Gui won't load or spontanios Re boot

[Steveoliva]

Hi I am another first time subsriber, in a bit of a tangle with windows 98. For the past few days my PC hangs just before the GUI loads, (on the gray windows backgound) and if I reeboot. the computer, it will reboot itself several times at the same point before I eventually attain the GUI and normal function. Several changes have been made recently. First the CPU and RAM were upgraded and a second hardrive added, this was back in early December. this was carried out by a dealer. As a A+ student, I backed up my registrry a few days ago, I did this twice once manually to floppys and once using the backup program to D drive.(the slave hard drive) as practice for my course. I tried not to change any of the settings in doing so. Also my son has recenly uninstalled explorer 5.5 and reinstalled explorer 6. Any help woul be truly appriciated
Regards Steve

[Cricket]

Hi Steveoliva,

Welcome to PC Mech.

Can you boot to Safe Mode?

When you got the computer back from the dealer, did it work properly?

What kind of PC is it...a store bought name brand or a home built?

Cricket

[reboot]

I also have a question or two.
Was your upgrade done by a reputable shop, with a tech who knows what to do with windows98 when hardware is upgraded?
Did you get a list of the things they did during/after the upgrade?
Is it still under warranty?
Can you take it back and get them to fix it correctly?
Are your reg backups from before, or after the upgrade?
Do you have a full Win98 CD with reg key, or an "upgrade disk"?

[Steveoliva]

My Pc is not a named brand. It was built by a small store 2 years ago. It is the same people who upgraded the system in December. The system contains a AMD Athlon 1.1 processor.and now has 384MB RAM and a new 40GB hardrive and the old 20GB hd. I am not sure of the makes of any other components, howeaver I will try and have a look for labels if this will help. The system did appear to work OK untill a few days ago. I have a windows 98 Disk howeaver when the unit was returned it loads 98 PLUS. I dont know how much diffrence there is between the two. I also have a restore disk with the new version of windows and the drivers for my hardware. supplied by the store with a bootable floppy.( oak industries) I think, as for the compitence of the tecs, ther are 5 of them in the workshop with mixed abilities. The store has been ib buisness 12 years and came recomended.
Regards Steve

[reboot]

OK, sounds like they installed 98 plus over top of your existing 98.
There's still a ton of garbage left behind referencing your old hardware, and 98 is having trouble sorting it out.
If you can, I'd take it back and let them know the exact problems.
If you can't return, look in the tips and tricks forum for the "ENUM trick".
Has anyone been into the BIOS setup, and possibly changed something?
Can you get us the manufacturer of the motherboard, and model number if possible?
When you say "Restore disk", do you mean a CD from a manufacturer such as PB, HP, Compaq or somesuch? What "new version" of windows are you talking about?
If you really can't take it back to the store and get them to sort it (under warranty), I would format and reinstall a fresh copy of windows, and then update any drivers you need.
Restore disks make me VERY uncomfortable and suspicious, especially if provided by this store (or any store!).

[Steveoliva]

The current version of 98Plus was a new install, as I had a new 40GB hard drive set as primary master. the old drive set sa slave had the orginal version of 98. The restore disk is a disk created by the store who built the machine, containing a copy of the current windows vwrsion and my hardware drivers. I doubt very much that anyone has altersd the BIOS settings. There is a 12 month warranty on the new parts, howeaver I was trying to rule out software os settings problems before I returned the unit. I will obtain the mainbiard details when I return from work.
Regards Steve

[reboot]

OK, it sounds like they've done a thorough job for you, as far as software goes.
Any time a new/rebuilt computer randomly restarts, it's more likely heat, or a hardware fault than software.
You haven't even run this machine for a month, and it's giving you trouble, time to go back to the shop. I have a feeling that something they put in (flaky RAM or a heat sink not quite right) is not doing it's job. It could be a driver, possibly video. It's not anybody's fault, it just happens, even new parts can be bad.
You can narrow it down. As the computer boots, repeatedly tap the F8 key, until you get to a menu. Select "Step by step", and see what's loading. At least you'll get the name of the file that's causing the restarts. That will give some indication of what piece of hardware isn't quite right.

[Steveoliva]

Ok thanks for that. I will take the unit back and let the store sort it now I'm sur it's hardware related
Regards Steve