Missing registry file?? 2

[katman96]

I am looking for the Registry files to edit them (system.dat & user.dat) in the \windows directory but they aren't there.
I am using DOS to look for these so "win explorer- search" isn't an option.
I can't boot up Win98 to run regedit either. Is there something I'm missing.
Is there another way around this dilemma?

 

[satrow]

Could you tell us what you need to change? You may be able to fix your problem by editing msdos.sys, system.ini or win.ini. Or 'scanreg /fix' may sort it.

The .dat files are hidden, you need to unhide them first using the attrib command. Read this

http://www.computerhope.com/attribhl.htm

Andy.

 

[katman96]

I have to edit the registry to remove the Logitech Cordless mouse drivers which are now causing a problem in my system. The mouse had worked fine for several weeks and now it makes Win98 hang.

I tracked the problem down on the Logitech website. But the fix requires you to use regedit, which I've used before when Windows is running. Hence my situation.. Thanks - Ed

 

[edfair]

How about into safe mode? [F8] during bootup and get the menu.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[katman96]

It won't go into the safe mode, I get a Windows protection error telling me to restart Windows, and it hangs at that point. Any suggestions?

Even after "unhiding" the system.dat with the attrib command I can't seem to edit it. Help!!

 

[satrow]

***[boot]
oemfonts.fon=vga850.fon
shell=Explorer.exe
system.drv=system.drv
drivers=mmsystem.dll power.drv
user.exe=user.exe
gdi.exe=gdi.exe
sound.drv=mmsound.drv
dibeng.drv=dibeng.dll
comm.drv=comm.drv
mouse.drv=mouse.drv
keyboard.drv=keyboard.drv
*DisplayFallback=0
fixedfon.fon=vgafix.fon
fonts.fon=vgasys.fon
386Grabber=vgafull.3gr
display.drv=pnpdrvr.drv

[keyboard]
keyboard.dll=
oemansi.bin=xlat850.bin
subtype=
type=4

[boot.description]
system.drv=Standard PC
mouse.drv=Standard mouse
keyboard.typ=Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural Keyboard
aspect=100,96,96
display.drv=NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
***

The above is from my ME system.ini, your 98 version will be similar, if you change your mouse lines to match, it may help.

Maybe there is a logfile in the installation folder? That would allow you to find the drivers to delete them.

Registry files are complex to use in DOS. Try starting in 'step by step' mode, you should have an option not to load the mouse drivers.

Good luck,

Andy.

 

[edfair]

You could edit the \msdos.sys file to add the bootmenu=1 line to force the boot choices up at the beginning.

Using the bootlog choice could give you some further indications of the problems you are having.

You may yet get an opportunity for an over the top reinstall.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[TekTippy4U]

Unplug the mouse;
Try booting to a command prompt only and type
Win /d:m
to get to safe mode
Then use Alt, SHIFT+TAB, to move back and forth through menu choices....and also SPACEBAR to tick and untick boxes....(I forget them all, It's been awhile)

----------------------------

Boot to a command prompt only and Edit the System.ini and Win.ini files

CD windows
Edit system.ini
Edit win.ini

and also Config.sys and Autoexec.bat if necessary.....You shouldn't have ANY mouse entries here

cdEdit config.sys
Edit autoexec.bat

ALT+F , S to Save
ALT+F , X to exit

---------------------------------

If you can get to a command prompt only...Type;
Scanreg /fix or

Scanreg /restore
choose a known good backup

as was noted by another

You can't edit System.dat and User.dat cause they're .cab files....they're compressed.

Check your BIOS settings to make sure you're not enumerating incorrectly and the IRQs are assigned properly

TT4U

Notification:
These are just "my" thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs..All involved shall be spared the grief.

 

[tsuji]

Hello katman96,

Quite a number of proposals you've got. But, I feel confused.

