wrote in message
ps.com...
My grandma has an old computer that she is wanting to use as a word
processor. The system is a Dell Optiplex, 300 Mhz Pentium 2, with 192
MB of ram. I installed Win98 on there, and it took FOREVER. 14 hours
to be exact.

14 hours to install is a problem in itself.

I'd remove anything that wasn't necessary to install, like network cards and
sound cards, and try the installation again. Be sure to format the drive and
not just a "verify" or "quick" format - delete the existing partitions and
try again.

It might be hard to find Windows 98 drivers these days, but download as many
drivers as you can - mainboard chipset, soundcard, video, CPU, etc....
Running withouth them will really bog your system down.

Finally, check that cables are good and tight and that the heatsinks and
fans are working and clean.

And specifically for your case, I'd check the IDE cables. IDE errors will
greatly slow a PC down if not corrupt it. I'd suggest a cable for the HDD
and a seperate cable for the CD/DVD drive.