My win98 PC has not been starting properly for a while now & I’ve tried everything.
After the windows logo during startup the autoexec.bat files hang. Eventually it will start but runs at a snails pace or slower. After restarting, the startup menu comes up. I restore the registry from there and all is OK. There seems to be no reason why sometimes it happens and sometimes not.
At Xmas I reformatted disc but it soon came back again.
Progs that run on startup are minimal.
Tried everything I’ve found on Google searches.
Need help quick, teenage daughter getting angry!!

While your user name might not be real or even your's, I would advise you to go to your "My Controls" and change it from an E-Mail Address

First welcome to BC.
Could you give us a run down on the computer?

RAM
CPU
Hard Drive (free and used space)
Types of antivirus, antispyware, and firewall, if any.
Type of internet. DSL, Cable, ISDN, Dialup,...

512mb ram
1gb cpu
28gb free

dsl
avg free
zone labs free
Not great specs i know but if it starts it works well

Mine are the same except I have a 500mhz P-III, XP Pro, and SyGate instead of ZA.
First go to your virtual memory and set it a 768mb. Then run Disk Cleanupand defrag.

Start>Control Panel>System>Advanced>Preformance>Settings>Advanced>Change
Start>Program Files>Accessories>System Tools>Disk Cleanup

Unfortunately that option is not available in 98. Its best to let Windows manage the swap file in this case unless you have a second drive to put it on.

Dont think its as simple as that. Reformatting would have sorted that out.
There must be a clue in that restoring the registry allows it to start.
A driver maybe?
A shutting down problem?