Compaq disaster! Please help!

I’m tryng to reformat a Compaq with Windows 98SE pre-loaded and put Windows 98 back on. My problem is that it will not boot from the A:/ drive first. When it trys to load windows, it only loads the wallpaper. That’s it! no icons, no task bar, andno right-clicking! Ctrl+Shift+Alt+del is all that works. Can this be fixed? This is not my computer and I was shocked to see it in this condition. I cannot think of anything to do. please help!