98 problems

okay, new problem for a friend. they have windows 98 running on an old HP pavilion. it freezes up, telling her that the C: drive isn't configured correctly. I haven't used 98 since before the millenium, so I can't remember how to fix that. is it a possible worm? or just a comptuer sucks problem?

 

Back up the information on the hard drive.

It sounds like Win 98 is losing the hard drive. If you have cleaned the case, try installing new IDE cables. On older drives be sure the pins are clean. The connector should have resistance when pushed on. Check the jumper settings, make sure they are in the right place and also have resistance when pushed into place.

With everything clean and checked run a hard disk diagnosis from the HD manufacturer. They are free downloads and run by booting a floppy. If you can get through three full scans (a few hours to test) then the hard drive and cable connection is good.

Once the hard drive is known good you can either format for XP (Recommended) or 98.

The old HP's are not much for upgrades, but are very solid.

 

clean up, eh?

okay, DOA, that sounds reasonable. It could easily be the cleanup problem with her. I'll look into that first. By the way, I never charge my friends for helping them. Just enjoy doing it for them, and in the process I'm learning new stuff. Cool. Thanks for the assist. I haven't seen this computer yet, so this will be new to me. She has RoadRunner cable modem, but only uses and pays for AOL as an online service. I don't get that. But whatever...