# How to edit registry at DOS prompt? Please Help!



## dhh1213 (Mar 17, 2004)

I have been having problems, with WIN98. When I try to bootup normally it gives me these error messages:

Cannot find a device file that may be needed to run windows or a windows app. The windows registry or system.ini file refers to this device file but the device file no longer exists. It goes on to list the problem files:

\PROGRA~1\GRISOFT\AVGFRE~1\AVG7CORE.VXD
\PROGRA~1\GRISOFT\AVGFRE~1\AVG7RS.VXD
\PROGRA~1\GRISOFT\AVGFRE~1\AVGTDI.VXD

Then after hitting enter key thru these messages Win98 hangs up with the message: MSGSVR32 Has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down before anything else loads which freezes up windows completely with no icons or control over the computer. I can boot up into the windows screen (F8) that allows the choice of Safe boot but freezes before windows gets off the ground. My question:

Can I boot up with (F8) and go into the command prompt and edit the Windows registry to remove the loading of these AVG driver files? I have already run Scanreg /fix with no luck. TIA!


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## blues_harp28 (Jan 9, 2005)

Have you tried, F8- Command Prompt-Type Scan /Restore and choose a date prior to the problem but not the oldest.
Maybe a space between Scan and /


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## flavallee (May 12, 2002)

Are you still using AVG or have you uninstalled it?

If there's a way to edit the registry in DOS mode, I'm not aware of it.


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## brindle (Jun 14, 2002)

Thanks Bob 
Is it  MSGSVR32  or msgsrv32?


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## Bob Cerelli (Nov 3, 2002)

Typically VXD files are loaded through the registry and not the system.ini file.


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

The missing AVG files should not prevent Windows from starting, at which point AVG can be reinstalled and uninstalled properly or the registry manually edited.

However the failure of a Safe Mode boot is more problematic. If you haven't done too many "fixes" you may still have a registry which you can restore which will at least get you through to Safe Mode.

At the command prompt type:

*scanreg /restore*

and choose a previously started registry which predates the problem. Avoid the oldest date in the list (the 5th), as this will usually fail to restore.


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## dhh1213 (Mar 17, 2004)

I tried Scanreg /restore and chose a prior date,
however still the same problem with AVG and MSGSRV32

Looked at system.ini and no AVG entries are there, I cannot remember if I uninstalled it, I think that I just disabled it in MSconfig before the computer went south on me, I looked at the MSGSRV32 and in answer to the last question it is "MSGSRV32"


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## dhh1213 (Mar 17, 2004)

I only had one prior registry date with some message on the most recent Date about a CAB file not installed, sorry did write it down.


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

So you are able to boot to Windows now? Safe Mode or Normal?

The msgsrv32 error is going to be the most problematic, trust me. Does it occur in a Safe Mode boot? Sometimes these are related to Sound Card installs, but many things can cause them.

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000450.htm

Tha AVG ones can be resolved through regedit searches (start > run: *regedit*).

Typically these are found under the key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD

Be careful here and don't delete anything not related to AVG.

If you have trouble locating the VXDs do "Find" searches. Whenever beginning a search in regedit, for each new search, completely collapse the file tree, select Edit > find and enter the VXD name. Hit f3 to continue searching through to the end of the registry.


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## dhh1213 (Mar 17, 2004)

I can boot to either Safe mode or normal but it doesnt matter, as soon as windows starts MSGSRV32 hangs and thats it. Nothing can be done after that. Windows hangs there. I do a CTRL ALT DELETE and there are no processes showing to stop. I need to say I did a cheap sound card install awhile back prior to all this trouble, thought I uninstalled it, however, there is an entry in the System.ini file sound=mmsound.drv or something like that, even though there is no sound card on the machine.


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## Bob Cerelli (Nov 3, 2002)

Have you tried reinstalling the OS on top of the current version. You shouldn't lose any installed apps or configurations and may solve the problem.