[1] You cannot boot up to windows. Fine. Can you boot to command prompt?
[2] I suppose you can---a big assumption. In that case you can work with regedit.exe to your favor. It can do what you intend to do.
[3] You must have a firm idea what to delete/modify the logitech entries. The idea must translate into a concrete .reg file. I suppose you have it.
[4] From command prompt, you can search out the whereabout of system.dat and the user.dat. This is done roughly by this.

c:dir system.dat /ah /s
dir user.dat /ah /s

[5] Be sure, if you have different user profiles, you'll find a number of user.dat. Identify the one you want if needed.
[6] Before using regedit.exe at command prompt, you have to do one more thing. Clear the attribute of system & hidden.

<path\>attrib -h -s <path\>system.dat
<path\>attrib -h -s <path\>user.dat

[7] Now you are ready to "import" the .reg to correct the unwanted entries.

<path\>regedit /L:<path\>system.dat /R:<path\>user.dat dotregfile.reg

(For some specific modifications, you often do not need to specify both /L: and /R:.)
[8] After successfully "imported" the dotregfile.reg, you change the attributes back.

<path\>attrib +h +s <path\>system.dat
<path\>attrib +h +s <path\>user.dat

These are more or less the rundown you have to do. Common Caveat applies. So caution. If you don't understand, ask. I'm sure members here will clear it up.

regards - tsuji

 

[katman96]

tsuji, I am not sure I am following all this. Sorry...

I don't believe any of the registry backup files are old enough or go back far enough to give me a clean registry snapshot from before the mouse in question was installed. Windows I believe only keeps a few of these backups and overwrites them right?

Also to every one else thanks for your help so far. For the life of me I cant get this thing to boot to anything but the DOS prompt.

 

[TekTippy4U]

Scandisk /all from the command prompt does nothing either??

Yes the Reg backups are defaulted to 5 days, though this can be to up to 99, by editing the Scanreg.ini file, it's a bit of work to program Win to see those Backups when you need them most..(even though 10-20, or 99 Backups are made...You'll still get only the latest 5 days worth available. I.e. Scanreg /restore gives only up to 5 choices..There 'IS' a way to make it work, I just forget right now, plus it'll do you no good now anyway unfortunately

I guess one could del System.dat and User.dat..and then has to DE-compress or, Extract in DOS Mode somehow, the rb0xx.cab to access System.dat and User.dat , System.ini and Win.ini and then Copy these to the %windir% directory. (C:\WINDOWS usually).

Tsuji gave some really good DOS mode Regedit tips and I guess cause you seemed insistent on editing the System.dat and User.dat files to fix the problem. You'd really have to know which lines in the REG you want to change specifically..and the syntax must be perfect...so maybe try;

Set BIOS to boot from CDROM as first boot device and try to boot off CDROM , or even a floppy startup disc, and re-install 98 on top of itself...some specific system specs here, could go a long way as well....

I have a hard time seeing the rat(i mean mouse)....causing such an issue on it's own....got a link? so we can see what logitech says?

TT4U

Notification:
These are just "my" thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs..All involved shall be spared the grief.

 

[TekTippy4U]

katman96,
If you really want to continue with regedit from Dos...see these;
129260 - Setup Description Tshooting Steps Win95:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;129260

131352 - Using Registry Editor in Real Mode:

http://support.microsoft.com/defaul...port/kb/articles/q131/3/52.asp&NoWebContent=1

131431 - How to Troubleshoot Registry Errors in Windows 95:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;131431

hth

TT4U

Notification:
These are just "my" thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs..All involved shall be spared the grief.

 

[katman96]

Scandisk detects an error in FAT and stops running, is this going to prevent me from reloading (without reformatting)if (when) it gets to that?

The link at logitech is:

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm?p...&showalldocuments=1&countryid=19&languageid=1

Or get on their website and look at Customer Support Document 4616

Thanks

 

[satrow]

An error in FAT could spell major data loss; manual scandisk, DON'T automatically fix errors and have a few floppies ready to save the Undo data. Probably best to check in for an opinion or three as each error comes up.

Andy.

 

[TekTippy4U]

Ok
Not good.....but, you've got a couple of more choices now, i think..

