Since we have switched to broadband and networked our computers, our one old ME system has been very unstable. The other two computers (one 98SE and another ME) have been fine, but the old ME (PII-266, 128MB RAM, 10GB HDD) has been crashing often. IE will open and immediately freeze before the graphics can be loaded. My Computer won't start at all. However, Mozilla will start and work fine, connecting to the Internet as it should. Also occuring often (usually after playing a game), the taskbar will stop responding as well. The only way to fix these problems is to disconnect the computer from the network. Then it will work fine and everything works as it should, crash-free. One thing which may be a clue: There is a COM port in the Device manager with a yellow ! next to it...we have tried removing that port (as the old modem is no longer connected to it), but it keeps reinstalling on startup. The network card: Realtec RTL8139C PCI Fast Network Adapter. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
