No Start Menu and Empty Windows

[BionicJohn]

My mum's PC (Win98Se, Intel P200MMX, 384Mb, Matrox Mystique VGA, 3Gb HDD) has gone funny.

Windows loads up OK, and the desktop looks as expected - but when the "Start" button is clicked, no menu appears.

Right clicking on the Taskbar produces nothing.

Double-clicking on "My Computer" opens it OK, but the window is empty, void. And the Minimise, Restore and Exit buttons (Marlett font) are missing but clicking on them works.

I ran Ctrl+Atl+Del but couldn't see anything I didn't expect.

It would appear to be a virus but she says she hasn't used her e-mail for a long time, and Norton AV is active and not too far out of date (Dec 03), so I'm looking else where. Zone Alarm is installed and active. She lives alone and there's no evidence of other users.

Any ideas before I attempt to over-install Win98SE, bearing in mind I can't access the Control Panel, Windows Explorer or any of the usual basic apps.

Cheers!

Iechyd da! John
Glannau Mersi, Lloegr.

 

[mattjurado]

Can you boot to safe mode? If so, tell me how it responds there.

Also, if safe mode works, run msconfig. Go to the startup tab, uncheck everything but systray, and reboot. Post back with results.

Matt J.

P.S. Please always take the time to backup any and all data before performing any actions suggested for ANY problem, regardless of how minor a change it might seem. Also test the backup to make sure it is intact.

 

[BionicJohn]

Thanks Matt,

I won't be seeing my mum til the weekend.

I'll see what happens in safe mode and if I can actually get to "Run…" and type something in.

Otherwise I'm thinking of a Win98 startup floppy and overinstalling.

Iechyd da! John
Glannau Mersi, Lloegr.

 

[1043]

Try booting to dos prompt and type the following. scanreg /fix
Then reboot and see if that helps.

 

[BionicJohn]

Thanks, 1043.

Iechyd da! John
Glannau Mersi, Lloegr.

 

[TekTippy4U]

Is TweakUI installed?

Just took a look at that Marlett Font.....It's NOT a legible font, so change it...

Righr click any on blank Desktop area >> Properties >> Appearance Tab and use the Scheme Drop Down Menu to choose ANY scheme at all....click OK.
Should work, and all your odd symptoms would appear to able to be caused by this...

If still no joy;
Boot to a Command Prompt only from Win Start Menu, by holding the CTRL key on boot, right before the Win Logo would appear normally (Same as accessing Safe Mode) and use these commands;
CD \WINDOWS
COPY SYSTEM.INI SYSTEM.XYZ (I say xyz cause .bak, .old, .1st may be there already)
to make a Backup copy of SYSTEM.INI, then
EDIT SYSTEM.INI

to get to C:\WINDOWS\System.ini to change below listed settings to match...Dont forget, after making changes to SAVE by
ALT+F (for file menu) then S (for Save)...
then ALT+F, then X (to exit)

pat attention to the font listings in BOLD only (I left the rest for reference)
SYSTEM.INI
[boot]
oemfonts.fon=vgaoem.fon
system.drv=system.drv
drivers=mmsystem.dll power.drv
shell=Explorer.exe
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
386Grabber=vgafull.3gr
display.drv=pnpdrvr.drv
fonts.fon=vgasys.fon
fixedfon.fon=vgafix.fon

If you can change any of this from Safe Mode instead.....Use it

Don't do anything below, unless you've done above and no joy....(I'm not sure Exactly what your System NEEDS or DOESN'T Need)
I also have these settings in System.ini relating to Fonts, just in case for reference
WIN.INI
[NonWindowsApp]
TTInitialSizes=4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 18 20 22

[TTFontDimenCache]
0 4=2 4
0 5=3 5
0 6=4 6
0 7=4 7
0 8=5 8
0 9=5 9
0 10=6 10
0 11=7 11
0 12=7 12
0 13=8 13
0 14=8 14
0 15=9 15
0 16=10 16
0 18=11 18
0 20=12 20
0 22=13 22

The usual Default font for Win98 is MS Sans Serife
Look in WIN.INI (also in C:\WINDOWS) also for Marlett Font listed under

