Startup fails except in Disk Compatibility Mode

[mikemck7]

Recently my HP Pavilion running Win98se started hanging during startup. I could only gain access in Safe Mode. After running MSCONFIG and trying different settings, I discovered that when I activate "Force Compatibility Mode Disk Access" from the "Advanced Troubleshooting Settings" window, the problem goes away. As a result, disk access time is now noticeably slower.

I'm worried that this might be a sign that the HD is about to die. I've had this machine for 4 years and have never had this problem before. What might have caused this and how do I fix it?
Thanks,
MikeM

 

[ski]

See if anything here helps:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;130179