computer won't start up

Hello. Yesterday I started up my computer quite normally. When I opened OE it
froze. This happened a number of times and so I restarted in SAFE MODE. From
there I did a number of things like VIRUS CHECK, SPYBOT and did a delete and
clean up of files. Scan disk, defrag, etc. Later I went into normal mode and
tried again.......another freeze up. Did a restart and then disabled NORTON
Internet Security and ANTIVIRUS. Then OE opened fine and I was able to do a
little more work online. Shut down normally.
Today I pushed the start button......did NOT notice any peculiar sounds or
something out of the ordinary....the screen went just past the DELL COMPUTER
SCREEN and then to a cursor on the top left, it made its usual starting noise
and it stops there. Suggestions are welcome.........

MEB
Mon Mar 24 11:05:47 PDT 2008


"lutra" <lutra@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:B1A382C6-454B-4F37-87AB-2D256DFB1B68@microsoft.com...
| Hello. Yesterday I started up my computer quite normally. When I opened OE
it
| froze. This happened a number of times and so I restarted in SAFE MODE.
From
| there I did a number of things like VIRUS CHECK, SPYBOT and did a delete
and
| clean up of files. Scan disk, defrag, etc. Later I went into normal mode
and
| tried again.......another freeze up. Did a restart and then disabled
NORTON
| Internet Security and ANTIVIRUS. Then OE opened fine and I was able to do
a
| little more work online. Shut down normally.
| Today I pushed the start button......did NOT notice any peculiar sounds or
| something out of the ordinary....the screen went just past the DELL
COMPUTER
| SCREEN and then to a cursor on the top left, it made its usual starting
noise
| and it stops there. Suggestions are welcome.........


Uninstall Norton completely,,, you can do this from Safe Mode, but make sure
you also download and run the Norton cleanup tool.

Download a Anti-virus program that supports 9X. If you were using the
firewall, download and install one, also install an anti-SpyWare tool.

--
MEB
http://peoplescounsel.orgfree.com
--
_________

Gary
Mon Mar 24 11:26:13 PDT 2008

Restart the system. Repeatedly press the F8 key as it starts up until you
get the Startup menu. Choose Safe Mode. Uninstall Norton ENTIRELY. Restart
normally. Did that fix it?

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com

"lutra" <lutra@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:B1A382C6-454B-4F37-87AB-2D256DFB1B68@microsoft.com...
> Hello. Yesterday I started up my computer quite normally. When I opened OE
> it
> froze. This happened a number of times and so I restarted in SAFE MODE.
> From
> there I did a number of things like VIRUS CHECK, SPYBOT and did a delete
> and
> clean up of files. Scan disk, defrag, etc. Later I went into normal mode
> and
> tried again.......another freeze up. Did a restart and then disabled
> NORTON
> Internet Security and ANTIVIRUS. Then OE opened fine and I was able to do
> a
> little more work online. Shut down normally.
> Today I pushed the start button......did NOT notice any peculiar sounds or
> something out of the ordinary....the screen went just past the DELL
> COMPUTER
> SCREEN and then to a cursor on the top left, it made its usual starting
> noise
> and it stops there. Suggestions are welcome.........

lutra
Mon Mar 24 13:48:01 PDT 2008

I tried this........the computer makes a thumping noise when I press down the
F8 key.....and there is no change on the screen....still just the cursor
blinking..............

"Gary S. Terhune" wrote:

