Programs refuse to load on bootup

Hello there gang.

I'm on a borrowed computer so i don't have alot of time to search through the boards in case someone else has had this problem.

When I go to boot up the computer does all it should. I'm on a network and so my network frame comes up last, and pressing Enter finishes the porcess.

Suddenly that process has gone KERPLUNK. When I hit Enter, I see the taskbar begin to load and then it disappears. Nothing else happens, and I cannot access any programs. The taskbar dialogue box shows NOTHING has loaded, including Explorer.

What could be causing this ?

Desperate for ideas, and thank you SO much !

Elsie

 

Can you boot in the safe mode?

 

No I'm not able to boot in safe mode either. Everything goe sjust fine until Explorer.exe starts to load, then my taskbar disappears and I have NO start button.

I'm able to access files from one of the other network computers, but I can't operate the computer that's suddenly "sick ".

Thanks for the quick reply

Elsie

 

A little more info ...........

I can get to the DOS choice of Safe/Logging/Command Prompt, etc

Everything seems to boot up fine, except that I have NO programs running after logging into the network (no Start button, no Explorer.exe, no taskbar)

When I hit the "Windows" key (between Ctl / Alt) I get a kernel32 error message, but it freezes there and I can't see the details when I click my mouse on it.

Then it just sits there so I can stare at it and be helpless to operate it.

I can, however, SEE myself on the network, so I'm on the network but my puter has NO programs running (nor can I run them from the Windows button)

I'm on Win98 SE

Elsie

 

I promise if you help me resolve this problem I'll quit procrastinating about being a contributing member. (not joking) Seems I need you guys more than I realized.

Thanks gang !

Elsie

 

Just checking back to see if anyone had any ideas about my problem.

I'll check back tomorrow I guess, and in the meantime try to resolve it myself. If I figure it out, I'll post it here.

Elsie

 

What happens if you pull the network plug and reboot ?
regards

 

Sorry ...... I'm trying to boot up w/o the network plug right now. Ran into a new symptom. The computer begins to boot up and then just loses power. I have to unplug the machine for 2 minutes and plug it back in before I get any juice.

Think I'm having a power supply problem ? Might that be connected to my Explorer.exe not loading issue ?

I'll keep trying to boot up and report back what I got. Thank you.

Elsie

 

Ok, finally got to boot wi/o a power failure.

Your suggestion didn't work. Network plugged in or not, I get as far as entering the network, the taskbar flashes, disappears and I'm left with no start button or icons on my desktop. No taskbar either.

I tried replacing the Explorer file with one on one of my other computers (that's also using Win98) but that isn't helping either.

A friend of mine evidently "lost" the Win98 CD I lent him for a file he needed. I'm now left w/o an Explorer file that can be extracted from a Win98 CD. I'm not convinced the file replacement was NOT the solution, but for now I have to assume there are other causes to the Explorer crashing.

Ugh ....... this is frustrating.

Elsie

 

In case I must reinstall Windows, how would I go about doing that from the Dos prompt, since that's the only place I can get to ?

I have the Gateway CD system restore back in my possession but it doesn't "auto prompt" when booting up, so I'd have to access it from Dos.

Or any other ideas and fixes to this Explorer.exe mystery.

Thanks again

Elsie

 

Have you tried restoring the registry back to a day before all this happened?
At the prompt, type in scanreg /restore.
Use the arrow keys and pick one.
FYI, sometime the windows setup files are copied onto the hard drive from the Restore CD into the folder C:\Windows\Option\Cabs. To check for their existance, use this command dir c:\windows\options\cabs\*.cab. If you see a bunch of filenames scroll on the screen, they are there. To run setup from there, c:\windows\options\cabs\setup

 

Thanks Mark. I followed your instructions but once I got into the Microsoft Registry Checker it's asking me which .cab to restore from. I have a choice of only four dates it appears, and they are 8/7/02 8/08/02 8/09/02 and 8/10/02. This concerns me because that's a year and a half ago. I'd hate to proceed if it'll make things worse.

What next ?

Elsie

 

I have a feeling the only way to resolve this is to reinstall Windows. I sure didn't want to resort to that, since I'm on a Gateway preinstalled system.

The CD wants me to Fdisk and partition before I can reinstall. I know little about this procedure and what the consequences might be.

I'll try to read up on some of the others who have had to do this. I'll start a new thread about reinstall.

