# Win98 Start Up Failure?



## MHarrison (Aug 18, 2001)

Below is a summery of what appears on our screen when we attempt to startup our system:

In Command Prompt mode
(The Following Appears)

SCANDISK NOW RUNS
At 24% complete during the running of ScanDisk a Pop-Up Window Appears:

ScanDisk detected an invalid long filename entry on this drive but was unable to fix it.

To fix this problem, run Scandisk for Windows. (we did with no success) 

Cannot find a device file that may be needed to run Windows
or a Windows application.

The Windows registry or SYSTEM.INI file refers to this device file, but
the device file no longer exists.

If you deleted this file on purpose, (We didn't!) try unistalling the associated application
using its uninstall or setup program. (We can't since windows will not run)

If you still want to use the application associated with this device file, try reinstalling that application
to replace the missing file. (We are still unable to do this since Windows isn't running)

C:\PROGRA~1\SYMANTEC\SYMEVNT.386 (Norton Antivirus Program)
Press a key to continue_

Error: NAV Auto-Protect is unable to start!

SYMEVNT.386 is not loaded. You may need to reinstall Norton Antivirus to 
correct the problem. (We can't!)

Press any key to continue..._

(A pop-up window appears and says the following 

Error Starting Program
The C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\OLE32.DLL file appears to be corrupt.
Reinstall the file, and then try again.

(We then click OK)\

(A Windows Error Appears

This program has performed an illegal operation and will shut down.

If the problem persists, contact the program vender.

(Details of error)

Explorer caused an exception 6d007eH in module EXPLORER.EXE at 015f: 0040a067
Registers:
EAX=0059fc48 CS=015f EIP=0040a067 EFLGS=00000246
EBX=00000000 SS=0167 ESP=0059fc0c EBP=0059fc3c
ECX=00000001 DS=0167 ESI=004092a0 FS=2867
EDX=c1649270 ES=0167 EDI=00000000 GS=0f0e
Bytes at CS: EIP:
8b 45 f8 e9 45 8f ff ff 6a 08 6a 40 ff 15 10 11
Stack dump:
00000001 00000000 bff76a3c 00000024 004092a0 00415494 00409268
00000001 004132b2 00000000 00000000 00000078 0059fdd8 0040923f
00000004 0059fcl8

(The screen is now clears and the PC is inoperable,we can not access explorer)

(We then have to shut-down) Now the really bad news, we recently moved and have lost our original Win98 CD and Startup and boot disk. We would appreciate any help you can provide. Thank You!


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## brianF (Dec 2, 1999)

Have you tried to start up in safe mode, restart the machine, just after the memory count and before windows starts to load start tapping the F8 key, from the menu choose safe mode. that should get you into windows.
Once in windows go to start/run/type sfc and run the system file checker. Also run scandisk.
then open norton, go to the autoprotect tab and uncheck the box stating load autoprotect at startup.
Now try and boot the pc normally.

If it starts check with http://www.symantec.com about the norton error.


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## MHarrison (Aug 18, 2001)

Thanks, BrianF for the help.

Yes, we did run through the Safe Mode procedure. Here is what happened:

PC ON
Memory count
I entered the f8 key
I selected #3 (SAFE MODE)
Enter Key
ScanDisk Runs (Since we can not properly shut down windows, scandisk runs everytime. Windows explorer will never load so we were unable to perform the steps you suggested.)
ScanDisk stops at 24% and a pop-up window comes up and says the following:
ScanDisk detected an invalid long filename entry on this drive but was unable to fix it.
To fix this problem, run Scandisk for windows.(We did and as usual nothing changed.)
Clicked OK and ScanDisk continues and completes 
Long puase (30-seconds)
Hour glass appears in center of screen
Long pause (30-seconds)
Now in Safe Mode
Safe Mode pop-up window appears
I clicked OK
Explorer error appears
(You can find this error in our original post at the end)
We are forced to shut down. HELP!!!!


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## athlon4ever (Aug 15, 2001)

My only guess would be to reinstall windows from the cdrom, just have your computer boot off the windows cd.


