Boot to safe mode in win98

[Penguin]

Ok,

My mother-inlaw had a virus on her computer. She called Norton and they helped her through getting rid of it. A month or so later her computer boots to the screen that asks if you want to boot Normal, Safe Mode etc... This happens every time. I think there is still some problems because if the virus.

My question is should I do a clean install of Win98? Would this fix the problem or could it be something else?

If I need to do a reinstall, should I rename windows directory and .ini file and do a windows install or should I do the setup /pf and just fix the system files. Would this help?

Aslo if I reinstall windows will I loose any data or files needed to configure hardware or software?

Any help please.

Thanks in advance.
:D

[jamesrpm]

I was having a similar problem . I did a defrag and a through scan disk and it fixed it.
I don't see the relationship to the virus a month later.Although I could be wrong. Some of the folks here with more experiance than I have will let you know.

[K A Hall]

Try deleting the Wnbootng.sts file in the Windows folder. That should do it and if not there are other things to try, but you will need a start up disk.

The info is here. (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=%2fsearch%2fviewDoc.aspx%3fdocID%3dKC.Q143283%26dialogID%3d6507802%26iterationID%3 d1%26sessionID%3danonymous%7c5758865)

[Penguin]

I did a defrag and scan disk to no avail.

I will try to delete the Wnbootng.sts file and let you know be back in a few minutes.

Thanks

[racerbrownn]

whenever you think you may have a problem with a virus, it's time to make sure you have the latest updates and then scan the entire c drive[some virusscans are preset to limit scan area] to make sure nothing new is going on. although you can try a scanreg/restore, you may not have a copy of the registry that goes back that far before the screwup. also if you run the windows cd and don't change to any other directory [windows likes to start another copy, usually windows.000] then all the drivers for hdwe should remain intact along with system settings.

[Penguin]

Well I am back.

I did a virus scan with the most current update and no virus found.

There was no file Wnbootng.sts on the computer. I did a search of the entire drive and nothing. So I went to the Next step of renameing the io.sys file and typing a:\sys c:

I got an error that said "cannot specify default drive:

racerbrownn,

So you are saying not to rename the windows directory and just reinstall over the existing directory?

[sarit16]

i know this is bummer of a thing to do but hey it rids of all problems. my computer stuffed up in that it kep on crashing and windows keeps on hanging etc, thus i formatted my hdrive and then installed everything from scratch again. so now alls fine, give that a go its wirth it.

cheers

sarit16

[Penguin]

sarit16,

That is my last resort. I am trying to avoid it if neccessary. The computer was bought off of QVC and I am not sure she has all the drivers, and I really don't want to have to search the internet to find everything. SO I am hoping that a Windows reinstall will work.

I am just trying to figure out the best way to do a windows reinstall and not have to reconfigure everything.

Anyone have any Suggestions?

[racerbrownn]

i have done this several times without any problems if i think i have a windows file corruption problem. i boot to the cdrom and run the windows install disc and if it sees the origional and tries to rename to another directory exm- windows.000 then i chose other and rename it back to the origional windows folder. [you might want to check in explorer to visually see that the version you are copying over is listed as such, else you will need to rename to exactly how it is spelled in explorer.] running an install over a current version has in my experience always kept all special drivers and system settings [same desktop comes up instead of the windows default greenish screen] and the only thing updated is the window operating sys files. if you have a special driver issue, then obviously this won't help much but at least you will konw where the problem isn't. you can also let windows copy a new version .000 or whatever and see if it reloads the system properly with its own list of drivers on cd disc as a test as to whether or not you can actually reinstall the whole windows sys without a driver issue. if the newer version seems to work good right away, then rename the origional to windows.old so you don't use it but have a valid copy on hand in case things don't work out with the newer version. you can always switch back with a simple boot to dos and rename back to the origional extension which you changed to make it hard for windows to find. windows will only search for a different version .000 .001 .002 etc if it doesn't see the origional windows. good luck and as always backup backup backup anything of importance because you never know when the sh*t is going to hit the fan.

[Penguin]

Hey thanks racerbrownn. I think I understand what you mean. I will try that and let you know what happens.

I don't think it is a driver problem, and that is why I would like to reinstall windows.

[racerbrownn]

sometimes it is a timesaver to run the system file checker utilty first looking for a simple way out but i have never been that lucky.start/programs/accessories/system tools/system information and look under the tool tab for it. i should have mentioned this first but like i said, i never was that lucky before. have at it man.

[Penguin]

Well I found the problem. Selective startup mode was selected and alot of the system devices were turned off, so I did a normal startup and poof all fixed.

Thanks for all the help and responses.

[racerbrownn]

just gotta love those leftover virus bugs...[if thats what it was]. weird how it happened so much later.