Fellow Minoltians: Computer help needed!

[Snapshot]

When I go onto the internet, then go to a web page and on that web page I click on a picture, url, etc my computer locks up and I have to restart the computer by pushing the reset button on the front of the tower. But, it doesn't always happen on every site. I have run scandisk, Norton antivirus (downloaded newest update). I am running windows 98 on a Dell computer. I have tried shutting down all running programs and running defragment but I can't get it to do anything. I hope I can get this figured out. It's really starting to get annoying.

Thanks
Jeff (snapshot,RallyeX)
--
http://public.fotki.com/RallyeX

 

[digitaldream]

what is your hardware spec? maybe the site you visited is slow, so it takes a long time to communicate with the server and consumes most of your hardware resources. what browser are you using. if you are using IE, you can try using Netscape 4.7 or Opera to visit the same site to see what will happen.

nick

 

[akaroyd]

When I go onto the internet, then go to a web page and on that web
page I click on a picture, url, etc my computer locks up and I have
to restart the computer by pushing the reset button on the front of
the tower. But, it doesn't always happen on every site. I have run
scandisk, Norton antivirus (downloaded newest update). I am running
windows 98 on a Dell computer. I have tried shutting down all
running programs and running defragment but I can't get it to do
anything. I hope I can get this figured out. It's really starting
to get annoying.

Thanks
Jeff (snapshot,RallyeX)
--
http://public.fotki.com/RallyeX

Jeff, first off let me say that what I dont know about computers would fill an entire library.

What I would suggest though is the possibility that ad (or spy) ware has been installed on your computer and it is "hi-jacking" your browser. Go to http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/ and download their free Ad-Aware program. When you run it, be sure to choose "Use custom scanning options" and "customise" to choose all of the available options; i.e. the most thorough possible scan. Just possibly this could solve your problem. Be aware that "removing certain components may impact the functionality of effected software applications. You should fully read the included Ad-aware documentation before removing any files!" as they say. I personally have never had any problems with it though.

Another possible fix is to reinstall your browser software. If you have the latest version of it, then reinstall that. Otherwise get hold of the latest version.

I notice you mention shutting down all running programs so assume you are familiar with msconfig? If so, have you tried a diagnostic startup?

Also, have you tried clearing your cache and deleting cookies before a browser session?

Again, I DONT know HEAPS!!! about computers, but these could be a few places to start looking.

Good luck with it, and regards,

 

[Paulndp]

Hi,

Internet technology has evolved since win 98.
Some sites can only be seen with of have animation that requires "plugins".
Not sure win 98 handles them all well, or their cirrent versions.
Check in particular for

• flash plugins
• java plugins.

See if your Tools/internet options say anything about those.
Maybe disable them.
You don't specify but I seem to remember that win 98 second edition
handled some of those things a lot better. I think you should
be able to get that upgrade free somewhere.

--
Paul d'A.
My gallery: http://www.milestone.be/pics/index.html

 

[OzRay]

Without knowing a lot more detail, it's very difficult to suggest solutions. One thing to note though, Win98 was one of the worst iterations of the Windows OS. It was very prone to cumulative problems that eventually caused all sorts of abberant behaviour, which could only be fixed by a complete re-install. The problems, however, would eventually re-surface.

I had similar problems and after around the fifth re-install I'd had enough and went to Win2000 - no more problems. I now have WinXP, which is working very well. If your machine can support XP get an upgrade, as I don't think that there is a simple, long-term solution to your problem. Though I have heard of people going back to Win95 and been much happier.

--
There are no limitations, only challenges - me (unless someone said it first)

http://www.wyndhambusiness.com/PhotoGallery/

 

[KEITH-C]

It very difficult to diagnose this problem without more precise details. Do you get any error messages or does the computer freeze & become totally unresponsive? Are you trying to save images which are 'banned' by the computers security settings? Do you get any other problems on other occassions?

