If u have a friend that has a computer with internet connection, then u can just take a disc...floppy....format it and make it bootable. Go online and download the appropriate bios update and flash...

Do you have all the critical updates for 98 downloaded? It seems that something got in that is reconfiguring ur system. If it were me I'd fdisk the hard drive then reformat it and reload the programs...

if ur going to partition and format the hard drive urself u'll need a seperate windows disc then the recovery discs that came with the computer.

try ebay.

before u kill the mobo trying isolating different peripherals....ie: keyboard, mouse, cd drives and any other peripherals that u may have attached.

Just remove the cmos battery for about 5 minutes and replace...reboot and go to the cmos setup.

when flashing the bios it is best to do it from the dos prompt and not from within windows. try re-flashing the bios.

check ur bios for an autodetect hd.....either as a stand alone feature or on the main cmos page. You could set for auto.