karlmarx

Hello everyone,
Warm wishes to all.. I have a problem in my PC. I dunno how to fix it. Anyway .I hope someone will help me here.
My PC configuration is as folows:
Pentium III 600MHz
256MB RAM
Sis 6326
Operating System:Win98SE/XP9(dual booting system)
Active Virus Shied
Spybot Search and Destroy

I am having this problem for the past one month..I dunno how to fix it. In win98SE, Whenever i double click or right click "My Computer" icon in desktop or if I try to access Control Panel my PC hangs and after that I am not able to proceed further.When I click alt-ctrl-del it shows "explorer(not responding)".

I am able to access IE browser,Mozilla and other options but whenever i click "My computer" this irritating thing happens..I have tried scanreg/restore, sfc and i have an updated antivirus software.

I have no problems when my restart my system in windows XP.

I was forwarded here by the HJT Forum and Ried,Assistant Manager, TSF Academy; Moderator/Analyst Security Team guided me here..My system initially had Smitfraud infection and I was guided by Mr.Reid and now it doesn't show any infections..

But still my system hangs...
Can anyone help me here...Thanks in advance,
Marx

Chevy

Boot into Win98, put your 98 cd in, and run SFC /scannow ... Let's see what happens.

karlmarx

Hi,
Thanks a lot for your reply...I tried executing that command SFC /scannow ...It shows some message like
The command line parameters are not valid.The following parameters were not recognized:"scannow"

I don't know whether I am making any mistake here..I even tried scannow sfc..It shows the same error...

Please correct me if i am wrong..

With regards,
Marx

Jlp1928

Hi Karl,

What he wants you to do is go to Accessories, System Tools, MS Information, Tools, SFC (System File Checker).

Good Luck Jim

Geekgirl

Windows 98 uses the command SFC without the /scannow

karlmarx

Hi,
I tried sfc, but it didn't show any errors.... So what could be the problem?
Please help me..
Regards,
Marx

OldGrayGary

Hi all


An 'in-place' or 'over-the-top' reinstallation of Windows 98 [is yours the original, or the 2nd Edition?] - would fix your Windows 98 problems, but you'd then have to redo the XP bootloader to restore your dual-boot.

Before going that route, though, you could try a repair of IE, and see if it helps. [in Win98 - Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Information... from the "Tools" menu, select "Repair Internet Explorer"]

If you want to try the in-place reinstall, let us know, & we'll send along instructions for that [plus the instructions on how to restore the XP bootloader afterwards].

Best of luck
. . . Gary

karlmarx

Hi,
I tried the Internet explorer repair tool.. But I was abe to access only one option it it-->Add a component..The other two options Repair Internet Explorer and Restore the previous windows configuration are not highlighted..

What is in-place reinstall?..If I do this, should i reinstall all my softwares again??

Thanks,
Marx

OldGrayGary

Hi again karlmarx

If you want to try another angle on the IE side of a quick-fix repair, you can try going up a version, if you have a version lower than IE 6. The nice thing about this try - is that if it works, you won't have had to affect your dual-boot menu at all, or bother XP.

If you run an "in-place" or "over-the-top" reinstallation of Windows 98, you won't have to reinstall your Windows 98 programs, or lose your data (documents, music, video, photos, spreadsheets, etc...). But a Windows 98 reinstall would write a new Win98 MBR to the system drive, likely overwriting the Windows XP bootloader currently there. To fix this, you'd have to try using the XP Recovery Console tools, or attempt an in-place reinstall of XP -- both of which are somewhat risky for your data [things can go wrong, there are some 'gotchas' - many having to do with the sort of XP CD used for the reinstallation]. The reinstall of Win98 is disarmingly easy: it's the repair of the bootloader that can be tricky. Since your dual-boot works fine now, if you consider reinstalling, make sure to copy these files from the root of Win98's active partition (usually the C drive) --- Bootsect.dos, ntdetect.com, ntldr, and the Boot.ini files --- and keep them handy, so that after reinstalling Windows 98, you can copy those files back onto the Windows 98 root directory (remember: usually C:\ ) -- and you can then boot your system with the XP CD into the Recovery Console, and use the "bootcfg /scan" or "bootcfg /rebuild" commands to try to get the XP bootloader setup correctly again. Again, think about it, and if you wish to go this route, I'll post more details.