I suggest that you formulate a more complete description of the precise conditions whch cause the problem & the pose the question on the PC TOOLS forum. It is possible that you will need to refresh Windows but if you do this take care to save any important files just in case the re-boot goes wrong.

One free program which I do find useful is EVIDENCE ELIMINATOR. This program is designed , I believe to clear off incriminating details of the Internet sites ( pornagraphic) whch have been visited but it has a far wider application in that it can be used to clear off a lot of rubbish data which accumlates on computers every time that you use the internet. This data tends to fill up temp files & various caches & certainly takes up disc space & is better discarded. There are other programs which clean up discs but I have used this program & know that it works & some versions are free!
--
Keith-C

 

[akaroyd]

It very difficult to diagnose this problem without more precise
details. Do you get any error messages or does the computer freeze
& become totally unresponsive? Are you trying to save images which
are 'banned' by the computers security settings? Do you get any
other problems on other occassions?

I suggest that you formulate a more complete description of the
precise conditions whch cause the problem & the pose the question
on the PC TOOLS forum. It is possible that you will need to refresh
Windows but if you do this take care to save any important files
just in case the re-boot goes wrong.

One free program which I do find useful is EVIDENCE ELIMINATOR.
This program is designed , I believe to clear off incriminating
details of the Internet sites ( pornagraphic) whch have been
visited but it has a far wider application in that it can be used
to clear off a lot of rubbish data which accumlates on computers
every time that you use the internet. This data tends to fill up
temp files & various caches & certainly takes up disc space & is
better discarded. There are other programs which clean up discs but
I have used this program & know that it works & some versions are
free!
--
Keith-C

....... I did a Google search for Evidence Eliminator and came up with this site http://www.radsoft.net/resources/software/reviews/ee/ . It makes for very interesting reading.

Apparently you haven't had any problems with it or I'm sure you wouldn't be recommending it.

As I said earlier in this thread, definitely not a computer expert here, but having read much of that info I personally will give it a miss.

Regards,

 

[Chelmi]

Jsut start by emptying your temporary internet files, maybe u've got a file that is corrupted :

Start IE

Click on Tools / Options then Delete button under Temporay Internet Files section.
Then restart your computer

HTH
Chelmi

When I go onto the internet, then go to a web page and on that web
page I click on a picture, url, etc my computer locks up and I have
to restart the computer by pushing the reset button on the front of
the tower. But, it doesn't always happen on every site. I have run
scandisk, Norton antivirus (downloaded newest update). I am running
windows 98 on a Dell computer. I have tried shutting down all
running programs and running defragment but I can't get it to do
anything. I hope I can get this figured out. It's really starting
to get annoying.

Thanks
Jeff (snapshot,RallyeX)
--
http://public.fotki.com/RallyeX

 

[KEITH-C]

It very difficult to diagnose this problem without more precise
details. Do you get any error messages or does the computer freeze
& become totally unresponsive? Are you trying to save images which
are 'banned' by the computers security settings? Do you get any
other problems on other occasions?

I suggest that you formulate a more complete description of the
precise conditions which cause the problem & the pose the question
on the PC TOOLS forum. It is possible that you will need to refresh
Windows but if you do this take care to save any important files
just in case the re-boot goes wrong.

One free program which I do find useful is EVIDENCE ELIMINATOR.
This program is designed , I believe to clear off incriminating
details of the Internet sites ( pornographic) which have been
visited but it has a far wider application in that it can be used
to clear off a lot of rubbish data which accumulates on computers
every time that you use the internet. This data tends to fill up
temp files & various caches & certainly takes up disc space & is
better discarded. There are other programs which clean up discs but
I have used this program & know that it works & some versions are
free!
--
Keith-C

....... I did a Google search for Evidence Eliminator and came up
with this site
http://www.radsoft.net/resources/software/reviews/ee/ . It makes
for very interesting reading.

Apparently you haven't had any problems with it or I'm sure you
wouldn't be recommending it.

As I said earlier in this thread, definitely not a computer expert
here, but having read much of that info I personally will give it a
miss.

