Booting failure

This PC has Windows 98SE and is now quite old. Today booting got only part way through and stopped with white system details on a black background. pressing del or alt+f2 did nothing. I switched off then on again and the same thing occurred. On the third attempt it booted as normal. I will continue to do the normal precautionary back up but is there anything I can do to reduce the likelihood of the problem. Is it likely that this PC is close to failure because of its age?

 

A computer does not know that it is 'old', but will react to things like dying CMOS or BIOS batteries. If the battery is allowed to go totally flat, the computer will forget the date, the time, and what kind of disk drives are installed. Most computers have a CR2032 coin style battery to keep the CMOS satisfied.
I would check inside the case, on the motherboard, for a battery that is dying.
The only other thing an old computer will do because of age is to have a bit of corrosion or resistance in the parts that are socketed or slotted. You can remove and re-install the memory DIMMS or SIMMS, and press down on other socketed chips to reduce the effect of corrosion.
The power supply and the motherboard may get puffed up capacitors after a while also. Check the tops of the capacitors for bulging if you think it is a power supply or motherboard problem.
tom

 

It has been operating in a satisfactory manner every day for years. There has been no signs of getting the time wrong or failing to recognize the disk. It is years since I last looked inside of a computer but I will take the top off tonight and look for any signs of corrosion or other obvious faults. Thanks for the advice.

 

Did you resolve the issue denisaf or is it still ongoing?

 

The problem has not occurred again. I intend to take the top off and check the CMOS battery when I can find the time. Sorry for the delay in replying. I will report the outcome. The fact that the booting failure has not reoccurred puzzles me. Could it just be some isolated event. The top has not been off this computer for years.

 

To be honest I don't think it's your CMOS battery, you would have noticed Date/Time errors.

From your description it looks like the Hard Drive failed to spin up, there's a couple of reasons for this (not necessarily HD failure) but I'd start by running the manufacturers disk diagnostics.

It may be worth checking out your hard drive using the manufacturer's disk diagnostics:

ExcelStore

Fujitsu

Hitachi/IBM

Samsung

Seagate, Maxtor, Quantum

Toshiba

Western Digital

Additionally if you take the time to enter their system details, it could help resolving this and any future issues you may have.

 

How do I determine which hard drive is installed? Should I have been provided with a hard drive manual and diagnostic disk when the dealer provided this computer 12 years ago?

 

Hitachi have advised me to take the top off the PC and get the details of the hard drive from the label on it. I will report back when that is done, I have run the diagnostics program and listed the system details.

 

I do not know how to get the top off this PC. It is different. The side plates ***** to the back plate but the top plat also holds them. The top plate is riveted to the back plate so cannot be removed. I am missing something simple!

 

I have entered the System Details. I now know the hard disk is a Samsung SP0802N. I can download the disk diagnostics but running it is quite a lengthy procedure. I will try and get advice from Samsung as to whether the booting failure could be a hard disk problem

 

My reticence is due to the need to back up the files on this hard disk. There is 16.5 GB of files so I would have to use 24 700MB CDs for the backup. This would take some time. However, there are many files that are no longer needed so I should go through that housekeeping before doing the back up.
On another subject, I get a message "D:\ is not accessible. "The device is not ready" on occasions when there is a CD-R in the drive. On other occasions I get a depiction of the folders on that CD. This is the same message that I get when I double click on A: (floppy) when that drive is empty. Does this indicate an intermittent error on D:

 

There is a misunderstanding there. I backup the important files regularly to CDs using Nero. Windows 98 only has backup to floppies. I have another desktop that has Windows. They both have Ethernet connections to the router for the internet. I tried to set up a network to share files and the printer but Windows 7 would not network with the Windows 98 desktop even though I used the procedure to network the Windows 7 with other Windows. Windows 98 has a component for file sharing with Windows NT. I will see whether there is a download that will enable 98 to share with 7.

 

MS changed networking in Win 7. That's why you are having problems connecting to Win7 from Win98.

Windows 98 cannot access shares or printers on Windows 7.

 

Is there now some download that can be installed in the Window98 desktop that enables it to network with Windows 7?

 

Please read the above link. It contains Registry edits on Win 7 machine that may make it work with Win98.

Caution: Make complete backup of your registry before editing it.

 

Thank you rsinfo. The link indicates that file sharing between 98 and 7 can be arranged but not a printer. I will do that after backing up the registry and the report back. I still have the problem with "D:\ is not accessible. "The device is not ready" which comes up on occasions. It makes backing up 98 files to CD difficult.