Hi! I have a strange problem with my Windows 98 computer. It starts to boot up but stops at the Dell logo....then if I let it sit there, it will somewhere between 6-8hrs later finish booting. Some things are then usable although I see I lost my CD/DVD/CDW drives, Scanner, etc. Once the desktop was displayed I ran Norton AntiVirus, WinDoctor, and DiskDoctor along with AdAware and AVG virus check and all were fine. The only detection was in WinDoctor... the first test for Registry showed ERROR! as if it could not check it. I have rebooted numerous times since then and same situation.

What preceded this problem was the following:
I recently installed SBC internet and in order to get the modem to work with my computer the tech support person had me do a bunch of things in my computer. When she was done I could not open a browser page....click the icon with no response. She had me restart the PC and it would not boot past the Dell logo....would not go into Windows. She and her supervisor say nothing she did caused this....that it is just a fluke that it occurred in the midst of her instructions....SBC will not however provide me with a written copy of what all she had me do. Nothing stuck me as we were doing it as out of the ordinary (although I saw none of it as necessary to solve the problem I was calling about) ....she had me clear Internet options (Cookies, Files, reset default settings, etc)....checked Device Manager for listed Adapters....went to run, start, typed command...had me type something which I dont remember but it did nothing, then tried winpcfig(?)...reset IP configurations to all zeros. That is all I am remember we did..)

Any help at this point would be appreciated.

Just wanted to say thanks but I believe I found the problem. Apparently one of the memory sticks had worked loose in the tower. On a whim I went in and checked all cables and connections and everything works now.