Windows 98 just doesnt start. 1

[Guest_imported]

Hi,

I have this problem with Win98 that I hope some kind person can help me with.

Windows doesnt start properly. It just stops loading and the only thing I see after startup is the Windows background picture, no desktop icons. At the same time the mouse cursor freezes. I have tried booting with a Win98 bootdisk but to my surprise, the computer doesnt even notice the bootdisk and just starts Windows, with the same terrible result as above.

The mystery is that the computer was working fine before and I havent installed any hardware or software recently.

Can somebody please help me with this?

 

[edfair]

This is one symptom of a boot sector virus.
Try power cycling your PC and using a fresh boot disk. Ed Fair
unixstuff@juno.com
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[Guest_imported]

Thanks for your reply, I appreciate it.

Boot Sector virus? Sounds really bad.
What does power cycling mean, and can I learn how to do it?

Is it so that my current bootdisk has become infected too?


Lisa

 

[edfair]

Power cycling is shutting the computer down so any thing that is in memory goes away. Power off the computer and remove the power cord for 15 to 30 seconds. Then boot with a clean boot floppy.
Yeah, they can be nasty.
You have links in the FAQ section of the thread that will lead you to virus information. Ed Fair
unixstuff@juno.com
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[mintaka]

It could be a boot sector virus, but that would be a suggestion for a bit further down the line, I think. Windows does these things from time to time, I would check your BIOS to see if your boot sequence is set to boot from floppy first. That would be the reason that it didn't recognise the floppy last time. Also you could boot to a command prompt by holding down the Ctrl key during bootup, run scanreg from the command prompt and replace the registry with a backup. Just a few suggestions to try. Hope you get it fixed, Lisa.

 

[edfair]

Mintaka is correct. I made some assumptions that could be false. And if CMOS settings have changed from the original setup it could be a symptom of a battery problem. Ed Fair
unixstuff@juno.com
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[Guest_imported]

I have the same problem with windows 98 myself!

Aren't replacing the registry and checking the battery little bit to difficult for ordinary users? Or am I wrong?

 

[fedto]

Something else to consider is the possiblility that the paging file may be full. Working on a helpdesk I have seen this many times. See if you can get into safemode, if you can do a search for *.tmp and delete any that are found. Empty the recycling bin. Also go into internet options in control panel and delete the temporary internet files.
Then perform a complete shut down, leave it down for about 15-20 seconds, then boot it back up.
If it still fails, go back into safemode and go to start>run and in open type msconfig. Take the checks out of process autoexac.bat and config.sys, click on apply and ok and reboot.
It could be something starting, or it could also be a driver called for by either the autoexec.bat or config.sys files causing the problem.
If this does fix the problem, go back into msconfig and put the checks in the autoexec.bat file and try adding checks back into the individual lines until it will not boot. If it does and all are checked, do the same for the config.sys file.
Hope this helps.

fedto

 

[Guest_imported]

just passing by.. this site is great..

hi. i have the same problem as Lisa Wernersson.
when i turn the computer on windows 98 starts and i can see the loading screen, but then quickly shuts off. i then find myself at a menu screen. It says that i can go safe mode, normal etc. i try safe does not work, nothing does. Also i tryed booting manualy and i get missing himen, missing and other files. then it say can not win.com.. my computer was working fine before this except for the last time i was on. after surfing the net i came back to the desktop screen and noticed that some of the icons were missing. thinking it was just a glich i shut down and i now it dosen't work at all..

could someone please help me out????????

 

[jackha]

This may not help, but when I'm grasping at straws I grab a straw. Restoring regestery in win98 is not difficult because it stores a copy everytime you bootup which is often forgoten. If the reg. that is saved is not also corrupted this might work so give it a shot.. While booting hold down Ctrl. key and you will see the start menu select command prompt, at the command prompt type in cd\windows\command once there type in scanreg/restore this will restore from a previously backed up regestry and if it is not also corrupted and if this is the problem it should at least let you get into safe mode.. "hope this helps" jackha

 

[pintail]

I had the exact same problem! Glad to see solutions. My problem started when I attempted to install a patch from MS. (Dont remenber which one.)

 

[Guest_imported]

ive got a similar problem it started up fine before but now it will only go to my windows background no icons startup programs nothing and i tried the holding down ctrl at boot up but me doesnt have the dos promt that i can see anyway

if anyone can help i would be really appreciative
thanx
spoona