Member Avatar for callamitty

This is my first post and I don't know much about computers. I have an HP with Windows 98 second edition and a factory installed Nvidia TNT 2 Pro set-up. My problem is: after internet surfing for a bit, the graphics display as red x's instead of how they should look. Also, it may show in small areas throughout a page (I guess where advertisements would be) that this is 'cancelled' or page error. I usually restart my computer and hope that when it starts up again that I will have an hour or so of surfing before the red x's happen again (it sometimes works). The things that I have done to try and fix this - that have not worked are: tools>internet options>settings> increasing my temporary internet file storage from 10MB to 40MB; clearing my temp internet files-cookes-and history; and going tools>advanced> checking the box to empty temporary internet files when browser is closed. These three things that I did were on advice of someone who told me that I had a 'cache' problem. Unfortunately, none of this has helped. Any assistance/ideas in this matter would be thoroughly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

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For : on a Win98SE machine with an older NVIDIA card, the red-X image placeholders you describe most often point to an Internet Explorer rendering/resource problem or a graphics-driver/hardware-acceleration conflict rather than a network or site problem. was right to ask about scope — the fact that a restart or a different browser temporarily fixes it is a useful diagnostic clue.

Quick, safe checks (do these before reinstalling anything)

  • Run IE without add-ons to rule out toolbars/BHOs: Start → Run and enter iexplore -extoff. Surf for a while and watch for the issue.
  • Re-register core IE components (run each line from Start → Run). After running the list below, reboot and test:
    regsvr32 urlmon.dll
regsvr32 mshtml.dll
regsvr32 shdocvw.dll
regsvr32 actxprxy.dll
  • Test with hardware acceleration off: Display Properties → Settings → Advanced → Troubleshoot and move the Hardware Acceleration slider down (test at low/none).

Other targeted troubleshooting

  • Check free disk space and available RAM, and increase the paging file if it’s very small; Win98 can fail to cache or render images when resources run low.
  • Try a different NVIDIA driver revision (older TNT2 drivers were sometimes unstable); if a driver change fixes it, leave acceleration reduced or use that driver.
  • Boot to Safe Mode with Networking to see if the problem appears; if not, third-party software is likely involved.

If these steps fail, repairing or reinstalling IE components (or using a modern browser that keeps working) is a pragmatic option. Back up any important files and settings before doing component reinstalls or driver changes.

Member Avatar for Mishoboy

does this happen on every single page that you go to or just on certain pages? Which pages are you visiting?

Member Avatar for callamitty

When it happens, it happens on any and every page (home page, favorites, etc ...). Sometimes I can refresh the page and it will load properly. Usually, I have to restart the computer to make things work correctly. Someone else has suggested to me that I download and use firefox as my browser. I did this yesterday and have not had the 'red x's' appear on this browser. This person also said that the problem is not Internet Explorer's cache being too small, but that Windows 98 SE has cache problems. I write this like I know what I am talking about, but I don't! I am just repeating what others have told me. If it is a Windows 98 SE operating system cache problem, is there a way to adjust the limits? Thanks ...

Member Avatar for Mishoboy

Hmm... the only other advice I can think of right now is update your IE to the latest version, then go to www.pcpitstop.com and do a full test if you have cache problem it'll tell you in the summary and it'll also tell you how to fix it. Make sure you do all the critical windows updates as well. If none of this works, I suggest format your HD and reinstall everything again, but you will lose all of your information and files stored to your PC. Perhaps someone more computer literate than me may offer you a better suggestion. Sorry I couldn't help did my best.

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