Presario 5365/Win98SE - inexplicable shutdowns to a blinking cursor

Mediamon wrote
Rod Speed wrote
Mediamon wrote

I'm helping a friend with his Compaq Presario 5365
running Win98SE on AMD K6-3D Cpu (400MHZ I think).
Mobo manufacturer unknown with SIS 530 chipset.

Friend reports PC was acting sluggish and sometimes
locking up. Says it possibly began after a Windows
Update was cancelled in the middle of download.

Much more likely to be a coincidence.

At the same time he syas Norton Anti-Virus 2003 Pro was
acting funky, as NAV would not lauch from the system tray.

Worth trying a different anti virus, some viruses molest NAV.

Will try another AV app out.

Discovered the original 64MB RAM in PC (PC-100), was upgraded
with two additional 256MB PC-133 SDRAM mods. But Windows
only reports 444MB (whereas 576MB=256+256+64 total was installed).

That may well be important. Likely some is lost to
the onboard video, but the numbers still dont add up.

I assume the system board just does not support more than 444MB?

Very unlikely.

Anywya I awapped in and out different combos of RAM modules,
and re-ordering mods in sockets with no positive results.

What happened with the total reported ?

With just 64MB installed OS reported correctly.
With just 256MB installed OS reported correctly.
With 64MB + 256 MB installed OS repoted corectly
With 256MB + 256MB installed OS reported incorrectly (380MB).
With 64MB + 256MB + 256MB installed OS reported incorrectly. (444MB)

Now from the numbers above I am suspecting one of the 256MB
modules is actually a 128MB module. Didn't notice that before.

Yeah, certainly worth trying them separately by themselves to check that.

Likely unrelated to the current problem tho.

Any thoughts on how to proceed troubleshooting this?

I'd image the current hard drive, do a clean 98SE install,
see if it still shuts down. That basically distinguishes
between a hardware and an OS/software problem.

Likely you will find its a hardware problem in which case its time to
check for bad caps on the motherboard and try a power supply swap.

Should I proceed with a Windows repair from CD (I have Win98SE
boot floppy also)? If so which specific steps are recommended?
Run Setup from the hard drive hoping the PC will not crash?

Generally best to do a clean install of 98SE, thats really the only
way to clean up the mess if the install has got comprehensively
screwed over time. It'd be unusual to get a timed crash like that due
to the OS tho.

Yes imaging the hard drive is what I should do, then
re-install Win98SE from scratch. Trying to fget around it.

I wish I had a spare ATX PS to test out.

They system is running cool, including power supply and CPU.

Also I should have included in my orginal post that during the Windows
Start Up, when the Add New Hardware Wizard dialog appears (for PNP
Monitor... which I don't want to install INF for this temporary monitor I
am using for troubleshooting), if I let the PC idle at that
dialog screen the PC does not shut down inexplicably.

Again it does not shut down in safe mode.

PC only shuts down only after Windows has been fully started-up for awhile.

Certainly makes it more likely to be a stuffed 98SE install.

So right now the possibilities I see:

1. RAM memory issue

Should be possible to resolve that by trying with just one
of the 256M dimms at a time and seeing if that freezes.

2. Power supply issue

Thats unlikely given that its fine in safe mode.

3. Viral/malware infection (mutating so cannot be easily
identified/removed)?
4. Corrupted Win98 installation (need to image/clean install)

Trying to figure out the best course of deduction.

I'd image it and do a clean install myself, because
thats the most likely possibility, a stuffed 98SE
install. That eliminates the virus possibility too.

That would cut the problems in half, separate hardware from software.