Thanks gang

Elsie

 

Scanreg / Restore operation

In my quest to do CPR on my ailing machine, I'm wanting to do a scanreg /restore to a time earlier than when my Explorer.exe problem arose.

I'm able to boot up and be seen on my network, however, I have NO start button or Explorer.exe. Nothing runs in the Program Dialogue Box.

I've tried numerous things to resolve this, including the extraction of a new Explorer.exe file from one of my other working computers.

I'd like to try the Scanreg /Restore operation but am hesitant because the only dates I'm being given to choose from are four dates ranging from August 7, 2002 through August 10th 2002.

From everything I've been reading here, I should be getting a much more recent set of dates to choose from. Not 4 dates from a year and a half ago. This is causing me to be edgy about proceeding.

What could happen to my system if I choose a restore reg date that is a year and a half old ? I'm sure the ? sounds idiotic, but it's the obvious that bothers me.

Thanks MUCH for any insight, and sorry for posting several threads at once lately. I'm desperate to get to the bottom of this problem, for I cannot afford to be w/o LC (my puter's name) and I cannot afford to buy a new one just because this one is Explorer challenged. Until my son gets married (next year) I can't afford to breathe. (I'm sure some of you can relate)

Thanks again

Elsie



Elsie

 

Moderator,
Think you can move this to her original thread? I'm getting confused.

 

Sorry to confuse you.

My problem started when Explorer.exe would not load, causing me to have no taskbar and start button.

Several suggestions were made, to no avail. Finally a Scanreg /Restore was suggested and I was hesitant to do that because the only dates I was given dated back to August 2002.

I have no other dates to choose from, and wanted to know if it was ok to use one of those.

When I didn't get a response, I went ahead and chose one of those dates. The first one failed, and the 2nd one took but Explorer.exe STILL won't load.

Now I'm worse off than I was before, because I don't know what further damage I created by choosing a registry date that's a year and a half old. Everything I've read indicates that the registry keeps 5 dates by default (which I had) but that the dates were more CURRENT than a year and a half old.

I can't reinstall Windows onto this factory installed system until I choose to FDisk and partition. I have no experience doing this, and wanted opinions about my angst.

So here I sit with the same problem I have had for 4 days, only with a registry that's a year and a half old.

Ugh

Does that help clear up the confusion ? Thanks

Elsie

 

Elsie,
Have you a bootable floppy disk for your PC ?
If so, put it in the floppy drive and press the restart button on the PC case.
At the prompt type :
Scandisk C: /autofix /nosave /nosummary /nolost
at the next prompt type :
scanreg /fix
at the next prompt press keys
CTRL + ALT +DEL together and remove the Floppy disk pretty
quick.
regards
Any better ?

 

You are in a mess.

When you restored the registry the 'current' registry was backed up first by overwriting the oldest backup.

This will not happen if the following line is in scanreg.ini:
BackupCurrentBeforeRestore=0

Since this is undocumented I'd put money on your not having this line in scanreg.ini so the youngest backup will be the 'current' registry you replaced with the old backup.

This will continue to be the case as you obviously do not have your system set up to make backups on the first boot of the day.

Since Explorer still won't load I'd get the 'current' registry back on board.

I won't comment on the original problem until I have a look at your other thread.

 

I don't have a floppy that boots this machine. I dl'd the Win98 SE version from Bootdisk.com however it's not working at bootup. Just ignores a floppy in my drive. Not sure how or what I did wrong there. Perhaps the wrong bootdisk version ? I'm quite sure I have Win98 SE but can't remember how to figure that out now that my machine won't boot.

I'm a MESS aren't I ? (G) ..... sorry

BUT .......... I CAN get to the c: prompt by choosing # 5 Command Prompt Only upon reboot.

Can I follow your instructions from there and get the same results you're contemplating ?

Thank you !

Elsie

 

Gamma:

After choosing that year and a half old date for my registry restore, going back to restore to the dates from today both say "Did Not Start ". As if the regrestore failed. It didn't fail however, because I had to "install new hardware" upon bootup from the first successful restore.

It restored my registry back to August 9th, 2002. I have never messed with my registry settings, fearful of being counter productive with whatever GATEWAY may have done in factory installment. If my "default" was to load the five OLDEST dates ....... GATEWAY set them to be that way.

Which means I'm a bigger mess than I feel. Think I need a glass of Pinot Grigio to continue ...... wanna join me ?

Again ....... THANK YOU ..... I'm humbled to NO description by this dilemma. Darn machines .......

Elsie