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## dhh1213 (Mar 17, 2004)

I meant in the last post that when windows hangs, it hangs before any icons come up, it is the WIn screen with no programs available.


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## dhh1213 (Mar 17, 2004)

Thanks for the suggestion about re-installing the operating system on top of the old one, but I have no Win98 disk since I bought this computer 2nd hand.


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## Bob Cerelli (Nov 3, 2002)

You might check to see if the source files are already on the hard drive. A lot of vendors put them in something like a \windows\options\cabs directory.


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

This is a bit unusual as I have not seen the msgsrv32 error in this context, but aside from the AVG problems, much of the description is similar to what happens when shared Explorer/Internet Explorer shell files are damaged.

To test this, try starting to a different Windows shell, *winfile.exe*

Instructions here:

http://forums.techguy.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=145869

Options here are to rerun IE setup (I'd try this first), or uninstall IE to return to the last installed version.

And yes you can re-run Windows "setup.exe" from the cab files on the hard drive, but you will need to retrieve a Product Key first. So let us know if it comes to that.


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## dhh1213 (Mar 17, 2004)

Rolling Rog, I was reading the instructions you gave me, and what I got from it was that it is better to try and do a setup of IE because that usually brings better results. My question is: Do I still need to go into system.ini and Look for the shell=explorer.exe line under the [Boot] header and modify it to read: shell=winfile.exe or shell=progman.exe BEFORE I rerun IE setup?


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## dhh1213 (Mar 17, 2004)

Rolling Rog, I guess that question I just asked did not make sense, I think what I was trying to say is can you run IE setup after booting to a DOS prompt and moving to the directory that contains setup.exe. I suppose not, since I would be trying to execute a windows exe in a DOS environment, correct?


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## dhh1213 (Mar 17, 2004)

I tried replacing shell=explorer.exe with both winfile.exe and progman.exe rebooted both times, same problem hangs with no processes running and MSGSRV32 caused an error. No icons or anything. Also getting AVG error messages which Im sure is another issue. About ready to try something else.


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## dhh1213 (Mar 17, 2004)

Anyone can you please help me to run setup.exe to set Windows 98 back up assuming the Cabs file is on the hard drive?


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

If you can't get into the Winfile shell without that error, the instructions there are not going to help.

I'm afraid it's now at the stage of seeing whether you can do an Operating System reinstall.

Do you have cab files in the location:

c:\windows\options\cabs?

You can also test for the location of cabinet files by running this search command at a DOS prompt:

*dir /s precopy*.cab*

Once you have located cab files try to retrieve the Product Key by entering this line:

*C:\Windows\Command\Find /I "ProductKey" C:\Windows\System.dat*

The ProductKey is a 25 character string, copy it carefully

Once you have located the cab files AND retrieved the ProductKey, enter the following:

*ren c:\windows\system\iemigrat.dll iemigrat.old*

This prevents Windows from trying to keep old IE versions during the reinstall. You will have to update IE once the install succeeds as you will have the original version

Next enter:

*c:\windows\options\cabs\setup.exe*

If your cab files are in a different location, substitute the different path to setup.exe.

Follow the prompts after that.

You will still have the AVG errors after the reinstall. I don't know about the msgsrv32 errors. But hopefully you can get into Windows despite those errors and manage any corrections from there.


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## dhh1213 (Mar 17, 2004)

OK, before leaving for work I ran dir /s precopy*.cab at the Dos prompt. I got file not found which I think leaves me SOL. But one question.....I found a catalog3.cab on my own not using the search command. I found it at C:\windows\catroot and it is 274,460 bytes. What is it and why didn't the search command find it??


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

I believe that's a folder used by Windows update, and won't be of any use for a reinstall.

It looks like you are going to have to come up with a Win98 disk if you want to save that system. Or just save what files you can on a floppy and install another operating system.

The search command was specific to a couple of cab files associated with installation cabs.

You can do a search:

dir /s *.cab /p

and probably find a lot more, but I don't think you will find what we are looking for.


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