macromedia flash player...

[Toolman35]

Can someone send me this. I keep getting the prompt to download it but I do not have my w98se with me. I am out of town and having some problems with my sound card. I don't know if this will help but seems like I need it. I wenyt to a download site to get it, but when the download screen starts to load I get the prompt " download macromedia flash player" when I click ok, I get ask to put the win98se disc in. The page I need to access to download the file needs the file already installed on my pc before I can access that page!
I hope you can follow this cause it's getting confusing putting this in type.
Also if anyone can help me on this. I put it in another forum but got only a couple replies. On boot I get this message

"Esoniq Audio PC: The audio pci interrupt has been routed incorrectley by the system. Sound inactive. Use automatic settings in Device Mgr.

Automatic settings are already chosen. I checked to see if there were any conflicts but found none.
Thanks guys/gals.

[GaryRouth]

Hi Toolman

Seems odd that a Macromedia download would ask for your Win98 install files, unless the Win98 installation's multimedia setup is incomplete . . . which leads us back to the sound card issue.

It would make life much easier if possibly you have the Win98 cabs on your hard drive unawares. From Windows Explorer, take a quick look & see if they are in C:\Windows\Options\Cabs. If not, oh well. If yes, you can either point to those files when installing your Flash player, or if no "Browse" button is available, alter the Registry setting SourcePath to C:\Windows\Options\Cabs, and try the install again.

Most of the time, when reinstalling a sound card, you'll need your installation files, usually for the Win98 files for the joystick driver.

If you do have access to the installation files, try this to resolve your sound issue:
1) Boot into Safe Mode
2) From Add/Remove Software in Control Panel, remove any software related to sound. Do not reboot yet.
3) From Device Manager [in the System applet in Control Panel], remove all sound devices listed.
4) While in Device Manager, remove any devices listed as "Other", or any devices listed that you know are no longer installed on the machine.
5) Reboot, but press the key to enter Bios Setup as soon as you can. In Bios Setup, set PlugNPlay OS? to Yes. Also set the IRQ handling to Auto. (rather than having to choose between Legacy or PlugNPlay for each IRQ). If you aren't sure about the settings, you can try using the generic settings from "Load Defaults and Exit".
6) As the computer starts, it will find your sound card. If you have the original disk for that card, click Cancel when Win98 offers to search for and install drivers for it. Then insert the installation cd and let it either autostart, or run the setup.exe or install.exe from the CD.

If that helps with the soundcard, but not the Macromedia Flash issue, try reinstalling your IE and then try the download again.

See how that goes
. . . Gary

[Toolman35]

Gary,
Sorry it has taken so long to get back, been out of town.
I have my win98se now. I did look for the Cab. files but didn't see a "option" folder in the "system files". Should there be a options folder there? If you can lead me through the process of reinstalling from the winn98 disc. (if possible).
I am reinstalling IE6 now. Then I will move on to the sound card. I will try what you suggest. I have the PC mech. CD I ordered a year ago and used sisoft sandra to run a check. (i really don't know everything I was looking at). I did get same message about sound card not installed or drivers not installed.
But I have software now and all drivers are installed. I also noticed that I have an IRQ problem with #11. how can I check on these things.
Thanks much for the help.
I will be around here all night and will check back often.
Thanks agin
Tim

[GaryRouth]

Hi again -

Now that you have your Win98se CD with you, use that. Don't worry if you have no "Options" folder in the C:\Windows directory - it's only there when the system builder puts it there, and not all of them do.

Try the Safe Mode removal/reinstall steps & see if the sound card comes out better than before.

If things seem to be out-of-whack all over - the over-the-top reinstall outline is in Tips & Tricks: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.p...threadid=70846

I should be able to check back off & on tonight - I've got a fair amount of work here at the lab, so I'll be around a computer most of the night.
. . . Gary

[Toolman35]

Thanks Gary,

I do have things out of whack. when I reboot now it (pc) gets stuck in this cycle oc scandisc the tries to scan register. Then I get message to restart pc. Only to get the same thing.
sometimes it just runs the loop itself repeats the process untill I shut it down for a whi; the start it up.
I want to do a complete reinstall of win98se.
Ok, just looked at the "over top install". I am going to try it. But let me first ask couple questions.
When you say bootable floppy......you mean the setup disk?
Where will I see the "WIN.COM"
Will it look like this?
C:\cd\Windows\rename win.com win.bak ?

This might be a dumb question. I like to tinker around with these things, But haven't done much of this.

I think I will wait till I hear from you before I do it.
Thanks.

[GaryRouth]

If you suspect that failing hardware has something to do with the strange goings on in your system, you might want to test as much of it as you can [and scan for viruses if you can, too - to rule that out].

If you have any special files you absolutely need to save, might want to save them now if they haven't been saved already (backed up to a removeable disk).

To test the memory, you can use DocMemory http://www.simmtester.com
To test the hard drive, download the Diagnostics from the drive manufacturer's website (DataLifeGuard for Western Digital, SeaTools for Seagates, PowerMax for Maxtors, etc)

Some of these tools might be on the PC Mech Cd.

If you can boot into Safe Mode, you can make your backups from there, even though the system is doing the ScanDisk dance on normal boots. Some of the Sandra Tools might be able to run in Safe Mode, too.

