win 98 boots only to a certain point then ....just black screen. Upon Booting I get the win98 splash screen, which switches to a black screen, then comes back, then switches to black again as part of the boot process then as its loading the drivers it crashes, it gets all the way to msmouse.vdx, loads that, and then whatever is next just kills it. How do I determine which driver gets loaded next? I already re-installed win98, but to no avail. ...any other ideas? Many thanks.

From my experience, the mouse is the last to be loaded. Boot up in safe mode. Use msconfig to unselect all the applications from starting. If that works, start adding them back in until you find the culprit.

The following additional questions are to clarify the context in which you are having the Starup Problem. 1.Is this a new problem in a previously normal Computer? 2. Was there any Software or Hardware Changes [Any install or uninstall of Programs or Devices]in this PC before the problem began? 3. Have you Ruled out Virus/Worms/Spyware in your system? 4. Do you have an old McAfee antivirus program in your system? What Antivirus Program do you use and is it set to scan the Boot Files? 5. You've posted:- "I already re-installed win98, but to no avail. ..." Did you mean a Clean Reinstall of Win98 or the so-called "Windows over Windows without a prior Hard drive Reformat? I basically agree with the above post by beck and suggest you to use the MSKB article titled How to Troubleshoot Using the Msconfig Utility with Windows 98 and the hyperlinks for other articles in that page, for guidance in your troubleshoot.

Did you make any hardware or sofware changes between the last time it worked OK and the first time it didn't? On a step-by-step confirmation the mouse loading is the last thing it will ask you about. So it's not necessarily the very next item loading that is causing the problem. It could be anything that loads after the mouse. You might try using bootlog from the boot menu. When it stops loading, restart the computer, choose safe mode and then view bootlog.txt with something like notepad. The last items on the list will show what the computer was doing when it stopped.

All windows files load after the mouse. You have a bad win file or a damaged disk where the file was loaded from. Do not do the restart computer thing. It will just get worse and will stop booting all together. Shut it down and unplug it from hydro. Start it again the next day and it should work at the step by step configuration. Don't be fooled the windows splash screen is dos mode not windows. Computer Solutions