Hi Lee,
Well, it’s quite easy to check if she has some compression/decompression software installed… just look for WinZip or WinRAR or something similar. Actually, what you could try, is to download some zipped (compressed) file from somewhere, or even better you can take some zipped file on floppy and check if you are able to open it on her system. Second option is much better since she has no antivirus protection on her system at this point, so downloading something from internet is not quite good idea when I think twice…
Regarding all those errors she has on her computer, maybe best thing to do is to completely reinstall OS (Win98) over existing installation. She won’t lose any programs or settings, and there is slight possibility that repairing will repair some damaged system files or add some of those that are maybe missing. Of course, best possible solution is to completely flush the system, reformat partition and reinstall everything from the scratch. Of course, performing backup of her important files and/or documents prior reinstalling OS is essential… It’s a lot of work, but at least, everything will work as new… of course, if there is no defective hardware in her system.
Yes, updating her OS from Microsoft web site is higly recommended… download all those necessary patches and security updates, but since you are unable to do that from her system, you have to do some other checkings first…
Download HijackThis on your system, save it on floopy and bring it over to her system. Check her system with that wonderful application and make a log file (it’s unbelievable easy, don’t worry, just read on screen instructions). After you create log file, you can post it in here, and some of us will take a closer look at it…
HijackThis can be downloaded from here:
http://www.download.com/HijackThis/3000-8022_4-10227353.html
Then, if you manage somehow to start Housecall online scanner on her computer, you can go to Trend Micro’s Housecall, online antivirus scanner (one of the best):
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall/start_corp.asp
Choose your country of residence, click OK, and then most likely you’ll have to wait few minutes to download latest definitions… after process is done, choose what partitions/directories/drives to be scanned, and start to scan.
Also, her system should (MUST) be checked for spyware and adware… some of the best programs you can use are Spybot - Search and Destroy, Ad-Aware by Lavasoft, SpywareBlaster (for preventing, it’s always better to prevent than to heal)…
Cheers !