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Problem booting to Windows 98

Discussion in 'Legacy Windows' started by MartinBerry, 2003/10/25.

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  1. 2003/10/25
    MartinBerry

    MartinBerry Inactive Thread Starter

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    Hi all.

    I've run into terrible problems trying to sort out my parents' PC & hope someone can help. I'm pretty sure that some important files used by the system have been deleted (but they're not in the recycle bin, unfortunately).

    When I boot up, an error message appears & it won't go to Windows. I have an Emergency Startup Disk & when I boot up with that in the A: drive I get a menu:
    1 ...with CD ROM Support
    2 ...without CD ROM Support
    3 ...DOS...
    The Emergency Disk creates a RamDrive as drive D: If I then put the Windows 98 CD ROM that came with the PC in the CD ROM drive and select option 1 from the menu, then Windows starts OK & works properly. It does, however, call the actual physical drive the CD ROM is in drive E: instead of D:.

    I am therefore trying to fix the problem from there. As I say, I'm sure that there are system files missing but how do I find out what they are, and how do I restore them? The only backups available are, regrettably, those for documents my parents have created themselves (letters & spreadsheets, etc) plus the original installation CD ROMs that came with the PC.

    What I'd ideally like to do is to get Windows to check the system & restore any files that should be there but aren't. Otherwise, where could I get a list of all the files that should be there to start the PC & Windows properly and the locations they should be in (e.g. C:\Windows or C:\Windows\System or C:\Win98\ or wherever)? If that is possible, then I could find them (hopefully!) on the emergency startup disk (or on the WIN98 CD ROM) and copy them to their correct locations.

    I did try running the System File Checker but got confused when it couldn't find requested replacement files even though I had the CD ROM in the drive. I also tried running the Windows Setup program from the installation CD ROM in the hope that it would fix the problem. It ran through the normal installation routine but when it got to "now restarting your computer" the PC wouldn't re-boot back to Windows; it just wanted the Emergency Startup disk again, so the problem was just going round in circles.

    Sorry to write at such length, but I wanted to give all the information I have! If anyone has any ideas then I'd be most grateful. I'm sure that this really shouldn't be too complicated but I'm not all that experienced & therefore afraid of doing anything very technical that might make matters worse.

    I've sent this post from my local library so will pick up any replies on Monday morning (British time) and try out any suggestions for a fix over at Mum & Dad's later that afternoon/evening.

    Thank you all for your time & trouble.
     
    Last edited: 2003/10/25
  2. 2003/10/25
    merlin

    merlin Inactive

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    What is the text of this message ?
    regards
     

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  4. 2003/10/27
    MartinBerry

    MartinBerry Inactive Thread Starter

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    Sorry, Merlin, I misled you. THere's no real error message, just the "Error reading drive A: Abort, Retry, etc" if I haven't put the Emergency Startup Disk in. When I put the emergency startup disk in and press 'R' for retry all proceeds OK, naturally. If I start up after putting the system disk in A: then the message of course doesn't appear.

    I'm at my parents' on the guilty PC at the moment & will be here for the next few hours, so any help will be gratefully received.
     
    Last edited: 2003/10/27
  5. 2003/10/27
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Martin,
    Assuming that the PC is set up to boot A: > HD > CD-Rom (may be?) there may be a problem with the floppy drive in that the PC is not recognising the drive. If there is no disk in A: it should then go to the HD to boot, not ask for a disk.
    It will as D: is the temporary RAM drive
    Windows starts OK??? that is real weird. Windows cannot run from the install CD!

    OK - a couple of things to try here - assuming you really can boot to Windows go to Device Manager and remove the floppy drive.

    Shut down - open the case and disconnect and reconnect the floppy drive ribbon cable - to clean up the contacts.

    Reboot and let Windows find the floppy drive again.
    Does sound like a floppy drive problem to me - at present, but I am puzzled as to how/why the PC will boot with the install CD in place.

