Win 98SE freeze on startup

Look at Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - 188867, "Troubleshooting Windows 98 Startup Problems".

http://tinyurl.com/3qf0

Also, you may want to do a major clean-up. Look at what programs may have been installed in the startup programs (software downloaded from the Web). Delete any that are unnecessary. Delete the contents of the temporary Internet files folder and and temp files (any that begin with a ~ and/or end with a .tmp). Delete any .chk files. Run scan disk and defrag.

Also lookat this Microsoft article titled, "Give startup problems the boot".

http://tinyurl.com/5x2t

Press start, run, type msconfig.
under startup uncheck obvious programs that you dont need to automatically sartup like, realplayer, msmony. Click one at a time until you find the problem stops. You might try the virus protection file first.

You could also try the step by step boot up (F8 just after the post finishes. This will tell you if it is a driver problem and give you a clue as to what is actually hanging the machine.

Major cleanup or clean install sounds good too - always makes them run better.

There may be a "weak" spot on the hard drive that exists in the area where a critical file is located. Often running defrag will help the problem, or go to www.grc.com and purchase Spinrite. This utility is simple and will refresh the surface and even recover bad sectors.

If the prior solutions don't seem to fix the problem, I've had several systems that would exhibit this problem due to a weak power supply. Replacing it fixed the problem.