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## Bryan (Jul 3, 1999)

Try booting to a "Safe Mode Command Prompt Only". I believe it's option 6 from the Startup menu. Then do this

attrib -h -r msdos.sys
edit msdos.sys

If you see this line below, modify it's value to a numeric 0. If not, add this line to the very bottom of the file.

Autoscan=0

When your done press the Alt key and then Enter. Use the up/down arrow key to highlight Save and press enter. Press the Alt key again and come down and highlight Exit.

Now at a c: prompt do this

scanreg /restore

Use the up/down arrows to highlight a registry backup dated prior to your problems and follow the prompts to restore it.

I suspect you may still get the errors but hopefully you may be able to get into Windows to continue fixing this.

If not, go here and download Sevinst.exe for W95/98/ME to a floppy diskette. Boot to a c:\> prompt and then insert the diskette. Key in the following and press enter.

a:\sevinst.exe /r

Remove the diskette and press alt/ctrl/del to restart the PC.

Let us know what happens.

[Edited by Bryan on 08-18-2001 at 06:19 AM]


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## MHarrison (Aug 18, 2001)

We performed the suggested commands and the first unfortunately didn't get us into Windows, we received the same error message. Now the second, we did download sevinst.exe from Symantic and in Command Prompt Only mode entered as you instructed.

C:\>a:\sevinst.exe/r

and received the following message:

This program cannot be run in DOS mode.

I am obviously doing something wrong, so I would appreciate it if you could let me know which mode I should be in when doing this commad. Thanks!


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## Bryan (Jul 3, 1999)

No, I kind of expected that. It's not your fault. Ok try this,

At a c: prompt

Edit c:\windows\system.ini and press enter. Now change the line that reads Shell=Explorer.exe to Shell=Winfile.exe

Now press the ALT key and then use the down arrow to highlight "Save" and press enter.

Now press alt/ctrl/del to restart the PC. If it boots to FileManager, look around and see if you can locate the Norton install setup program. It should be under c:\Program~1\Nortons or maybe c:\Program~1\Symantec .... If so, double left click on it to run it.

BTW, if you are able to do that then be sure to boot back to a c: prompt and undo the winfile changes. Edit c:\windows\system.ini and change the Shell=Winfile.exe back to Shell=Explorer.exe and save the changes. Now press alt/ctrl/del to restart the PC and let it boot into Windows.

Also, do you by any chance have access to another PC with the Norton's AV on it?

[Edited by Bryan on 08-18-2001 at 10:34 AM]


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## MHarrison (Aug 18, 2001)

We made the changes to the Windows System Shell from Explorer.exe to Winfile.exe and were prompted to the File manager. Boy, it was sure nice to see our files again. Anyway I wasn't sure which file to run, I was looking for nav32.exe but only came up with the following:

navapw32.exe navdx.exe navlu32.exe navrunr.exe navw32.exe nrunonce.exe nsplugin.exe nvlaunch.exe

The nvlauch.exe is the one I clicked on and received the following:

The C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\OLE32.DLL file appears to be corrupt. Reinstall the file, and then try again.

Unable to read registry information. Please reinstall Norton Antivirus.

So we put Explorer.exe back into the Windows Shell and we are back where we started.(See Below)

Yes, we do have another version of Norton Antivirus on another PC. It's the 2000 version and Norton2001 is running or that is not running on the very ill PC. Again, Thanks for the help....


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## Bryan (Jul 3, 1999)

I wish I knew what the setup program for the Nortons AV was named. I use Nortons at work but I'm home right now. You can most likely get yourself out of this through Winfile if you can locate the program. Or even the uninstall program. Did you see any setup.exe or uninstall.. in the Nortons or Symantec folder under c:\Program~1\......? That program you ran wasn't it. It appears that's the program to start Nortons.

BTW, did you install Nortons from a CD originally on this PC? What version of Nortons is running on the bad PC?

And your other PC, is it running the same version of Windows as you have on the bad PC?

[Edited by Bryan on 08-18-2001 at 11:28 AM]


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## MHarrison (Aug 18, 2001)

We are in the process of getting the file name for the set-up exe. I did locate the unistall file so I will remove the darn thing.

