can't get past "Scan Disk"

I really hope someone can help me. My OS is Win98. It
freezes continually causing me to shut down manually.
When I reboot it give the message...Windows was not shut
down properly...etc. must run Scan Disk. The Scan Disk
takes aprox. 3hrs to run then stops and says "Cannot write
to Disk C", that there is a problem with Fat32. I used to
be able to bypass the Scan disk but it would run really
slow and then freeze up, and the process would start over.
I have tried to install on top of existing intallation but
I get the error that it cannot write to disk C.
I understand that I will probably have to reformat, but I
do not have anything backed up and I don't want to loose
all the programs that are on the PC currently. Any ideas
anyone?
Thanks in advance,
Sarah

How to Install Windows 98 Into a New Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=193902

If you get an error message about the PC already having a system, that
probably means you are using an OEM CD that came with the PC. If this
happens:

You should install the system from DOS--if you need help on this, see
http://home.satx.rr.com/badour/html/w98_restore.html ,
W98 RESTORE DISK AND INSTALLATION PROCEDURES. When you are ready to start,
boot with the floppy start up disk and W98 CD inserted. At the A: prompt,
type: C: and hit enter. At the C: prompt, type: CD Windows and hit
enter. Rename the win.com and winver.exe files by typing: ren win.com
win.old and hit enter. Do the same for Winver.exe. Refer to the
installation procedures for the next installation step and be sure to work
in the procedures listed in the top article above.

--
Regards

Ron Badour, MS MVP for W98
Tips: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour
Knowledge Base Info:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo

"Sarah" wrote in message
...
I really hope someone can help me. My OS is Win98. It
freezes continually causing me to shut down manually.
When I reboot it give the message...Windows was not shut
down properly...etc. must run Scan Disk. The Scan Disk
takes aprox. 3hrs to run then stops and says "Cannot write
to Disk C", that there is a problem with Fat32. I used to
be able to bypass the Scan disk but it would run really
slow and then freeze up, and the process would start over.
I have tried to install on top of existing intallation but
I get the error that it cannot write to disk C.
I understand that I will probably have to reformat, but I
do not have anything backed up and I don't want to loose
all the programs that are on the PC currently. Any ideas
anyone?
Thanks in advance,
Sarah

"Sarah" wrote in message
...

I really hope someone can help me. My OS is Win98. It
freezes continually causing me to shut down manually.
When I reboot it give the message...Windows was not shut
down properly...etc. must run Scan Disk. The Scan Disk
takes aprox. 3hrs to run then stops and says "Cannot write
to Disk C", that there is a problem with Fat32. I used to
be able to bypass the Scan disk but it would run really
slow and then freeze up, and the process would start over.
I have tried to install on top of existing intallation but
I get the error that it cannot write to disk C.
I understand that I will probably have to reformat, but I
do not have anything backed up and I don't want to loose
all the programs that are on the PC currently. Any ideas

Quick & dirty solution:
1. Buy a new hard drive, faster and perhaps
bigger than your present C:
Add the new drive to your PC
with FDISK give it one DOS primary partition
(and if yoou want add logical drives in the Ext
DOS partition.) The DOS partition will show
up as drive D: regardless (because the OS
reads DOS primaries first and expects there
to be only one, your C
1b. FORMAT D:
and format other drives on the new drive.
2. Beforehand go to www.xxcopy.com and
save their instructions for "cloning" drives.
Using XXCOPY, copy everything on your
old C: to your new D:
3. Then interchange old and new drives
(setting jumpers appropriately if needed).
If XXCOPY was perfect with no errors,
your new C: has everything on the old C:
including your installed apps.
If XXCOPY reported any failures to copy
files (likely among 1000 or 2000 files) you
may be able to boot Windows OK and copy
them over.

Your old C: is now D: and you do not need
it to be DOS Primary. So verify that absolutely
everything was copied OK to the new C: then
FDISK the old drive to remove the DOS Primary
partition, make a new Ext DOS partition and
FORMAT it. Your drive letters are then back to
normal, first C: and any others on the new
drive, then in sequence all logical drives on
the old drive. (And the old drive has been
cleaned and reFORMATted -- so if it behaves
OK keep it, and if it malfunctions throw it away.)

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)