WINDOWS 98

  1. SAFE MODE: If you are not able to get into Windows 98, and it has been able to get into Windows 98 before. Shut off the computer completely and when turning the computer back on listen for a beep or wait for 3-5 sec. and then press and hold the left Ctrl key on your keyboard which should get you into a Windows 98 Startup Menu, choose the option #3 for Safe Mode prompt only.
  2. DELETE CERTAIN FILES: Once in safe mode or in regular windows click on Start / find / click on find files or folders / where it says named type *.tmp and ensure where it says named it says (C:) and click on Find Now. Once it has found files click on Edit and choose the option to select all and press delete on your keyboard to delete all the files. Once the tmp files have been deleted do the same as above however instead of typing *.tmp type *.chk, and delete these files as well.
  3. DEVICE MANAGER: Check device manager to ensure that there are no conflicts with any devices causing your system to not operate properly.
  4. CLOSE PROGRAMS: Remove any TSRs temporarily press Ctrl + Alt + Del which should open a window "Close Programs" within this window highlight anything besides Explorer and click the End Task button. If you get another prompt click End Task again. Repeat the above steps until you have nothing except Explorer. If your computer runs faster or if you are able to run a particular application without errors it is a good possibility you may have a TSR that is causing your computer to run into certain issues.
    If this did not resolve your issue reboot the computer to get all these applications back and skip to the next step. If this did resolve your issue attempt to determine which application is causing your issue by rebooting your computer then end tasking one program at a time and attempt to duplicate the issue, if you run into the issue again, End Task another program and repeat the steps until you have discovered which program is causing the problem and then attempt to uninstall the program from your computer.
  5. SCANDISK / DEFRAG: Run Scandisk if it finds any errors repeat step number two if it does not find any errors run Defrag.
  6. DR. WATSON: Run Dr. Watson and see if additional information can be found out about the error.
  7. REN AUTOEXEC.BAT AND CONFIG.SYS: If you are currently in Windows / Safe mode reboot the computer and during the time booting up press and hold the left Ctrl key when the computer is starting. In the Windows 98 startup menu choose the option for safe mode command prompt only. Once at C:\> type ren autoexec.bat autoexec.ch once the autoexec.bat has been renamed type ren config.sys config.ch, once both of these files have been renamed if they exist, reboot the computer to see if your issue has been resolved.
  8. REN WIN.INI AND SYSTEM.INI: If you are currently in Windows / Safe mode reboot the computer and during the time booting up press and hold your left Ctrl key when the computer is starting. In the Windows 98 startup menu choose the option for safe mode command prompt only.
    get into the Windows directory by typing cd\windows . Once in the Windows directory first determine if these files are backed up by typing dir win.* and dir system.* when typing each of these commands you should get a listing of all files that begin with win as well as system. Ensure before following the below steps that you have one old / bac / bak / --- files.
    If you do have one of the above extensions type ren win.ini win.ch this will rename the win.ini to win.ch, once renamed type ren win.??? win.ini (where the ??? is replace this with one of the extensions of the files you have seen in the above steps. Once the win.ini file has been renamed type ren system.ini system.ch then ren system.??? system.ini.
  9. VIRUS SCAN: If your able to get into Windows and have a Virus Scanner attempt to check all hard drives for Virus's if any are detected clean / delete them.
  10. SCANREG: If you are getting a registry error or all the above steps have not resolved your issue and your computer has worked previously restart your computer if you are in Windows or Safe mode. During the time the computer is booting up press and hold your left Ctrl key which should take you into a Windows 98 startup menu, in the startup menu choose the option for safe mode command prompt only. At C:\> type cd\windows\command which should take you into the Windows command directory. In this directory type scanreg. Once in the scanreg window choose the option to backup if prompted, once backed up you should have a listing of the previously backed up registry. Restore the registry with the oldest date.