CONFIGMG error after win98 logo screen

[ChromWolf]

Essentially, this page (yay MS knowledge base) describes the symptom:

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;187612

I don't, however, have an MSI board---mine is an ancient PA-2013 by FIC; 450 MHz K6-3, two 128 MB PC100 sticks.... yeah.

disabled the External Cache in BIOS; no change. There is no such device called "Advanced Power Management support" in Device Manager under System Devices, and nothing even remotely similar had the "Settings" tab the work-around requires. I didn't try swapping out the AGP card for a PCI card, as the fix suggests---I'll "Office Space" the thing and use the 200 MHz laptop I've got before I do that!!

On the off-chance it would work (since I'd tried everything else, and I'm quite frazzled trying to get another PC working---long story, though somewhat related; keep reading), I gave "scanreg /restore" a try, but to no avail. I even tried re-extracting it from the Win98 CD; error message continues to appear.

I can, of course, make it into Safe Mode, for whatever that's worth.

Now---recent system "changes"...... I don't know how much of this (if any) would be relevent, but I'm including it all, just in case it is (and hopefully, no one can say "well, why didn't you say that in the first place?!" ;> ).....

Buddy of mine gave me an old system of his he could never get working---similar system specs, but a P3 733 (using a Tekram S3PRO-AU board). Not a huge improvement in performance, but worth looking into, if I could get the thing working. I couldn't---but that's something I'll get into in a different thread if I have to. The previous owner had come to the conclusion (though he wasn't 100% positive) that the memory he was using was faulty; he had thrown it out or something, so I had to provide my own. As stated, my system has two (different-branded) sticks of 128 MB PC100 memory. I had tried to just use my two sticks of PC100 in the board, and denote that the memory should be clocked as the FSB - 33 (the FSB is 133, of course)... Though I couldn't get it to work (any setting I tried--memory at PC100, FSB at 133, cpu x 5.5; FSB and memory at 100, cpu x 7, etc....don't think I tried anything else, though I should note that when the CPU was forced to clock at 100 MHz through jumpers, the cpu multiplier would NEVER register as anything but 5.5, even when the jumpers were set to a *lower* multiplier than that...)

In any case, the system just kept taking me into Scanreg, saying it had restored a good registry, and needed to restart, repeat ad nauseum. I figured I'd try wiping the drive clean and starting over, hoping that it was maybe just a software problem with the 98 install he had before. I took the HD (a 13GB Maxtor) out and put it in my own system (I hope that wasn't a foolish mistake...) to look over it, back up anything I thought the previous owner might like, etc. fdisk'd and formatted the HD fine. ...I make a habbit of unhooking my HD when formatting HD's, so I can't accidentally format my own, so I reattached my own, and removed the 13 GB. Though I had some trouble making sure the drives detected (I use an old Promise card, which I question the stability of after all these years---that, and it sits funny in the PCI slot, so that even when it's screwed in, there is an inescapable play as it sits in the PCI slot---lost many a handful of hair trying to secure the card, but gave up unsuccessful and bald. :P ), but finally worked around that.

Something I should take the time to note----while trying to get the 733 system running, I struggled with the heatsink/fan for the P3 733, trying to look it over and verify the voltage info. Either while I was failing miserably to get the heatsink off, or sometime during its tenure with the previous owner (as far as I know, he never got it working, so it may have even been one of the techs from the local place he bought it from), I noticed what I believe to be damage to a transistor...? (don't know too terribly much about electronics, especially since microelectronics are bloody hard to see). Some very VERY tiny device, which connects to the motherboard through 8 teeny tiny pins soldered onto the board, looks chipped, as though a screwdriver came down to hard on it and broke the chip off (again, can't be sure, it's very small, but it feels differently textured when I very gently run my fingernail over it in comparison to the other microcomponents affixed to the motherboard nearby it) Could this damage (if that's what it is) have any kind of adverse reaction to other hardware, such as my memory or the 13 GB HD, to the point where it would cause such a problem in my own system?

....Please forgive me if this e-mail seems very unconnected and disorganized---if it does seem that way, it's most likely because it *is* that way.... I usually only post here after I've run myself ragged trying to figure out the problem on my own... If I've missed anything, or whatnot, just let me know, of course.

Thanks in advance for any responses to this, especially to those who address the problems of both computers! (this might be where more details would be needed) Really, however, at this point, I just want to get my original system back up and running.

