From: Shari on 04/01/2004
This problem relates to my parents computer. Runs Windows 98. Compaq 7478/1J750/MV720. Sorry that is all the information I have except that the computer is about 4 years old, warranty ran out in February. They are on a high-speed internet connection. Lates Fatal Exception noted was: 0028:c0031a54. Please excuse me if I give too much information, or not enough, feel free to contact me at: LadyFlashB@msn.comI thought the problem stemmed from recent downloads of themes/screensavers that were infested with third-party software programs. Just learned that the errors began nearly two months ago when they downloaded/installed McAfee Virus. Evidentially they experienced freeze-ups after installation.
About a month ago I had them run a thorough scan disk and defrag on both C: and D: drives. Claims are that the pc worked even worse after that.
On Monday 3/29, I was called over to remove the themes and their corresponding programs. Bonzi, Connectix, some .exe files that were behaving as spyware. Then found her a respectable theme package from ThemeDoctor and installed.
The pc ran fine until yesterday, 3/31, when it began to 'time-out'... and become unresponsive. After rebooting, would run for a matter of 4 to 10 minutes and freeze. Going into msconfig and starting in safe mode did not help. I am unsure if it is a virus or not. The run time is way too short to run any kinds of diagnostics. My folks are under the impression that a computer has a life of about 4 or 5 years and that their Compaq is floating at the top of the proverbial fish bowl. IMO, this is nonsense, am I wrong?
If they do have to replace, what about all the files they will be losing? Photos not backed onto a disk, mail addresses, various programs, etc. Can someone 'mirror' or retrieve this data?
Any responses to whether and how these errors may be fixed would be greatly appreciated. My skills on my own comuter are ok, I am not a super techno by any means, but I have added memory and video cards to my own machine with no complaints. I also have the ability to understand and follow directions.
