Computer Frequently Crashing

[nhandy007]

Hello, I am having problems with my computer crashing frequently. In the past 2 months it has crashed (where I have to reinstall Windows 98 or erase the hard drive and do a clean install) about 5 times. I am running Windows 98 and am wondering whether that is contributing to the problem and whether Windows XP would help me? Also, since I have had to erase my hard drive alot, I was wondering whether hard drives can become damaged after so many formats? Thanks for reading my post and any advice is appreciated.

 

[nhandy007]

Can anyone please give me advice on how to help my computer stop crashing, and whether Windows XP would maybe help?

 

[chrönik04]

you have to be more descriptive, your getting bluescreens? is this on a machine that has run fine f/you in the past? if so, did you install any new hardware? rebooting and bluescreens can be caused by a number of things; bad memory, processor, even a short from your power supply. it could just be software related like incorrect drivers or a trojan. (if its some software you keep installing every time)

 

[nhandy007]

Yes I am frequently getting blue screens and this machine has run well in the past. Usually I'll be doing something and the computer freezes and I'll have to reboot. When I reboot the computer won't boot into windows, it will normally say that there's something wrong with my registry and to run SCANREG. After I do this and run Scandisk, I'll reboot it again, and the computer will say that it can't file 4 files and that WIN.COM is missing so Windows can't load. In the past I have been able to reinstall Windows to get it to work, but the past couple of times it hasn't worked so I have had to erase the hard drive and reinstall everything. If you need any other details, please ask. Thanks.

 

[nhandy007]

anyone?

 

[ChaosBlizzard]

anyone?

Well I had a similar problem like that. Generally speaking the a hardware device could be on the end of its life. I replaced my AL440LX motherboard in this system with a Soyo 7VBA133U and installed windows 2000, and it works great. So that was my problem, the motherboard was old and it was getting flakey. However windows 98se is quite unstable, due to its nature. I also don't, and never will recommend Windows XP. I say stick to windows 2000 until Mic$oft decides to fix their problems. Either that or you can try Lycros, a form of Linux that looks like windows 2000/XP.

See it here:
http://lycoris.com/

There are also other forms of Linux specifically made for home users like lycoris, such as "Everyone Linux".

 

[chrönik04]

Yes I am frequently getting blue screens and this machine has run well in the past. Usually I'll be doing something and the computer freezes and I'll have to reboot. When I reboot the computer won't boot into windows, it will normally say that there's something wrong with my registry and to run SCANREG. After I do this and run Scandisk, I'll reboot it again, and the computer will say that it can't file 4 files and that WIN.COM is missing so Windows can't load. In the past I have been able to reinstall Windows to get it to work, but the past couple of times it hasn't worked so I have had to erase the hard drive and reinstall everything. If you need any other details, please ask. Thanks.

anyone?

well like i said, this could be any number of things. first goto the device manager and make sure there is not a big yellow question mark sitting next to any of your devices. if so; get the correct driver, uninstall and reinstall using the new driver. then scan for virii, there are a few free online trojan scanners to pick from. if your still having a problem scan the ram w/memtest. what clock speed and temp is the cpu running at when your having problems? you could also get another pwr supply and stick that in, you could have a short.