on line hangs

I recently spent a few weeks downloading and installing
all of the patches and critical updates to bring Win98SE
current. Now, I've started having bouts with mysterious
lockups of my on line apps. Happens to both, AOL and MSN.
Sometimes the apps work flawlessly, sometimes not. When I
ctl-alt-del the app, it times out and I get the "program
not responding" dialog box. Sometimes I can disconnect
the phone line, have the app reconnect, and it works fine
for hours. Sometimes, it doesn't even recognize the
disconnect. Downloaded new modem driver from Compaq, but
still a problem. Any suggestions?

All other non-dialup apps are working without any
problems.

I've found there is a known problem with AOL hangs in XP
due to WDM driver, and curious if problem might also
exist in 98.

Thanks