAFEE VIRUSSCAN\\VSHWIN32.EXE"
"VsStatEXE"="C:\\Program Files\\Network Associates\\McAfee VirusScan\\VSSTAT.EXE /SHOWWARNING"
"CountrySelection"="pctptt.exe"
"PTSNOOP"="ptsnoop.exe"
"CPQInet"="c:\\compaq\\CPQInet\\CpqInet.exe"
"cpqns"="c:\\compaq\\cpqinet\\cpqnpcss.exe"
"Service Connection"="c:\\cpqs\\bwtools\\sccenter.exe"
"CPQEASYACC"="C:\\Program Files\\Compaq\\Easy Access Button Support\\cpqeadm.exe"
"EACLEAN"="C:\\Program Files\\Compaq\\Easy Access Button Support\\eaclean.exe"
"EM_EXEC"="c:\\MOUSE\\SYSTEM\\EM_EXEC.EXE"
"DXM6Patch_981116"="C:\\WINDOWS\\p_981116.exe /Q:A"
"LVComs"="c:\\windows\\SYSTEM\\LVComS.exe"
"McAfeeWebScanX"="C:\\PROGRAM FILES\\NETWORK ASSOCIATES\\MCAFEE VIRUSSCAN\\WebScanX.exe"
"internat.exe"="internat.exe"
"LoadQM"="loadqm.exe"
"CXMon"="\"C:\\Program Files\\Hewlett-Packard\\PhotoSmart\\Photo Imaging\\Hpi_Monitor.exe\""
"Buddyizer"="C:\\Program Files\\Aimster\\Buddyizer.exe"


==========================================================================
__________________________________________________________________________

2. HKCU Run - Registry

[RegPath]
"StartUp"


[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
"WEBCAMRT.EXE"=""
"NSCheck"="C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM\\NSCHECK.EXE /check"
"OSSProxy"="C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM\\OSSPROXY.EXE"


==========================================================================
__________________________________________________________________________

3. HKLM RunOnce - Registry

[RegPath]
"StartUp"


[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce]


==========================================================================
__________________________________________________________________________

4. HKCU RunOnce - Registry

[RegPath]
"StartUp"


[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce]


==========================================================================
__________________________________________________________________________

5. HKLM RunServices - Registry

[RegPath]
"StartUp"


[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices]
"LoadPowerProfile"="Rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,LoadCurrentPwrScheme"
"SchedulingAgent"="mstask.exe"
"isdbdc"="c:\\compaq\\internet\\isdbdc.exe"
"Vshwin32EXE"="C:\\PROGRAM FILES\\NETWORK ASSOCIATES\\MCAFEE VIRUSSCAN\\VSHWIN32.EXE"


==========================================================================
__________________________________________________________________________

6. HKLM RunServicesOnce - Registry

[RegPath]
"StartUp"


[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce]


==========================================================================
__________________________________________________________________________

7. WIN.INI File - (c:\windows\win.ini)

Your win.ini run/load lines should look like run= and load= exclusively.
There should be nothing to the right of the equal signs.


These are the run and load lines in your WIN.INI file

run=hpfsched

load=

==========================================================================
__________________________________________________________________________

8. SYSTEM.INI File - (c:\windows\system.ini)

Your system.ini shell line should look like shell=Explorer.exe exclusively.
You should only see Explorer.exe following the equal sign.


This is the shell line in your SYSTEM.INI file

shell=Explorer.exe

==========================================================================
__________________________________________________________________________

9. AUTOEXEC.BAT File - (c:\autoexec.bat)

(Some trojans have been known to start from this file)


These are your program startups and set paths in your autoexec.bat file

C:\PROGRA~1\NETWOR~1\MCAFEE~1\SCAN.EXE C:\
@IF ERRORLEVEL 1 PAUSE
@ECHO OFF


C:\ESSAUDIO.COM

==========================================================================
__________________________________________________________________________

10. StartUp Folder - (c:\windows\start menu\programs\startup)

Shortcuts to any program will automatically start when placed here.