There is another -- entirely different -- sort of tactic you can consider. Rather than running Windows 98 as a dual-boot, as you are now, you could use Microsoft's Virtual PC 2004, and install Window 98 in a virtual environment. If you want to learn more about Microsoft's Virtual PC programs (the latest is Virtual PC 2007 - but it only runs on Windows XP Professional, Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Enterprise, or Windows Vista Ultimate) --- have a look at Microsoft's webpages --- Virtual PC 2007 --- http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pro...efault.mspx--- Virtual PC 2004 --- http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en . Oh, and Microsoft provides the Virtual PC tools at no cost.

If you used a Virtual Windows 98, it would be a clean install - and you would have to reinstall your Win98 programs.

Best of luck
. . . Gary

karlmarx

Hi,
Thanks a lot for your reply..I read your previous post..Well its risky..I have installed win98SE in C drive and win XP in E drive. The dual bootloader works fine.

I will read through the links you had posted. Before that I have a doubt.
What will happen if I format my C:??

Will the system start in XP mode? Will my format(formatting C:)cause any problems in loading XP?

I don't bother losing my data in C: My only concern is about my E: which contains XP.Nothing should happen to it.
Please help me..

Thanks again,
Marx

OldGrayGary

Hi again

Quick Warning:
Your boot files for both Windows XP and Windows 98 are on your C drive at the moment. If you format the C drive, you will lose those files - & have to boot your computer into the Windows XP Recovery Console to repair your XP bootloader.

Those boot files are:
for Windows XP --- ntldr, ntdetect.com, boot.ini
for Windows 98 --- bootsect.dos

Bootsect.dos is only seen in system dual-booting Windows 98 and Windows 2000/XP. From the Microsoft TechNet folks: "Bootsect.dos = A hidden system file that Ntldr loads for Windows XP multiple-boot configurations that include MS-DOS, Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me. Bootsect.dos contains the boot sector for these operating systems".
_________

Have you tried the quick-fix idea yet? If your current version of the Windows 98 IE is 4.0, 5.0, or 5.5 - try IE 6 on your Win98 installation and see what happens. Shouldn't hurt.
_________

I suppose what you wish to do next depends on whether you still want to keep Windows 98 or not, and how much risk to your data (& time spent recovering) you are willing to accept. If you don't have backups -- they are always a good idea, especially prior to making system changes.

Best of luck
. . . Gary

karlmarx

Hi,
That was indeed a very good post.. The big problem for me is I have IE6 version. So I was not able to try that Quick fix idea proposed by you.

As I said earlier, I am ready to do away with win98SE. Since my winXP contains important documents and softwares, I am not ready to sacrifice it at the moment.

I have another doubt? Is it possible for me to upgrade my win98SE to win ME? Will this solve my problem?.Since I am not able to navigate by My Computer icon I am unable to go to my CD Drive and install it.
Is there any other way to install winMe?

Thanks for your inputs,
Marx

OldGrayGary

Hi again

I can't say I'd recommend WinMe over Windows 98 2nd Edition -- Win98se is probably the most stable version of the Win9x/Me series.

And, unfortunately, installing WinMe (or reinstalling Win98se) isn't going to change the fact that the bootloader will have to be repaired afterwards --- ANY installing/reinstalling of a Win9x/Me operating system on your computer is going to overwrite the MBR & require you to restore your XP bootloader afterwards [with the exception of installing a virtual Win98 into Virtual PC 2004 or 2007].

As I've mentioned before, repairing Windows 98 2nd Edition is very easy. If you have a Win98se installation CD - or the Win98se installation ".cab" files on the hard drive - it's a simple procedure [quick, too, it only takes about 45 minutes]. So long as you copy the XP bootloader files and the bootsect.dos file off to removeable media beforehand, and then copy them back after the reinstall is done -- you should be OK. But you'd want to make backups beforehand, just in case you make a mistake, or things go wrong (this can happen if a virus is present).

