Complicated problem, educated guess needed

[Etaoin]

At first, Win98 boot disk, following fdisk and format, could not find and
load the driver for CDROM. Got some really valid/valued advice from Ben
Myers who instructed me to obtain a W95b floppy and boot from it followed
by a set of DOS commands. Voila! could now install Win98 from the "R" drive
(no "D" drive was available. A new, but useless, W98 startup disk was
allowed to be created along the way.)

So I loaded the OS, followed by video driver, a compact version of MSWorks,
a small paint program and a driver for a USB card reader.

Everything worked fine: typed a message, looked at some images, and shut
down. A few additional bootups were successful and then the error messages
started arriving. Next came the frozen pointers and then the final
lockups...but never the bluescreenOD. Spent many hours repeating the entire
process with the same ultimate result. Scandisk reports no errors on the HD.

Ready to try anything, I installed a Second Edition over Win98 on the chance
that it was a software problem. It wasn't.

Now what: Bad HD? bad RAM? bad CPU? bad MB? The laptop is only a Dell
CP233 and not worth a lot. Would hate to junk it, but don't want to pour
money down a hole.

Thanks you any input,
Gene

[Etaoin]

Worked fine for an hour and then, "Windows encountering an error accessing
the system registry...windows will restart and repair." And then it just
keeps reboot and repeating the error message.


"Etaoin" > wrote in message
...
> At first, Win98 boot disk, following fdisk and format, could not find and
> load the driver for CDROM. Got some really valid/valued advice from Ben
> Myers who instructed me to obtain a W95b floppy and boot from it followed
> by a set of DOS commands. Voila! could now install Win98 from the "R"
drive
> (no "D" drive was available. A new, but useless, W98 startup disk was
> allowed to be created along the way.)
>
> So I loaded the OS, followed by video driver, a compact version of
MSWorks,
> a small paint program and a driver for a USB card reader.
>
> Everything worked fine: typed a message, looked at some images, and shut
> down. A few additional bootups were successful and then the error messages
> started arriving. Next came the frozen pointers and then the final
> lockups...but never the bluescreenOD. Spent many hours repeating the
entire
> process with the same ultimate result. Scandisk reports no errors on the
HD.
>
> Ready to try anything, I installed a Second Edition over Win98 on the
chance
> that it was a software problem. It wasn't.
>
> Now what: Bad HD? bad RAM? bad CPU? bad MB? The laptop is only a Dell
> CP233 and not worth a lot. Would hate to junk it, but don't want to pour
> money down a hole.
>
> Thanks you any input,
> Gene
>
>

[Ben Myers]

If the computer is to be used on the Internet, the first step is
http://www.windowsupdate.com/

Ben

"Etaoin" > wrote in message =
...
> At first, Win98 boot disk, following fdisk and format, could not find =
and
> load the driver for CDROM. Got some really valid/valued advice from =
Ben
> Myers who instructed me to obtain a W95b floppy and boot from it =
followed
> by a set of DOS commands. Voila! could now install Win98 from the "R" =
drive
> (no "D" drive was available. A new, but useless, W98 startup disk was
> allowed to be created along the way.)
>=20
> So I loaded the OS, followed by video driver, a compact version of =
MSWorks,
> a small paint program and a driver for a USB card reader.
>=20
> Everything worked fine: typed a message, looked at some images, and =
shut
> down. A few additional bootups were successful and then the error =
messages
> started arriving. Next came the frozen pointers and then the final
> lockups...but never the bluescreenOD. Spent many hours repeating the =
entire
> process with the same ultimate result. Scandisk reports no errors on =
the HD.
>=20
> Ready to try anything, I installed a Second Edition over Win98 on the =
chance
> that it was a software problem. It wasn't.
>=20
> Now what: Bad HD? bad RAM? bad CPU? bad MB? The laptop is only a =
Dell
> CP233 and not worth a lot. Would hate to junk it, but don't want to =
pour
> money down a hole.
>=20
> Thanks you any input,
> Gene
>=20
>

[Jeff Richards]

Persistent refusal to load a good copy of the registry is an indicator of
bad RAM. The other errors also suggest RAM or CPU problems. Get a good
hardware diagnostic package (DELL should have one) and give it a thorough
run. Often, just removing and re-seating the RAM modules can fix this sort
of problem.
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (DTS)
"Etaoin" > wrote in message
...
> Worked fine for an hour and then, "Windows encountering an error accessing
> the system registry...windows will restart and repair." And then it just
> keeps reboot and repeating the error message.