Regards,

I agree that if I had read this site I might well have been put off the program. However it is my impression that the authors of this information have their own agenda. Nearly all providers of 'free' software attempt to sell-up the latest version - this can be resisted.

The claims that providers of EE make that the results of this program can pass strict forensic disc analysis may not be entirely true but that is only going to be a concern to computer users who are bothered about destroying secret or illegal files - I use the program to automatically get rid of unwanted cookies & other rubbish such as file names & header information which most websites download to your computer without you realising it.

If you have ever used such a program you will be amazed at the amount of clutter that exists that you are not normally aware of - all of which is taking up valuable disc space.

The version which I use was provided by a computer magazine & is v 3.1 SE. I can't speak for other versions.You are given a choice of what information that you want to remove & it is recommended to set the program up conservatively at first until you are confident that it is not going to remove wanted files. Some of the critics of this program are bothered because it can remove cookies that they want left on your computer to make access to their sites easier & faster. You can stop the process before it has completed if all that you want to do is remove rubbish. It is the final over-writing process that is supposed to remove all evidence of residual file information - if that is not a concern then you can abort this long step.

I appreciate that people can get slightly paranoid about the motives of free programs providers & if you want more safety & peace of mind then you can pay Norton & others for similar utilities.
Keith-C

 

[toughluck]

I had similar problems and after around the fifth re-install I'd
had enough and went to Win2000 - no more problems. I now have
WinXP, which is working very well. If your machine can support XP
get an upgrade, as I don't think that there is a simple, long-term
solution to your problem. Though I have heard of people going back
to Win95 and been much happier.

I could believe that. Unfortunately, I have to have Windows on my drive sharing space with Linux, and it's XP. While during the very first months I've been heaventaken, it developed a strange behaviour since about two months. Out of nothing, it hangs. It runs stable, right until it hangs completely. No reaction to anything, just a complete freeze. Trouble is, it doesn't have any explicitely preset duration. It runs as short as less than a minute, hanging before I can enter a password, or as long as 3 days in a row. I don't remember when I have last halted Windows normally. I've excluded almost everything, except something in the system itself.

Hardware is fine. I've first thought the reason might be that the CPU fan stops for a second, enough to halt the entire system, so I've disabled 'CPU Protection for CPUFAN OFF,' and it worked - right until the computer hanged. So I've turned the option back on. Since I have Linux, I have decided to run a duration test on Linux two weeks ago - and it's still working. OK, just joking, I have turned the PC off after 3 days.

Concluded it wasn't hardware, I thought that maybe it's adware. Having AdAware, I've decided to run the thorough test. Nothing.

Then came time to conclude it was a virus. I'm not the only user, my sister could've infected the system (I couldn't, receiving all my mail under Linux), but antivirus tests, by avast, yielded nothing. Avast is recommended by my ISP and a long-time friend, but the search showed nothing.

The obvious reason is one of the system updates. Unfortunately, most of the recent ones were non-removable, so there's no point in looking through them. Additionally, there have been no updates for more than a month. It may very well be something is blocking access to Windows Update, but it's due time at least for a security patch... I've concluded it's time for a complete system reinstall with repartitioning the disk, getting ready for Mandrake 10... Version 9.2, as good as it very well may be, is still much worse than 9.1 (or so I've heard), or 9.0 (which I've had previously, so this is hands-on experience).

Unfortunately, there are things tying me to Windows - there are some programs which are indispensible for everyday work, and I can't get equivalents for Linux, or can't quite use Wine for them.

 

[toughluck]

I'd recommend Opera for starters. Go to http://www.opera.com/
Others will recommend mozilla.org - http://www.mozilla.org/

When I go onto the internet, then go to a web page and on that web
page I click on a picture, url, etc my computer locks up and I have
to restart the computer by pushing the reset button on the front of
the tower. But, it doesn't always happen on every site. I have run
scandisk, Norton antivirus (downloaded newest update). I am running
windows 98 on a Dell computer. I have tried shutting down all
running programs and running defragment but I can't get it to do
anything. I hope I can get this figured out. It's really starting
to get annoying.

