OK, I've been lurking for a while, and now I have a question. Understand that
I know just enough about computers to be dangerous. And, that most of the
time I just figure problems are Uncle Bill’s curse on the Windows world, like
the plague, and are just an accepted part of life (and death). Actually, I
have a series of problems to be solved, but figure that I'll present them one
at a time, both to limit the length of this post, and realizing that solving
one problem may solve another.
FWIW, one of the reasons I am trying to clean things up is that I bought a
bunch of stuff from CompUSA, and they are offering free installation. So I
thought I'd try to get rid of any bugaboos before I take the computer in so
any bugaboos when I get it back can be blamed on CompUSA, and I can expect
them to fix them. A subsequent post will ask for any suggestions you might
have on what I should tell CompUSA when I have them install it all.
I AM ASKING FOR HELP RESOLVING THE FOLLOWING PROBLEM: Most of the time when
I turn my computer on, it stops loading, referring to a crash (part of the
text, listed below).
Other possibly related facts are these:
- I have an HP 8380 computer, approximately 2 years old, running on Windows
98
- The computer came with, and is apparently running, McAfee VirusScan, which
had a support period of the product life. Unfortunately, the product life
apparently did not refer to the computer, but the software. McAfee no longer
supports it. I have already purchased McAfee Office, which has a (hopefully
updated) VirusScan, so I really don't need the old VirusScan on the computer.
- My computer sometimes crashes/freezes up, (you can stop chuckling now)
especially when I'm online, although this has improved considerably since I
started closing programs that are running in the background. (Will be more
than doubling memory, shortly, so that may help the situation.) No apparent
pattern.
- Because the McAfee program was outdated, I downloaded Inoculate T. Have
not downloaded updates recently, and am getting an out-of-date warning when I
turn computer on.
- I rarely download any programs, except from known sources (Microsoft,
Shockwave, etc.), and don't open attachments, even from friends, unless there
is personally identifiable info in message.
- My computer will often not shut down without, literally, pulling the plug.
Recently, I occasionally get a message that (Indexing) program is not
responding. Ofttimes, it will freeze up at the “Windows is Shutting Down”
screen, although I am occasionally surprised when the computer shuts down
properly. (Sad state of affairs when you are surprised when things function
properly.)
- When I use VirusScan to scan C drive, nothing shows up.
So, what follows is the problem I need help with. When I turn on the
computer I get the following:
C:\>C:\PROGRA~1\NETWOR~1\MCAFFEE~1\SCANPM.EXE C:\
DOS4G PROTECTED MODE Run-time Version 2.01
Copyright (c) Tenberry Software, Inc. 1996
ScanPM v3.1.5 Copyright (c) McAfee, Inc. 1994-1998
(then more stuff, then:)
loading pattern DOS/4G error (2001): exception OEh (page fault) at 190:005
72531
TSF32:prev_tst3281CO
(then more stuff, then:)
Crash address (unrelocated)=1:00012531
Press any key to continue . . . .
If I just press the return key, it continues on it's merry way, sometimes
going through the “scanning C drive” routine because it wouldn't turn itself
off properly after its prior usage.
So, apologizing for the length of all this, does anybody know whether I
really have a problem, what that problem is, and how to solve it?
TIA
William Closure
"Hold No Punches.." Rode brings you great shareware/freeware
programs with his honest opinions in this weekly column.
http://freepctech.com/rode
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