[ChromWolf]

just to see what would happen, I threw in a PCI video card after all--no change, still got the error. I also tried an overinstall of Win98SE; after the first time it needs to restart, it gave me the same kind of registry checker message as I got on the other computer, curiously enough, restarted, and is once again giving the CONFIGMG error. While I suppose I did a "dirty" overinstall (i.e. just popped in the win98 boot disk and the Win98 CD and just jumped right in), and it's possible the way I did it wouldn't have helped anyway, I guess I don't know what else to try... As stated in the earlier post, I already tried re-extracting the file from the Win98 cd, to no avail. I'm loathe to delete key portions of Win98 and to an overinstall that way, and I'd certainly like to avoid formatting and starting all over.

Does anyone have any ideas...? Call me spoiled, but usually people post by the time 8 hours rolls around, and I confess to being a bit worried....

[Mesaeus]

Have you updated the bios to its latest version ? IIRC the super socket 7 boards had a lot of AGP related troubles, a bios update may help. Also check your bios setting for any APM setting (under power options), and turn it on or off (experiment). The APM setting described in the MS article does exist, so I think your APM is off in the bios setup. I had to force APM 1.0 once before, so I know the setting exists in Windows 98. If you update the bios, make sure you get the latest one for your particular board revision (1x-2x).

Also, could you try splitting your post into each pc with its own problems ? Two sets of problems with two different pcs in one post makes it hard to know which one you're talking about at any point. I reread it five times and I'm still confused about what happens where at some points. Maybe it's better if you made another thread for the P3. And yes, if there's visual mb damage, that could be causing your problems.

[ChromWolf]

To the best of my knowledge, the BIOS has been updated for several years now to the most "up-to-date" version for the board (it's a PA-2013 PCB 2.1, I believe).

As for the APM stuff, at least in Windows, it's not there---at least no where in Device Manager. I wouldn't mention it if I didn't look everywhere. I also checked the Power Management module in the Control Panel, and found nothing to force APM 1.0. The only thing I can guess is that it's not something Windows installs with my particular motherboard... As I recall, I've been horridly unimpressed with my board's APM functionality ever since I got it in 99 or whenever,

Even so, I've tried with APM "off", "user define", and default (in BIOS, that is); no change. As the article seems to imply reducing APM to its minimum function (if not off altogether), that's what I tried first, both in Windows and in BIOS, and nothing seems to change it.

I must definitely apologize for the first post, though---as stated, it was likely going to be unclear; I have the particularly bad habbit of posting here to PCmech only after spending several hours working on the problem myself, being run ragged trying to fix the problem, and finally giving up, posting right before I go to bed for the night (typically well past my bedtime). I posted the information on the other system, however, as it seemed possible that there was a hardware problem somehow being carried over from the P3 to my original system (either through RAM damaged somehow by the chipped microcomponent, if it is indeed damaged, or through faulty/corrupt/infected data from the 13 GB HD out of the P3---I had tested it in my original system to see if it would duplicate the error it was giving on the P3, which it did).

As a further update, I've since installed 98SE on the 13GB, which is how I'm posting this now; I figure it's going to be in one system of mine or another, so setting it up with an OS and everything seemed logical, not to mention helpful in getting the system back up and running, albeit without all its software. It seems to be working fine, and does not give me the CONFIGMG error---so, I suspect this may be a software problem (much to my relief). ...Incidentally, I hope to move the 13 GB back into the P3 system (after necessary changes required when switching the motherboard of a system; the hardware itself will eventually be transfered over, eventually); I believe wiping the drive clean and installing 98SE fresh has possibly solved the P3's issue; if not, I promise to start a new thread, honest. ;>

In any case, I'd like to hear what people think about how I might go about over-installing 98SE so that it corrects this problem... I've already done the "dirty" overinstall, as I've stated---start the system with a boot floppy, throw in the 98 cd, and go---but I'm hoping that by renaming the WINDOWS\SYSBCKUP directory, or just key portions of Windows, I can convince the install wizard that it's installing a fresh(-ish) install Windows---but hopefully, without removing too many settings (such as the registry entries that would let me play all the games and use all the programs currently installed). Thoughts on this? What exactly should I rename (if anything at all), and/or what other proceedures would you recommend?

Hopefully, this clears things up a bit---if not, I can certainly restate what I wrote earlier in a much clearer manner than my first tired, frazzled post.

[glc]

Bring it up into safe mode and use the ENUM trick as described in the Tips and Tricks forum. This will reenumerate all hardware from scratch while preserving files and software.

Have you run diagnostics on the hard drive?

