Win98 is freezes or reboots while on internet (DSL)

Hello, I connected to DSL about a month ago and have been experiencing a rash of freezes and/or reboots. This only occurs while on the internet. Two scenarios occur:

1. Typically while surfing (using I.E. 6.0 or Netscape 7.1), the computer will suddenly freeze and the computer has to be powered off and rebooted. This will also occur if chatting on Yahoo Messenger.

2. When I am in a newsgroup (using Forte Agent) downloading a large binary or large group of binaries, the computer will suddenly, without warning reboot itself. Occasionally it will freeze, in which case the computer has to be powered off and rebooted.

It appears the reboot occurs when the computer is under a heavy 'stress' when downloading a large binary or a webpage with heavy graphics.

I have run virus checks, adaware checks, spyware checks and all comes up clean.

My system is an Emachines, Win98SE, pentium III, 500 Mhz, 192 Meg RAM.

I did not experience any of these sudden reboots until I connected to DSL. It has occurred as soon as 5 minutes after connecting to the internet.

Could the system be overtaxed and the power supply is causing these problems? How would I check this?

Any assistance would be appreciated.

 

Whenever I hear of a spontaneous reboot such as you describe, the cause is usually heat related. The removal of dust from heat sinks, fans and vents would eliminate this as a cause. Hold fans from spinning when using compressed air.

 

There is a power calculator here:
http://www.windowsbbs.com/showthread.php?t=29415&highlight=power+calculator

Heat, yes, Everest in my signature has temperature readouts.

Reseat the cables/connections/card related to DSL.

I have had badly installed drivers cause those problems. Mine were related to the graphics card drivers. You may want to update or reinstall those drivers related to your DSL connection (network and modem).

Matt

 

Hey, thanks for all the good advice. I thought things were going to work.

I blew out the heat sinks and fans with compressed air, reseated the Enet and Video boards and reloaded the drivers for each. I played around on the internet for 4-5 hours straight, doing some heavy downloading, multiple files simultaneously, at the same time performing considerable cycling of web pages. Never once froze or rebooted. Went back several hours later and started downloading a binary file from a newsgroup and the PC froze and rebooted after 5 minutes.

The power calculator indicates I need a larger power supply. I have the largest power supply (260W) that will fit in this computer without seriously modifying the cabinet. I think it's time to upgrade!

Thanks again.