... Troubleshooting in Win 98 ...

1. Shut off the computer completely and when turning the computer back on listen for a beep or wait for 3-5 seconds.

2. Press and hold the left Ctrl key on your keyboard which should get you into a Windows Startup Menu.

3. Choose the option #3 for Safe Mode prompt only.

1. Click on Start, Find, Files or Folders, and type in: *.tmp (that an asterisk and a dot) and make sure where is says "Look in" you have (C:), then click Find Now.

2. 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.

3. 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.

1. Temporarily press Ctrl + Alt + Del which should open a window "Close Programs"

2. Within this window highlight anything besides Explorer and Systray; then click the End Task button. If you get another prompt click End Task again (sometimes you have to give it 3 shots).

3. Repeat the above steps until you have nothing except Explorer and Systray. 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 problems.

4. If this did not resolve your problem, reboot the computer to get all these applications back and skip to the next step.

5. If this did resolve your problem, attempt to determine which application is causing it rebooting your computer, and then end tasking one program at a time attempting to duplicate the problem.

6. If you run into the problem 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.

1. 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.

2. In the Windows startup menu choose the option for safe mode command prompt only. Once at the C:\> prompt, type "ren autoexec.bat autoexec.ch" (sans quotes)

3. Once the autoexec.bat has been renamed type "ren config.sys config.ch" (again, sans quotes).

4. Once both of these files have been renamed (if they exist), reboot the computer to see if your prolem has been resolved.

1. 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.

2. In the Windows startup menu choose the option for safe mode command prompt only.

3. Get into the Windows directory by typing: "cd\windows" (remember, no quotes).

4. Once in the Windows directory first determine if these files are backed up by typing" dir win.* (that's with a dot and asterisk) and dir system.* (ditto). When typing each of these commands you should get a listing of all files that begin with win as well as system.

5. Insure before following the below steps that you have one old / bac / bak / --- file. If you do have one of the above extensions type: "ren win.ini win.ch" (no quotes). This will rename the win.ini to win.ch.

6. Once renamed, type: ren win.??? win.ini (where I put ???, you replace this with one of the extensions of the files you have seen in the above steps).

7. Once the win.ini file has been renamed type: ren system.ini system.ch and then, ren system.???.

In the startup menu choose the option for safe mode command prompt only.

1. At the C:\> prompt, type: "cd\windows\command" (no quotes; hope I don't have to tell you again), which should take you into the Windows command directory.

2. In this directory type "scanreg" (telling you for the last time).

3. Once in the Scanreg window choose the option to backup if prompted, and once backed up, you should have a listing of the previously backed up registry. Restore the registry with the oldest date.

If you truly reformat the hard drive, there is no need to uninstall anything; the reformatting process wipes out all the content on the drive. Generally, if you are not reformatting but instead just reinstalling, you should use control panel's add/remove to remove software, or the program's own uninstall program, before reinstalling. The uninstall/reinstall process is not foolproof however, as traces of uninstalled programs sometimes remain behind to cause problems. Reformatting eliminates that problem - most of the time. And remember those famous words: "Backup, Backup, Backup" all your personal files and programs, or you'll never see them again. Btw, if the problem is a virus, some viruses can withstand a reformat; means a trip to the local professional.

1. Go to Start and then to Programs and click on Windows Explorer.
   
2. Scroll down to Windows and click on the plus next to it.
   
3. Scroll down to Options and click on the plus next to it.
   
4. Select the folder called Cabs and click on the setup icon or the setup.exe file.

This will reinstall your operating system and you might have to reload some drivers or some of your other programs.

To reinstall Windows 98 using the DOS prompt:

1. Type in CD Windows and press Enter. If you are at the Windows directory, then ignore this first step. You should see C:\Windows>
   
2. Type in CD Options and press Enter. You should see C:\Windows\Options>
   
3. Type in CD Cabs and press the enter key. You should see C:\Windows\Options\Cabs>
   
4. Type in Setup.exe and press Enter.