Reloading 98SE, flashing BIOS, installing memory -- ACK

I'm running Windows 98SE on a Dell Dimension XPS T500 with 96MB of RAM and a
Pentium III. I use McAfee's online version of Virus Scan, and Zone Alarm's
free firewall. This has been a great machine.

I have two new 256MB DIMM memory cards to install. They've been sitting here
for a couple months, while I made back ups of everything onto Zip disks in
my spare time. Just before I was ready to install, my system started
crashing. The problems coincided with a download of the newest version of
AOL Instant Messenger (which may be just a coincidence). I took it
completely off my machine, but that didn't help. The errors have mostly been
fatal exception OE in the 0028 range, which apparently has to do with device
drivers. Also, something has been disabling my virus scanner for no good
reason.

After lots of reading on Microsoft's and Jim Eshelman's sites (thank you,
Jim!), plus running tons of diagnostics, I conclude that I need to 1) flash
the BIOS because I cannot start up or shut down properly, 2) reformat and
reload Windows 98SE, because chunks of it are missing, and 3) install the
new memory DIMMs. To my dismay, ALL of Microsoft Outlook is gone! I am
amazed this system runs at all. My McAfee insists that I do not have a
virus, etc., nor do other programs find spyware, adware, or the like.

I was not able to make a Windows startup disk from the Control Panel, and
had to extract the necessary files directly from the Windows 98 CD. However,
the startup disk boots to a DOS A:\ prompt and I cannot get it to go any
further. I also cannot access my BIOS setup no matter what I do.

I would appreciate some input on the order I ought to do all this
rebuilding -- or perhaps I should throw this old system in the river and get
a new one with Windows XP on it? LOL! Sorry this is so long, and thanks for
reading.

suzbee
please reply to group

I suspect that W98SE came on your Dell and that the shutdown problem did not
exist until some point quite a bit later. If this is the case, you do not
need a BIOS upgrade--the problem rests elsewhere.

To enter the BIOS, watch the boot screen and press the key (probably del)
indicated to enter setup.

For information on installing W98, go to:
http://home.satx.rr.com/badour/html/w98_restore.html


--
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

"suzbee" wrote in message
...
I'm running Windows 98SE on a Dell Dimension XPS T500 with 96MB of RAM and
a
Pentium III. I use McAfee's online version of Virus Scan, and Zone Alarm's
free firewall. This has been a great machine.

I have two new 256MB DIMM memory cards to install. They've been sitting
here
for a couple months, while I made back ups of everything onto Zip disks in
my spare time. Just before I was ready to install, my system started
crashing. The problems coincided with a download of the newest version of
AOL Instant Messenger (which may be just a coincidence). I took it
completely off my machine, but that didn't help. The errors have mostly
been
fatal exception OE in the 0028 range, which apparently has to do with
device
drivers. Also, something has been disabling my virus scanner for no good
reason.

After lots of reading on Microsoft's and Jim Eshelman's sites (thank you,
Jim!), plus running tons of diagnostics, I conclude that I need to 1)
flash
the BIOS because I cannot start up or shut down properly, 2) reformat and
reload Windows 98SE, because chunks of it are missing, and 3) install the
new memory DIMMs. To my dismay, ALL of Microsoft Outlook is gone! I am
amazed this system runs at all. My McAfee insists that I do not have a
virus, etc., nor do other programs find spyware, adware, or the like.

I was not able to make a Windows startup disk from the Control Panel, and
had to extract the necessary files directly from the Windows 98 CD.
However,
the startup disk boots to a DOS A:\ prompt and I cannot get it to go any
further. I also cannot access my BIOS setup no matter what I do.

I would appreciate some input on the order I ought to do all this
rebuilding -- or perhaps I should throw this old system in the river and
get
a new one with Windows XP on it? LOL! Sorry this is so long, and thanks
for
reading.

suzbee
please reply to group

Thanks for replying, Ron,
A bit more info, I guess. Yes, W98SE came on the machine. It's 5 years old
now. I have reformatted/reloaded this machine once before very successfully
(only with the great help from all of you on this board!), but I was not
having near the problems I am having this time. Right now the BIOS is still
the original version A07 (Intel Phoenix); the latest version is A11. I
cannot enter the BIOS the way you have suggested. It just won't do it. More
ideas?
Thanks again,
suzbee

"Ron Badour" wrote in message
...
I suspect that W98SE came on your Dell and that the shutdown problem did
not
exist until some point quite a bit later. If this is the case, you do not
need a BIOS upgrade--the problem rests elsewhere.

To enter the BIOS, watch the boot screen and press the key (probably del)
indicated to enter setup.

For information on installing W98, go to:
http://home.satx.rr.com/badour/html/w98_restore.html


--
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

"suzbee" wrote in message
...
I'm running Windows 98SE on a Dell Dimension XPS T500 with 96MB of RAM
and
a
Pentium III. I use McAfee's online version of Virus Scan, and Zone
Alarm's
free firewall. This has been a great machine.

I have two new 256MB DIMM memory cards to install. They've been sitting
here
for a couple months, while I made back ups of everything onto Zip disks
in
my spare time. Just before I was ready to install, my system started
crashing. The problems coincided with a download of the newest version
of
AOL Instant Messenger (which may be just a coincidence). I took it
completely off my machine, but that didn't help. The errors have mostly
been
fatal exception OE in the 0028 range, which apparently has to do with
device
drivers. Also, something has been disabling my virus scanner for no good
reason.

