Computer locks up

I have a computer running Windows 98 and when I go to start up the computer it freezes up when it starts to run scandisk. I tried booting to safe mode but it still locks up when it tries to run scandisk.

1. RE: Computer locks up
Zeno Aug-11-02 10:24 PM
In response to message 0

LAST EDITED ON Aug-11-02 AT 10:35 PM (EDT)

Does this happen each and every time you boot?
Can you boot into WIN98 at all?
Do you have an emergency startup disk?
Best wishes...

2. RE: Computer locks up
Zeno Aug-11-02 11:17 PM
In response to message 1

If you don't have an ESD handy, try this. (It's a wee bit complicated.)
You need to run SCANDISK from the command prompt, and in order to do so, you must have himem.sys loaded first.
You are going to do a step-by-step comfirmation boot into WIN98. At each step you will have a yes or no choice. <ENTER> = YES and <ESC>=NO
1) Boot to the Startup Options Menu by holding the <CTRL> key or pressing F8 just before the WIN98 splash screen.
2) Instead of choosing SAFE MODE, choose option 4. Step-by-step confirmation.
3) As you see each choice on the list, press <ENTER> for YES until you get to the choice that asks "Load the Windows graphical interface" ?
4) Press <ESC> for NO. In other words, DON'T load the GUI.
5) The next choice will be WIN (start WIN98). Again press <ESC> for NO
6) You should now be at the C:\> prompt (or whatever your active partition root is).
7) Type SCANDISK / CHECKONLY
8) If your system doesn't lock up again, read the log and see if you have any bad sectors on your HD.
9) If you do (and you've gotten this far into the boot) type SCANDISK / SURFACE
10) If you have any bad sectors, SCANDISK may be able to repair them. A complete surface scan may take more than an hour.
Best Wishes...

3. RE: Computer locks up
Zeno Aug-12-02 01:32 AM
In response to message 2

If your PC crashed during the little SCANDISK exercise above, you'll most likely need to use an ESD for your particular version of WIN98. However, if you managed to boot to WIN98, make a complete backup ASAP. Then check Device Manager for possible HD or controller problems.
If SCANDISK/SURFACE didn't solve your problem, probably the next thing to do is to check your HD partitions with FDISK and repair them if necessary (and, if possible).
Insert your ESD and boot to the A:\> command prompt. Then, see if you can access all of your drives, especially the active root of the HD, probably C:\>
If this works, most likely you'll be able to recover most of your data. If you can't access your HD, try the following steps as a last resort:
From the A:\> prompt type: FDISK/STATUS (no spaces) This will present you with a list of all the partitions FDISK can see. If any are damaged you'll get one of several possible error messages.
If you get an error message, type FDISK/MBR This will restore a copy of your master boot record stored in the "Saint Elsewhere" sector of your HD.
Next, from the A:\> prompt type: SYS A: C: This will restore your DOS boot files if they are damaged.
Once again, see of you can access your hard drive from the A:\> prompt. If so, you may want to restore your registry in case some of it was sitting of a bad HD sector.
Next, from the A:\> prompt type: C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\SCANREG.EXE/RESTORE
When the blue screen comes up, highlight the most recent rb00X.cab file that says "Started" and then press the "RESTORE" button. This will restore the most recent working copy of your registry, in case it was damaged. (You need to make sure SCANREG is in the DOS path or you won't be able to use it.)
This should repair most of the essential files necessary to boot into WIN98.
FINAL NOTE: Although it's a bit unlikely, it's not beyond possibility that fluctuatiing voltage from a dying PSU is causing the HD heads to write garbage or damage the magnetic media of the HD. I've seen it happen on more than one occasion. So, at some point you may want to check out the voltage on your PSU leads, especially if your PC is more than 4 years old. Otherwise you could go through a lot of HDs and motherboards.
Best Wishes...