If 98 won't shut down properly, just push the power button on the front
of your computer. No harm done. It's a common problem with 98 an 98SE.


As a postscript:

Unfortunately pressing 'that' button is unavoidable sometimes but really my
question was prompted by my HD accumulating a few bad clusters, which I
presumed was linked to too many improper shut-downs.

Eliminating Real Player Update from the Start-up seemed to bring a (so far)
huge improvement.

Knowing what to include and exclude from the Start-up still remains a
quandary.

Thanks!