win98se screen locks up on startup

The blue bar keeps running at the bottom of the screen but it will not complete startup. I can only go in through safe mode.

The only thing I have done is TRIED to download yahoo messenger twice. I had to stop it in the middle of the download (in which the screen said "finish downloading later "). Now the comp. won't even start up right.

What do I do?

 

That blue bar is coming from your BIOS, not from Windows 98.
From the startup menu choose Command Prompt Only, and do this command.
scanreg /restore
Pick a registry dated before this happened using the arrow keys, then press Enter.

 

win98 screen lockup

I already tried the scanreg /restore. I dated it back to 5 days ago. I restarted it and same thing. The problem only started 2 days ago.

I have gone into registry and removed all Yahoo files. I have tried the msconfig and unchecked what wasn't necessary to start up.

I have tried to copy my document data files through safe mode onto a cd via Nero and now I have a file missing: Win-ASPI. I am finding out that now Nero is corrupted.

My concern now is how do I get my data backed up before I do a quick restore?

I don't know what else to do with it.

 

I suggest you go into Safe Mode and go to Device Manager. Check for any errors on devices (yellow exclamation marks or red Xs). Open the "trees" (click the "+ ") and check for multiple listings of devices. You can remove any problem devices, but you should be confident of having (or getting) replacement drivers.

Matt
PS if there are multiple listings it probably means that the wrong drivers are installed.
EDIT:

In Safe Mode Windows drivers are not loaded. CD drivers are not loaded. Nero cannot find the Windows ASPI layer drivers that run the optical drives. Nero will not work in Safe Mode.

 

win98 screen lock up

Thank you Matt for the suggestion on the Device Manager. I am very familiar with that screen. However there are no problems listed.

Thanks also for the insight on Nero. I do have a 3" floppy on this machine, so I can still back up the long way.

Today someone on another forum suggested through safe mode to do the step by step confirmation. I answered yes to all the files that came up and then it did a virus check at the end of the run and said ok. It sat there like a dummy for a short bit, and then I restarted it. Now I am at a loss.

Should I just get my data backed up and do a quick restore or what?

 

win98se screen locks up at start up

The world is a better place now. You guys are not going to believe it. For some wierd reason, my gut said to delete McAfee. And would you believe it removed it and the computer restarted in normal capacity the way it should.

Now you tell me why would McAfee an Yahoo have a problem working together!

Thanks to all who attempted to help me. I have learned from experience.

 

If it stops during the antivirus check, I would go to Safe Mode and run Scandisk on "thorough" with "automatically correct errors ".

You could also try disabling the antivirus from running at startup. If Scandisk says there are no problems, but the antivirus still freezes, you may need to uninstall and reinstall the antivirus.

Matt
Edit: You posted before me. Glad to hear you've gotten it fixed