mutt
Can't help with Q2 but here are some ideas for Q1:
3 minute for bootup is not good and other than system faults/problams, maybe there are many programs/utilities being loaded at startup and this is slowing things down for you.
I just did a quick test on my laptop (a measly 266mhz/64mb ram/4gb HD device/W98SE) - with my usual bootup options enabled, it took 1.5 mins but with everything except essentials disabled it booted up in less than a minute.
There are many default startup items that can be safely disabled through either MSconfig or a downloaded utility (such as System Mechanic-
http://www.iolo.com/sm/ - free trial for 30 days).
Things to look at are:
Scan Registry on startup
Scan Disk on startup
Microsoft Find Fast
Office Startup
Task Monitor
You may have many other non-essentials enabled too.
I believe in only enabling what is required at bootup and then starting a program or utility when it is needed. Office Startup can be resource gobbling as can Find Fast.
After your laptop has booted, right-click on My Computer / Properties / Performance and see what % of system resources are free. Anything much less than 30% and you could run into memory issues. On my test, with all but essentials disabled, there was 94% free.
Essentials vary from user to user, but for example I don't load my personal firewall or antivirus at startup unless I intend connecting to the outside world. I start them when I know I will be going online. It only takes a few seconds to do this. (My main connection to the internet is through my work desktop).
All these little things add up and as you say your laptop is new, it may have all sorts enabled.
Another useful source of information is at
http://www.annoyances.org/win98/
Windows 98 Annoyances gives tips on problems with W98 (there is also a site for W95) and tweaks that may be useful.
The usual housekeeping requirements of keeping a "clean" HD and defragging (daily if heavily-used) can also help.
Lastly, at the "other end" of operations, for a quick shutdown, try a small (free) program called EndItAll - one click can close all non-essential programs and the pc will shutdown very quickly. Find it here
http://web.zdnet.com/pcmag/utilities/1999.html and select the program from the list.
You can also use it to see what programs you have running, similar to MSConfig.
Let us know how you get on.
Best!
HA