You had asked if we did a CD install of Nortons on the ill PC and yes we did. The version is 2001 7.0.

No our other PC's are running Windows Me and Linux.


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## MHarrison (Aug 18, 2001)

Well, I take that back. I was unable to locate an uninstall or set up file using the filemanager. So I would appreciate any more help you can provide. I am in the process of contacting Symantic. So I will let you know the result....Thanks!


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

A few thoughts here...

From within Winfile, you can access Add/Remove programs by running: control appwiz.cpl

Perhaps Norton is listed there if you want to try uninstalling it.

However another approach might be to run *msconfig*

Yes it does work from within Winfile, I just tried it. You can clear any checks for Norton entries in the Startup group and System.ini (look for symevent under the [386Enh] header of System.ini.

If you use it you will reboot in to winfile, unless you first reedit the system.ini shell= line.

But the real problem is that Explorer.exe error. This is a little different than the usual ones we see, but in the past they have been associated with shell files mutual to Explorer and IExplore. Some fixes result from rerunning IE setup. If IE has been updated you might find the setup file in the Windows update folder on c:\. It will look something like: Windows~1

The only specifically documented precedent for it, however, involves insuficient swap file space:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q193/9/03.asp

[Edited by Rollin' Rog on 08-18-2001 at 01:33 PM]


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## Bryan (Jul 3, 1999)

Great ideas Rog, it never occurred to me to run Add/Remove or Msconfig through the Winfile.exe, File>Run function. I had considered suggesting an uninstall or reinstall of IE but this error, as you noted, seems different than most I've seen. Usually you'll just see the Explorer error. This seems to be related to Nortons but if they want to try the IE uninstall or reinstall these are the most likely paths

Click on File>Run

c:\program~1\intern~1\setup\setup.exe 

Click on OK and follow the prompts and complete the setup routine. 

If that command doesnt work try this 

c:\program~1\intern~1\ie5setup.exe


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## MHarrison (Aug 18, 2001)

Hello, Rollin' Rog you beat me to the punch. I was about to ask someone how to access the Control Panel using the Filemanager to uninstall Norton. So Thanks for the advice.

First I need to know how to run control appwiz.cpl. Do I simply click File and click on Run and enter it as you listed or what while in filemanager. We located the appwiz.cpl but we once again received the error that the OLE32 file is corrupted and needs to be reinstalled.

Next we tried to run MSCONFIG but the following happened:

The usual OLE32.DLL error. I am about to give up here, so if there is a quick fix please let me know. Can I just reinstall a new version of WIN98 or WIN98SE Full version and stll have access to all of my appz????

I will be on here until about 12-midnight Eastern....You guys have been great....


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## Bryan (Jul 3, 1999)

You should be able to just click on File>Run and key in control appwiz.cpl and click on OK. If that doesn't work then try this.

Click on File>Run 

c:\program~1\intern~1\setup\setup.exe 

Click on OK and follow the prompts and complete the setup routine. 

If that command doesnt work try this 

c:\program~1\intern~1\ie5setup.exe

If either of those two work, restart the PC, change back to Shell=Explorer.exe and see if W98 boots up now.


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## Bryan (Jul 3, 1999)

And one more thing to try that may fix your OLE errors. Go  here and download dcom98.exe to a diskette. Boot to Winfile. Insert the diskette and click on File >Run, key in a:\dcom98.exe and see what happens. If it works, try restarting, changing back to Shell=Explorer.exe and see if Windows loads. If not, go back to Winfile and try the control appwiz.cpl command again to uninstall Nortons.


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## Bryan (Jul 3, 1999)

And if all elase fails, boot to your W98 boot diskette, start with CDRom support and run setup from the W98 CD to install W98 overtop of the current Windows install. If all goes well you won''t lose anything and your programs will still work. Be sure to use the same version of W98 that's currently running on the PC. 

Let us know what happens.


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## MHarrison (Aug 18, 2001)

Greetings, to all on this early Sunday morning.

