Anyway, in a nutshell, here it is.
Every 2-3 minutes, the comp hangs up for 10 seconds.
I know the problem is not anything in msconfig, its not a virus, its not the registry, its not a stupid background program running, blah blah blah.
I have found a solution (and possibly the problem?). I downloaded a program called "ATM" which gives you a list of all Processes and Threads running, and how much CPU power they're using.
There's a process running called "kernel32.dll." If you kill it, the computer crashes. Anyway, one thread (the last one) is using 80% of my CPU power constantly. I can suspend it, and it fixes the problem, but then I can't run any programs or quit any programs until I un-suspend it.
I checked when kernel32.dll was modified... 5/11/98 I think, same as my other Windows system files.
QUESTION: Does anyone know if I can fix this problem WITHOUT a reformat? Maybe I can write some program to automatically suspend the thread except when a program is trying to be launched or shut off... too bad I'm not quite that good yet :-p
If you want to...you can recopy that file from your windows disk. Winzip can open cab files, and uncompress them. I can't remember where exactly the kernel file is....I think it near the end to middle of the cab files. Windows has lots of cab files. They are numbered. I can't remember how far they go...think it's like 70 or something. Your just going to have to open them one by one, until you find the one that has the kernel32 driver in it....then unzip the thing and overwrite the one on your harddrive.
Try 31.cab
That's where it's at on Win98SE (Win98_31.cab)
I would check the heat. Although heat usely make the computer just hang. Always an idea any way.
About six months ago my battery stopped working, and I've been havingg this hang problem for about three weeks. I think the battery finally got so bad that the power program on my laptop that keeps track of it would think it was there and then think it wasn't or something and cause the computer to hang. I removed the battery, and all is fixed now.
Thanks for your help, though.