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appear to be a virus but she says she hasn't used her e-mail for a long time, and Norton AV is active and not too far out of date (Dec 03), so I'm looking else where.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.

 

[diogenes10]

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q133725

MiggyD
This and other links I read from a google search marlett font would imply the proper step is to restore the file rather than deleting it.

 

[BionicJohn]

Hi, TekTippy4U,

Thanks for all your research. The problem at the time was I was unable to read/edit the Registry - I could only amend it by creating a *.REG textfile in Edit from the DOS Prompt or copying one from a floppy, and putting it the folder C:\Windows\Desktop. When Windows loaded, I could then double click and amend the registry.

All seems to be OK at the moment.

Hi, diogenes10,

Yes, that link is more like it, except all the menus were missing!

Hi, MiggyD

> Both my wife and I had somehow picked up that Marlett font

I'm not sure what you mean by that. Martlett is a hidden font. There's no leters of the alphabet in it - it's all the symbols you see in the top right hand corner of a window, the little arrows in the scroll bars and so on.

If it's deleted, then you will have a horendous time navigating your way around windows. As diogenes10 says, restoring it is the likely action rather than deleting it, or it can be substituted for customisation.

In my case the font was present, but it was corrupt or not being found or something.

However, we're up and running OK with so far no loss of data. I now just need to find the modem/port setup files for some poxy no-name internal Motorola 56K PCI. I got them some where…

Iechyd da! John
Glannau Mersi, Lloegr.

 

[diogenes10]

john
if you cant find your disk/cd, if you can come up with some kind of model info you might be able to turn something up at the link I gave in the hp ethernet card thread (currently a couple of lines down).

 

[BionicJohn]

Hi, diogenes10,

Many thanks, but after a few searches, I've found the setup files - "Motorola SM56 Software Modems"

Iechyd da! John
Glannau Mersi, Lloegr.

 

[BionicJohn]

Update.

I couldn't get Win98 to fully recognise the internal modem.

I tried everything I could think of - disabling COM2 in the BIOS; removing the card, rebooting to ensure it's not present, re-fitting it and rebooting again; running the setup program. Nothing.

Windows would detect a PCI device on startup but wouldn't create the port or accept the *.INF file.

I've concluded it's junk and found an old external 3COM/USR 556K Fax/Modem which was found straightaway on COM2.

Thanks for all your help.

Iechyd da! John
Glannau Mersi, Lloegr.

 

[TekTippy4U]

Hi John;
Who knows....maybe the ESCD in the BIOS needs to be cleared "before" the installation of the newly added PCI card , so Win can reconfig the IRQ steering. Safe Mode is a must for doing these things, whether it's adding OR removing instances of devices..
Also maybe disablng the IRQ steering in the PCI Bus -- Irq steering tab under System Devices in Device Mangler may have helped...and that stupid way COM1 and 3, and 2 and 4 share Interrupts, usually with the mouse...who knows

shots in the dark;
Especially since it's a piece of hardware added "after" the main OS hardware detection phase....This is when the Vmm32.vxd file gets built with up to 50 drivers or more (mine's got ~43) as a monolithic file..... that Configmg.vxd uses...

Maybe even the networking components/adapters/protocols had something to do with it..as the Internal device wasn't set up during Orig. config....(like uninstalling/re-installing the TCP/IP stack maybe...or even the Winsock2 prob.)..again..., not sure.

Though you should be able to add a PCI Card anytime afterwards, so...
Also the PCI Bus using "Hardware" or "BIOS" for device enumeration under Settings tab....may have something to do with it, as well as the PnP setting in the BIOS...

Don't know for sure with any of this...thought I'd throw out a couple of future options, in case you decide to try that Motorola in another machine.....If not, give it a pounding with a Sledge, for giving you the headaches.

ps Thanks for the update
glad you got *a* modem that works.....(figures it's an external, you're better off anyways with an external)

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, TT4U,

Thanks for writing in. The PC's pretty old, it's a Pentium 200, and really needs replacing. And the BIOS is ancient too, as a P200 was the fastest CPU it would accept. Plus it's probably un-upgradable other than by physical replacement of the module/chip.

> This is when the Vmm32.vxd file gets built with up to 50 drivers or more (mine's got ~43) as a monolithic file..... that Configmg.vxd uses...

I thought had that sorted. See this link -

http://www.easttexaschat.com/_tips/VxD_drivers.htm

Yes, the 3COM modem is external and works fine though take up a bit of desk pace, but the flashing lights give immeidate reassurance.

> give it a pounding with a Sledge,

I'll let the kids take it apart to see how it works!

