Windows 98 Woes

[InternetOwl]

Hey guys. My sister recently got an old computer running Windows 98SE and has a strange error on it that I am unsure of how to fix. The system seems to run fine but if you try changing the desktop themes, or the background color for windows under the display properties the system will freeze and you have to Ctrl-Alt-Delete out of it. I have tried new drivers and cleaning out the old ones and checking other apps to see if they could be the cause such as Adobe, but no luck. Frankly I'm so out of practice with 98 that I don't know what else to do. I am thinking it might be a registry error but am not sure.

Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[daniel49]

windows 98..whew been a while....sure sounds like a driver problem

 

[Link19]

Windows 98 is a POS OS when it comes to multi tasking and semi resource intensive 32-bit computing or higher. That may be problem. Don't attempt to multi task on it and your problems may go away. Also make sure there are not many system services loaded at startup. Windows 98 can't handle much of a load.

 

[InternetOwl]

Thanks for the ideas guys. I apreciate the respones.

 

[Wolfshanze]

Do you know exactly what background image Win98 is using? Is it using a default background image, a Desktop Theme from the Control Panel (don't forget you can change the background there too!) or a custom image? It may also be some sort of program running on auto-start.

I have a modern system (check sig-line) but I maintain a dual-boot system for old-school gaming... I therefore am still "fluent" in both Win9X and WinXP.

My guess (and I've seen this before), is you either have an auto-starting program that is putting a background image in (use the "Run..." command and type "MSCONFIG" to check the auto-starting programs), or you need to over-ride the background by changing the DESKTOP THEME in CONTROL PANEL (not Display Properties).

Another option is disabling "Active Desktop" which is a resource hog and overrides the background image (it can). Disable this if it is activated, it can also solve your problem.

By checking these options, you should be able to override the background... also, another method is entering SAFE MODE... you should be able to over-ride/replace the background in Safe Mode (Press F8 while booting to enter safe mode).

This is from a guy still using Win9X along with XP... this should correct your problem.

Lots of help from the other guys who just want to snip at people using a differant OS from theirs.

 

[InternetOwl]

Hey guys, the problem seems to have been fixed. I ran System File Checker as a fellow said and it found a corrupted windows setup file and restored it and now everything seems to work fine.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[Wolfshanze]

I ran System File Checker as a fellow said and it found a corrupted windows setup file and restored it and now everything seems to work fine.

Or you can just do that!