If you're pretty sure it's not virus or hardware related, go ahead with an over-the-top. If you have USB cameras, scanners, etc - unplug them while trying the over-the-top. Same for any printers, external modems, etc. Also unplug from any networks. And don't forget to disable the Boot sector AntiVirus in your Bios Setup screens. (you enter Bios Setup by pressing the key mentioned in your startup banner as the system boots).

You don't need a floppy to start the over-the-top since you have your Win98se CD handy. Just enter the Bios Setup, look for an item such as "Boot Order" or "1st Boot Device", and set the first device to CDROM. That will let you boot to your CD. Then select "start computer from CD" then "start computer with CD-rom support". That should get you to the command prompt. This is when you rename the win.com file. I like to put the commands on separate lines, like this

cd \Windows
rename win.com win.old

If that goes well, you can start Setup from your CD by switching to the drive letter for your CDROM drive. For example, if your CDROM is drive D, it would look like this

C:> D:
D:> Setup

I'm about to head for home, but I'll check back while I let Ruby the dog (Xmas present for my kids this year) out to the backyard for her nighttime duties. She takes her time, so I can write another tech epic in the meantime.
. . . Gary

[p.s. ...to get to Safe Mode, try tapping the F8 key while the system is starting up]

[Toolman35]

Ok Gary,
Going to try it now... if you don't find something soon.....lol, you know what happened....had problems. but looks like you spelled it out pretty good. I did a virus scan from Panda soft found nothing. This is a 2nd pc, haven't used it in about 2 years so really don't need to save anything, but wouldn't hurt to keep it. Hopefully I will be back within an hour...
Sure appreciate your help. I can't give much (knowledge) to this site but has been a great education to me. Thanks!

[Toolman35]

hmmm, I seem to have renamed the file but can't locate it. When I typed in to rename it, the pc seemed to lockup I waited a few minutes nothing happened, so I restarted and now says cannot find file win.com? I tried to rename it back to win.com but it didn't work.
where can I find a link to reformat...I have done that before but it has been a while and I don't remember the commands.

[GaryRouth]

Odd that the system would lock up just renaming a file. . . well, if you simply boot from the CD, then switch to the CD drive, start setup from there - don't forget to install to C:\Windows if the installation defaults to C:\Windows.000

Sorry it took a while to respond, I was fixing a DVD player my wife was setting up this weekend ... nice little contraption . . .

If your system returned you to the command prompt after you typed "rename win.com win.bak" (or win.old, or whatever)... it was already done with the rename & you're fine.

I'll check back in the morning. 1st day back from the holidays for my elementary-schoolers.
. . . Gary

[p.s. ....if you reformat, you'll lose all your data & installed programs (assuming you have only one partition, that is)... might as well give the over-the-top a go first. I'm still wondering if the hardware is sound or not...time will tell.

To start completely over for a fresh install, you could delete your current partitions with fdisk, create a new Primary Dos Partition and make it active, and let Win98se format it for you with FAT32 during setup (yes to "enable large disk support")... If you see any non-Dos partitions, leave them alone, and post that info here ]

[Toolman35]

well Gary seems you might have something after all.
I tried to go over the top again and it was going well. When the install started checking the system it came to a halt. had a message about a corrupt (.CAB) file. had to abort. setup would not go any futher. Said it could be a virus or hardware issue. I know that my soundcard is not working. going to run another virus scan on this. I remembered I don't have my disc to reload drivers for my video card so decided to try over the top again.
starting to get a bunch of blue screens with vvxd.??? alot of differant #'s. Does this sound hardware related? what about that IRQ #11.?
just when you get time Gary. Thanks for hanging with me on this.
Been up all night trying to figure this out. I'm in a hotel and have the day off today.....guess I will be sleeping, lol

[GaryRouth]

I think maybe it's time to try a diagnostic for the hard drive, and perhaps the memory tester. But it could be something as simple as a dirty Windows98 CD. Check it for scratches & such. A dab of Windex, soft cloth, wipe from the center directly out to the edge (no circular rubbing). Having been in a closet for a while, the cd-drive itself might be a bit dirty too. They can also fail somewhat abruptly, so trying things with a different cd-drive might work, too.

Don't worry about drivers for sound or video at the moment, first see if the hardware is OK overall. Windows98 will install fine using just the Standard VGA driver (which works with just about all cards). You can find & download specific drivers later.

I noticed Chas is helping you with formatting the drive - If you want to start again from the beginning, I like to use the fdisk method I mentioned in my last post from last night. Win98se does a nice thorough job formatting with FAT32 right there in the first part of Setup.

To review, that method:
1) boot with a bootdisk (CD or floppy, doesn't matter)
2) from the command prompt, type fdisk
3) delete the current partition (as long it's not "Non-Dos" = if it's non-Dos partition, then you'll have to use the format command)
4) create a new Primary Dos Partition & mark it active.
5) reboot, and start setup from either floppy or CD.

Fussing with a computer sounds like a wonderful way to spend a day off
since I'm a longtime tinkerer . . . Gary

[ps...re: IRQ 11 - it's commonly shared. With compatible plug n play devices, it's not a problem]

[p.s.#2 - tell you what, in your next post, see if you can add some info:
1) if the computer is a major brand (like Compaq, Dell..).& if so - model
2) make/model of hard drive, video card, sound card, motherboard
---with this info, we can provide you with links to the right drivers for everything, as well as links to the diagnostics]

[dang my memory - one more thing - before the next try with Setup, take the sound card out of the system if you can - if it's "onboard sound" disable it in the Bios Setup]

[GaryRouth]

Toolman -

Just curious - everything OK now?