Computer question

[Fred]

Ok, I am running Windows 98 and lately the whole thing has been freezing up more and more. The C/A/D doesn't unfreeze it. I have to turn it off and reboot. I have been getting wierd stuff when I reboot- once I got a blank screen that said "no operational system found" and another time it said there was a problem with scandisk. I have ran scan disk, disc cleanup and defragged and it still is acting up. Occasionally when I start it back up again, it goes into safe mode. I would think I had a virus or something but every 3rd or 4th time I shut down and start it all over again, it works fine. But eventually, it will freeze up. Suggestions? I thought about going out and buying Windows98 and reinstalling it. (It came on my computer.) Would that help?

 

[Y2Buddy]

Well, since I'm not allowed to promote macs in a pc related question, I would suggest you looking online for an upgrade to Win98. Meaning are you running 98 or 98B. It should be available at Microsoft and much easier than a new install. It may correct (overwrite) whatever files are giving you these problems. Are you running any paticular software everytime it happens?

 

[BigMark]

Rather than buying more Win98, I'd suggest going with something like Norton SystemWorks which helped me a lot. If that doesn't straighten things out for you (um, your computer), try backing up your files and restoring your whole deal. I did that a few weeks ago and it got rid of all the little gremlins running around.

Or you can just buy a new one...

 

[BearBryant]

hey fred..if 98 came with your pc, you should alrerady have the disk. No need to buy it again. I'm not sure if reinstalling would fix your problem. Might have to reformat. Could be your hard drive going out if you are getting a operating system not found. I'm sure someone else will be able to help you out a little more.

 

[Fred]

Originally posted by Y2Buddy
Are you running any paticular software everytime it happens?

Nope. Sometimes it freezes up like that when no programs at all are going.

Originally posted by BearBryant
Could be your hard drive going out if you are getting a operating system not found.

But right now it is working fine. If there was something up with the operational system- would it be hit and miss? I thought it would just crash and that's it. I can't find a Windows98 disk. It may have gotten lost in the move. I did find some HP 'system recovery' and an 'application recovery' discs. I would completely reformat this muther, but I'd end up destroying it even worse.

 

[Y2Buddy]

Actually that restore disk will make like the day you brought it home. No way you can fuck it up. It's just that, nothing you have will be saved. Anything you've added will be lost. How old is your computer?

 

[Superfluous_Nut]

I know a lot of PC folks that once a year just go ahead and re-install their OS from scratch -- just to keep things from getting messed up.

I personally try to avoid this...

 

[mathmajors]

I've had my Windows98 OS for over 3 years - no rebuilds, no problems.

I'll go with Bear on this. If you are spending more time trying to resolve a problem that is affecting the whole system, it's best to start out with a clean slate.

I've had success in the past just reinstalling Win95/98. You don't lose any data that way, 'cause the install only overwrites Windows OS files.

C'mon, Buddy, don't you wanna give us just a little plug?

 

[Fred]

There is nothing I can't handle losing other than a few files and i keep those on my desktop. I don't have a zip disc drive so i can't back up these large files.

 

[jasper]

Uh-oh. "Operating System Not Found" usually is an omen about the health of your hard disk. You get that message if the BIOS can't find the hard drive or the master boot record is corrupt, etc. There could be a number of reasons for that - the hard drive (IDE) cable might be loose, the power supply cable to the hard drive could have a short, or your disk might be going bad. It could also be a virus.

If it looks like all of the cables are in place and look unmolested, then I would be concerned about the hard disk going bad. My suggestion, provided you want to put money into it AND you are certain you don't want to lose your important files, would be to either a). go buy another internal hard drive and switch it out with yours or b). buy an external hard drive that connects via usb and hook it up and copy your important files over to it.

a). will solve the problem if it's a bad hard disk, but that's about it. If there's a virus on the disk, you'd have to reformat and lose your important files to get rid of it.

b). is what I would do in your situation. First, you get to save your important files, so you can reformat your internal hard drive and reinstall 98 (from the system recovery cd like Y2 said) without losing anything. Then, if it turns out that it really is a bad hard drive, you can get another internal HD and still have those files. You'll always have the external HD to keep a copy of important files on too.

Of course b). will be more expensive. A standard 40Gb hard disk nowadays can go for right at $100 and an external hard disk for about $200. And you still would have to buy another internal disk if yours is bad.....