[ChromWolf]

I have run no diagnostics on the hard drive. Are their any in particular you recommend? ....Come to think of it, in overinstalling, it did run scandisk, as usual, and corrected several files, as well as found over 4 MB of lost data! (Sorry, completely forgot about this until now!) the 4 MB FILExxx.CHK contains a bunch of random characters, and then dozens upon dozens of files; some of them are pretty obscure (10-folder-deep nested data files for programs like Office that I never actually know when I use), but I seem to be able to open any common files (MP3s, HTML-based chat logs, etc. were what I found just on preliminary searches), so I guess I'm really not sure what the file's significance is....

In any case, I'll give this ENUM trick a try, and report back with any findings.

[ChromWolf]

The Enum trick didn't work... Before trying, I should note that I pulled the BIOS battery out, on the off-chance this was all just some wonky setting in BIOS that had gotten corrupted---something like that. No change.

Anyway, I went ahead with the Enum trick; I keep the cabs on my hard drive normally anyway, as well as the installs for all my hardware (I always believe it is SO worth saving the installs for ANY hardware, and most software too). I also backed up the entire registry before trying it, so I could go back and at least get into safe mode with all my drivers intact (for what little that may be worth).

killed the ENUM key in the registry, rebooted. Came up with the display error, cancelled out. Did Add New Hardware, and it found all the motherboard hardware; it seemed to set up the drivers okay, and asked to restart; no big deal. However, just as normal, I got the CONFIGMG error once again.

What should I do with this...? What's the next step? Is an over-install gonna do the trick, or is it just worth my time to quit complaining and wipe the drive clean and start over?

[Mesaeus]

Use the 13 Gig disk or another spare disk to wipe clean and install W98. If that works, you might consider wanting to start over with the other one too. A clean install is something you HAVE to try, it might solve all your problems and even if it doesn't, at least you'll have one less possible cause on your list.

[ChromWolf]

That's how I'm able to communicate with you now---a clean install on the 13 GB. It still has a couple bugs to work out (mainly just hacks, patches, or tweaks I did on my 40 GB setup so long ago that I don't remember what they are), and some weird APM stuff (system will sit there at the "now safe to shut your system off" screen), but it seems to work---and certainly doesn't give me the CONFIGMG error.

I guess I'm just finding it hard to believe that a full format (as opposed to an overinstall after very selectively removing whatever specific files might be causing the error) is the only thing that can solve my problem.

Any other ideas?

[glc]

I recommend the diagnostics from the hard drive manufacturer. If that drive has any errors reported, replace it.

[ChromWolf]

It seems my venerable and venerated 40 GB hard drive requires replacing, then... the Maxtor diagnostic tool found errors in both the read test, and the second SMART test (I can't recall the exact name). I suppose I can but count myself lucky for having just received the 13 GB?

Anyway, as this particular troubleshooting is beyond my normal experience, I'll go ahead and venture some admittedly uninformed questions (the best kind...?)--is there any way I can repair this malfunction? This isn't just the kind of thing I can run a surface scan on so it marks bad sectors, is it... is the drive still usable for data, if not as a bootable hard drive? ((The reason I ask is because purchasing a new 40 GB isn't really an option right now, but if I can use the 40 GB, I'll just do that, at least for as long as I can, realizing of course that it's been recognized as a bad drive))

So, really, what's my next step, if anything?

[Mesaeus]

PowerMax has functions to low level format the hard drive. That's about all I can think of. That hard disk is on its way out, however it might just last another few months, maybe even a few years. Nobody really knows. Just make sure you've got daily backups of your important files, and TEST your backups once in a while. Nothing quite beats the feeling you get if you're trying to restore something from tape and there's nothing on the tape

[glc]

Are you certain that it's no longer under warranty? Maxtor's website has an online warranty check and RMA section.

[ChromWolf]

It's got to be at least 2 years old, possibly as old as 4! Also, it should be noted that if the length of time a hard drive lasts is at all affected by how often you care for it with things like scandisk and defrag, then I pretty much beat it into the ground... I know, it's bad, but I pretty much never ran scandisk (unless the computer crashed) or defrag, and never formatted it, instead just deleting most of the windows directory, and I believe all of the Program Files folder after backing up the useful/needed stuff when I needed to reinstall windows... Some of my earliest music files date back to 1997, and while they were most likely copied from an older HD, that still indicates how long I've been hanging on to data on my HD.

Incidentally, I can see right on the 13 GB's label that its warranty ended January 2003--I can't possibly imagine that my 40 GB's warranty would end after that. ...I'll check, and if it is, I'll post back; I need to actually screw the 13 GB into my case, since it's more or less become my primary drive now... :P

Thanks for all the help, everyone!!