Thanks
Jeff (snapshot,RallyeX)
--
http://public.fotki.com/RallyeX

--
What is true liberty, I ask you.

Is it the right of any individual to do anything they wish, trespassing on the liberty of other people, or is it the right of any individual to be sure his liberty shan't be trespassed upon? I assure you, this is the true meaning of true liberty.
What is free speech, then?

 

[Knupper]

When I go onto the internet, then go to a web page and on that web
page I click on a picture, url, etc my computer locks up and I have
to restart the computer by pushing the reset button on the front of
the tower. But, it doesn't always happen on every site. I have run
scandisk, Norton antivirus (downloaded newest update). I am running
windows 98 on a Dell computer. I have tried shutting down all
running programs and running defragment but I can't get it to do
anything. I hope I can get this figured out. It's really starting
to get annoying.

Thanks
Jeff (snapshot,RallyeX)
--
http://public.fotki.com/RallyeX

Jeff,

Several things can cause this problem. Most of the time hardware acceleration is the cause. The system is trying to run faster than the hardware will allow. This causes the mouse to "freeze". I take it from what you are saying the system freezes?? If so try the following ... The first thing most of the time will cure the problem. Hope this works for you.
Gary K.

Tame hardware acceleration.

By default, your computer is set to maximize performance of its hardware components, particularly those handling display functions. Sometimes, though, that works to your detriment.

Taming display acceleration can put an end to mouse freezes. Go to Control Panel and click on the Display icon. Click on Settings. Click on the Advanced button, then the Performance tab. Set the acceleration slider to 3/4 and reboot.

Check out your mouse drivers.

Your mouse driver may have been corrupted. Reinstall your mouse driver or, better yet, download and install a more recent driver, if one is available.

Check out your video driver.

If the freezes occur while Internet Explorer or another graphics-intensive program is running, a balky video driver may be causing the mouse to freeze. Download and install a new video driver. To do so, visit the Web site maintained by the maker of your video card or computer.

 

[Luis Dias]

Dear KEITH-C:

You might want to have a look at users opinion of EE at download.com or other similiar sites. They don't seem very happy with EE. And besides, everything you do with EE you could do it by yourself in a couple of minutes without having to spend money.

Regards,

Luis

 

[Luis Dias]

Many people here already pointed out most of the possible causes of your problem so I'll just give a couple more of hints:

Hardware:

Besides confliting drivers (as it was already pointed out), it's possible that your computer may have dust inside. Dust, specially in the CPU makes the computer overheat and thus freeze.

Software:

Are you visiting sites that use Java? Java and IE don't go along very well, sometimes java applets make IE freeze. In windows 2000 and above it's easy to recover but in 98...

Personally I would bet in spyware trashing your IE as akaroyd sugested, but you never know.

Best wishes,

Luis

 

[toughluck]

When I go onto the internet, then go to a web page and on that web
page I click on a picture, url, etc my computer locks up and I have
to restart the computer by pushing the reset button on the front of
the tower. But, it doesn't always happen on every site. I have run
scandisk, Norton antivirus (downloaded newest update). I am running
windows 98 on a Dell computer. I have tried shutting down all
running programs and running defragment but I can't get it to do
anything. I hope I can get this figured out. It's really starting
to get annoying.

Thanks
Jeff (snapshot,RallyeX)
--
http://public.fotki.com/RallyeX

Jeff,
Several things can cause this problem. Most of the time hardware
acceleration is the cause. The system is trying to run faster than
the hardware will allow. This causes the mouse to "freeze".

This is what happens to me when I can see the symptoms. Read on.

[snip]

Check out your mouse drivers.
[snip]

The same since beginning.

Check out your video driver.
[snip]

The same since more than half a year.

