I'm having a problem (well, several problems, possibly) with shutting
down Windows 98SE on a semi-new motherboard.

System:

ECS NForce3A (v1.0A) motherboard (socket 754, NForce3 chipset)
Sempron 3000+ (1.8GHz)
1GB stick of Crucial PC3200 DDR
40GB Maxtor disk
PNY Geforce 6200 AGP/128MB
SonicXplosion sound card (= Terratec Six-pack, says so on the back of
the card)
Netgear FA310TX ethernet
USB 2.0 hub
Silver biscuit writer

I blew win98 on it, and everything was OK until I installed the sound
card drivers. After that, "Start|Shutdown|Shutdown" drops to the
black-and-orange "It's safe to switch off your computer" screen, and so
does "Start|Shutdown|Restart in MS-DOS mode". (Expected results: power
down, drop to a DOS prompt, respectively.) Restart works normally.

I've googled for answers, and half the things to try seem inapplicable,
as, for example, I don't have a "Plug and Play BIOS" in Device Manager.
Nothing else on the lists seems to make a difference.

It does seem to be specifically Windows 98SE (who knows, maybe plain
Win98 as well), as Windows 2000 shuts down normally on the same hardware
(by removable disk trays).

A second machine with a different sound card (PCWorld own-brand 5.1
card) and network card (Netgear FA311) hangs on normal shutdown, and
powers down on "shutdown-to-DOS".

Any ideas?

--
SteveR
(throw away the dustbin, send to stever@... instead)

This was found in family papers throughout the US:
http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/sho...e=Judge_Parker

- This is hopeless, Mr Parker...I'm a complete klutz!

- No, you're not, April, you've almost got it!

- Okay...now what do I do?

- Work them like a claw...and call me Randy!

http://www.accidentalcreditor.org.uk/