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Hi Jay

certainly a repair install isn't out of the question! I was hoping to find a "quick fix" in the registry - which would be far less "heavy duty" than any install or repair install - hence my use of the word "drastic "

As to whether it (repair install) is advisable though - I'm really not the person to answer that one, I've never done a repair install (!) (have a much better way**)

==

We have to consider how likely it is to help, and how likely it is that something will misfire. In order to evaluate these it would help to suss what's actually gone wrong - and at the moment we don't really have much of a handle on that...

possibilities:
- file corrupt;
- registry corrupt;
- unfortunate clash w. other software on the computer;
- malware;

seeing as the machine has been running around the internet without patches, the fourth is quite a possibility - even probable, I fear

==

out of these 4, I'm still working on the registry thing - mainly because a simple fix to a registry key (if it turns out that's all that's needed) is surely quicker and less likely to cause grief. This is what I'm hoping for - but the hope's dwindling:

getting some (preliminary) results from the other machine just now:

briefly: out of the 3 programs: one didn't even unpack from the file I downloaded (will download it again); one didn't install properly (InstallShield unhappy, computer wobbly after restart), and the third seems to have gone in OK - but I haven't managed to get Regional Settings to speak Swedish yet - so cannot yet search the registry for a cause.

I must check these results, and at the very least try the installations in a different order. (easy to do, see below) Also, the one which didn't install properly looks like it may need other software pre-loaded onto the machine first...

... will post back when I've checked the results - it might be a while, been at it all night and now v. tired, which is never good for careful work.

best wishes, HJ

==

** using bootable floppy to copy the whole OS partition, registry and all - Windows isn't running, no files are in use.

All "user data" (mailboxes, Favourites, My Docs - all that sort of thing - everything I want to hang on to) has all been relocated onto another partition, that lot just stays put.

If it "all goes wrong" I just format C:, and then bung back a squeaky clean OS and my core apps (I keep this as a compressed set, expand the set onto F:, then copy F: onto C: )

So I never even uninstall anything - just put the OS (inc. registry) back the way it was beforehand. Don't have to worry about whether things have uninstalled properly, and am always running (effectively) a clean install only a few days old.

 

Well I did a security update and that seem to have cured the problem as far as I could tell. Thx everyone for your help.

 

kckitchen:

I'm extremely glad to hear that you have cured the problem - although must confess to still being a country mile away from understanding what was going on!

thanks for posting back with the result + good luck with the coursework etc.,

best wishes, HJ

 

HaHa. To funny... laughing at myself. I have been racking my brain, plucking away at this, gathering various registry keys to check, not even sure if they would be applicable but hoping that they might lead to something that made sense, another clue...(shrug) something. I even downloaded and installed the Swedish language pack and tried various ways to reproduce the problem or break my own machine, which ever came first. I couldn't get anything I did to effect the regional properties display though. Oh well. At least I can lay this issue to rest. This was really getting time consuming since I couldn't seem to stay away from it, or wasn't willing to let it go. I did learn that a restore of the registry would restore these settings to the original or those I had before making changes.

I'm so glad this turned out so well. No reinstall, no loss of data, no classes missed. While my curiosity will never get salved here, I can live with that in light of the happy ending. As a side note what update did you do? I suspect it isn't going to make sense but it will round out this post with the specifics.

I'd manually make a couple of registry backups, at this point, to keep handy:
via typing msinfo32 at the startbutton> runline and from the toolbar>tools button>select "registry checker ".

Thanks so much for the update.

---------
To Hugh,
I'm glad you took an interest in this post. You had a better grasp on the inner workings of the ingredients involved. This allowed me to continue to be lazy about doing any msdn studyup. I was totally shutout, even further running blind, when it came to the software and the Palm Pilot or what ever device Palm was in reference to. Don't have one, never had one. I found your willingness to install these and explore the possibilities astounding. You deserve a big hug and an extra large helping of "thank you "...

jaylach your help and imput was also much appreciated.

Now I am running out of this post, never to look back, relieved that it isn't going to end up with a suggested reinstall as so many of the reference links I read ended up with. Phewwwww....

 

I hate to admit it but I just assumed that windows updates had been done... Just out of curiousity I would LOVE to know if one of the updates was a service pack. The reason I would like to know is that if a service pack, while of course not the same thing, would accomplish about the same as a repair install. I would really like to know if a service pack was involved because I talked to a microsoft developer I know and he agreed with me that a repair install would be the best next thing to try as it would globally reset the language and region much as a service pack would do.

 

well I tried a few more things - had become curious! - no joy though.

Ann: thanks for your kind words - one big internet-type smile back! It's much easier / less risky for me to experiment (than most folks) because of the way I get out of trouble (cf #21). Timed it: 26 minutes from booting from the floppy to everything back the way it should be - makes it a reality to test things out which would be inadvisable (or just plain stupid) otherwise.

Jay: only guessing here but: thinking of the "evolution" of the machine: starting with 98SE would mean IE5, but after an ISP's signup CD typically this would upgrade to IE5.5. Take a box like that to WindowsUpdate and one of the criticals offered would be "IE6SP1 Browser + Internet Tools ". I suspect that could be your service pack...

As soon as the Palm became involved this had got into "uncharted territory "; then, taking into account the synchronisation thing - whoa! - thread seemed to be unravelling fast. So, quite relieved at the resolution. But I wish I had gained a better handle on the mechanism.

So I too would like to know which update fixed the original problem - but if the answer came back "don't know which, I just applied all the critical patches" - in a way that has to be the best outcome of all? - averting a worse disaster further "down the line "...

best wishes all, HJ.

 

Thanks for the info!

 

Thx everyone. Since not much worked, I went to Start, Run and put in Setup for Windows. It reloaded OK. As far as I can see, problem solved.

 

You did what is known as "an over the top" install win98; reinstalled win98 on top of itself? I thought you said you had updated win98 (as in, applied a microsoft update) that had fixed this problem. What happenend?

 

If reinstalling did not work, then I was going to update Windows.

 

I hate to keep beating a dead horse but:

So, I quess, we can append and attribute this fix to an install or reinstall of win98xx, as so many of the search engine hit's suggested, as the only fix found to work.