    Another approach would be to go into the BIOS and set the boot order (temporarily) to HD > A > CD and see what effect that has.
    If it doesn't work you should revert to the original settings immediately. Also try a boot without the floppy connected.

    My gut feeling, from your post, is that the floppy drive is playing up.
     
  6. 2003/10/27
    MartinBerry

    MartinBerry Inactive Thread Starter

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    Thanks, Pete, for taking the trouble to reply. What I said was correct; with the Emergency Disk in A: drive & the original Windows 98 installation CD ROM in the CD ROM drive, Windows loaded & worked OK. Thanks for your suggestion but, fortunately, I seem to have resolved the problem by another method. For your (any other readers' info) here's what I did:

    Got some books out of the library first! From these, I learnt a bit more about the utilities provided with Windows & also the fact that many of the files I might need from the Installation disk are cabinet files which are compressed.

    Booted from the Emergency Disk in A: & Win 98 installation disk in CD ROM drive.

    Selected Start -> Progs -> Accessories -> System Info -> System Tools

    Opened Tools, System File Checker

    Scanned for altered files. Selected 'replace' for any that had changed on or since the date this problem occured & replaced them with the versions on the original CD ROM (selected browse & entered the pathname).

    Re-booted & it went straight to Windows.

    Obviously, this restored the original settings, so I've had to spend a bit of time changing them to how they were (icon sizes, colours, background, etc.)

    All seems well apart from the size of some windows - if I open File -> Print & then click Properties, the box that appears is bigger than it should be & I can't see the 'OK' & 'Cancel' buttons at the bottom unless I get rid of the Windows Taskbar. I may be able to sort this out by changing settings in Control Panel, Display (maybe the resolution is incorrect, or something) & will try that next time I'm here.

    Thanks for your time & trouble, everyone. Although the BBS wasn't directly responsible for resolving this problem, It was useful to share it. I've learnt rather more than I knew before from solving this & maybe I'll be able to pass this new knowledge on to someone else in the future.
     
    Last edited: 2003/10/27
  7. 2003/10/27
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Delighted to hear you got it sorted - thanks for posting back.
     
  8. 2003/10/28
    MartinBerry

    MartinBerry Inactive Thread Starter

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    Starting Win 98 (contd.) & Display glitches

    Further to my last post, everything seems to be up & running properly again, except for the following glitches. Perhaps someone could give me an idea of how to resolve them.

    1. The D: Drive referred to in my first post, which was created by the Emergency Disk as RAMDrive, is - as expected - no longer there. However, the real CD-ROM drive is now referred to everywhere as E: Drive. How do I remove (or rename) E: drive as D: Drive which is what it was before all of this kerfuffle started?

    2. The icons on the desktop are all larger than they used to be. I know that icon size can be changed in Control Panel -> Display but that's not the problem here; small icons are tiny, large icons are what I want (and used to have) but not this large! Does this mean that I've set the screen resolution or some other display setting wrongly?

    3. On a similar matter, there's a problem with the size of some dialog boxes. In any application, if I open File -> Print & then click Properties, the box that appears is bigger than it should be & I can't see the 'OK' & 'Cancel' buttons at the bottom unless I get rid of the Windows Taskbar. I thought I might be able to fix this by changing the display settings, but no luck so far.

    Does anyone know where I might find what the correct Display settings should be for my monitor, e.g. Is it VGA, SVGA, should Display have settings as Full-Colour, 16-Bit, etc. and what's the correct screen resolution? The answer to this may have some bearing on the glitches I've mentioned.

    Please don't put yourselves to any great lengths as I'm sure that if I try enough different combinations for long enough I'll hit on the right result eventually, but if anyone knows the answers off-hand though, I'd appreciate your saving me a lot of messing around.

    Thanks.
     
    Last edited: 2003/10/28
  9. 2003/10/28
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    I don't have a 98 m/c fired up at the moment - I'm sure that there is a method for re-assigning drive letters, but it escapes me for the moment. Suggestion .....

