98 se

[newme]

hello
iv just tried reinstalling 98 se over top not a clean install put the disk in and it went about halfway and froze had to restart ,now i cant get into windows .i tried changing bios to cdrom first but wont read the disk ,tried scanreg/restore from c prompt just sits there .the avg anti virus goes through its startup goes to windows splash screen thats as far as it goes.cant get into safe mode either,what else can i try
thanks

[Force Flow]

You could try booting off of the CD and install it that way. :)

[newme]

i tried changing the boot order to cd rom first but it just hangs at the 98 splash screen

[Force Flow]

This should be the boot order: FLOPPY, CDROM, HDD-0

Or you could try this: FLOPPY, CDROM, CDROM
Or: CDROM, CDROM, CDROM

[newme]

i tried them all it ,verifies dmi pool the antivirus checks mbr then it hangs at windows splash ,is there something im missing if i put the boot order cd rom first shoudnt it read the disk,the lights on the cd player light as it is booting up but thats as far as it gets,can i boot from floppy and do something with a boot disk,i dont want to fdisk and format i just want to get into windows

[Confused]

What kind of system do you have? Do you have a OEM or retail copy of 98, upgrade version or do you have a recovery CD for a system such as Compaq, Gateway ect.?

Go into BIOS and make sure that virus check is turned off.
Chas

[newme]

i have oem 98se disk it is a home build

[newme]

bump
anyone know what i can try here,any ideas

[Force Flow]

You could try booting up a win98 boot disk, with CD-ROM drive support enabled. Then at the command prompt, type "x:\setup" (X being whatever letter your CD drive is.

When you go to install the O/S, make sure the directory doesn't say "windows.000" If it does, get rid of the ".000"

[Colonel Sanders]

Put the first boot device as the CD-ROM and disable the others. If it won't boot from the CD, then I would recomend getting a Win98 boot-disk(I keep one handy) or a bootable floppy that will recognize all your drives(including your CD-ROM drives) and possible have some form of partitioning and formating tool. A partitioning and formating tool are not necessary, but I have had to use fdisk a few times.

Good luck! L J

[newme]

will this keep the data intact on the drive,i dont want use fdisk i have data on the drive i want to keep
thanks

[Force Flow]

Yes, using FDISK will destroy your data. The best thing to do would be to copy your data onto another HDD...just in case.

[newme]

so by reading theses posts my only option is slave this harddrive in another computer copy it,fdisk and format the drive, copy data back to the drive,no other option?You could try booting up a win98 boot disk, with CD-ROM drive support enabled. Then at the command prompt, type "x:\setup" (X being whatever letter your CD drive is. ill try this first
thanks

[newme]

just read some threads about installing over top of your os,which is what i did but ididnt do as reboot saya to do it"windows 98, open Explorer, rename win.com to win.bak in the c:\windows folder, then boot to the CD, and run it as a new setup, but change the default install location from windows.000 back to c:\windows and it will install over top" i just put the cd in like installing it,then it froze ,was this the problem with it freezing half way through

[glc]

Your symptoms are classic Windows corruption, beyond easy repair. I'd slave the drive into another machine, grab your files, and start fresh.

[newme]

okay thanks will post back with results

[newme]

before i go over and do this,im doing for a friend.i would like to make sure ive got it straight.so i remove the drive put in the other machine(it is also running 98se)it will assign a drive letter,so how do i copy data from that drive to drive c?does it save everything like outlook express files and program files.just would like to know exactly whats going to happen before i do this
thanks again for everyones help

[newme]

okay this is what i have done ihave it slaved to my computer with xp it shows the drive as "e"now i want to save the contents to my drive, format there drive and put the data back,can i copy the whole drive to a specific folder name it and then copy back after its formatted and os installed

[newme]

okay i have 8 gb of data in a folder on my computer that i copied over,i copied all files over ,so does that include system files,after i format the drive and i try to copy back the data,does it grab system files or do i need to remove system files before i copy it over.does this include registry info,as you can see im in the dark about this

[reboot]

Make a folder on C called "Edrive".
Open up the drive in Explorer.
Select everything, except the recycle bin, and drag it to the new folder.
Wait...
Wait more...
;)
When it's done, right click the drive, select format, do it FAT32.
Let it finish.
Now you can move the drive back to the other comp, and install Windows.
Make a folder on the drive called "OLDSTUFF".
Put the drive back in the other computer.
Drag the "EDRIVE" folder to the "OLDSTUFF" folder.
Take the drive out, and put it back in the other comp.
Now everything you ever had is still there, it just won't work (mostly), and you can selectively drag and drop things where you want them.

[newme]

hi reboot you posted when i was writing thankyou thats what i needed but i must have included recycle bin because i copied everything over ,also i copied and paste ,same as drag and drop correct?

[glc]

Yes, copy/paste does the same thing.

[newme]

okay ive the disk ready to move to the original computer,are all the drivers going to be in here for hardware such as the nic card etc.when i transferred the data over would the drivers get transferred also
thanks

[Nuclear Krusader]

The inf files in the C:\Windows\Inf folder can be copied along with all the data, but they will only help you in identifying the HW. You will still need the dlls and some other driver files. Your best bet is to have the mfg drivers handy. If you don't have the drivers anymore then make a search for them on the web before proceeding with the transfer.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Newme, dunno if you still need it but I found a thread where DrZ listed the items you need to backup and their location.

Here:

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=43639

[newme]

hi nuc its to late ,im struggling now looking for drivers for hardware that i dont even know the name of.im so fed up with this sh%#% computer.sorry just venting:D

[Nuclear Krusader]

LOL. You having problems with those drivers?

You can try www.driversearch.com or its cousin sites www.modem-drivers.com, etc.

User: drivers
Password: all

[reboot]

When the machine searches for drivers, browse to:
c:\windows\system
c:\windows\system32
c:\windows\inf
c:\windows\inf\other
It's all there on the partition you saved everything.

[newme]

thanks reboot,your getting me out of trouble again:D

[newme]

well i have the machine back together and online,my next chore is to try and sort through her files what need s to stay and so forth,right now i want to find her outlook express stuff,how can i recoup all her old mail contacts are they aif files i reinstalled her outlook express,i tried importing says nothing to import
thanks

[Nuclear Krusader]

What version of OE?

What is the location you are trying to import from?

[glc]

OE uses the Windows address book - search for *.wab

[newme]

thanks glc i found it