I think i am going to give in and upgrade to XPeePee(due to the fact i have an available copy) because for some reason my 98OS2 has crashed warcraft III constantly(vid is 64mgDDR/AGP and i have 512mgs ram-DDR).. Not to mention the problem i'm having with IE(6 i believe) "performing an illegal operation" constantly when i goto any of my email account pages.. And now my netscape 6.somethingorother is doing the same..

I have checked (often and repeatedly) for spyware, adware, and virus', updated all of them to today, and even ran the program to find the newest worm(and it's evolutions sofar).. I have no clue what is causing this problem, as it is new and annoying as hell!!!!

Anyone have any ideas as to what might be causing it?? before i am forced to get radical and FDISK my C drive and install windows(he made them all stick open) XP?? As i'de rather not use xp yet..

you didn't provide much info so i wouldn't have a clue about specifics, it's probally time to upgrade anyway since xp is about 2 years old now. win xp is fine, i've had it for about 2 years and i've hardly had any problems, people are just pissy about the registration system so they make up stuff about it and all that.
sure winxp has a lot of updates but don't forget win 2k is on service pack 4 (roughly) and people say nothing but good things about it, and the fact win xp is built upon 2k's engine should speak for it's stabalibility. i'd recommend the upgrade, besides you can pick up a legit copy for $90 if you look around.

98SE is still the most secure windows version available. XP has more holes in it than swiss cheese. This has been duly documented by many people, Hell even gates admitted as much!! as for not many details.. What more do you need??

as i stated, i am running 98SE(or OS2) totally updated. have norton fully installed and running. have adware and spyware programs(also totally updated as of yesterday). running IE6, or Netscape 7(not six) to smurf the web(like comming here).
i have in system:
ATI radeon 64MD DDR vid card
512 MB PC2100 DDR ram
SB Live sound card
2 HD's totalling lots of gigs, with much unused atm..
CDRW, DVD, floppy(yep, still use it too!!)
Plenty of power,
AMD XP1800+
(that enough useless info?)

The problem:

when visiting most any(i have 9 currently) of my email accounts, The page will start loading then stop mid-load for no apparent reason. And when i refresh the page, it will, as often as not, load properly. And even odds on getting the "this program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down" message with the close button as the only option. I even get that message now and then while visiting sites i often goto, Like here!!!! (hope it doesn't happen when i post this).
It(my comp) has also started puking up(freezing totally or shutting the game down randomly) warcraft III while NOT online..

Things tried:

I have tried reinstalling the game, My browsers(both), my ISP connection program, Checking current config against 1 from a month ago(no changes-I did this first)), Updating my windows, browsers, drivers for vid card, sound card, ect...
Run my adware, spyware, and norton programs(scanned) from top to bottom, Hell, i even downloaded and ran the anti-worm program for the latest worm(and the 4other mutations of it) Note: even tho 98 is immune to the worm, it can be a carrier!!!

The only thing i can think to do next is reformat my C: drive and reinstall EVERYTHING!!
Thats why i asked if anyone had any suggestions..

OH YEAH, and my digi camera program keeps telling me that the camera is being used by another program.. But i don't have another program that would try and access it.. even after a remove/reinstall it says the same thing.. *shrugs*

That's not true at all. Right now, hackers and worm writers are targetting Windows XP (and most of these exploits also work on 2000). However, while 98 is usually not affected visibly by a lot of these worms, it still can help to spread them.

When I was running 98, I ran what I would consider a very stable system, at least as far as 98 is concerned. I probably only reinstalled once. However, due to the fact that 98 really is just a big fancy version of DOS, it's not the most stable thing in the world. This and earlier MS operating systems are the reason why Windows is considered unstable (and the Blue Screen of Death is the big joke that goes along with that).

XP and 2K are lightyears ahead of 98. As for security, yes, there's a gazillion patches, but if the target were 98, I can guarantee you that things would be a lot worse. If you really want to wait, give it a try a little while after XP Service Pack 2 comes out. Yes, you'll have to configure the firewall to work with your applications (or you can get ZoneAlarm's free firewall now. I've tried it, it's not bad), but that will definately cut down on the security risks.

If you're looking to bump up your security a bit more, get a router/switch. That will act as a basic firewall by blocking any incoming traffic unless you initiated the connection (or you've configured incoming traffic on your own). Plus, you can build a home network if you like.

Anyway, as for suggestions to your problem... judging by the complete lack of stability in everything, you should reinstall the operating system. I don't care if it's 98 or XP, but it really sounds like you need it.

