Windows 98 blank desktop

[usaar333]

Today, my system began having the blank desktop problem. Whenever I boot up, the desktop remains blank, the task bar fails to load, and no programs load either (task manager contains no items). Safe mode however does work.

I have attempted to do every action that microsoft's knowledge base lists for start up problems (e.g. disabling win.ini, system.ini, VXD loading, device disabling); none resolved the issue.

Furthermore, I was unable to do any registry restores. scanreg /restore gave a "restore failed" error for all old registry entries and then deleted them from the list. scanreg /fix hasn't solved anything either.

Worse, setting shell= (in system.ini) to progman.exe or winfile.exe did not solve the problem.

sfc.exe finds no invalid files.

Right now the only thing I can think of that I haven't tried is A) reistalling windows and B) deleting the windows directory and then reinstalling windows. I worry that if I try A, I may end up worsening the problem (from experience, I often have gotten locked up in the setup screen) and B, while likely to solve the problem is very drastic and requires hours to be spent reinstalling programs and drivers (not to mention data loss of anything contained in the registry).

I was wondering if anyone has a possible solution for this that does NOT involve reinstalling?

System:
Windows 98 SE (w/ IE 6)
Athlon XP 2100+
512 Mb RAM
NVIDIA Geforce4 Ti4200

[andyms18a]

try setting the shell=to shell=explorer.exe and post back

[usaar333]

ya, that's what I have set currently. Nothing special.

[usaar333]

hmm, actually I just changed back from winfile to explorer and the problem was gone. (my previous post only referred to when I had earlier gone from progman to winfile). But I can't help think that this is only temporary and I have a deeper problem with my system..

[andyms18a]

have you done a full anti virus scan all so may be a good idea to back up you importent stuff on to cds if you can

[glc]

Uninstall IE6, reverting it back to IE5. IE6 stability on 98 is a 50-50 proposition - it either works well or causes a ton of grief.

[usaar333]

Thank you for the replys.

andy: Ya, I ran a full virus scan w/ housecall and no viruses were found.

GLC: Can I get away w/ just removing IE6 altogether (I am currently using firefox for internet browsing) or do I actually need to install IE 5.5?

[WhatsThisBoxFor?]

Without IE how are you going to use Windows update? What about websites that do not display propely in Firefox? I don't think you can remove IE, just revert it.

[glc]

You cannot actually "uninstall" IE - it reverts to the previous version. There are 3 choices when you add/remove IE - add components, repair, and revert.

[usaar333]

Well, I downgraded to IE 5.0 but I am still having the same problem.

But I was able to resolve it merely be changing shell to winfile.exe, booting in safe mode, and sending it back to explorer...

[glc]

Excellent. However, it *is* possible that IE6 caused this in the first place because of the shell integration. I've seen stranger things happen.

[usaar333]

Well, seems the same problem developed today. I attempted to reinstall windows (using method A) and that accomplished nothing. The only way I could get my comp working again was to restore an old registry where I had about every device on this system disabled, go into safe mode and enable them, and then reboot in normal mode.

I suppose that my system will work for the next several days and then b0rk up again. Is there any possible way to track down what causes the instability? This registry restoring method is hardly dependable (and does mean I will constantly be losing any info stored in the registry).

Or am I pretty much stuck and might as well go w/ B? (Any good ways of backing up drivers though?)

Thank you.

[andyms18a]

if it keeps losing data and having reg problems then the hard drive may be faulty download the diag prog for your hard drive and test it if you have a CD rw then back up to that if not get another hard drive and set up windows on it then put the old one back in as a slave and copy your stuff over

[usaar333]

I ran my HD diagnostics and no errors were found.

The error hasn't come back though... yet.

[andyms18a]

good try this prog to back up your drivers and stuff in case you do a format
http://winret.sourceforge.net/

[usaar333]

Well, the problem happened again yesterday and I had to revert to my old registry.

Should I probably just do a deltree windows and reinstall or is there another way?

[GaryRouth]

If you have either broadband (a cable/DSL connection) or a Windows Security Update CD handy, you could try an over-the-top (there are two methods, for yours I'm guessing the renaming win.com method might be best) and then apply Security patches & visit Windows Update directly after. The whole thing shouldn't take more than an hour (with broadband, or with an Update CD handy). This would at least make sure that all your system files are valid versions and are installed where they need to be. You shouldn't have to reinstall any programs. Full details are in http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=70846

Might visit an online antivirus scanner just before trying the over-the-top. You've tried HouseCall I see - might double check with Panda Active Scan (http://www.pandasoftware.com/home/default.asp) or Pest Patrol (http://www.sunbelt-software.com/product.cfm?id=911)

Be especially careful about the precautions before trying an over-the-top: disconnect from networks, disable the Bios AntiVirus (re-enable it when finished), disconnect USB scanners, cameras, printers, etc...
. . . Gary