Well, we had to take your suggestion Bryan and we ended up downloading the dcom98.exe. Once this was done we received the following error:

Error loading advpack.dll

We then went ahead and restarted and changed the shell back to Explorer.exe and there was no change except we did not get the OLE32.dll error but the usual Explorer error was present.

We then changed the shell back to Winfile.exe and using the filemanager entered the control appwiz.cpl and received the following error:

(A rundll32 error)
This program has performed an illegal operation and will be terminated. Quit all programs, and then restart your computer.

(Details)
The program tried to execute an invalid instruction.

As far as using our Win98 boot disk and cd, well we are out of luck for now since we do not have the original. We are trying to get a copy of the original from Dell but that may not be possible. I suppose installing a retail full version of Win98SE wouldn't work?

Have a great Monday everyone....


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## Bryan (Jul 3, 1999)

Have you tried this yet? If not, I'd suggest you give it a try

Boot to Winfile and click on 

Click on File>Run 

Key in the following on the Run line

c:\program~1\intern~1\setup\setup.exe 

Click on OK and follow the prompts and complete the setup routine. 

If that command doesnt work try this 

c:\program~1\intern~1\ie5setup.exe 

If either of those two work, restart the PC, change back to Shell=Explorer.exe and see if W98 boots up now.

And if that doesn't work, since I see Windows was originally loaded by Dell, your W98 CD is most likely on the hardrive. You should be able to run setup like this. Boot to a C: prompt and key this in at the prompt

c:\windows\options\cabs\setup


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## MHarrison (Aug 18, 2001)

Yes, Bryan we did Run c:\program~1\intern~1\setup\setup.exe and c:\program~1\intern~1\ie5setup.exe from within Filemanager with the same errors stated in my previous posts.

We were able to locate the Win98 CD on the hardrive but an error stating we did not have enough conventional memeory to run the program. The largest Executable Program Size was smaller than the amount of conventional memory. The procedure for changing this is a bit more than I would like to go through.

Is there anything else I can do?


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

Before running setup off the hard drive's options\cabs directory, try renaming the autoexec.bat and config.sys files on the root directory to autoexec.xxx and config.xxx and then reboot. This could be done from within Winfile or you could boot to a command prompt (ctrl key>boot menu>command prompt) and enter:

ren autoexec.bat autoexec.xxx
ren config.sys config.xxx
ctrl-alt-del (to reboot)

The reason for this is that conventional memory can be reduced by drivers being loaded from those files. If you then continue to get that error, it would raise suspicion of a boot sector virus.


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## MHarrison (Aug 18, 2001)

Rog, we did as you instructed and yes continued to get the same errors both in Explorer.exe shell mode and Winfile.

I would agree this has the behavior of a virus. The question is where do I go from here. I haven't heard back from symantic yet or from Dell. Probably won't until Monday, maybe? 

You guys have been much more helpful, I just wish I could make some progress here. Again,Thanks!


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

I know how frustrated you must feel. I'm sure Bryan will have some further input and may know some tricks I don't here. But if you are not totally burned out at this stage, here are a couple of things that can add to our knowledge, and one which may enable you to run a virus scan.

First follow the procedure for booting to a command prompt through the boot menu. At the prompt enter:

*mem* (note what it says for conventional memory and largest executable program size)

Next enter:

*chkdsk* note the figure given for Total Bytes Memory. It should normally be 655360. When less it is indicative of a boot sector virus, except in certain cases where disk management software has been installed (is there any?); dual boots or programs like GoBack, which I know you don't have.

How to run a virus scan from DOS.... Symantec may have some counsel for you. One program you might try is F-Prot available through www.bootdisk.com

You would have to download it to the hard drive on your working system. Then click the self extracting .exe to install it to a clean floppy. Once on the floppy, you must boot with it on the problem computer and install it by entering f-prot at the a:\> prompt. It then should install itself to a folder named "virus" on the c:\> drive. My recollection is a bit fuzzy here as to whether it runs automatically at this point or you need to change directories to the virus folder and enter: f-prot. For example from the a:\prompt entering:

c:
cd virus
f-prot

If you want to check the program out, be sure to look at the readme as it's been awhile since I personally installed it. You might want to test run it on your working pc to avoid any unnecessary hassle.