    Close down the PC > unplug the CD-ROM power lead > reboot > close down the PC > plug in the CD-ROM power lead > reboot and let Windows find it again. May give it the correct drive letter.

    Re. your monitor - have you installed the video card drivers? It sounds as if you have the default Windows VGA driver running at 800 x 600. I am assuming that it is a conventional CRT and not a TFT (LCD flat screen)

    If you don't know what the video card is download Aida32 . This will give you the full spec on the PC - and a lot more.

    When you have identified the card go to the manufacturers web site and download the appropriate drivers.

    Do the same for the monitor - details should be on the back and you should be able to download the spec or a manual too.

    The monitor will almost certainly be SVGA - 16 bit colour should be adequate and resolution 800 x 600 for a 15" (could use 1024 x 768) and for a 17" monitor 1024 x 768 (could use 800 x 600) . Monitor resolution is a personal setting - the higher the res. the smaller things like icons, text are, but most can be changed in Display Properties..
     
  10. 2003/10/29
    MartinBerry

    MartinBerry Inactive Thread Starter

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    Thanks, Pete, your reply looks as though it will be enormously helpful. I'll try out your various suggestions when I see my parents next weekend. All fixed or not, I'll post back to the BBS so that you know what's happened & maybe other members will find it useful.

    Thanks for your time & trouble.
     
  11. 2003/11/03
    MartinBerry

    MartinBerry Inactive Thread Starter

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    Here are the results, as promised in my last post. Firstly, thanks to PeteC for the tips about Screen Resolution & colour settings. I've got exactly what I want simply by adjusting the settings in Control Panel -> Display.

    Although I didn't need it on this occasion, I had a look at Aida32 as suggested anyway. Isn't it smashing? I've downloaded a copy for future use.

    Regarding the problem with the CD-ROM Drive showing as being E: drive instead of the D: Drive, I've fixed that as well, by re-assigning the drive letter. Here's how:

    Start -> Settings -> Control Panel
    Choose System & select the 'device manager' tab
    Click once on 'CD-ROM'
    Right click on the CD-ROM that shows up & choose 'properties'
    Click the 'settings' tab
    Use the drop-down boxes to change the drive letter to what it should be.
    OK your way out

    Windows then automatically finds the 'new' hardware.

    I Re-started the computer & all was well, with the CD-ROM driver now correctly referred to everywhere as D: again!

    Incidentally, I got the idea of how to do this from the Microsoft technical support site (this one) & did a search on CD-ROM. It didn't cover exactly this problem, but did give me an idea of how it might be fixed.

    I've posted this info in case it may be of use to anyone else & to add to the total of the BBS's knowledge. This whole problem was grotty to fix but at least I've learnt a fair bit from it.

    Thanks everyone for your help.
     
  12. 2003/11/03
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Martin,

    Thanks for posting back - glad to hear that all is now 'hunky dorey :)
     
  13. 2003/11/04
    merlin

    merlin Inactive

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    PeteC,

    10 £ per EMail if you know

    1) how to show a £ sign anyware, and
    2) a plausible origin of the phrase
    "'hunky dorey "

    Compliments on your answers to this thread !
    regards
     
  14. 2003/11/04
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Merlin

    Off course and off thread, but ...........

    Try this for £ sign anywhere :

    Position the insertion point where you want the £ sign to appear. Then, with NUM LOCK on, hold down the ALT key while using the number pad keys to type the Unicode character value 'Alt + 0163'- or use a UK keyboard :)

    Try this for 'hunky dorey' - or search Google as I did :)

    http://phrases.shu.ac.uk/bulletin_board/20/messages/1215.html
     
  15. 2003/11/05
    MartinBerry

    MartinBerry Inactive Thread Starter

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    Merlin

    The ASCII key combination PeteC suggested works for me.

    Have a look at this for info about Hunky Dory (or ask David Bowie!)
     
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