is there a program that can check My computers for problems

I have a dell laptop running windows 98se and after awhile my explorer gives me errors messages and shuts down the explorer..

is there a program that can read my computer and tell me what is wrong or what and where I can get what is needed and where to put it..

 

Do you want a tool that diagnoses your particular problem with Explorer or in general with your machine?

If you can note the error meesage or codes that you receive, you may be able to diagnose the problem by searching the Microsoft knowledge base. Alternatively look at: http://majorgeeks.com/Error_Messages_For_Windows_d1405.html Problems with Explorer are usually caused by third party non-Microsoft products such as tool bars, etc. Try cleaning your system using the instructions here: http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35407

I suspect you may be looking for a general tool rather than a specific one to identify your explorer problem. There are a number here: http://majorgeeks.com/downloads1.html I use Norton Utilities myself as a general diagnostic tool and something like System Mechanic is similar to it.

Another resource to use are on-line diagnostic analysers such as PC Pitstop at http://www.pcpitstop.com

 

is there a certain progam I should use from that list from
http://majorgeeks.com/downloads1.html

 

I don't think you will do any worse than starting with System Mechanic, which is marked as a "pick". One thing with using a general tools is that is may not be specific enough to identify your problem with explorer.

I would highly recommend going through the clean-up steps first to remove "spyware" that would likely to interfere with explorer and any suspicious toolbars that integrate with explorer.