Question: My computer freezes on startup in normal and safe mode. What should I do?
The IT Guy says:
This sounds like a virus problem, but it could be other things as well. I would recommend you start up from your virus emergency boot disk or CD and scan for viruses. Symantec, makers of Norton Antivirus, have helpful instructions on “What to do if you suspect that your computer is infected with a virus, worm, or Trojanâ€.
If you are not having a virus problem, the answer depends a bit on what operating system you are running. I will answer for Windows98 systems. Microsoft has a good bit of documentation at “Troubleshooting Windows 98 Startup Problemsâ€.
You may want to try clean-boot troubleshooting your Windows98 system, but be wary: making registry changes if you are not sure about what you are doing can lead to problems that will make reinstalling the operating system from scratch necessary. Microsoft has instructions about clean-boot troubleshooting on “How To Perform Clean-Boot Troubleshooting for Windows 98â€.
If the troublesome computer is in a lab, the best scenario is to have a working disk image already available on the network or CD that you can use to just re-clone that PC.
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