These are the shortcuts located in your StartUp folder

C:\WINDOWS\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp\3Com HomeConnect Launcher.lnk

==========================================================================
__________________________________________________________________________

11. All Users Folder - (c:\windows\all users\start menu\programs\startup)

Shortcuts to any program will automatically start when placed here.


These are the shortcuts located in your All Users StartUp folder


*(No start-ups found)*

==========================================================================
__________________________________________________________________________

12. Miscellaneous StartUp Configurations

-============================-
Registry StartUp Directories
-============================-

Should show the Start Menu StartUp and All Users StartUp directories

.....................................................................

[1] HKCU - Shell Folders

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders

"Startup"="C:\\WINDOWS\\Start Menu\\Programs\\StartUp"

.....................................................................

[2] HKCU - User Shell Folders

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders


.....................................................................

[3] HKLM - Shell Folders

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\Shell Folders

"Common Startup"="C:\\WINDOWS\\All Users\\Start Menu\\Programs\\StartUp"

.....................................................................

[4] HKLM - User Shell Folders

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\User Shell Folders


.....................................................................

-=======================-
Registry Shell Spawning
-=======================-

Open Commands for Executable File Types

@="\"%1\" %*"
(.exe file - RegPath = HKCR\exefile\shell\open\command)

@="\"%1\" %*"
(.com file - RegPath = HKCR\comfile\shell\open\command)

@="\"%1\" /S"
(.scr file - RegPath = HKCR\scrfile\shell\open\command)

@="\"%1\" %*"
(.bat file - RegPath = HKCR\batfile\shell\open\command)

@="\"%1\" %*"
(.pif file - RegPath = HKCR\piffile\shell\open\command)

@="C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM\\MSHTA.EXE \"%1\" %*"
(.hta file - RegPath = HKCR\htafile\shell\open\command)

-=========================-
HKLM RunOnceEx - Registry
-=========================-


[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnceEx]


-=========================-
HKU (.Default) Run - Registry
-=========================-


[HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
"WEBCAMRT.EXE"=""
"NSCheck"="C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM\\NSCHECK.EXE /check"
"OSSProxy"="C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM\\OSSPROXY.EXE"


-==============================-
HKU (.Default) RunOnce - Registry
-==============================-


[HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce]


-================================-
StubPaths - Registry (Partial Listing)
-================================-

(Please see the StubPath.txt on your desktop for complete listing)

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components


"OldStubPath"="C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM\\IE4UINIT.EXE"
"RealStubPath"="C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM\\IE4UINIT.EXE"
"StubPath"="c:\\windows\\msnmgsr1.exe"
"StubPath"=""
"StubPath"="c:\\windows\\COMMAND\\sulfnbk.exe /L"
"OldStubPath"="\"C:\\PROGRA~1\\OUTLOO~1\\setup50.exe\" /APP:OE /CALLER:IE50 /user /install"
"RealStubPath"="\"C:\\PROGRA~1\\OUTLOO~1\\setup50.exe\" /APP:OE /CALLER:IE50 /user /install"
"OldStubPath"="\"C:\\PROGRA~1\\OUTLOO~1\\setup50.exe\" /APP:WAB /CALLER:IE50 /user /install"
"RealStubPath"="\"C:\\PROGRA~1\\OUTLOO~1\\setup50.exe\" /APP:WAB /CALLER:IE50 /user /install"
"StubPath"="C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM\\updcrl.exe -e -u C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM\\verisignpub1.crl"

-=================-
DOSSTART.BAT File - (c:\windows\dosstart.bat)
-=================-

@echo off
REM c:\mouse\mouse.exe
LH C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\MSCDEX.EXE /D:IDECD001 /M:12
C:\ESSAUDIO.COM
c:\MOUSE\MOUSE.EXE


-=================-
WININIT.BAK File - (c:\windows\wininit.bak)
(name) (type) (size)(modified)(time)
wininit bak 330 03-15-02 2:19a
-=================-



