Laurence writes:

<<I recently installed SP1 onto a W98 pc >>

I've never heard of SP1 for W98, but I could be wrong.  If it's the SP1 for
XP, I imagine that could be a disaster, even supposing it would try to install.

<< IE6 which takes up to 40 seconds >>

IE6 was not designed for W98 and proved to be unsuitable on W98 in some
cases. Depends on your total system configurations, software combinations,
and probably many other hidden factors. Many people on W98 had to revert
back to IE5.5.

Try it in Safe Mode.  If now OK, that will eliminate low-level problems.

Now reboot normally with shift key held down. Check Task Manager and turn
off anything remaining open except Explorer and Systray.  If now IE is OK,
that means you have a conflict with one of your startup progs or
configuration which is affecting IE6.  Add each one back in selectively
until you locate the source of the problem.

If you have registry backups, preferable using ERU, most probs of this
nature will often be fixed by a registry restoration if the cause is not at
too deep a level.  Perhaps your "SP1", whatever it is, has screwed some
registry settings.  In which case I'd expect to see other problems as well.

The installation of IE6 was not only a browser installation, but also acted
as a W98 upgrade, making many system changes not entirely related to IE.
Most of these changes were beneficial on most systems but, as always, there
will always be a few systems/combinations on which any upgrade will be
problematical. (Witness the XP/SP2 problems a few people are having).

With system upgrades, it's almost impossible to analyse the cause of these
problems, if the usual easy fixes don't work.  In many cases the easiest
way out is often to undo it all and start again. That depends on what
backups you have.

Your 64 Mb RAM should be plenty for W98.

Don Penlington




 From the Beach at Surfers Paradise in sunny Queensland.
Computer tutorials, local scenery,  and other things at my website:
http://users.tpg.com.au/deepend/index1.html