[Fonts]
(mine has nothing here)

[MSCharMap]
Font=Times New Roman

[FontSubstitutes]
Helv=MS Sans Serif
Tms Rmn=MS Serif
Times=Times New Roman
Helvetica=Arial
MS Shell Dlg=MS Sans Serif
Arial Baltic,186=Arial,186
Courier New Baltic,186=Courier New,186
Times New Roman Baltic,186=Times New Roman,186
Arial CE,238=Arial,238
Courier New CE,238=Courier New,238
Times New Roman CE,238=Times New Roman,238
Arial Cyr,204=Arial,204
Courier New Cyr,204=Courier New,204
Times New Roman Cyr,204=Times New Roman,204
Arial Greek,161=Arial,161
Courier New Greek,161=Courier New,161
Times New Roman Greek,161=Times New Roman,161
Arial Tur,162=Arial,162
Courier New Tur,162=Courier New,162
Times New Roman Tur,162=Times New Roman,162
MS Shell Dlg 2=MS Sans Serif
Monotype.com=Andale Mono


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]

OOops!
..made a typo there... THIS area listed above as
I also have these settings in System.ini relating to Fonts, just in case for reference
WIN.INI
[NonWindowsApp]
TTInitialSizes=4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 18 20 22
shouldn't have WIN.INI in it...

SHOULD BE
I also have these settings in System.ini relating to Fonts, just in case for reference
SYSTEM.INI
[NonWindowsApp]
TTInitialSizes=4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 18 20 22

The WIN.INI thing belongs down further (I misplaced it).....DOH!



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.

 

[BionicJohn]

Hi, TekTippy4U,

> Right click any on blank Desktop

Sorry, right-click inactive!!!

But you're right, TweakUi is installed.

I need to print everything you've suggested and go back to my mum's.

It seems well *****ed up to me and if a few hours tinkering doesn't help, it's going to be FDISK and a start afresh.

Thanks.

Iechyd da! John
Glannau Mersi, Lloegr.

 

[TekTippy4U]

Try this;
Copy and Paste this into a NotePad file, you create...call it, oh say, TweakDefaults.txt and Save
Then change the File Extension to .reg
(TweakDefaults.reg)
Double click it to MERGE into Registry

-----------------Snip all below this line-------------------
REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoDriveTypeAutoRun"=hex:b5,00,00,00
"NoSaveSettings"=hex:00,00,00,00
"NoStartBanner"=hex:01,00,00,00
"NoLogoff"=dword:00000000
"Btn_Back"=dword:00000000
"Btn_Forward"=dword:00000000
"Btn_Stop"=dword:00000000
"Btn_Refresh"=dword:00000000
"Btn_Home"=dword:00000000
"Btn_Search"=dword:00000000
"Btn_History"=dword:00000000
"Btn_Favorites"=dword:00000000
"Btn_Folders"=dword:00000000
"Btn_Fullscreen"=dword:00000000
"Btn_Tools"=dword:00000000
"Btn_MailNews"=dword:00000000
"Btn_Size"=dword:00000000
"Btn_Print"=dword:00000000
"Btn_Edit"=dword:00000000
"Btn_Discussions"=dword:00000000
"Btn_Cut"=dword:00000000
"Btn_Copy"=dword:00000000
"Btn_Paste"=dword:00000000
"Btn_Encoding"=dword:00000000
"NoActiveDesktop"=dword:00000000
"NoActiveDesktopChanges"=dword:00000000
"NoInternetIcon"=dword:00000000
"NoNetHood"=dword:00000000
"NoDesktop"=dword:00000000
"NoFavoritesMenu"=dword:00000000
"NoFind"=dword:00000000
"NoRun"=dword:00000000
"NoSetActiveDesktop"=dword:00000000
"NoWindowsUpdate"=dword:00000000
"NoChangeStartMenu"=dword:00000000
"NoFolderOptions"=dword:00000000
"NoRecentDocsMenu"=dword:00000000
"NoRecentDocsHistory"=dword:00000000
"ClearRecentDocsOnExit"=dword:00000000
"NoClose"=dword:00000000
"NoSetFolders"=dword:00000000
"NoSetTaskbar"=dword:00000000
"NoTrayContextMenu"=dword:00000000
"NoFileMenu"=dword:00000000
"NoViewContextMenu"=dword:00000000
"EnforceShellExtensionSecurity"=dword:00000000
"LinkResolveIgnoreLinkInfo"=dword:00000000
"NoDrives"=dword:00000000
"NoNetConnectDisconnect"=dword:00000000
"NoDeletePrinter"=dword:00000000
"NoAddPrinter"=dword:00000000
"NoPrinterTabs"=dword:00000000


