Windows 98 Explorer

[el_novato]

Here's the prob:

My brother brought home an old HP. It has a Cyrix 333 processor with a 6GB harddrive. I know it's outdated but I think it's good for minor things, such as word processing. anyway, I did a system restore on the thing, but now, it gives and error message. It says Explorer has performed and illegal operation and will close. In details, it says it caused and invalid page fault. WIndows doesn't load at all. Is there any way to fix this without a CD? The computer was from his job, so I dont think they have any type of disks or CDs that go with it.

TIA,

el_novato

OS is Windows 98

[GaryRouth]

Where did you start the "system restore" from? What disk? The Hp "System Recovery" disks? . . . There may have been several hardware changes since your brother's company bought that Hp.

If you did a system restore without a special disk, was it called "GoBack" by either Wildfire or roxio? Was it a restore disk from a different computer?
. . . Gary

[el_novato]

Shucks.....i can't remember the name of the program that was on the PC that did the restore...it was Easy something or other...it was already on there. It says invalid page fault at explorer.exe.

It wasn't from disks. It was a program that was on there. I have no type of recovery CDs whatsoever. What other info would u like to know?

[GaryRouth]

Sounds like it must have been PowerQuest's "EasyRestore" . . . Most of the references I see talk about restoring from a CD-R disk created by the program. It might be possible for that program to create an extra image on the hard drive, too. . . Sorry that I haven't any hands-on experience with that program, but we can try a few things while I check on it.

Reboot the computer, and as the PC just begins restarting, start tapping the F8 key. See if that gets you into "Safe Mode". If so,
go into Device Manager [Start/Settings/Control Panel/System] and look for devices with yellow exclamation marks and red Xs. Write them down, then select them one at a time and click on Remove. Reboot - see if Windows can find appropriate drivers for the hardware that is unhappy (the probable cause of your invalid page faults - wrong drivers)

I'll take a quick look around the PowerQuest site a little later, but at the moment I've got to go home for a bit. . .

I'll check back in to see how you're doing - and other techs might be around to help you -

. . . Gary

[p.s. ...it's possible that the original drivers have been overwritten and you'll need a disk for the OS on the computer (to copy the drivers from) so if you can, look for a Windows disk that matches the Windows on the Hp]

[el_novato]

I greatly appreciate your help Gary, but the darn thing won't even boot up in Safe Mode. It looks as if it's going, but just before it loads windows, it gives the Explorer has performed and illegal operation message. And I believe you are right, it was called Easy Restore. I tried to create a boot up disk but it says that the EBD directory does not exist. Any other suggestions?

[GaryRouth]

The best chance would be to see if your brother can come up with a disk from his work. You can download a bootdisk from bootdisk.com, but that will simply boot you to the a: prompt. Without a system disk, things get a bit challenging.

If you decide to try a bootdisk from bootdisk.com, go to the a: prompt, then see if you can run scanreg/restore and pick a saved registry from a few days ago & see if it will reboot from that.

As I mentioned, I've got to go home for a while, but I'll check back to see how you're doing
. . . Gary

[el_novato]

Thanks for your help Gary...I'll keep working on it.

[el_novato]

Well, the darn thing won't boot from a startup disk. I have another ancient system running 98. If I create a boot up disk from that, will that work? It's also and HP. Anyone else have any suggestions? The freaking thing was perfectly ok until the restore. I need to get it back up and running. PLease help!

[GaryRouth]

Hi again

Sorry for the delay - been busy.

Next time you power on the computer, look for a banner that says "PRESS DEL (or F1, or F2...) TO ENTER BIOS SETUP" and press that key. In one of the Bios Setup menus, you'll find an option for what devices to boot from and in what order. Select Floppy for the first option in order to use the boot disk you downloaded.

See if that gets you started. It might create a RAM drive - watch the screen closely while it boots - and note where that is. That's the drive prompt from which you can try typing (for example if the RAM drive is E) E: scanreg/restore - which might allow you to restore a working registry from before the PowerQuest episode.

I'll be around for a few hours tonight while I finish up things here at the lab. best of luck!

. . . Gary

[el_novato]

Hey Gary,

Well, I was able to make it work!! jejejeje...I tried so many times to load from the boot disk...but it just wouldn't. I did what you suggested. I booted up in command prompt. I typed in scanreg.exe and it allowed me to restore to a previous registry. And voila!! It worked!! So, it's working. I greatly appreciate your help and time! See ya around.