Anyone knowledgeable about computers please help. One of our computers locks-up/freezes every few minutes and has to be rebooted in order to continue. When this happens (locks-up) nothing works, mouse movement, control/alt/delete....nothing. This happens whether on-line or not. I'm not sure what to check or what to look for. Don't know if this has anything to do with the operating system (windows 98) or not. Please help. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.....  

Although it CAN be "Gates Revenge"  I woud suspect hardware.  Memory in particular.  Get a GOOD hardware "burn-in" diagnostic program and "let er rip".

Agreed, hardware is the logical place to start... to me, a recovering overclocker, it sounds like you have a heat problem.  Check that the fan/heatsink on the processor is operational and also check case ventilation.  If possible, pull the side off the case and point a fan on it and see if the machine still locks on you...

Do you have the second addition 98?

Devil dog?

Teufel = Devil  Hund = Dog

;)

Definitely the first thing to try... when you do pop the case off, make sure blow the dust off the internals as well, as the dust is acting like insulation to retain heat... If its a recent gateway slimline, look for popped capacitors while you have it open (only seen this with slimlines)

My recommended next step would be updating the drivers for the video card/monitor, and then any other hardware.
How old is the machine, and how much has it been used?

Jonathan

It's memory. Had the same thing happen to me.e


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First off, have you updated any files, drivers, programs?  Have you installed any new programs? Look for the problem there first.

If you are using Win98, WinME, or WinXP, go to Start/Run and type msconfig in the open box. Then click ok.  That will take you to the System Comfiguration Utility. Click on the General tab.

Click on the Selective Startup circle, then UNCHECK the Load Startup Items box. (This will shut off all the junk that starts up everytime you boot the computer.) Then click on the Apply and OK buttons at the bottom right of the box.  Let the computer reboot.  

See if that cures the problem. If it does go back to msconfig and click on the Startup tab.  Then put a check mark in one of the boxes and click apply and ok and reboot.  Do this until you check an item and it causes the problem.  Then that will be the item that's giving you the problem. Get rid of the item or reinstall it, etc.  Be aware that it may be a combination of items. It takes some time to troubleshoot.  But it might locate the problem area.

If you unchecked the Load Startup Items and rebooted and still have the problem then this is not the problem area.

Reboot and press the F8 key about once a second as the machine is rebooting until you get the safe mode menu. Then go to safe mode. Does the problem happen in safe mode?  If it does then you are probably looking at either a hardware or Windows problem. May need to reload Windows.  

If the problem went away then it may be a software problem or a hardware driver problem.  Safe mode uses generic drivers so eliminates driver issues (usually). Then you are down to figuring out what driver is giving you a problem. It will usually be either video or printer driver.

Be sure to go back to msconfig and put the check mark back in the Load Startup Items checkbox, then click on the Normal Startup circle, and then do apply and ok and reboot. But make sure you remove any program that was causing a problem before you do this.

Hope this helps.

Diamondback