---------------------Snip all above this line---------------

INCLUDE the 2 empty lines too, at the END of file......they're needed....

If some joy finally, you should be able to access everything now......check for these entries also at this Key in REG;

HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
which is the Basic User default profile settings.....so remove all settings from here, or change them to match above

(just replace the main Bracketed Reg Key with this one), save as a new file name (TweakDefUser.reg)....and merge if you like.

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.

 

[BionicJohn]

I'll copy that to a floppy, but at the moment I can't get explorer/browse/open to display any files- it's a void.

Iechyd da! John
Glannau Mersi, Lloegr.

 

[TekTippy4U]

I guess that's one way to do it....create it in on one box and copy it to C:\WINDOWS\Desktop maybe, even if you have to do it in DOS mode, then startup.
I guess you could also create a .bat file so you can run it in DOS mode? (not sure exactly how to do it, I got bits and pieces only, in my lame brain right now)

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.

 

[yada]

Boot to command prompt, run C:\WINDOWS\Scandskw.exe see if that helps.

 

[TekTippy4U]

or C:\WINDOWS\Scandisk
...which is what runs anyway when you type Scandskw from a command prompt.
or just type Scandisk (If Command.com is in root, as it should be, it'll work)
Scandisk=MSDOS ver Scandskw=Win ver.
Msdos version does NOT fix all errors, so if you can boot afterwards into Win...re-run Scandskw

I can't imagine he wouldn't have done that..seems pretty technically proficient (otherwise how would he know about the Marlett font, etc..besides I've seen bigjohnd round here awhile)

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.

 

[BionicJohn]

I've tried most of what's been suggested but no luck.

I've even over installed Win98SE and no change!

There's no start menu, so I can't access "Run…" and Safe Mode is the same as Normal.

There's no problems booting to C:\, and autoexec.bat, config.sys. win.ini and system.ini all seem fine - as TT4U indicated.

Matlett is present as a hidden font.

> TweakDefaults.txt and Save Then change the File Extension to .reg

I've created that no problem on another machine and have saved it on a floppy. I'm going to copy it in DOS mode to C:\windows\desktop and see if it appears on the desktop - and hope a double click will enter it all into the registry.

I ran scanreg /fix, and it looked promising, but still the same result.

I've run Scandisk many times without it producing any errors msgs.

Ah well. One last try tonight. I have boot floppy, Win98SE CD, licence number, vid card drivers, mouse drivers, soundblaster drivers, modem drivers, IE5.5, AV and details for connecting to the ISP…

Thanks for all your help.

Iechyd da! John
Glannau Mersi, Lloegr.

 

[BionicJohn]

Just to let you know I've resolved it.

> TweakDefaults.txt and Save Then change the File Extension to .reg

I did that, and it duly appeare on the desktop, but, alas, no change.

So after messing around for a bit, I booted to C:\, renamed USER.DAT and SYSTEM.DAT and USER_D.OLD and SYSTEM-D.OLD and re-installed Win98Se.

Bar a couple of apps that need re-installing and a missing modem port, all is now well.

Thanks for all your support and advice.

Iechyd da! John
Glannau Mersi, Lloegr.

