One troubleshooting technique for Windows 98 is to press F8 as the system is
booting (that is, just after the initial Bios information scrolls up the
screen, but before Windows starts to load.) You may have to keep hitting the
F8 key, since timing is critical.

You should see a menu with several choices. Select 'Safe Mode', which loads
Windows without any special drivers. If Windows then loads, the problem may
be a corrupted or incorrect driver. The display driver would be a good
place to start checking. He'll probably have to get a Windows knowledgeable
person to help at that point.
-Ron
(email: replace 'abuse' with 'cyberguy3k')


"Charlie Bress" wrote:
A neighbor has a Gateway Celeron based system running WIN98. This box is
about four years old.
When he turns it on it will sometimes shut down before the desk top
appears.
Repeated attempts to start it may meet with success. He just sent me a
note
that this morning it took 6 tries before it finally came up running.

Any suggestions. Power supply is suspect, of course, but what else might
be
telling it to shut down?

Charlie