[Rename]
NUL=C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSXML3.DLL
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSXML3.DLL=C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SET3162.TMP
NUL=C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSXML3A.DLL
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSXML3A.DLL=C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SET3165.TMP
c:\windows\SYSTEM\vbscript.dll=c:\windows\SYSTEM\vbscript.001
c:\windows\SYSTEM\shell32.dll=c:\windows\SYSTEM\shell32.001



-=========================-
ICQ Inet Registry StartUp
-=========================-

Shows applications that start when connected to Inet


[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mirabilis\ICQ\Agent\Apps]
"Launch Browser"="No"


-=====================-
Screen Saver Settings (Possible system.ini start-up)
-=====================-


==========================================================================
__________________________________________________________________________

- Supplemental Environment Information -

TMP=c:\windows\TEMP
TEMP=C:\windows\TEMP
winbootdir=C:\WINDOWS
PATH=C:\WINDOWS;c:\windows;c:\windows\COMMAND
COMSPEC=C:\COMMAND.COM
windir=C:\WINDOWS

File - c:\windows\Wininit.bak
File - c:\windows\deletefi.ini

==========================================================================
__________________________________________________________________________

- End -

[Kento]

Is it still crashing? If so uncheck these in msconfig--startup tab and see if it helps:

CXMon"="\"C:\\Program Files\\Hewlett-Packard\\PhotoSmart\\Photo Imaging\\Hpi_Monitor.exe\

Buddyizer"="C:\\Program Files\\Aimster\\Buddyizer.exe

LVComs"="c:\\windows\\SYSTEM\\LVComS.exe

WEBCAMRT.EXE

If it's still crashing after doing that then it may be due to Netsetter internet accelerator which you have installed.

[sagamol]

i unchecked what you told me to uncheck, except LVCOM. couldnt find it in the startup registery...
what about NETSETTER? so far it has not crashed...the only problem i had so far was replying to this thread through my hotmail...keeps saying i'm not logged in to PC-MECH, evenso i did log in several times.....

[sagamol]

Kento......something happend....my ICUII4 is not working anymore....i checked the list again and added WEBCAMRT.EXE back to the list, thinking it might have been the cause, but its still not working....any ideas? i also contacted YAHOO about using my webcam and that i followed their suggestions and my Webcam isnt working there either....
HELP !!!!

[Kento]

what's ICUII4? Is that your webcam? All unchecking WEBCAMRT.EXE in msconfig does is stop that program from loading at startup. It doesn't uninstall it or anything. Rechecking it makes it startup again at startup. Did you restart after rechecking it? Perhaps you need to reinstall the camera software.

[glc]

That is an AWFUL lot of stuff running at startup for a machine that only has 56 megs usable ram! Time to use the startup tab in msconfig and uncheck a TON of that stuff - if something stops working, you can always just recheck it. Also note that McAfee antivirus is notorious for destabilizing a system - if you haven't been keeping it updated religiously you would be better off uninstalling it and getting something a lot less rough on the system - like maybe AVG from www.grisoft.com - which also happens to be FREE.

[sagamol]

i need to get more RAM.....i know that and its top on my list of things to do....i have not updated MCAFEE and have been using PC-PITSTOP to check for viruses...i do use Zone alarm....i dont know man, i'm just not very good at understanding the inner workings of this machine. i'm learing, but its SLOW GOING... my webcam has quit all together now, been uninstalling and reinstalling it all day...it works some times and sometimes not... i reinstalled netmeeting and the cam works there, but stil not on yahoo.....i know i'm fixed on this damn cam, but it drives me nuts when something isnt working and i can't figure out why???? i unchecked the 3com homeconnect that loads on start up...and it still loads...thats how my day has been going LOL. i really apreciate all the help and patience you guys have shown on here... i know tomorrow will be a better day.!!!

ps: Kento....ICUII is a webcam program ( adult, mostly) but it has much better send and recieve video then netmeeting or yahoo....the quality of the pic is really good...