[Etaoin]

Popped the memory cover and found that a tiny UPC label had slid under the
64MB module, no doubt blocking some of the contacts. It's a wonder it ran at
all. Question: how important is it for me to match the brand if I want to
add a second 64 MB SODIMM?

Thanks,
Etaoin


"Etaoin" > wrote in message
...
> At first, Win98 boot disk, following fdisk and format, could not find and
> load the driver for CDROM. Got some really valid/valued advice from Ben
> Myers who instructed me to obtain a W95b floppy and boot from it followed
> by a set of DOS commands. Voila! could now install Win98 from the "R"
drive
> (no "D" drive was available. A new, but useless, W98 startup disk was
> allowed to be created along the way.)
>
> So I loaded the OS, followed by video driver, a compact version of
MSWorks,
> a small paint program and a driver for a USB card reader.
>
> Everything worked fine: typed a message, looked at some images, and shut
> down. A few additional bootups were successful and then the error messages
> started arriving. Next came the frozen pointers and then the final
> lockups...but never the bluescreenOD. Spent many hours repeating the
entire
> process with the same ultimate result. Scandisk reports no errors on the
HD.
>
> Ready to try anything, I installed a Second Edition over Win98 on the
chance
> that it was a software problem. It wasn't.
>
> Now what: Bad HD? bad RAM? bad CPU? bad MB? The laptop is only a Dell
> CP233 and not worth a lot. Would hate to junk it, but don't want to pour
> money down a hole.
>
> Thanks you any input,
> Gene
>
>

[Ron Badour]

Sometimes mismatched sticks work fine, other times they don't. Go with
Crucial--they guarantee their ram will work or you can get a refund.

--
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

"Etaoin" > wrote in message
...
> Popped the memory cover and found that a tiny UPC label had slid under the
> 64MB module, no doubt blocking some of the contacts. It's a wonder it ran
at
> all. Question: how important is it for me to match the brand if I want to
> add a second 64 MB SODIMM?
>
> Thanks,
> Etaoin
>
>
> "Etaoin" > wrote in message
> ...
> > At first, Win98 boot disk, following fdisk and format, could not find
and
> > load the driver for CDROM. Got some really valid/valued advice from Ben
> > Myers who instructed me to obtain a W95b floppy and boot from it
followed
> > by a set of DOS commands. Voila! could now install Win98 from the "R"
> drive
> > (no "D" drive was available. A new, but useless, W98 startup disk was
> > allowed to be created along the way.)
> >
> > So I loaded the OS, followed by video driver, a compact version of
> MSWorks,
> > a small paint program and a driver for a USB card reader.
> >
> > Everything worked fine: typed a message, looked at some images, and shut
> > down. A few additional bootups were successful and then the error
messages
> > started arriving. Next came the frozen pointers and then the final
> > lockups...but never the bluescreenOD. Spent many hours repeating the
> entire
> > process with the same ultimate result. Scandisk reports no errors on the
> HD.
> >
> > Ready to try anything, I installed a Second Edition over Win98 on the
> chance
> > that it was a software problem. It wasn't.
> >
> > Now what: Bad HD? bad RAM? bad CPU? bad MB? The laptop is only a Dell
> > CP233 and not worth a lot. Would hate to junk it, but don't want to pour
> > money down a hole.
> >
> > Thanks you any input,
> > Gene
> >
> >
>
>