 

[TekTippy4U]

Oh well....I'm a bit late.....again!..
here goes nuthin much'

John;
Good luck tonight....
Not sure how much ya know, so may be 2nd nature by now to ya,... just wanna be helpful....in case you forget a step ( I always do, but manage eventually)

Everything I'm reading from MS, says to boot to "Safe Mode Command Prompt Only"
then try these commands first to try and MERGE the file AS IS....it may just work. (fingers crossed)
regedit :A:\Tweaku~1.txt
OR
regedit /L:A:\Tweaku~1.txt

OR
Copy the file over to C:\WINDOWS (heck, copy it everywhere ala "WINDOWS" -- "DESKTOP" -- "C:\" -- etc ) and then from within C:\WINDOWS (where REGEDIT.EXE resides) try this command;
regedit Tweaku~1.txt
OR
regedit /L:C:\WINDOWS\Tweaku~1.txt

I haven't had a chance to test it in action yet, and MS site is confusing about it on purpose I'm sure.....It seems from DOS mode, they say, that the Txt extension is way to go..

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

Remember the TweakDefaults.txt short filename......
(Tweaku~1.txt).

***Commands to change file ext***

Boot to a Safe Mode Command Prompt Only using F8 or the CTRL key...
Switch to ADir to take a peek, and notice the DOS filename)

Switch back to C:\ (you should easily be able to use the copy command)(you may need to make sure Command.com is in the C:\ root, or change to C:\WINDOWS and try.....CD WINDOWS <Enter&gt

From C:\ ( ...or.... C:\WINDOWS with the floppy in drive)

Copy A:\Tweaku~1.txt C:\WINDOWS\DESKTOP
Ren Tweaku~1.txt Tweaku~1.reg
(don't forget this here cause you have no right click, remember?:-O
Boot on up to Safe mode and fire away.... ...i hope

-- other quik help commands--
CD = Change Directory
CD..= Navigate one directory backwards

Use Dir /p /o:n for any LARGE Directory like a Fonts folder....this will give you alphabetized and will pause each screen till you hit any key.

Three silly MS articles;

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;131352

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

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

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.

 

[BionicJohn]

Thanks for the handy hints, but you're talking to the converted. I grew up on MTS on an IBM 360/67, and was quite at home with DOS3 and things like Edlin (yuk!) in the late 80s.

I'm still getting to grips with objects and icons, though!


Iechyd da! John
Glannau Mersi, Lloegr.

 

[TekTippy4U]

your welcome BigJohnD..
(In the hopes you, I and maybe others reading will be helped).....I was thinking (and delved deeper) there's even more of a much larger file that encompass other Reg keys as well, that may or may not have worked....such as certain values in;
HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG\Display\Settings
HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG\Display\Fonts
HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG\Display\Settings
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Config\0000\Display\Fonts
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Config\0000\Display\Settings
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Network
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\WinOldApp

If you're curious, take a peek at them, though I'm sure you've had your fill for now....
It's almost like someone got pee-ode and set everything wrong, using TweakUI, to cause massive headaches on purpose....how else?...unless a Virus/Worm etc...Unless changing the System Font to that Marlett crud can do that?...I would rather not try right now myself, and the "other" REG keys above would've fixed that hopefully....(the values aren't there...too much info, can be found by looking on a working pc)

Definitely, I should've said the
[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
should be used instead of, or actually along with
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
cause the HKU key will overwrite the HKCU key at logon/bootup, depending also on how User Profiles are set up on the box .(just correcting myself a little in hindsite)

I'm still getting to grips with objects and icons, though!
Anyway; glad you resolved it for the mum's sake. I'm having my own .bat -ty files nightmares, and even thinking of .vbs, C#, C++, DCOM and OLE will scare anyone...

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]

Hey john;
One more time and I promise I'll stop....it's just my nature to be thorough...
for the sake of learning, about font storage and usage, have a look at these Keys as well;
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\fontsize\120\System]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\fontsize\120\User]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\fontsize\96\System]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\fontsize\96\User]

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.

 

[MiggyD]

I know this is VERY late, but...[red]get rid of that font!![/red]

Both my wife and I had somehow picked up that Marlett font also, nearly 3 or 4 years ago. It created havoc on our computers because windows was using it as a "necessary" or "default" font. I could only unhide it but not delete it (not even in safe mode). I finally got rid of it by starting in DOS, CD'ing to the fonts' folder, and deleting it.

After that little episode, both our systems were running just fine. So, my personal suggestion is to [red]get rid of that supposed "font"!![/red]

--MiggyD