Is it just me or do your brains feel funny when reading the previous post, like constantly switching from right brain to left brain
Anyway, you didn't mention your hard disk size and available free space. Fragmentation in Windows98 is a big issue and Win98's FAT32 file system is not the best. Instead of doing a total upgrade why not try increasing your RAM and switch to WinXP. Most designers can benefit from a second hard disk used for 'scratching' and temp files.
See if that works.