Win. 98SE Boot Problems (Safe Mode)

[Sweeper]

I built a pc for a friend for his company. (Auto shop)
Anyway, every other week it seems he will shut the computer off at night and when he goes to turn it on the next morning it boots up in Safe Mode? Then he has to shut it off and restart and it will boot up normally. I have taken a look at it and tried a few things but to no avail..................... He is now getting rather annoyed having to restart it randomly and isn't happy about the Safe Mode screen being it's a new system. 3 weeks old.
System specs:
MSI 845 G-Max (MS-6580)
P4 2.4GHz (533)
1 x 512 Generic PC2100 DDR
80 GB WD 8mb Cache HD
MSI - GF2 400 (can't remember the exact card)
10/100 NIC (generic)
56K PCI Modem (generic)
Sound Blaster Live 5:1
300w PSU
Mid Tower Case
Room temp when running 72F
Room temp when PC is off 60F
CPU Temp: 45c
MB Temp:31c

Any suggestions? The only applications he runs are Quickbooks and Mitchell on Demand. And his normal office software.

Thanks

The really only reason it would go into 'Safe Mode' is if somebody powered it off during it's 'Normal' boot process. Impatience maybe?

When it goes into 'Safe Mode', are they seeing the boot menu during startup?

When they shut it down at night, is it shutting off all the way, or stopping at the shutdown screen?

[Sweeper]

When it does go into safe mode is does come up with a boot menu during startup.

It does shut down all the way and shuts itself off.

Today it came up with blinking curser in upper left corner, then the boot menu came up. Went to "Normal" and selected it. It appeared to try to start up but then goes back to the same boot menu and freezes. Then had to hit the reset button and it runs scandisk and goes into "safe Mode". Shut the computer down and restarted it and it booted fine. ??????????????????

That's pretty much sums it up on what it does. And it's not an everyday thing either. .... ..... .....

Select a 'Step-by-Step Confirmation' to see what driver is keeping it from loadiing Windows.

[phil_monk]

It might be because the hardware is too new for Win 98 SE this is the case with the AMD K6 and win 95............. i segest upgrading to ME or XP try a copied version first to see how it works before buying it.

[eagle1]

Originally posted by EvilRick
Select a 'Step-by-Step Confirmation' to see what driver is keeping it from loadiing Windows.

I think this would be the best start. Also, have they installed any new software lately? It could be a driver issue or a software bug or something like that.!

[nukes]

I reckon that would be the best option. If not, try checking all is well in the BIOS and use conservative RAM timings. Also get all the windows updates if you haven't already and if none of that works, try it with 2k/XP.

[Sweeper]

It looks like I will more than likely wipe the HD and install XP Pro w/ Office. I did the step by step and nothing seemed to be causing any conflicts. Strange problem. It's very random. Once you restart from Safe Mode it boots up fine. UUUgggghhhh...No conflicts in device manager. No problems running (when it boots up fine). Very fast. I'm thinking it's a Win. 98SE problem. I remember installing the OS and having to literally go and find EVERY driver for almost every piece of equipment in the machine because 98 didn't reccognize any of them.

[Beemer]

Before you throw it all away, try this fix.
http://beemerworld.com/tips/driversbug.htm

I haven't thrown this one out there in a while now.

It would be a good idea to put him on a more current O/S as Win98 support is about to bite the dust in June.

Cheers!