Win 98 freezes in any program 2

[qmulus108]

I’ve been having problems with Win98 freezing so that the mouse doesn’t respond and ctrl-alt-delete doesn’t work and I have to use a hard reset. The computer freezes in any program and usually when I am using the scroll bar or just moving the mouse; sometimes even the screensaver (now turned off) will freeze.

I’m running an HP Pavilion 8750c with 191 megs of RAM, a 30 gig drive with 25 gigs free. I have gone through the Win98 forum here and tried virtually all of the fixes that I can find. I have: 1) cleaned out the start up config of unnecessary aps, 2) cleaned the drive of old unnecessary .tmp and .chk files, 3) emptied the trash, browser caches, email folders and the like, 4) ran scan disk and defrag, 5) replaced the mouse, 6) ran without original 64 meg ram card in case it was bad, 7) checked that fans were running and heat sink is cool.

Spent time talking with HP Service and, based on rather low system resouces (70-75%), they thought could be bad memory or a bad mother board. Either way I would have to ship to them or a Best Buy for service. Would re-formating the hard drive and starting fresh be a possible cure if the problem is not hardware related? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for any help.

 

[butchrecon]

Let HP or Best Buy take care of it. Doing it yourself while it is under warrenty can cause big headaches if you do something that may be considered questionable and not covered. Personally I think your problem is hardware related (RAM or MB). Please let us (Tek-tips members) know if the solutions we provide are helpful to you. Not only do they help you but they may help others.


James Collins
Computer Hardware Engineer
A+, MCP

email: butchrecon@skyenet.net

 

[qmulus108]

Thanks for your advice. I know I should take it in for service, just hate to have it gone for maybe a couple weeks.

qmulus108

 

[butchrecon]

I know its a pain. But as long as it is under warranty let them fix it. Saves you time and MONEY! Please let us (Tek-tips members) know if the solutions we provide are helpful to you. Not only do they help you but they may help others.


James Collins
Computer Hardware Engineer
A+, MCP

email: butchrecon@skyenet.net

 

[Guest_imported]

Did you get the answer to this? I have the same machine but its out of warranty now. I recently sent it for repair at PC warehouse but they could not help. I would greatly appreciate any assistance you could give.

 

[ID10T16]

Do either of you (qmulus108 & odigon), have your windows installation disk? It could possibly be some bad windows files. I would suggest reinstalling your operating system, but not necessarily formatting first though. By simply reinstalling the operating system, it will pretty much reconstruct crucial system files & may hopefully alleviate your problem. It never hurts to try you know.

 

[Stealer]

Have you tried starting your machine in Safe Mode?
Chances are that if it does not freeze in safe mode that you have a software problem. And in that case I would do a full format and restore.
Stealer

 

[reghakr]

Here's my experience with HP's, and these were the business line, not the cheap consumer versions such as those sold at Circuit City.

I setup over 80 Gateway computers, had small problems with 5 of them. We received 5 HP's, had major problems with 3 of them.

I had them come and pick them up. They worked on them for weeks, updating BIOS, hard drive, bad memory, constant registry errors. It was a joke. If I had these problems with a personal computer, I would have demanded my money back long ago.

I understand there is a lemon once in a while, but 3 out of 5? Nice printers, nice high-end equipment, junk consumer PC's. Sorry for sounding so negative, but these were a nightmare for us.

reghakr

 

[blovv]

I found the Solution!

The 8750c is UNSTABLE when it uses the
667 mhz processor. It WILL lock up after as
little as 10 minutes of Internet (ebay) scrolling.

Replacing the video card will help but does NOT
cure the problem.

REPLACING the processor will make the PC solid
as a rock. Forcing the PC to a 100 Mhz FSB CURES
the instability.

I replace the processor with a 700 mhz processor
with a 100 Mhz FSB. Specifically:
700mhz/256/100/1.65v.

Alternately you can close pins FS3 on the motherboard
which will FORCE the FSB to 100mhz but will also slow
the PC to 500 mhz.

Please note that both the processor change or the FS3
closure solution do NOT require a new video card.

Neither of these solutions are for amateur but are
pretty easy for a computer pro.

I would like to emphasize that both of these solutions
are TESTED and do work.

I know have two prefectly stable 8750cs.

Good luck with yours.

blovv

 

[cdogg]

Whoa! ....

Feels like flashback! I haven't seen a post by reghakr for the longest time. That's just too bad he left a long time ago.

blovv,
Interesting decision to bring the post back to life! qmulus108 hasn't logged in for almost 2 years!!


~cdogg
[tab]"All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind";
[tab][tab]- Aristotle
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[TekTippy4U]

Cool...!
I think what happens is a text search for a diff topic/subject with "anytime" selected in Advanced search yields results that we don't bother noticing the date too much. Then you stumble onto something that you know you have the answer for.....and being the good tek-tipster , you post the answer!
blovv;
good one

cdogg;
I hope it wasn't jail time that's keeping regshkr away....

TT4U

Notification:
These are just my thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs

 

[BigJim1]

Where is the fs3 at?