Hi again, 8 to 10 processes would normally be enough for a busy Win98 PC so it sounds as though you are feeding some extras.
Can you list them for us? The two you must have are:
Explorer (that's Windows Explorer)
Systray
And then you may have;
A graphics driver
AntiVirus (Sometimes two or three processes)
Rulaunch (for antivirus auto update)
waulaunch (that's Windows Update)
Perhaps a Firewall
And some other drivers such as InfraRed
These processes are started in two ways:
There's the folder at C: \Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
And there's the Registry.
Okay, don't worry about editing the Registry. Here's how you can control those "Startup Processes"
Start>Run>type "msconfig" and press Rtn>click on far right tab called "Startup" and there you can select the ones you want to start and uncheck the ones you think you can do without. Play around a bit and seeif things improve.