I notice from one of your previous columns that your operating system is Windows98 Second Edition. I recently upgraded from Windows98 to Windows98 Second Edition using a CD that I purchased ($13.95) from Microsoft Australia. The upgrade appeared to go OK (I ran it in a “clean environment” via msconfig so no applications were active) but since the upgrade I have experienced the following problems:
1. The initial boot is now unstable. Sometimes it works OK other times the machine just hangs (as the Systray is being set up). A reboot usually goes OK.
2. IE5 does not sort items, or allow items to be sorted in my Favorites folder (IE4 used to sort them OK).
3. Outlook Express 5 does not allow spell checking (Outlook Express 4 used to spell check OK).
Have you experienced similar problems (did you upgrade in a similar way) or have you heard of similar problems with Windows98 SE?

I have not seen any of the problems that you have. My boot is actually more stable, I can sort my favorites folder, and Outlook Express 5 does spell check for me. It looks as if your system needs some work. Depending on your ‘base’ version of Windows you have progressively upgraded from Windows 3.1 > Windows 95 > Windows 98 > Windows 98 SE then I am not surprised because over the generations your system would have accumulated a lot of baggage that is both clogging its stability and performance. I suggest that you do a full reinstall of everything including Windows. Format your hard drive and start over. This will clear out all of the cobwebs sitting on your hard drive. It happens to power users especially those who are constantly upgrading. At some stage, many users are going to have to face up to a hard disk reformat.