My network guy from the office did a check on my machine again last night. All of my problems seem to be system related due to wife and children (and me probably) downloading junk onto my machine.
The hard drive was running at 30% efficiency and I had errors in everything from the autoexec.bat file and config.sys file to directx 8.1.
Apparently I have been lucky to have been able to play with the machine at it has been for months.
He says that the change in video card was probably the "last straw" and that the system can no longer manage without a complete re-build.
So..I am getting it re-built, and having XP installed instead of 98.
Wish me luck.
Curval