1.
Try Step by Step confirmation, like has been suggested.....Good outline here;

http://www.adobe.com/support/techdocs/10d8a.htm

2.
You should *think* about Renaming System.ini and Copy System.1st (from C:\ to C:\WINDOWS) and rename system.1st to sytem.ini.....(this will start the whole Hardware detection Process for all your devices from scratch, as if you just installed winblows)
...BUT before you do
(Must know your way around DOS....do you?, we could throw some pointers out if necessary..)
a) Have you tried Editing System.ini itself ?? and remove/replace the correct mouse.drv line???
b) If so, Have you navigated to the
\SYSTEM and the
\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS and the
\SYSTEM\IOSUBSYS folders and also Logitech specific folders \PROGRA~1\LOGITE~1 (Program Files DOS name) and looked for the entries outlined in the article....and removed or renamed them??

3.
Someone here, could write you a specific .reg file to import to remove all entries that's stated in the link.......I could probably get away with doing it for myself, after struggling alot, but wouldn't want to risk you're machine data with errors i made..

TT4U

Notification:
These are just "my" thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs..All involved shall be spared the grief.

 

[katman96]

Satrow:Manual Scandisk? I need to know a little bit more about that please. I have done a regular scan disk ...

TT4U:
I have tried the step by step but will try it as describerd in the article

I have removed all the references as described in the Logitech article, Now renaming the system.ini as described will re start the hardware detection process, will that head me in the right direction for a reload, or will it possibly solve this nightmare?


Is reloading windows over the top a viable solution? The FAT issue worries me...

Thanks in advance

 

[satrow]

The FAT issue may be fixed by Scandisk (if it chooses the 'clean' Fat - there are 2 - to rebuild from. Even if it chooses the wrong FAT it may still be recoverable (I haven't done it for @5 years).

Scandisk.ini
***; SCANDISK.INI
;
; This file contains settings you can use to customize the ScanDisk program.
; The settings in this file do not apply when running ScanDisk in Windows 95,
; unless you are checking an unmounted compressed volume file. These settings
; will apply if you run ScanDisk from an MS-DOS prompt in single-application
; mode.
;


; -------------------------------------------------------------------
; The [ENVIRONMENT] section contains the following settings, which
; determine general aspects of ScanDisk's behavior:
;
; Display Configures ScanDisk to run with a particular type of
; display. The default display type is Auto (ScanDisk
; adjusts to the current display).
;
; Mouse Enables or disables mouse support. The default value is On.
;
; ScanTimeOut Determines whether ScanDisk should detect disk timeouts
; while performing a surface scan. The default value is Off.
;
; NumPasses Determines how many times ScanDisk should check each
; cluster during a surface scan. The default value is 1.
;
; LabelCheck Determines whether ScanDisk should check volume labels
; for invalid characters. The default is Off.
;
; LfnCheck Activates Scandisk to validate Long File Names, if they exist.
; The default is ON, to check Long File Names for problems.
;
; SpaceCheck Determines whether ScanDisk should check for invalid spaces
; in filenames. The default is Off.
;
; Mount Determines whether ScanDisk will mount unmounted DoubleSpace
; drives once it has determined they are error-free.
;

[ENVIRONMENT]
Display = Auto ; Auto, Mono, Color, Off
Mouse = On ; On, Off
ScanTimeOut = On ; On, Off
NumPasses = 1 ; 1 through 65,535 (anything over 10 is slow)
LabelCheck = Off ; On, Off
LfnCheck = On ; On, Off
SpaceCheck = Off ; On, Off
Mount = Prompt ; Prompt, Always, Never

; -------------------------------------------------------------------
; The [CUSTOM] section determines ScanDisk's behavior when ScanDisk is
; started with the /CUSTOM switch. You can adjust these settings to
; create a customized "version" of ScanDisk. This can be especially
; useful for running ScanDisk from a batch file. The [CUSTOM] settings are:
;
; DriveSummary Determines whether ScanDisk displays full-screen
; summary information after checking each drive.
; The default is Auto (ScanDisk displays the summary
; only if it encounters errors on that drive).
;
; AllSummary Determines whether ScanDisk displays full-screen
; summary information after checking all drives.
; The default is Auto (ScanDisk displays the summary
; only if it encounters errors on any drive).
;
; Surface Determines whether ScanDisk will perform a surface scan:
; Never (Default) Does not perform a surface scan.
; Always Performs a surface scan without prompting first.
; Prompt Prompts before performing a surface scan.
; The /SURFACE command-line switch overrides this setting.
;
; CheckHost Determines whether ScanDisk will first check a host drive
; before checking any compressed drives located on that drive.
; Never (Default) Does not check the host drive.
; Always Checks the host drive without prompting first.
; Prompt Prompts before checking the host drive.
;
; SaveLog Determines what ScanDisk does with the repair log file:
; Off (Default) Does not save the repair log.
; Append Appends the log to the previous log, if any.
; Overwrite Replaces the previous log with the new log.
;
; Undo Determines whether ScanDisk creates an Undo floppy disk.
; The default is Never (ScanDisk does not create an Undo disk).
; The Prompt value causes ScanDisk to prompt you for a disk.

