...big problem...needs fixing...w98 is starting to become annoyingly annoying.

1603 Views 8 Replies 7 Participants Last post by twas, Dec 5, 2002

freight

Discussion Starter · Nov 20, 2002

Problem: PC locks up when I double-click on the 'My Computer' icon located on the desktop.

PC History: PC sometimes locks-up when a huge file is being shift-deleted (skipping the Recycle Bin). The window where the deletion took place will lock-up along with the desktop but you can still open other applications and browser windows. Waiting a few minutes will generally bring the pc back.
Illustration: I shift-delete a 200 Mbyte file from the desktop and very rarely the desktop hangs although I can still use the sysbar and everything on it (Start key and menus, quicklaunch toolbar, systray, Ctrl-Alt-Del window). A few minutes later the desktop comes back to life and I gain back the use of the 'return to desktop' icon.

What happened: I was installing MechWarrior4 when the power went out due to a brownout. When the power returned Windows first malfunctioned by only showing the standard light-blue background (my favored setting). Upon second start-up a message indicating that my Norton Antivirus CE 7.01 did not start properly. This is when the problem first started. Two more restarts later and the problem persisted.

What I did: I restored the Win98SE registry from the backup of the day before. I uninstalled Norton Antivirus then reinstalled it again after a restart. Problem persisted. I then opened 'Windows Explorer' through the Start menu and it seems the problem was fixed...partially. The last time the trouble surfaced again was a restart a while ago.

PC stats: piii700, TNT video card, 128mb sdram, crappy motherboard.

What I need: Anything about the subject. If anyone has experienced something even remotely close to this subject then please inform me about your experience and what you did.

Recent thought: I'm thinking of turning to XP to answer my woes.

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TheTechIsIn

· #2 · Nov 20, 2002

Welcome to the board,

A few things .. if you were in the middle of an install during a power outage some data on your HD may have been corrupted .. I would run a scandisk then a defrag. Also with only 128 MB of ram I personally do not recommend you upgrading to XP without getting some more ram at the same time. Even though XP is a better OS you may see a performance degradation if you install it with so little ram in the system. 256 should be considered minimum when installing XP IMHO.

Let us know how your scandisk and defrag turn out.

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Pseudocyber

· #3 · Nov 20, 2002

RAM is dirt cheap these days ...

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freight

Discussion Starter · #4 · Nov 21, 2002

problem plagues me still...

So I did a 'thorough' scandisk of drive c and it took 2 hours.
Result: 0 (zero) bad sectors.

Then I did a full defragment of the same drive and that took 8 hours. Result: 100% defragmented

Problem still persists. MSGSRV32.exe errors every now and then. But the majority comes from double-clicking that My Computer icon. I do that and half the time the result is either a blank 'My Computer' window or no window popping up - both cases ending up in a hang.

I now think my w98 core files have been corrupted.

That brownout really did it I'm afraid. A very unique problem with nary a solution.

To quote Dexter along with his semi-Russian accent -- I ahm doomed! I ahm doomed!

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Pseudocyber

· #5 · Nov 21, 2002

Sounds like it's time for one of these: http://www.micro2000.com/products/microscope/microscope.html

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alanje

· #6 · Dec 3, 2002

hi it sounds the same as the problem,I have check that no one has down loaded any programmes, that you dont know about,
as i found two on my pc, that i didn't down load they take out your anti virus and firewall first. my pc locks up more now than it did before what ever the files where they passed both form of protection undected.possibly by someone entering your pc through your ip address as there is a programme to do this i hope you sort your problem out without have to reprogramme all the pc
alan

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Doonz

· #7 · Dec 3, 2002

Math lesson

random weird problems + cheap and easy fix \ place to start =bigger and better power supply....BAD POWER=QUIRKY PROBLEMS...try moving it to a diffrent outlet or test the outlet with a cheap outlet tester from radio shack....you might be suprised at the result...good power=few ghost...

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johnwill

· #8 · Dec 3, 2002

I think the first move should be to do a reinstall of W98 over your existing installation. It should fix corrupted files and still retain all your settings.

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twas

· #9 · Dec 5, 2002

freight,

So I did a 'thorough' scandisk of drive c and it took 2 hours. Then I did a full defragment of the same drive and that took 8 hours. Result: 100% defragmented

How big is your HD and what % is available?

:ufo: :ufo: :ufo:

twas

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