I hate Windows

[RKC]

Hi everyone,

After not posting here awhile I finally need some Windows ME advice which I don't understand why I can't get it to boot on my system. I recently "upgraded" from Windows 98SE last week and after some "ahem" error messages and lock ups, it started running without any hiccups at all and I was happy, for the most part. The ME disk was the upgrade version and not the full version.

Tonight, I needed to replace my floppy disk drive with a new one and tried to replace my CPU fan and heatsink because they looked a little dusty. I also vacuumed out the inside a little for some minor dusting problems near the CPU area. After doing both, the system would only boot up briefly for a few seconds and then shut down. After a little panicking a little, I figured it must be overheating and it was shutting off to keep from frying the CPU. After putting back the original fan, it still wouldn't boot up, I realized that my CMOS needed to be reset to for some reason. I took out the battery, reset it, and the system finally POSTED and booted up into Windows ME, almost. Only the splash screen came up and it hung there. Then it tried to go into safemode but as it did, but it went into a reboot loop before getting into the safemode screen.

I would also get some messages saying that there were corrupted or missing Windows files when booting and hang up again.

It looks like I need to reformat the disk, first with Win98 and then do another upgrade to Wndows ME. I did try to boot from the Win98 CD and then see if I could put the ME disk reinnstall from the DOS prompt, but the CD can't read the ME disk at all! I even tried to run a scanreg from the 98 disk to try a restore from a known good copy, but it didn't help either.

My question is, what caused Windows to become corrupted? None of the changes I did should have affected the OS since it never booted that far.

Also, any other ideas how to reinstall without going into a full disk format routine?

Thanks

[GaryRouth]

Hi RKC

If you can get the machine to boot from either your WinMe CD (doesn't matter that it's the upgrade version, it should be bootable), or from a WinMe floppy diskette from http://www.bootdisk.com, you can try an over-the-top to salvage things http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=70846

This, of course, won't work well if there's a problem with the hardware. It can't hurt to check the memory with MemTest86 ( http://www.memtest.org ) and the hard drive with the diagnostics from the drive's manufacturer (aka DataLifeGuard for WD, PowerMax for Maxtors, etc).

Also might not work (for long) if the system has unwanted visitors: if you have an extra system that's secured well, you also have the option of scanning the drive from there to make sure it's clean http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=106182 (be sure to note the caveats mentioned later in the thread)

Reformatting and starting clean is the safest option (as far as malware and file corruption cleanup go), and if you can get the system to either boot from your WinMe CD, or recognise it after booting from a bootdisk.com diskette, you can run a clean install of WinMe from there (you just insert the Win98 CD during the clean install as proof of prior version). That's if you want WinMe rather than Win98se. Many techs consider Win98se to have superior stability and compatibility. So you can also do a clean install of Win98se if you wish. Just make sure to be behind a hardware firewall, or have a software firewall in place before reconnecting to any networks or to the Internet, and visit Windows Update for the Security patches immediately upon connecting.

Why did the files become corrupt? Could be bad hardware (memory, hard drive, motherboard) [...there is some risk of either static shock or damage to the sensitive traces on the motherboard during repairs and dust cleanup --if using a vacuum on a motherboard, be sure it's the special kind made for techs = that doesn't cause a static discharge hazard], could be malware. If the Bios settings got out-of-whack enough, that'll do it too [for example = accidental overclocking].

Hope for one of the less expensive fixes!
Best of luck
. . . Gary