However, the system freezes on my PC happen (under Windows) completely at random. I don't get it. Sometimes the system will work for quite a long time without any freeze, doing extremely intensive work, sometimes it will freeze at the logon screen, or just after startup finishes (and I'm ready to begin doing something). I can work under Corel Draw and PhotoPaint quite effortlessly, sometimes I can finish my work, even when doing intensive stuff like multiple contours, and mesh fills, sometimes it freezes while I'm drawing a rectangle. It can work pretty well with Opera and IE (though I use the latter only for the so-called "'optimised' sites") even with flash and javascript, sometimes it freezes during normal HTML viewing - I'm browsing a page, reading it, and want to scroll down - frozen. I leave my computer on for the night (usually), but turn the monitor on in the morning only to find out the clock shows 23:54 (and I went to sleep at 23:50) - entire night's worth of downloading Mandrake 9.2 and spidering some website (yeah, I'm one of 'those users') went to waste - more than once, in fact, and I ended up buying it bundled with a magazine (not that I'm complaining!). But are FTP clients really graphics intensive if minimised???

 

[Taco]

When I go onto the internet, then go to a web page and on that web
page I click on a picture, url, etc my computer locks up and I have
to restart the computer by pushing the reset button on the front of
the tower. But, it doesn't always happen on every site. I have run
scandisk, Norton antivirus (downloaded newest update). I am running
windows 98 on a Dell computer. I have tried shutting down all
running programs and running defragment but I can't get it to do
anything. I hope I can get this figured out. It's really starting
to get annoying.

Thanks
Jeff (snapshot,RallyeX)
--
http://public.fotki.com/RallyeX

--

Go out to Microsofts Knowledge Base and pose the problem out there. I am sure you are not the only person who has had this problem, and there maybe a fix for it. Personally I would buy and install Windows XP if your PC and hardware can support it. Wind98 and ME were dogs and don't even consider going back to Win95 because a lot of your new software and hardware drivers will not run on it.

Bill

 

[Knupper]

However, the system freezes on my PC happen (under Windows)
completely at random. I don't get it. Sometimes the system will
work for quite a long time without any freeze, doing extremely
intensive work, sometimes it will freeze at the logon screen, or
just after startup finishes (and I'm ready to begin doing
something). I can work under Corel Draw and PhotoPaint quite
effortlessly, sometimes I can finish my work, even when doing
intensive stuff like multiple contours, and mesh fills, sometimes
it freezes while I'm drawing a rectangle. It can work pretty well
with Opera and IE (though I use the latter only for the so-called
"'optimised' sites") even with flash and javascript, sometimes it
freezes during normal HTML viewing - I'm browsing a page, reading
it, and want to scroll down - frozen. I leave my computer on for
the night (usually), but turn the monitor on in the morning only to
find out the clock shows 23:54 (and I went to sleep at 23:50) -
entire night's worth of downloading Mandrake 9.2 and spidering some
website (yeah, I'm one of 'those users') went to waste - more than
once, in fact, and I ended up buying it bundled with a magazine
(not that I'm complaining!). But are FTP clients really graphics
intensive if minimised???

It could be several things that cause this problem, from two pieces of hardware bumping heads at startup to corrupt files or sectors on the hard drive. I would first try running Scandisk in "through mode" so that it checks all sectors on the hard drive. This will take some time, but may reveal a sector on the hard drive that is bad containing corrupt files. If that dosen't produce a cure, then try what I told Jeff to do next. Another thing may be a memory chip going bad. There are several diagnostic programs that will check the hardware on your system. You can find them at "download.com" for free if you just do a search for "diagnostic". Are you running the latest drivers for your hardware?? If not you should update them. If you know the brand name of your video card or mouse, you can download them from the respective sites. Sometime's overheating is the problem as mentioned in the other post, but if it freezes from a cold boot, this may not be the problem. To check, simply remove the cover from your computer them boot it up and make sure the fan over the CPU chip is working as well as the fan in the case. Try blowing the dust out of the inside and run the computer for a while with the case off to give it more ventalition. If none of the above works, try re-installing Windows over the old version to see if it corrects it.
Hope some of the above cures your problem.
Gary K.

