Alton Woodams original post:---

<<< I am running Win98SE.  Over the last month, I have experienced random freezes.
Now, I can boot to the Desktop, but the hard drive then starts clicking and
everything freezes.  I can boot to Safe Mode, with no drive clicking, but random
freezing still occurs.  I am treating this as a hardware issue, but it may be
software.  So I apologize if I have gone to the wrong forum.>>>

You do seem to have posted to the right forum. there could be so many reasons for your problem that a process of "elimination" seems to be the only answer.

(1) hard disk-- from your post i do not think this is causing the problem since you are able to boot in safe mode though sometimes you do encounter freezing. if you are comfortable opening the case THEN AND ONLY THEN

open the side cover, GROUND YOURSELF PROPERLY BY TOUCHING some portion of your computer with one hand or better still wear an anti static wrist wrap, and place the four fingers of your other hand on top of the exposed metal surface of your hard disk. if you feel a slight vibration then possibly it is ok.

(2) disconnect everything like( printers/scanners/pci sound/network or other cards(video?) and boot ONLY with the keyboard and mouse and see how it goes.

(3)if all above fails then you will have to check mobo/cpu/powersupply/
 loose connections etc step by step and see. the only way to check by oneself is to attach one to some other working computer(YOU MUST ENSURE HARDWARE COMPATIBILITY) and pinpoint the problem to the extent possible.

sorry if not very helpful but FWIW. good luck----Venkat Viswanathan

               The NOSPIN Group Promotions is now offering
                 our special coffee mugs and mouse pads
              with the PCBUILD logo...  at a great price!!!
             http://freepctech.com/goodies/promotions.shtml