98 Boots and then Reboots

[Daveman]

Whenever I turn my computer on it starts going through the boot process; gets to a blank desktop and then starts the boot process all over again. After it boots the second time it will completely boot up. Any suggestions as to why. By the was I'm running Win98.

[reboot]

There are a few trojans that can cause this. Windows gets corrupted, and automatically restarts to load a good set of user.dat and system.dat, along with win.ini and system.ini.
I would start with a serious virus scan, and post back if it still continues.

[Daveman]

Howdy Reboot,
I've ran Nortons virus scan on the drivepreviously and have found and removed trojan viruses on the drive before. As you suggest though; I'll go through and run another scan. Thanks for the input.

[Cricket]

Hi Daveman,

Norton's may not get them all...try using The Cleaner by MooSoft.com.

Cricket

[reboot]

If Norton has already removed some trojans, it's probably removed just enough stuff so you can't get into windows as well.
Try getting F-Prot for DOS (it's free) and rescan the drive(s).
This will eliminate any memory resident viri/trojans, and may make the system behave.
If all else fails, you must get rid of any infection, and then reinstall Windows.

[Daveman]

Cricket and Reboot thanks for the info.
I'll check them out and see if I can find any other viruses.
I've also ran into a more important problem though. I recently replaced a missing win.ini file with an older copy of the original; and now my internet connection doesn't work right. MSN can't connect; and AOL connects but says there is a problem with the connection.
Also I've notice now that my Primary and Secondary IDE Controllers aren't working correctly or the drivers aren't fully loading. My cd drives aren't even recognized by windows and are inaccessible.
One last thing, If I reinstall win98 over the existing copy won't it erase all my other programs and info?

[Cricket]

Originally posted by Daveman If I reinstall win98 over the existing copy won't it erase all my other programs and info?

No, not if you're only doing a install over an existing installation. If you format first, then you'll lose everything. Take a look here for more info.

Cricket

[Daveman]

Thanks Cricket,
Thanks for the info. Cool link too. I may just do a reinstall. Have you ever seen a win98 install that had most of the windows folders and files in a folder titled OSB? This is an install that was originally done by my father (which is no longer with us). I've done an install of the same version of 98 on another computer; and there was no folder called OSB in my install. I've had a hard time figuring out what the difference is or why. Ever heard of such a thing?