> Restart the system. Repeatedly press the F8 key as it starts up until you
> get the Startup menu. Choose Safe Mode. Uninstall Norton ENTIRELY. Restart
> normally. Did that fix it?
>
> --
> Gary S. Terhune
> MS-MVP Shell/User
> www.grystmill.com
>
> "lutra" <lutra@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:B1A382C6-454B-4F37-87AB-2D256DFB1B68@microsoft.com...
> > Hello. Yesterday I started up my computer quite normally. When I opened OE
> > it
> > froze. This happened a number of times and so I restarted in SAFE MODE.
> > From
> > there I did a number of things like VIRUS CHECK, SPYBOT and did a delete
> > and
> > clean up of files. Scan disk, defrag, etc. Later I went into normal mode
> > and
> > tried again.......another freeze up. Did a restart and then disabled
> > NORTON
> > Internet Security and ANTIVIRUS. Then OE opened fine and I was able to do
> > a
> > little more work online. Shut down normally.
> > Today I pushed the start button......did NOT notice any peculiar sounds or
> > something out of the ordinary....the screen went just past the DELL
> > COMPUTER
> > SCREEN and then to a cursor on the top left, it made its usual starting
> > noise
> > and it stops there. Suggestions are welcome.........
>
>

Brian
Mon Mar 24 14:11:15 PDT 2008

lutra,

That sounds like your pressing/holding the F8 key down, that's not the proper
way. You need to continually, not over-excessively, start tapping the F8 key
immediately when the Dell logo appears and before the Windows welcome screen
appears.

--


Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375


"lutra" <lutra@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:53294E3D-CFE4-4668-B7F6-9B2FB4ECB201@microsoft.com...
>I tried this........the computer makes a thumping noise when I press down the
> F8 key.....and there is no change on the screen....still just the cursor
> blinking..............
>
> "Gary S. Terhune" wrote:
>
>> Restart the system. Repeatedly press the F8 key as it starts up until you
>> get the Startup menu. Choose Safe Mode. Uninstall Norton ENTIRELY. Restart
>> normally. Did that fix it?
>>
>> --
>> Gary S. Terhune
>> MS-MVP Shell/User
>> www.grystmill.com
>>
>> "lutra" <lutra@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:B1A382C6-454B-4F37-87AB-2D256DFB1B68@microsoft.com...
>> > Hello. Yesterday I started up my computer quite normally. When I opened OE
>> > it
>> > froze. This happened a number of times and so I restarted in SAFE MODE.
>> > From
>> > there I did a number of things like VIRUS CHECK, SPYBOT and did a delete
>> > and
>> > clean up of files. Scan disk, defrag, etc. Later I went into normal mode
>> > and
>> > tried again.......another freeze up. Did a restart and then disabled
>> > NORTON
>> > Internet Security and ANTIVIRUS. Then OE opened fine and I was able to do
>> > a
>> > little more work online. Shut down normally.
>> > Today I pushed the start button......did NOT notice any peculiar sounds or
>> > something out of the ordinary....the screen went just past the DELL
>> > COMPUTER
>> > SCREEN and then to a cursor on the top left, it made its usual starting
>> > noise
>> > and it stops there. Suggestions are welcome.........
>>
>>

Brian
Mon Mar 24 14:25:28 PDT 2008

"MEB" <meb@not here@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:Ouu1kmdjIHA.5584@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>
> "lutra" <lutra@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:B1A382C6-454B-4F37-87AB-2D256DFB1B68@microsoft.com...
> | Hello. Yesterday I started up my computer quite normally. When I opened OE
> it
> | froze. This happened a number of times and so I restarted in SAFE MODE.
> From
> | there I did a number of things like VIRUS CHECK, SPYBOT and did a delete
> and
> | clean up of files. Scan disk, defrag, etc. Later I went into normal mode
> and
> | tried again.......another freeze up. Did a restart and then disabled
> NORTON
> | Internet Security and ANTIVIRUS. Then OE opened fine and I was able to do
> a
> | little more work online. Shut down normally.
> | Today I pushed the start button......did NOT notice any peculiar sounds or
> | something out of the ordinary....the screen went just past the DELL
> COMPUTER
> | SCREEN and then to a cursor on the top left, it made its usual starting
> noise
> | and it stops there. Suggestions are welcome.........
>
>
> Uninstall Norton completely,,, you can do this from Safe Mode, but make sure
> you also download and run the Norton cleanup tool.