[CUSTOM]
DriveSummary = Off ; Auto, On, Off
AllSummary = Off ; Auto, On, Off
Surface = Never ; Never, Always, Prompt
CheckHost = Always ; Never, Always, Prompt
SaveLog = Append ; Off, Append, Overwrite
Undo = Never ; Prompt, Never

; The following settings determine the corrective action ScanDisk will
; take if it was started with the /CUSTOM switch and finds a disk error.

; The next five settings accept any of the following values:
; Prompt Causes ScanDisk to prompt you before fixing this problem.
; Fix Causes ScanDisk to fix the problem without prompting you.
; Quit Causes ScanDisk to terminate if it encounters this problem.

DS_Header = Fix ; Damaged DoubleSpace volume file header
FAT_Media = Fix ; Missing or invalid FAT media byte
Okay_Entries = Fix ; Damaged, but repairable, directories/files
Bad_Chain = Fix ; Files or directories which should be truncated
Crosslinks = Fix ; FAT-level crosslinks


; The next seven settings accept any of the following values:
; Prompt Causes ScanDisk to prompt you before fixing this problem.
; Fix Causes ScanDisk to fix the problem without prompting you.
; Quit Causes ScanDisk to terminate if it encounters this problem.
; Skip Causes ScanDisk to skip fixing this problem, but continue
; checking the disk.

Boot_Sector = Fix ; Damaged boot sector on DoubleSpace drive
FSInfo_Sector = Fix ; Incorrect free space count
Invalid_MDFAT = Fix ; Invalid MDFAT entries
DS_Crosslinks = Fix ; Internal (MDFAT-level) crosslinks
DS_LostClust = Fix ; Internal lost clusters
DS_Signatures = Fix ; Missing DoubleSpace volume signatures
Mismatch_FAT = Fix ; Mismatched FATs on non-DoubleSpace drives
Bad_Clusters = Prompt ; Physical damage or decompression errors


; The next setting accepts any of the following values:
;
; Prompt Causes ScanDisk to prompt you before fixing this problem.
; Delete Causes ScanDisk to delete the damaged directory entries
; without prompting you first.
; Quit Causes ScanDisk to terminate if it encounters this problem.

Bad_Entries = Delete ; Damaged and irrepairable directories or files


; The next setting accepts any of the following values:
;
; Prompt Causes ScanDisk to prompt you before fixing this problem.
; Save Causes ScanDisk to save the lost clusters as files in the
; root directory without prompting you first.
; Delete Causes ScanDisk to delete the contents of the lost clusters
; without prompting you first.
; Quit Causes ScanDisk to terminate if it encounters this problem.
; Skip Causes ScanDisk to skip fixing this problem, but continue
; checking the disk.

LostClust = Delete ; Lost clusters
***

This Scandisk.ini is from WinMe but should be similar to 98, gives you the idea, yes?

This can be modded and added to a boot floppy with Scandisk.exe or saved to Windows/Command

You are not yet at a point where you could reload without a format.

Once you have ripped out the Logitech stuff from /system etc., and modded system.ini; step by step or a straight boot and redetect may get you home.

Andy.

 

[katman96]

I was unable to get Scandisk (manual mode) to clean the FAT. (Translation, I'm Screwed) As a last ditch attempt do you know how to get to the "Other FAT", what is it a backup copy or something? Thanks - Ed