If I try to minimize anything, system crashes. I reloaded Windows 98 (update), did not help. I reloaded Internet Explorer 6, did not help. I al;so hera a loud click whenever the crash occurs.
Please help.

Hi,

This is a place to start. Do you remember if anyone else was on your computer before the problem started?

Also has your computer always done this? Here is another: do you have antivirus software and have you run it recently? If so, what did it find?

If your hearing a loud click when it crashes it could mean it's your hard drive starting to fail.

Hi ishaw, welcome to SAF

Now would be a good time, to back up all your pictures and critical files, in case it is your Hard Drive dying.

If you close out the program, instead of minimizing it, does it still crash??

Marcia, I didn't know that you'd hear a loud click if your hard drive was dying. See, I learned something today.

I am the only user of my computer. My computer has never done thsi ebofre, it started about a month ago.
No, I do not ahve antivirus softare, only a Spyware Doctor, which cleared off all suspicious cookies.
Do you think that it was a virus? If so, since reloading the system and the Internet Explorer 6 did not help, probably I would have to save everything on a streamer disk and reformat the hard disk. I could also buy an antivirus package but would it not be too late?

If you suspect a virus and would like to try a free online scan you can try one here. Hopefully your computer will allow you to do that without crashing.

I did suspect a virus. They can cause your computer to do all sorts of strange things. But this would not allow for the click. I would back up the things on my hard drive. Marcia knows more about your problem than I do.



You are right. It would be too late for this problem. It would not help since your hard drive is failing. However, you should get some type of antivirus software and run it say every month. If you don't want to buy one, there are many good free ones. AVG comes to mind.

In case you decide to use an online virus scanner, Marcia already linked to HouseCall above. Here is that one plus a few good/proven others...

All of the following online scanners can be trusted. The services are provided by the same companies that you trust when installing their software for local virus protection...

1. HouseCall from Trend Micro
2. Symantec Virus Scan
3. Panda ActiveScan (requires Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or later version)