AFAIK Norton AV/NIS aka Symantec can not be uninstalled in Safe Mode and
safely remove all its hooks for a proper boot on restart. The last Symantec
security app I ran on 98SE was NIS 2005 and it installed over 1700 registry
entries and filles, many buried deep and who knows how many were out of the
users reach. That's the last version that I installed/ran on 98SE succesfully
and didn't want to push my luck with the next. After uninstalling it when the
license expire I used RegCommander to seek and destroy any leftovers it could
find. I spent the better part of the day cleaning the registry and Windows.



--


Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

lutra
Mon Mar 24 15:40:01 PDT 2008

I tried this approach. I just started tapping the F8 key as soon as I saw the
Dell logo, then the screen went to black with the blinking cursor and I could
hear the "tap" each time I pressed the F8 key..... no luck yet with any
WELCOME screen appearing......how I would love to see it, though!

"Brian A." wrote:

> lutra,
>
> That sounds like your pressing/holding the F8 key down, that's not the proper
> way. You need to continually, not over-excessively, start tapping the F8 key
> immediately when the Dell logo appears and before the Windows welcome screen
> appears.
>
> --
>
>
> Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }
> Conflicts start where information lacks.
> http://basconotw.mvps.org/
>
> Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
> How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375
>
>
> "lutra" <lutra@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:53294E3D-CFE4-4668-B7F6-9B2FB4ECB201@microsoft.com...
> >I tried this........the computer makes a thumping noise when I press down the
> > F8 key.....and there is no change on the screen....still just the cursor
> > blinking..............
> >
> > "Gary S. Terhune" wrote:
> >
> >> Restart the system. Repeatedly press the F8 key as it starts up until you
> >> get the Startup menu. Choose Safe Mode. Uninstall Norton ENTIRELY. Restart
> >> normally. Did that fix it?
> >>
> >> --
> >> Gary S. Terhune
> >> MS-MVP Shell/User
> >> www.grystmill.com
> >>
> >> "lutra" <lutra@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> news:B1A382C6-454B-4F37-87AB-2D256DFB1B68@microsoft.com...
> >> > Hello. Yesterday I started up my computer quite normally. When I opened OE
> >> > it
> >> > froze. This happened a number of times and so I restarted in SAFE MODE.
> >> > From
> >> > there I did a number of things like VIRUS CHECK, SPYBOT and did a delete
> >> > and
> >> > clean up of files. Scan disk, defrag, etc. Later I went into normal mode
> >> > and
> >> > tried again.......another freeze up. Did a restart and then disabled
> >> > NORTON
> >> > Internet Security and ANTIVIRUS. Then OE opened fine and I was able to do
> >> > a
> >> > little more work online. Shut down normally.
> >> > Today I pushed the start button......did NOT notice any peculiar sounds or
> >> > something out of the ordinary....the screen went just past the DELL
> >> > COMPUTER
> >> > SCREEN and then to a cursor on the top left, it made its usual starting
> >> > noise
> >> > and it stops there. Suggestions are welcome.........
> >>
> >>
>
>

Fan924
Mon Mar 24 16:28:59 PDT 2008

Reinstall windows.

PCR
Mon Mar 24 16:41:39 PDT 2008

lutra wrote:
| Hello. Yesterday I started up my computer quite normally. When I
| opened OE it froze. This happened a number of times and so I
| restarted in SAFE MODE. From there I did a number of things like
| VIRUS CHECK, SPYBOT and did a delete and clean up of files. Scan
| disk, defrag, etc. Later I went into normal mode and tried
| again.......another freeze up. Did a restart and then disabled NORTON
| Internet Security and ANTIVIRUS. Then OE opened fine and I was able
| to do a little more work online. Shut down normally.
| Today I pushed the start button......did NOT notice any peculiar
| sounds or something out of the ordinary....the screen went just past
| the DELL COMPUTER SCREEN and then to a cursor on the top left, it
| made its usual starting noise and it stops there. Suggestions are
| welcome.........

I see you are having trouble getting to Safe Mode. Press & hold the F5
key during boot for Safe Mode. Or, press & hold the CTRL key during boot
for the Startup Menu, if continually pressing F8 won't work. If you
can't get to Safe Mode either way...