After lots of reading on Microsoft's and Jim Eshelman's sites (thank
you,
Jim!), plus running tons of diagnostics, I conclude that I need to 1)
flash
the BIOS because I cannot start up or shut down properly, 2) reformat
and
reload Windows 98SE, because chunks of it are missing, and 3) install
the
new memory DIMMs. To my dismay, ALL of Microsoft Outlook is gone! I am
amazed this system runs at all. My McAfee insists that I do not have a
virus, etc., nor do other programs find spyware, adware, or the like.

I was not able to make a Windows startup disk from the Control Panel,
and
had to extract the necessary files directly from the Windows 98 CD.
However,
the startup disk boots to a DOS A:\ prompt and I cannot get it to go any
further. I also cannot access my BIOS setup no matter what I do.

I would appreciate some input on the order I ought to do all this
rebuilding -- or perhaps I should throw this old system in the river and
get
a new one with Windows XP on it? LOL! Sorry this is so long, and thanks
for
reading.

suzbee
please reply to group

Saying that it just won't do it doesn't give us anything to work with. What
happens when you try, anything? Did you try holding down the correct key
continuously once the setup notice appeared or if that didn't work, rapidly
clicking it?

The fact that a BIOS update exists doesn't necessarily mean that it is for
your machine or that you need it. Also, you must check on the Dell web site
for a BIOS update rather than other sites. If you think the BIOS update is
going to fix your shutdown problem, read my original comments again.

I'd be concerned with the chunks of the system being missing. I would
determine the brand of the hard drive, go to the maker's web site, download
their diagnostic software and test the health of the hard drive. If all is
well, try the installation instructions I furnished and if you have any
problems, post back.

--
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

"suzbee" wrote in message
...
Thanks for replying, Ron,
A bit more info, I guess. Yes, W98SE came on the machine. It's 5 years old
now. I have reformatted/reloaded this machine once before very
successfully
(only with the great help from all of you on this board!), but I was not
having near the problems I am having this time. Right now the BIOS is
still
the original version A07 (Intel Phoenix); the latest version is A11. I
cannot enter the BIOS the way you have suggested. It just won't do it.
More
ideas?
Thanks again,
suzbee

"Ron Badour" wrote in message
...
I suspect that W98SE came on your Dell and that the shutdown problem did
not
exist until some point quite a bit later. If this is the case, you do
not
need a BIOS upgrade--the problem rests elsewhere.

To enter the BIOS, watch the boot screen and press the key (probably
del)
indicated to enter setup.

For information on installing W98, go to:
http://home.satx.rr.com/badour/html/w98_restore.html


--
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

"suzbee" wrote in message
...
I'm running Windows 98SE on a Dell Dimension XPS T500 with 96MB of RAM
and
a
Pentium III. I use McAfee's online version of Virus Scan, and Zone
Alarm's
free firewall. This has been a great machine.

I have two new 256MB DIMM memory cards to install. They've been
sitting
here
for a couple months, while I made back ups of everything onto Zip
disks
in
my spare time. Just before I was ready to install, my system started
crashing. The problems coincided with a download of the newest version
of
AOL Instant Messenger (which may be just a coincidence). I took it
completely off my machine, but that didn't help. The errors have
mostly
been
fatal exception OE in the 0028 range, which apparently has to do with
device
drivers. Also, something has been disabling my virus scanner for no
good
reason.

After lots of reading on Microsoft's and Jim Eshelman's sites (thank
you,
Jim!), plus running tons of diagnostics, I conclude that I need to 1)
flash
the BIOS because I cannot start up or shut down properly, 2) reformat
and
reload Windows 98SE, because chunks of it are missing, and 3) install
the
new memory DIMMs. To my dismay, ALL of Microsoft Outlook is gone! I am
amazed this system runs at all. My McAfee insists that I do not have a
virus, etc., nor do other programs find spyware, adware, or the like.

I was not able to make a Windows startup disk from the Control Panel,
and
had to extract the necessary files directly from the Windows 98 CD.
However,
the startup disk boots to a DOS A:\ prompt and I cannot get it to go
any
further. I also cannot access my BIOS setup no matter what I do.

I would appreciate some input on the order I ought to do all this
rebuilding -- or perhaps I should throw this old system in the river
and
get
a new one with Windows XP on it? LOL! Sorry this is so long, and
thanks
for
reading.

suzbee
please reply to group

Good advice, Ron. Thanks; I hadn't thought of checking the hard drive. Yes I
AM very concerned about chunks of the system missing. I'll work on this and
get back with the group.
Still cranking .... bleah.
Many thanks to you --
suzbee

"Ron Badour" wrote in message
...
Saying that it just won't do it doesn't give us anything to work with.
What
happens when you try, anything? Did you try holding down the correct key
continuously once the setup notice appeared or if that didn't work,
rapidly
clicking it?

The fact that a BIOS update exists doesn't necessarily mean that it is for
your machine or that you need it. Also, you must check on the Dell web
site
for a BIOS update rather than other sites. If you think the BIOS update
is
going to fix your shutdown problem, read my original comments again.

I'd be concerned with the chunks of the system being missing. I would
determine the brand of the hard drive, go to the maker's web site,
download
their diagnostic software and test the health of the hard drive. If all
is
well, try the installation instructions I furnished and if you have any
problems, post back.

--
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