Do a logged boot, and then download and run BootLog Analyser.
Set BootLog Analyser to show delays and failures, and post back with that report,
along with the last few lines of the bootlog.

BootLog Analyser (BLA)
http://www.vision4.dial.pipex.com/

To do a logged boot, start the computer and hold down the CTRL key till the Windows
98 Startup menu (boot menu) appears.
Use the arrow keys to select "Logged [/bootlog.txt]" and press Enter.


For the troubleshooters problem, there are two different fixes (actually one fix and
one workaround), depending on the Windows updates you have installed.

The original fix for the older update was this:
First, click Start Settings Folder Options View tab, and click to enable "Show
All Files" and click OK.
Click Start Find File or Folders, and search the C:\ drive for a file named
Tshoot.inf...it should be found in the \Windows\Inf folder.
Right-click Tshoot.inf and click Install on the menu that appears.

If the latest cumulative patch for Internet Explorer is installed, there is only a
workaround.
See he
http://home.comcast.net/~bascon58/98Help.htm
and
http://mvps.org/PracticallyNerded/SoftFixes.htm
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP W95/98 Systems
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"RoseIsHLC" wrote in message
news
Good afternoon!

After an OS reinstall (done by someone else) booting up is really
irritating. I get the Compaq screen followed by a black screen with a
blinkink cursor, the windows loading screen, another black screen with a
blinking cursor, then the windows desktop background, THEN the icons appear
and it finally finishes booting.

I update and run regularly: Spybot S&D, Spyware Blaster, AdAware6, HJT,
CWShredder, CleanUP, and Avast AV.

I have pared down my start up programs through MSCONFIG, and it made no
difference to the weird and slow startup.

Also, before the major crash... my TS files were wiped out. I understand
that MS caused this through a security patch, so I searched in the MS KB and
it directed (through a link) to a DL file fix. I DL'ed in, but it was
exactly the same. No files.

Thank you very much in advance for any possible fixes!

~Rose )