Most computer security experts would disagree with you. Me, as far as I'm one, included. XP is more stable and more secure. But for any OS, especially a popular one among computer illiterates (such as Win 98/XP) updating, firewalling and a good up to date virusscanner, along with not easy-to-guess passwords on your user accounts, are the prime requirements for a secure system.

but all the talk of security does not solve DarkTiger's issue.
Are there any specif 0x00 codes when it crashes?
What other programs do you currently have running in the background?
have you run the antivirus or spyware programs in safe-mode?
have you run disk defrag or a detailed scan disk?

no. I just get the "This program(netscape or IE) has performed and illegal operation and will now close" message..
my ati vid card, norton, firewall, and netzero are in the taskbar, as for the box, it shows-- netscape, netzero,eplorer, navapw32,rnaapp, em_exec, atiptaxx, lycoms, and systray..
yes, nothing new found on either..
i do that whenever i think about it.. as for the scan, i Always run the deep scan..

When it gives this error , does the details button appear or just the okay?

Otherwise, here are your most probable causes.

1. Modem bad -=- do you have another modem that you can try or try that modem in another computer. otherwise try this.
a. uninstall the modem
b. remove from the system and boot up
c. shut down and reinstall the modem in another slot
It could be the PCI slot you have it plugged into

2. Phone line noise -=- have the phone company checked for line noise.

Hmmm, modem....... there is a thought... I might try that before formatting my c and installing XP.. I finally got the drivers for my SBLive card.. 24mb download at 56k.. almost fell asleep for the 1:23min download!!!!! So now i have all the drivers for everything i have installed.. Burned everything i am worried about losing to cd's, and now have a stack of cd's and install disks that is about 2foot high!! LOL

Just looked and my ATI card and my modem are both using irq 11..

that could be part of it to. Win98 won't share IRQ's like Win2k or WinXP

LOL well, i removed(restarted, then re-installed) it and now i can get the email pages to open with only 2 or 3 refreshes.. but some of the onpage buttons( like the check all and delete ones) won't work now... GRRRRR.... slight help, but not quite enough to fix the problems..

Um...looking at the both of you saying that you updated, my first thought it "Did they update for a different version of Windows?". I find that is a common problem.

The camera being used by another application is a frequent one. Usually, there is a program half open somewhere (Meaning its open, but not in use) that is considered by the computer to be using the webcam. That'd be shit like Veo Digital Studio (For Veo cameras) or the like. Those usually set themselves to auto-start when Windows starts. Try disabling them from auto-start and seeing then if the cam will run on Yahoo or MSN or whatever you're trying to run them on.

War Craft III issues may not be due to your computer. They could be due to either a fuck up in the game (Doubtful) or sometimes when they make patches for games, they're for a specified version of windows. And these days, its probably figured that 75% of players of WCIII are on 2000 or XP.

Oh, and before you try reformat, why not try just putting in the disk to reformat, but instead, just "reinstall" windows or have it run its "fix" agent. That sometimes helps.

i am running win98SE, i only update for this version.. if one(or more) of my cards(p&p) has updates for them, i check to see if the update is for 98se or for beyond(2k/mil/xp).. If it is for the latter, then i don't update..

Hmm, i have to either reinstall(the problem might still be hidden somewhere), wich will still cause me to have to redo "all" my P&P cards, or format my C: drive and reload from scratch..

I have never seen the 'fix' option on a reinstall of win98.. *shrugs*

I am beginning to think that after two years of adding and removing programs/vid cards/sound cards/modem-lan/adding new HD's, that it has just become unstable due to junk buildup..
Time may heal all wounds, But it really can screw up any microsoft programs

and as for warcraftIII not working, my system runs morrowind, mech 4, EQ, NWN, M&M heroes 4, starcraft(online), hitman, HT(1&2), and others that require higher end computers to run them.. I don't understand why something that requires less on some minimum req's has problems..

got this just a few minutes ago..

{details} Explorer has caused an invalid page fault in module MSVCRT.DLL at
018f:780154a7

and below that lots of letters and numbers.. Do you want them too?

98se? Games run on SE? Shit. Lol.

Honestly though, update to XP or 2000 and I'm sure it'd all work out. The closer to newer you get, the more plug & play options that work, as well as the more drivers there are availiable to things.

i know that, it's just xp is harder to secure than 98..

And Yes, games do run on 98SE..LOL i can get most any game to run on this hybrid, self built, tweak UI'ed, powerdesked, quirk of an anomaly, system..

Good 'ol self-built. Its the only way.

And just what in the living hell are you doing that you need an insane amount of security? I've had XP for two years now and I've never downloaded a virus. And I download fuck loads off of Kazaa. Just have to be smart enough to not open .exe files, lol.