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## MHarrison (Aug 18, 2001)

Here is what occurred after running the procedure you suggested:

C:\>mem

Memory Type Total Used Free
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conventional 640K 140K 500K
Upper 0K 0K 0K
Reserved 384K 384K 0K
Extended (XMS) 97,200K 68K 97,212K
---------------------- --------------- -------- ----------------------------
Total Memory 98,304K 592K 97,712K

Total under 1 MB 640K 140K 500K

Largest executable program size 500K (512,128 bytes)
Largest free upper memory block 0K (0 bytes)
MS-DOS is resident in the high memory area.

C:\>chkdsk

CHKDSK has not checked this drive for errors.
You must use SCANDISK to detect and fix errors on this drive.

Volume PY20C4 created 11-25-1998 4:54P
Volume Serial Number is --------------

12,510,192 kilobytes total disk space
7,384,656 kilobytes free

8,192 bytes in each allocation unit
1,563,774 total allocation units on disk
923,082 available allocation units on disk

655,360 total bytes memory
512,352 bytes free

Instead of using CHKDSK, try using SCANDISK. SCANDISK can reliably detect and fix a much wider range of disk problems.

Any thoughts?


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

Well the good news is there is no evidence of a boot sector virus. The bad is that I don't have a clue as to what could be chewing up a 140k of conventional memory with autoexec.bat and config.sys renamed and not loading. I'm not sure exactly how much you need for a reinstall, but I'd bet it's at least 550k. 

One thing you can try, since I believe you ran setup from Winfile, is to do it from "safe mode command prompt" You might want to run the mem command again from safe mode command prompt to see if it is any different. 

From the c:\>prompt you can

cd windows\options\cabs
setup.exe


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## MHarrison (Aug 18, 2001)

Yes, we were also very happy to see that from the numbers the problem seems to be with the conventional memory. I have never seen a problem like this on Win98 before. Yes we have run Setup from within Winfile and we also ran it from "Safe mode command prompt" Here are the results:

C:\>cd windows\options\cabs

C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS>setup.exe
Please wait while Setup initializes.

Setup is now going to perform a routine check on your system.

To continue, press ENTER. To quit Setup, press ESC.

Setup cannot find SCANDISK.EXE. The file may be missing or damaged.
Setup cannot continue. For more information, contact product support.

Press any key to quit Setup._

(Just a note: We have noticed that SCANDISK hasn't been running when
we didn't shut-down properly and in the past it would. We can run the SCANDISK from a C:\> Command Prompt and it ends up telling that it couldn't fix all of the errors.)


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## MHarrison (Aug 18, 2001)

Just a quick note: We just ran the MEM command from within Winfile using Filemanager and it indicates the we have 655,360 conventional memory and 33,008 Used and 622,353 Free. Wouldn't this be enough to run setup or am I missing something....????


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

I don't know why the mem command run from Winfile would report less conventional memory used than from DOS. From DOS you could try running it with the switches: mem /c /p to see the breakdown in module usage.

Scandisk is another puzzle. I have seen a problem with it not running after a bad shutdown in cases where Norton Disk Doctor had been installed and left a scandisk.alt file in the windows\command directory.

It may be possible to do an end run around scandisk by running setup with the switch: setup /is (but it is risky, see the Win98 setup.txt file below. There is also a discussion of problems with low conventional memory.

Win98 setup.txt
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q179/7/56.ASP

Win98SE setup.txt
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q232/6/81.ASP

If Windows has been previously overinstalled, you want to be aware of this issue, and also because it could occur in this case if it does manage to run:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q142/5/45.asp


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## WhitPhil (Oct 4, 2000)

Unfortunately, no additional thoughts as to the cause of the problems.
But, if you do a MEM/C from DOS, it will show what is consuming the 140K.