Can you boot to DOS? Can you boot a Startup Diskette...?...

Get a Startup Diskette from...
http://www.bootdisk.com/ , if you don't already have one from "Control
Panel, Add/Remove Programs, Startup Disk tab". Take either one that
applies to your system. Test the Startup Diskette. Put the diskette in &
turn on the computer. Put in a CD and "DIR" the CD. That is, "DIR X:",
where "X:" is the CD-ROM letter. The Startup Diskette will say which
letter is the CD during boot. (Note: It may be necessary to enter BIOS
Setup & set it to boot the floppy drive above the hard drive, before the
Startup Diskette will boot.)


--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
Should things get worse after this,
PCR
pcrrcp@netzero.net

Fan924
Mon Mar 24 16:55:06 PDT 2008

I have a zip drive and downloaded a free copy of Norton Zip Rescue. It
makes a small version of windows and stores it on the zip disk. As
badly damaged as my hard drive becomes, I can always boot up on the
zip drive. A few months ago, I had drive C: partition damage and was
able to run Partition Table Doctor from the zip drive and get running
again.

MEB
Mon Mar 24 16:52:02 PDT 2008


"Brian A." <gonefish'n@afarawaylake> wrote in message
news:utW0XWfjIHA.536@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
| "MEB" <meb@not here@hotmail.com> wrote in message
| news:Ouu1kmdjIHA.5584@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
| >
| > "lutra" <lutra@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
| > news:B1A382C6-454B-4F37-87AB-2D256DFB1B68@microsoft.com...
| > | Hello. Yesterday I started up my computer quite normally. When I
opened OE
| > it
| > | froze. This happened a number of times and so I restarted in SAFE
MODE.
| > From
| > | there I did a number of things like VIRUS CHECK, SPYBOT and did a
delete
| > and
| > | clean up of files. Scan disk, defrag, etc. Later I went into normal
mode
| > and
| > | tried again.......another freeze up. Did a restart and then disabled
| > NORTON
| > | Internet Security and ANTIVIRUS. Then OE opened fine and I was able to
do
| > a
| > | little more work online. Shut down normally.
| > | Today I pushed the start button......did NOT notice any peculiar
sounds or
| > | something out of the ordinary....the screen went just past the DELL
| > COMPUTER
| > | SCREEN and then to a cursor on the top left, it made its usual
starting
| > noise
| > | and it stops there. Suggestions are welcome.........
| >
| >
| > Uninstall Norton completely,,, you can do this from Safe Mode, but make
sure
| > you also download and run the Norton cleanup tool.
|
| AFAIK Norton AV/NIS aka Symantec can not be uninstalled in Safe Mode and
| safely remove all its hooks for a proper boot on restart. The last
Symantec
| security app I ran on 98SE was NIS 2005 and it installed over 1700
registry
| entries and filles, many buried deep and who knows how many were out of
the
| users reach. That's the last version that I installed/ran on 98SE
succesfully
| and didn't want to push my luck with the next. After uninstalling it when
the
| license expire I used RegCommander to seek and destroy any leftovers it
could
| find. I spent the better part of the day cleaning the registry and
Windows.
|
|
|
| --
|
|
| Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }

Hence my comment on picking up the cleaner [though that leaves traces the
last time I checked, though non-fatal].

--
MEB
http://peoplescounsel.orgfree.com
--
_________

Brian
Mon Mar 24 17:04:01 PDT 2008

Shut down the machine.
Start the machine and immediately start tapping the F8 key, at worst you will
get a stuck key error which will present options to continue by pressing a key
or to enter setup by pressing a key. Press the key shown to continue and then
immediately start tapping the F8 key and keep doing so until you get a Startup
Menu.

If you get to the Start Menu select Safe Mode and follow the suggestions
mention previously by Gary and/or others.

--


Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375


"lutra" <lutra@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:C5FE623F-4C19-42DF-A394-A3C41BCEC2D4@microsoft.com...
>I tried this approach. I