text: running widows 98 se, pc frove, un pluged, now all it will do is start up to the hp screen,?   the fact that it froze at startup indicates a hardware problem instead of software. while the hp screen is up the computer is running what's called post, power on self test. it just runs a check on all devices in it to see if they are ok. if it hangs during post there is a problem with a device. there are beep codes that usually sound off indicating where to start looking. a healthy pc will emit one short beep at startup. i included a link for you to research beep codes. if all that seems like too much for ya. just open up the pc, make sure you're grounded or using an esd strap. (the static in your body can harm the pc components), and reseat all pci cards, memory and cable connections. close it up and turn it on.