Iechyd da! John
Glannau Mersi, Lloegr.

 

[TekTippy4U]

Hi John;
Don't know what's wrong with that site link...can't open it fully....only get the top part of page after a Loooong time...
I have my security pretty high though and special bozo ad-giving tracker sites in my Restrictrd Zone (don't know if this is the cause??)....view the source code and look at the keywords.

Anyway, see this;

http://www.infinisource.com/techfiles/vmm32.html

Primarily concerning OEMs and the Mobo specific hardware

Go to this key in the REG and have a look see;
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\VMM32Files
and try to count them all..

BTW;
Maybe your kids can have some fun with that modem and a toy phone...and when the operator doesn't put the call through...down comes the mallet..


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]

Also John;
If you'd like to read more like this snipped text below (found on the Win98 FE (SE?) OEM CD);

-------------------------------------------
Initializing Static VxDs at Startup
Windows 98 supports static VxDs that load during system startup in the same way as Windows 3.x VxDs, and it also supports dynamically loaded VxDs. Vmm32.vxd includes the real-mode loader, the executable Virtual Machine Manager, and common static VxDs. Notice, however, that if a VxD file is in the \Windows\System\Vmm32 directory, Windows 98 loads it in addition to the combined VxDs in Vmm32.vxd.

Note

If you want to update a VxD that has been bound into the monolithic Vmm32.vxd, place the VxD file in the System\Vmm32 directory. Windows 98 always checks that directory and uses any individual VxDs it finds instead of loading those bound in Vmm32.vxd.

The following list shows the VxDs typically combined to create Vmm32.vxd. (A custom list is built for each computer.) These drivers used to be specified in the [386enh] section of System.ini.

*biosxlat
*configmg
*dynapage
*ebios
*enable
*ifsmgr
*int13 *ios
*parity
*reboot
*vcache
*vcd
*vcomm
*vcond *vdd
*vdef
*vfat
*vfbackup
*vflatd
*vkd
*vmcpd *vmouse
*vmpoll
*vpd
*vsd
*vtdapi
*vwin32
*vxdldr


VMM32 loads VxDs in three steps:

VMM32 loads base drivers specified in the registry, which contains entries for every VxD not directly associated with any hardware. VxDs are located in the following branch of the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_Machine\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD

If VMM32 finds a value StaticVxD= in any registry key, it loads that VxD and runs its real-mode initialization. For example, the following entry loads *V86MMGR:
SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\V86MemoryManger
Description=MS-DOS Virtual 8086 Memory Manager
Manufacturer=Microsoft
StaticVxD=*V86MMGR
EMMEXCLUDE=E000-EFFF

VMM32 loads the static VxDs specified in the device=*VxD lines in the [386enh] section of System.ini. These VxDs are actually loaded from VMM32, and appear in System.ini only for backward compatibility.
If a specific device conflicts with a device loaded from the registry, the device specified in System.ini takes precedence. However, if the device specified in System.ini cannot be found, an error occurs.

Many Windows 98 driver models, such as integrated office system (IOS) (for disk drivers) and the network, support dynamically loaded device drivers. These VxDs are not loaded by the VMM32 real-mode loader, but are loaded by a device loader that is responsible for loading and initializing the drivers at the correct time and in the correct order.

For example, for SCSI adapter miniport drivers, the device loader is *Ios. The entries for a SCSI adapter are found in the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_Machine\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Class

Because there is no StaticVxD=xxx line in this registry entry, the VMM32 real-mode loader does nothing when Windows 98 identifies this device.

Configuration Manager attempts to find any device node that has a DevLoader= entry in the registry. The device loader (in the previous example, *Ios) examines the registry, finds the PortDriver= entry, loads the driver and any associated support drivers, and initializes the adapter.

Loading the Protected-Mode Operating System at Startup
In the previous phase, the following elements of the operating system were loaded:

Win.com, which controls the initial checks and loading of the core Windows 98 components.
Vmm32.vxd, which creates virtual machines and initiates VxD loading.
System.ini, which is read for entries that differ from registry entries.
After all static VxDs have been loaded, Vmm32.vxd switches the processor to operate in protected mode, and the last phase of the boot process begins. This phase involves loading the protected-mode components of the operating system.

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

All well and good John...(figure might as well make this thread a R-E-A-L L-O-N-G one, cause if anybody reads down this thread this far, they deserve some info.

You can find this on the CDROM at
<drive>\tools\reskit
View the Readme.doc
Run the Setup.exe to install the Sampler....
or just navigate to
<drive>\tools\reskit\help
and just view the html Book version

Use the Search function, and type in VMM32

TT4U

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