If you choose to go this way -
1) Make backups.
2) Copy ntldr, ntdetect.com, boot.ini, and bootsect.dos to removeable media (floppy, CD, flash drive, etc.).
3) Reinstall Win98se
4) Copy the four XP bootloader files back onto the root of your C drive [in other words, to C:\ ]
5) Reboot
6) If you see your dual-boot menu & it functions OK, you're done.
7) If you don't see your dual-boot menu - boot the computer with your XP CD, and enter the Recovery Console. Use the bootcfg /rebuild command to restore the XP bootloader.

To help you see if this is how you want to go --- I'll paste in the "over-the-top" reinstall guide I made a few years ago
__________________________________________________
Windows 98/Me "Over-the-top" Reinstall

Sometimes an over-the-top reinstallation of Windows can be a timesaver. On most recent computers the whole procedure can take as little as 30 or 40 minutes. A nice feature of this procedure is that your programs do not have to be reinstalled, and your data is not lost. You likely will need to visit Windows Update when finished, though, to download and reinstall some of the Security Updates. [Windows Update still works for Windows 98/Me, even though its period of active support by Microsoft expired in mid-2006 (all the updates up to that point can still be found there)].

Beforehand:

You may need to temporarily disable the Bios virus protection that is found on some motherboards (if your motherboard does not have this feature, you can skip this step). Enter Bios Setup by pressing the key displayed during startup, and somewhere on the first or second menu should be an item to Enable or Disable Bios Virus Protection (might be called BiosShield, or VirusGuard, or whatnot) ---> then, when you're finished with your reinstallation of Windows, re-Enable the Bios protection feature.

On some systems, and over-the-top will require your CD-key (Windows 98/Me product license key). [This is often on a sticker either on the case, or on the original CD]. If you've lost your CD-key: before you start the reinstall look for it by starting regedit from the Start/Run box, then navigate to the key (you navigate in regedit like you do in Windows Explorer) HKEY_Local_Machine/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion . . . if you click on "Current Version", you should see a list of keys and values in the box displaying on your right. One of these will read "ProductKey" and will consist of 5 sets of 5 alphanumeric characters = your CD key. Be careful when in regedit just to look at things and not make accidental changes.

During the reinstall, it is also a good idea to be entirely disconnected from any networks, wired or wireless (unplug ethernet cables, disable wireless), and to be disconnected from printers, scanners, cameras, multifunction devices, fax machines, PDAs, memory card readers, USB flash drives, external USB/Firewire/SATA drives, etc.
____________________
Over The Top ReInstall:

Place your Windows98/Me CD in the CD/DVD drive (or be ready to point Windows to the place on your hard drive where your Windows 98/Me installation files are stored).

Boot with a bootable floppy or CD - "with CD-rom support", and from DOS rename the win.com file to win.bak. Like this

C:
cd \Windows
rename win.com win.bak

If you have the Windows 98/Me CD in your CD/DVD drive, you can then switch to the drive letter of your CD drive [often drive D:], simply by typing the drive letter followed by a colon ( for example - D: ) at the command prompt.

If you have the Windows 98/Me installation files on your hard drive, switch to that location (which is often C:\Windows\Options\Cabs - by typing cd C:\Windows\Options\Cabs ), and start setup (by simply type the command: setup)

When Windows asks if you want to use the directory C:\Windows.000, instead choose "Other" and type in C:\Windows [without the .000 following].
______

Make sure that you have your antivirus, antispyware, and firewall running before you connect to networks afterward. Don't forget to visit Windows Update ASAP to get the Critical Patches the need reinstalling.
______________________________________________________
================================================

So, now you have most of the information and procedures - let us know if you've a few questions.
. . . Gary

karlmarx

Hi,
You have given me a wealth of information..I require some time to go thro' the pros and cons of my installation.. I went thro' the links provided by you regarding that Virtual PC 2004...
The first link didn't work..The second link has all the download links..
I have Windows XP Professional SP2..So it won't be a problem for me installing Virtual PC 2004(I think so...)

Let me go through the posts again and will post again..
Thanks for spending your valuable time with me for sorting out my problem.I will think about Virtual PC installation..(At present I think its a better option to try.)

With warm regards,
Karl Marx

karlmarx

Hi again,
I am little bit confused regarding the options before me..Give me some time..I will decide upon the right way before committing myself..
I will message again..
Cheers,
Marx