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## Bryan (Jul 3, 1999)

Sorry that I haven't had alot of time to work with you guys on this but looking back over this, there are alot of things that puzzle me about it. To be honest, my best advise at this point would be to save anything you really need and fdisk, format and reinstall W98. If you do decide to go that route, then the question I have would be about the W98SE CD you mentioned earlier. I assume you'd be reinstalling from it and if so, is it a Full copy or an Upgrade? Do you have the Product Key for the CD? What are your thoughts on going that route?

If you want to keep trying to fix it then my question would be, do you see the program Scandisk.exe if you do this from a prompt

dir c:\windows\options\cabs /p 

And if so, what do you see next to it for it's size in bytes?

Also, have you tried booting to an a:\> prompt using a W98 boot diskette instead of to a c:\> prompt and running the c:\windows\options\cabs\setup from there? If not, I'd definitely try that before I went any further in either direction.


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## MHarrison (Aug 18, 2001)

Thanks 'Rog for the information we did run C:\>mem/c/p with the following results:

Modules using memory below 1 MB:

Name Total Conventional Upper Memory
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
MSDOS 18,720 (18K) 18,720 (18K) 0 (0K)
HIMEM 1,120 (1K) 1,120 (1K) 0 (OK)
DBLBUFF 2,976 (3K) 2,976 (3K) 0 (OK)
IFSHLP 2,864 (3K) 2,864 (3K) 0 (OK)
DBLSPACE 110,032 (107K) 110,032 (107K) 0 (OK) 
COMMAND 7,344 (7K) 7,344 (7K) 0 (OK)
FREE 512,144 (500K) 512,144 (500K) 0 (OK)

Memory Summary:

Type of memory Total Used Free
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conventional 655,360 143,216 512,144
Upper 0 0 0
Reserved 393,216 393,216 0
Extended (XMS) 99,614,720 69,632 99,545,088
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total memory 100,663,296 606,064 100,057,232

Total under 1 MB 655,360 143,216 512,144

Largest executable program size 512,128 (500K)
Largest free upper memory block 0 (0K)
MS-DOS is resident in the high memory area.

<More in the next post>


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

Well I see the problem here is the drive was compressed using dblspace. Not having any personal experience with it I'm going to defer to others for advice on how you should proceed. Bryan hopefully will have some experience with it.


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## MHarrison (Aug 18, 2001)

WhitPhil the MEM/C command produced preety much the same result as far as the numbers go. Running these commands are bit out of my area since I have never experience this type of problem.

Bryan nice to see you back on here, I am sure you have been very busy. I do agree we need to format and reinstall. Now we do have a full version of WIN98SE with producy key..The next step for me is to save certain files,appz so on to floppy from the sick PC. How do I do this procedure using the filemanager or thorugh DOS?

Were not completely giving up so we did run the following:

C:\dir c:\windows\options\cabs /p

SCANDISK.EXE was found and here are the results:

SCANDISK EXE 143,8818 05-06-98 8:01p

Next we will do your boot from a:\ in the next post....

Thanks!


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## MHarrison (Aug 18, 2001)

Now to the Win98 Boot disk. We unfortunately do not have our original boot disk, so is there a way to make one or a place where we can download one?

The PC that we are currently having problems with is the only system running Win98 with all the upgrades.


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## Bryan (Jul 3, 1999)

Click  here and save the file to the hardrive of a functioning PC. Then insert a floppy diskette and double left click on the .exe to build a W98 boot disk.


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## MHarrison (Aug 18, 2001)

Byran I thought I would let you know that we had a few problems downloading the WIN98 Boot disk.exe from the link you provided. I did notice the file was boot98se.exe and not boot98.exe. We did locate a boot98.exe but it still wouldn't download. We were able to download the boot98.exe from another site.

Now a few qusetion's concerning a few of the changes we have made, first do we need to remove the autoscan=0 chnage. Then the rename action:

ren autoexec.bat autoexec.xxx 
ren config.sys config.xxx 
ctrl-alt-del (to reboot)

Do we set this back or leave it.

We ran the bootdisk in C:\Prompt and then were asked if we wanted to start with or without CD-ROM support. We clicked 2 for without, I hope this is right? You will have to let me know I am having a stupid moment. HA!

