Munn,

Thank you for using the Dell Community Forum.
This can be caused by several things.

1.Anti-virus program or virus.
Do a full virus scan.
If nothing is found, disable your anti-virus or uninstall it for
a little while to test.

2.This may be caused by software running in the background.
Use MSCONFIG for Win98 to stop all background applications.

3.This could also be caused by a bad CMOS battery or bios settings.
Reset your bios defaults.
Also check the time in the bios, every couple hours.
If you are loosing time there, you may have a bad CMOS battery.

Here is further information.
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Stopping background applications in Win98.

**Clear the startup menu**
Right click Start.
Click on Explorer.
The "Start Menu" window will open.
Click the " + " next to Start Menu.
Click the " + " next to programs.
Double Click Startup.
The icons contained in the Startup folder appear in the right pane.
Click Edit and then click Select All.
All the icons in the Startup folder appear highlighted.
Place the mouse pointer on one of the icons, click and hold the mouse button down, and then drag the highlighted icons to the left pane over the Desktop icon.
The Desktop icon appears highlighted and the Startup folder icons appear outlined over the Desktop icon.
Release the mouse button.
The icons from the Startup folder are transferred to the Desktop and the Startup folder appears empty.
Close the window.
The Desktop reappears.
Click the Start button, click Shut Down, and click OK.
After your computer is turned off, turn it back on again and let Windows load.

Follow these steps to remove programs from the win.ini file:
Click the Start button, then click on Run and then type sysedit.
Click OK.
This will open the System Configuration Editor.
Close all windows except for the window labeled C:\WINDOWS\WIN.INI by clicking on the X in the upper right corner of each window.
Near the top of the win.ini file there will be two lines beginning with load= and run=. If these lines are both empty no programs are loading in the win.ini file. Otherwise, any program listed on these two lines will load at startup, and may be removed. Clearing all text to the right of the equal sign (=) prevents programs from loading from the win.ini file.
Exit the System Configuration Editor by clicking on File, then Exit. When prompted to save, choose Yes.
The next time you reboot your computer these programs will not load.

**Delete old configuration files**
Search the system for these files, delete them.
Autoexec.bat
Config.sys
Win.ini
-Delete "All" the files and folders in the ( C:\Windows\Temp ) folder.

**Stop all background applications**

Left-click on START | RUN.
Type in "msconfig" in the "Open" dialog box and left-click on "OK."
When the "System Configuration Utility" window appears, the "General" tab will be visible. Left-click on "Selective Startup."
Remove the check marks from each choice except "System.ini," by left clicking on the check marks.
Click the Startup tab.
Uncheck every entry except (SystemTray)
Left-click on "Apply" and then left-click on "OK."
A message will appear stating that "For the changes to take place, the system must be restarted." Left-click on the "OK" button, and the system will begin the restart.

If the problem stops, then try using the steps below, to isolate the program that
is causing the problem.
Repeat steps above, but instead of un-checking the entries, re-check one entry at a time until you have identified the category that is the cause of the problem.
After you have isolated the application, utility, or device driver that is causing the problem, you will be able to proceed with further troubleshooting. One of the easiest methods to attempt a resolution is to reinstall the problematic application or device driver. The entry causing the problem can be left disabled if it does not affect system operation.
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Reset the Bios Defaults.

1.Entering System Setup Program

Turn on (or restart) your system.
When the blue Dell logo appears, press (Delete Key).
If you wait too long and the operating system begins to load into memory, let the system complete the load operation. Then shut down the system and try again
When you enter Bios, you will get a window that reads:
Dell Dimension Lxxxx Setup:

**Clearing NVRAM:

To clear NVRAM for all devices and restart the system, perform the following steps:
Enter the system setup program.
Press the right-arrow key to move to the Advanced menu.
Press the down-arrow key to highlight the Boot Configuration submenu, and press (Enter).
Press the down-arrow key to highlight Reset Config Data. Then press the (Enter) key, and change the setting to Yes.
When that is done, press (F10) to exit the program and restart the system.
You will want to choose (YES) to "Save Changes and Exit."

**Resetting the Defaults in BIOS.
Enter the System Setup Program.
Press (F9), highlight (Yes) to (Reset Default Configuration)
Press (F10) to (Save Changes and Exit)
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Why does my computer lose time or not properly update its clock, and how do I correct this problem?
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DELL_Karell

Thank you for replying to my plea. I will try your suggestions.