Briefly, you have a PIII computer with a HD that you have done an Fdisk on
and that you then reformatted. After a fresh install of Windows 98 ( and
also 95 ), the computer will only complete a boot into Safe Mode and freezes
on a standard start up. A fresh install of Windows XP results in freezes on
both standard and Safe Mode.

To me the computer seems to be operating OK or else you would not likely be
able to boot to and use Safe Mode. My first thought is that one or more
drivers are missing so as to prevent booting in standard mode. Did the
computer come with an initial start up disk that may have drivers on it for
the MB, video, sound, etc.? If so, you may need to install the drivers from
that disk before installing the OS or you may need to install from Safe
Mode. See the documentation that came with the computer and/or disk.

As to Windows XP giving the worst results, did you check compatibility
through Microsoft before installing the OS? I had to replace my PIII
motherboard before installing XP in place of 98.

Her initial problems could have been caused by corrupted files or
incompatibility of programs. Then, after the media update more demands were
placed on the system and the 256MB of RAM was barely acceptable. Then, the
AOL update seems to have sent the system over the edge.

I hope this helps. I'm sure you will get more suggestions.

Tom Mayer

***Excerpts from original message***

I've run out of ideas on this one. My sister has an IBM NetVista --
model 2251-TEU; Pentium III processor; 30Gig HD; 256MB RAM; Windows Me.
Of course her problems began almost immediately after the warranty
expired. She described her problems this way:

". . .it started with the computer not shutting down completely. .
.just the wallpaper on the screen and I'd have to turn it off manually.
. .later I'd get the "improper shutdown detected" screen. I don't
remember if this started before or after I downloaded the Windows
update. I did the Windows update because I wanted to listen to the AOL
Radio while on-line and I couldn't do so until I got the Windows
(Media) update.

Then sometimes I would get error messages like "the system is
dangerously low in resources", and others. . .one of them being an
error detected in "kernel" with some numbers following it.

The real craziness started when I upgraded to the latest version of AOL
earlier this year--9.0 Security I think. . .after doing that, the
computer would freeze in the booting up phase. At first I thought it
had something to do with McAfee or something else that was installed
with the AOL upgrade, because prior to that, I could still use my
computer but it was just acting a little wacky with the error messages
and shuting down. After the AOL upgrade, I couldn't get past the boot
up to even use it.

I then tried reformatting ("f-ing the disk") and that didn't help.

1) The main "symptom": The computer "stalls" at the same point after
the POST. The desktop would appear, but then the screen would go black
and the computer could only be shut down by pulling the power cord.
2) Swapping out harddrives and RAM sticks proved that they are OK. I
was able to boot up one of my computers using her harddrive.
3) Using an older "spare HD with Win95, or installing 98 onto her HD
gave the same results as Me. I can only fully boot while in safe mode.
With XP installed it behaved worse: it would stall immediatly after the
POST without ever showing the desktop, and I can't even boot in safe
mode with XP.

I was somewhat encouraged by the fact that I was able to get "some" life
from the thing while in safe mode. But I don't know where to go from here.
Can't do much without all those drivers activated.

Thanks,
Asa Frye

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