The startup process continued and the results are below:

Preparing to start your computer.
This may take a few moments. Please wait...

The diagnostic tools were successfully loaded to drive D.

To get help, type HELP and press ENTER.

A:\>

The HELP file didn't help much and would appreciate some instructions on the next procedure. Thanks!

Bryan you wanted me to run the bootdisk in A:\>Prompt is this where I would do it or not?


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## Bryan (Jul 3, 1999)

Just key this in at the a:\> prompt. 

c:\windows\options\cabs\setup


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## MHarrison (Aug 18, 2001)

Thanks, Bryan we did run the boot98.exe and entered c:\windows\options\cabs\setup unfortunately we received the usual Setup cannot find SCANDISK.EXE The file may be missing or damaged message.

(I was unable to get much help through Micrsoft so if you or anyone else can provide any help that would be very appreciated.) Thank's


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## Bryan (Jul 3, 1999)

Unless anyone else has any suggestions I suggest you save anything you need. Then fdisk, format and install W98SE from the CD you have. You can't save any programs but you can save any data you might want to save.

To copy any data to a floppy, boot back to Winfile, insert your formatted floppy, single left click on the file you want to save then click on File>Copy. In the "To:" box key in a:\ and click on OK to copy it to a floppy.


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## MHarrison (Aug 18, 2001)

I wanted to get back on here and thank everyone you took the time to help us out with our Win98 problems. This will be our last post concerning this Thread.

We are in the process of reinstalling Win98SE, so if anyone out there has any tips or tricks to Installing we would love to hear from you....

MHarrison


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## Bryan (Jul 3, 1999)

Nothing out of the ordinary except to be sure you run fdisk and delete all of the partitions and then create a new Primary DOS partition before you format and run setup.

Let us know what happens.


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## robseg2469 (Aug 22, 2001)

Sounds like your trapped in a causality loop. I had this problem when I loaded WIN98 SE. I asked MSoft TechSupport and they suggested I reinstall IExplorer 5.5. After I did, no more OLE32 errors. Norton Utilities are NOT as harmless as they would have you believe. Try uninstalling them after IE5.5 is installed. My Norton Utils screwed up my registry so bad, I was forced to reformat my hard disk [not pretty] and reinstall WIN98 SE plus all of my software apps. This experience will set you free and cause a tiny amount of brain damage! Happy Trails.


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## MHarrison (Aug 18, 2001)

Bryan, I am a bit unfamiliar with creating a primary DOS partition so if you can walk me through the steps that would be great. Thanks!

Robseg2469, yes my original thought was to run ie5setup.exe but we are unable to do this using the filemanager. We get the usual OLE32.DLL error. Is there a way to do it in from disk fromC:\>Prompt. I was running ie6 on the system and had nothing but problems. Lot's of bugs but that's what you get running Microsoft in beta....


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## Bryan (Jul 3, 1999)

Boot to the W98 boot diskette and select the option to "Start with CD Rom Support". Somewhere on the screen at the very end, it tells you what drive letter it has temporarily assigned to the CDRom drive. It will look something like this, "Drive E: = MSCD001" or "Drive E: = OEMSCD001". In that example, the CDRom drive is E. Make a note of it. If you don't see that phrase on the screen then you didn't get CD Rom support. Stop and do not go any further since you won't be able to install Windows from CD without CDRom support. 

Assuming you did get CDRom support, then at this point, once you've fdisked and formatted the drive, there's no going back. All of the data and programs will be erased from the drive. At an a: prompt key in the following, 

fdisk 

Leave the default set to "Y" for large disk support and press enter. 

Now use the option to "Delete Partitions". Delete any and all you see listed. Now take the option to "Create a Partition" and create a "Primary DOS" partition. Take all of the defaults during the Primary DOS partition creation. 

Now after the PC has restarted, key in the following and press enter.

format c: 

When it's done insert your Windows CD. Key in the following at the prompt and be sure to change the drive letter, "e", if necessary, depending on the drive letter assigned to your CDRom drive. You should have made note of it earlier. 

e:\setup


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