 

[ftsoft]

We need more info. Has this just started happening? Is it a new computer? Have you installed some new sw recently? what browser are you using? Can you view local jpg's with your browser?

When I go onto the internet, then go to a web page and on that web
page I click on a picture, url, etc my computer locks up and I have
to restart the computer by pushing the reset button on the front of
the tower. But, it doesn't always happen on every site. I have run
scandisk, Norton antivirus (downloaded newest update). I am running
windows 98 on a Dell computer. I have tried shutting down all
running programs and running defragment but I can't get it to do
anything. I hope I can get this figured out. It's really starting
to get annoying.

Thanks
Jeff (snapshot,RallyeX)
--
http://public.fotki.com/RallyeX

 

[toughluck]

It could be several things that cause this problem, from two pieces
of hardware bumping heads at startup to corrupt files or sectors on
the hard drive.

This would cause Linux to freeze as well.

I would first try running Scandisk in "through
mode" so that it checks all sectors on the hard drive.

This might help, but the freezes occur also when the drive is not accessed at all.

This will
take some time, but may reveal a sector on the hard drive that is
bad containing corrupt files. If that dosen't produce a cure, then
try what I told Jeff to do next. Another thing may be a memory chip
going bad. There are several diagnostic programs that will check
the hardware on your system.

As I said, it would freeze Linux as well.

You can find them at "download.com"
for free if you just do a search for "diagnostic". Are you running
the latest drivers for your hardware??

Most of them. I haven't replaced my hardware for more than two years, so I guess that cannot be the problem if it ran very good earlier.

If not you should update
them.

No, thank you. Last time I've got downloaded 'official' drivers for SB Live! (I didn't ask for them, they've installed themselves) from Microsoft site, they warped firmware on my soundcard.

If you know the brand name of your video card or mouse, you
can download them from the respective sites. Sometime's overheating
is the problem as mentioned in the other post, but if it freezes
from a cold boot, this may not be the problem.

As well as no problem running under Linux.

To check, simply
remove the cover from your computer them boot it up and make sure
the fan over the CPU chip is working as well as the fan in the
case.

It's enough reassuring to see + - 30-35 deg. C on the termomether. As well as having a P4 fan over a Duron 700.

Try blowing the dust out of the inside and run the computer
for a while with the case off to give it more ventalition.

I've done it two times in the last two months.

If none
of the above works, try re-installing Windows over the old version
to see if it corrects it.

I've had WinXP for more than a year, and quirky behaviour appeared only two months ago.

Hope some of the above cures your problem.

Reinstalling system is probably the only way to go...

Gary K.

--
Fun fact #543:
Did you know 11% of statistics are invented on spot?

 

[toughluck]

When I go onto the internet, then go to a web page and on that web
page I click on a picture, url, etc my computer locks up and I have
to restart the computer by pushing the reset button on the front of
the tower. But, it doesn't always happen on every site. I have run
scandisk, Norton antivirus (downloaded newest update). I am running
windows 98 on a Dell computer. I have tried shutting down all
running programs and running defragment but I can't get it to do
anything. I hope I can get this figured out. It's really starting
to get annoying.

Thanks
Jeff (snapshot,RallyeX)
--
http://public.fotki.com/RallyeX

--
Go out to Microsofts Knowledge Base and pose the problem out there.
I am sure you are not the only person who has had this problem, and
there maybe a fix for it. Personally I would buy and install
Windows XP if your PC and hardware can support it. Wind98 and ME
were dogs and don't even consider going back to Win95 because a lot
of your new software and hardware drivers will not run on it.

Win 98 SE was not quite a dog, although it did accumulate problems (especially in registry - was that a mess!). I regard it as a much better version than 95 was.

Bill

--
Fun fact #543:
Did you know 79% of statistics are invented on spot?