My computer used to freeze everytime I left it alone for more than 20 minutes before this all happend... Now after turning back on a few days ago, everything is messed up.
The desktop is missing various icons, the desktop image is gone, and I can't open ANY programs, not even the Start menu! When I click on icons such as "My Computer" or "My documents" a message from Microsoft Internet Explorer pops up saying "Your current security settings prohibit running ActiveX controls on this page. As a result, this page may not display correctly." and not a single icon will display even though it says "7 object(s)" in the bottom-left corner of the window. The only programs that I'm able to open are the ones left in the little icon tray at the bottom-right of the screen (such as Quicktime). I used Quicktime to browse the computer files since Explorer wont work, and all of my files are still there.
I've tried running the scandisk but it will never finish scaning. It gets about half way done and starts over again. No error screens pop up or anything.

What happened? How can I fix this? Do I have to reboot the entire system?

"Do I have to reboot the entire system?"

Is this system on 24/7?

Certainly power down, then restart the system.

"I've tried running the scandisk but it will never finish scaning."

Can you boot into Safe Mode to run Scandisk?

When running Scandisk or Defrag, it's best to turn off all ancillary background processes. ie; Screen savers, Anti-virus, Spyware detectors, Firewalls, etc.

If not,

With Windows 9x you have the luxury of running scandisk in DOS. It's much faster. This is an asset if you have large partitions on your hard disk.

Boot your machine into the DOS Command Prompt Only mode. This is easiest by running MSCONFIG and choosing the Boot Menu for your startup:

Click on Start, Run, type in msconfig in the Run box. When the small window opens, click on Advanced near the lower right hand side of the window. Place a check mark in the box for "Enable Startup Menu". You will be prompted to restart. If you're ready, do so. (This Startup Menu can be removed by reversing these steps.)

Alternatively, when the machine is booting, just after the P.O.S.T. (Power On Self Test) screens finish and you see "Starting Windows 98", start tapping the Ctrl key. (You have to be quick.) This should bring up the MS boot menu. Choose Command Prompt Only.

When the boot completes, at the C:\> prompt, type in* scandisk /all/autofix/nosave/nosummary and hit the Enter key. All of your drives (partitions) will be scanned and fixed if problems exist. When the process is finished, reboot the machine to the MS boot menu again and choose Safe Mode. This will load windows with minimal drivers etc. Defrag in safe mode.

Caveat: The drawback to booting into Safe Mode is that your desktop icons are automatically arranged, and if you had your own arrangement, you will have to recreate that arrangement in normal mode. Windows doesn't provide a save feature for your icons. There are (free) third party programs available which will save your desktop arrangement.



*To save you some typing and possible DOS syntax errors (DOS is VERY PARTICULAR about the command line entries, I'll paste in a dos 7.x ( 95/98 ) batch file I made long ago to automate this process. Open Notepad and copy/paste the following lines into the empty document. Save it as scandrvs.bat in the root directory of C:. (ie; c:\scandrvs.bat)

===== Copy lines below ==========================
@echo off
%WinBootDir%\command\scandisk /all/autofix/nosave/nosummary

echo.
echo.
echo Scandisk has completed. You can now restart your system.
echo.
exit

===== End copy at above blank line ==============

When you get the C:\> prompt simply type in scandrvs and hit the Enter key.

Post back with your results and any further questions.

Thank you for taking the time to reply. Unfortunately I just finished rebooting the entire system and things seem to be back to normal. I'm still not exactly sure what it was but anyway, thanks again!:1010:

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