Explorer Corrupted..CD Rom Drive Inaccessible What to do???

[toybug2]

My daughter was downloading a dvd program(to use her burner/cdrom for dvd, I guess) and it caused a shutdown. Upon reboot, it gets to the desktop just before the icons appear and a pop up that looks like the Close Program box(which is empty) comes up saying the Explorer caused an illegal operation. After clicking on the close program it goes to the desktop with no icons, and the startup menu won't come up. I think that Explorer became corrupted, anyway. At first I thought it was a registry problem, so I tried using scanreg/restore scanreg/fix but the registry is good. This Pc has been having some problems, it's a quick ghost off some pc from my pc repair guy. The system frequenly locks up and has problems. I want to load my WIN 98SE but it won't recognize the cd rom or burner drives. It will only recognize the a drive and c drive. I changed the boot sequence to cdrom and it started booting to the cd rom, but then said it was an invalid directory. At this point I don't know what else to do but ghost it again. The pc guy has another copy of windows loaded onto the hard drive. I think it is on the c drive and is named O or 0. I am not sure how to reload these, but would rather install than ghost or restore ghost. Data loss is not a problem. Everything important is backed up on CD's.
I've checked back a month or two in threads but found nothing to help.
Thanks

[Cricket]

Hi toybug2,

Since you said all important data has been backed up already, you might as well format the hard drive and do a clean install of Win98 from your CD.

You'll need a boot disk and set the BIOS to boot from the floppy first. Boot up with the boot disk and choose to boot with CD-ROM support. Once it gets the a: prompt, type "format c:" (without the quotes). This will wipe the hard drive clean and you can then go ahead with the Windows installation.

After you format the c: drive, switch to the CD-ROM drive letter, put the Win98 CD in the drive, and at the CD-ROM drive letter prompt type "setup". Windows will start to install.

If you need to make a boot disk, you can actually make a pretty good Win98 boot disk from the Win98 CD. With a formatted floppy in the floppy drive and the Win98 CD in a CD-ROM drive, open Windows Explorer and navigate to the CD> tools folder> mtsutil folder> fat32ebd folder> and double click on fat32ebd.exe.

Cricket

[toybug2]

Thanks Cricket,
I made the start up disk from ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS it was SOOOO Easy!(Read the manual that comes with WIN 98!) I popped it in the A drive and used the option to start up with CD ROM support. Followed the directions(Not a clean install..just over the top of the other one, I didn't have the nerve to do it yet)Everything went well until we got down to the last 7 minutes (configuring system)...the setup stalled. After about 10 minutes of watching the drum in suspension we shut off(actually had to unplug)and rebooted. It came up like a dream...all the data intact except the fast ethernet. Spent two hours trying to get it up, NOTHING was working, then my daughter said,"Do I even have the ROAD RUNNER plugged in?" AAAARRRRRGGGGGGG!!!
No, it wasn't plugged in, so she plugged it in and WAH-LAH it worked! Now when I get my nerve up, I think I can do it your way for a clean install. I will then lose the drivers for the ethernet, where can I get them? The ones we are using now are PCI RealTek 10/100 and of course were on the system. Will they be on the system when I reboot from the clean install? Or did it just remember them like all the other stuff? I have everything else.
Thanks again...Now I have a friend with ME edition who wants me to tell her how to fix HER computer...If word gets out what a genius I am...Hmmm Guess I don't have to let them know that Cricket helped me out....

[Cricket]

Hi toybug2,

Prior to doing a clean install of Windows, find out what hardware you have in your system that need drivers (video card, sound card, NIC) and software programs that need patches or updates. Go to the website of each of these companies and download what you need (drivers or patches). If you have a CD-RW, burn these files to a CD-R disk. If you don't have a CD-RW, put each file on a floppy, label it and put it in a safe place. When you do decide to wipe your hard drive and re-install Windows, you'll have the necessary drivers and patches ready to install.

I usually have my hard drives partitioned and keep all necessary drivers, updates, programs, personal files and whatnot on a separate partition from the main Windows partition. When I reformat and reload, I have everything I need already at hand. But I almost never reformat and reload Windows anymore since I found out about Norton Ghost. Ghost can make an image of the main Windows partition and save it to another partition. If something goes really wrong, instead of doing a format and install, I just run Ghost and restore the whole partition with the Ghost image. Once it's done, you have Windows along with all your software programs back just as if nothing happened. It's all configured the way I like it and ready to go. It's the best piece of software I ever bought.

Cricket

[toybug2]

I really like the Norton software, but did I didn't know they made a ghost program. I have pretty basic knowledge but don't know a lot about working with partitions. I know what they are basically because at one time I had two hard drives and my pc repair guy explained my options. I had them together for awhile and then had them separate.(he did it for me..) I've been into the partition program but my hands tremble when it comes time to select an option so I back down and exit out.
My pc is set up so that if I have a problem, the only driver I need is my fast ethernet. All other drivers can be detected by win98. I've already done a clean install on my machine(had help...didn't do it alone) so I know this one is good. It's my daughter's machine which most likely has all the same stuff(same pc guy built hers) so I imagine that it will work out the same.
Is the Norton Ghost program fairly easy to understand? Most of my pc knowlege had been self learned(html, java, flash, etc) so I am not DUMB, but some stuff that is more complicated is scary.(like fdisk)
If I have problems, I do have a notebook that I can access internet with, and can come back and bother you for more info. Perhaps there is a site that I could visit that would have a good overview before I jump into partitions and ghost programs...??

[Cricket]

Hi toybug2,

Norton Ghost is a great program that has saved me from self-induced computer problems many times. But, it's a DOS based program and the manual that comes with it is not easy to understand. Fortunately, once you get past the idea that it's DOS based and the cryptic manual instructions, it's fairly easy to use.

I used to run Ghost from native DOS and used the arrow keys to navigate the program. The program allows you to make a boot disk that will give you mouse support in DOS which helps when you navigate between the screens. But I've been informed that you can use Ghost through the DOS window from within Windows (thanks HAL9000!). When you start up the DOS window and start the Ghost program, the mouse functions within the DOS window.

I've never had any real problems using Ghost.

There are some websites that have in-depth information and tutorials for Ghost use. I first heard about Ghost awhile ago in one of Fred Langa's newsletters. I did a Google search and found these websites:
Radified
The Coaster Factory
Check them out before you try Norton Ghost.

Cricket

[toybug2]

Thanks for the info...I will check it out. From your description, I am sure that it will not be too difficult.