OH NO it's dead

[systempat]

I think this is a software/ config problem.
My other PC is running Win98se. It froze up in the middle of what I was doing this morning while running 3 or 4 tasks and an IPSEC connection thru my cable connection.
On reboot I could not get windows loaded. It got to where WIN should start up and it just sits there ......
On the first or second reboot it gave a message about CMOS checksum. Only saw that message once.
It will boot into Safe mode. I set it to do the regular boot one step at a time. The last 2 steps were to start Win and then to load Windows drivers. After that it just sits there.
I have attempted to re-install Win98, hoping to clear the suspected driver problems. Had to install from the DOS prompt. It went OK up to where you do the first reboot. At the point where it should have gone to the desktop, it just sat there...........
Any help would be really appreciated. It's my connect and work-from-home machine. I have to go into the office if it's not working.

---->>> Pat

[homer15]

will it still boot in safe mode after the new reinstall? what tasks were you running that made it seize up?

[systempat]

Yes I can goto safe mode Okay, it just doesn't do me much goo to get there. the reinstall didn't finish as it crapped out on the first re-boot.
When it first went bad I had a not-responding application over the cable connection. Tried to kill the task. It was just the E-mail application.

[homer15]

if you can get into safe mode, then it is definitly a driver issue. have you updated any drivers lately? if you have, then boot up into safe mode, go to the device manager and remove that device. when you boot back up, windows should start and it will prompt you to install the drivers for the "new" device it found.

[systempat]

No new drivers (or hardware) at all.
I have the bad feeling that when it froze up "something happened".
I can try deleting drivers and making it reinstall them. Which devices would you suggest. After video I'm not sure which ones I want to hit. Because of installed software issues I'm reluctant to mess with the modem and the Lan card.
--- >>> Pat

[homer15]

yea, i would keep the network card as long as possible. what else is on your system?

[systempat]

The system is old enough - it's a P3 - that not much is built into the motherboard. Video, Audio, modem and NIC are on their own cards.
I think I'm going to try deleting the Video from the device list and make it re-install.
Wish me luck !!

[CMT]

Yes Good Luck I would have no issues with deleting video or Audio to eliminate them from the prob list ...I a short time ago had a similiar prob for me it was a file I had recieved from a friend over Yahoo Messenger for video drivers messed me up nice but got it fixed and learned my lesson

[systempat]

UPDATE
I think it was the anti-virus software. Mcaffee in this case.
When I disabled the startup of the antivirus, suddenly I could get past where it was stopping. I don't think anything got on the system that was bad -- I was connected to a secure network.
So I have to uninstall and reinstall the antivirus and fix up a few other things that I probably caused while try ing to see what was wrong.
---->>> Pat