marccunn
08-28-2002, 08:23 PM
Hello All:
Recently I reformatted my C:\ drive and reinstalled my W98SE. The reformat/reinstall went flawlessly. I reinstalled all my drivers, almost all my applications, etc., and then I checked the new W98SE reinstallation using Norton System Works 2001, CheckIt 98 and SystemSuite 4. The system worked perfectly! Actually, it seemed to work even better than when I first got it! All the hardware and software worked flawlessly. I then ran the W98SE Registry Checker, and there were no errors, so I backed up the Registry, created a W98SE Startup Disk and a set of Norton Rescue Disks. Then I was ready to reinstall my final application - Visual Studio 6. During the reinstallation of VS6, the computer was required to restart itself numerous times. Each time it worked fine. Then, when the the VS6 installation had been completed, and the computer had to restart for the last time, the boot sequence only got as far as the logo on the opening screen, and then the computer froze. The Enter Setup message did not appear at the botom of the screen. I restarted the computer using the Norton Rescue Disks. I ran all the diagnostic applications noted above, and no errors were detected. I could not figure out what the problem had been, but because it occurred during the boot sequence, I went to the General tab of the System Configuration Utility, and unchecked all the Selective Startup boxes, and restarted the computer. It completed the boot sequence without any problem. One by one, I checked each box in Selective Startup, and restrated the computer. Each time the boot sequence worked, until I checked the last box, the Autoexec.bat box. This time the boot sequence got up to right after the Windows logo screen, and then a new splash screen appeared in DOS letters, with the lines of my Autoexec.bat file, plus a new line telling me that Windows could not find the WIN.COM file, and so it could not load. I got the computer restarted again using the Norton Rescue Disks, and immediately unchecked the Autoexec.bat box in the General tab of the System Configuration Utility. Then I searched for WIN.COM. It was in the C:\WINDOWS folder. I went to the Microsoft Knowledge Base, and found Article Q136630, which seemed to be diectly on point. Unfortunately, the instructions were a bit confusing to me. The Article indicated that I was getting that error message during the boot sequence because WIN.COM was missing. Yet it was right there in the C:\WINDOWS Folder, and it was exactly the right size listed in the Article. Item 1. explains how to extract Win.cnf from a .cab file on the W98SE CD. Item 2. explains how to rename that file to WIN.COM. Following the instructions for Item 1. results in creating a shortcut, not the WIN.COM file itself. Entering the indicated command for Item 2. in the Run line results in an error. I then just renamed WIN.COM to WIN.OLD, and then ran System File Checker. SFC indicated that WIN.COM had been deleted, and then I was able to restore WIN.COM from the W98SE CD (the new WIN.COM is the exact same size as WIN.OLD - which is the correct size, according to the Article). I checked the Autoexec.bat box again in Selective Startup, and restarted the computer. I got the same splash screen, saying Windows could not load because WIN.COM couldn't be found. I got the computer restarted again, unchecked the Autoexec.bat box, and then restarted in DOS mode. Then I ran scanreg /fix. It got up to 77%, and then I got an error message: "Microsoft Registry Checker REPAIRING C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.DAT Registry Repair Results Windows found an error in your system files and was unable to fix the problem. Try deleting some files to free up disk space on your Windows drive. If that doesn't work then you will need to install Windows to a new Directory.". Just to be sure, I ran scanreg /fix again, and got the exact same result. I have a 20Gb hard drive, with 12Gb of free space, so why should I need to "delete some files" (which ones?) "to free up disk space."? I do not have any partitions on the drive. W98SE is installed in its default directory, and I did not make any changes to any installation settings during the W98SE or VS6 installations. The computer seems to be working fine, except for this pesky Registry problem. I am particularly bothered by it due to the fact that my recent reformat/reinstall seemed to improve the system's performance. Now I do not really know what the problem is with my Registry, and apparently cannot fix it. Does anyone have any experience with this issue? If so, is there a successful fix for this problem (whatever the problem is?)? I have a MICRON Millenium with 768Mb RAM. Any advice would be most appreciated. Thanks. Marc.
Recently I reformatted my C:\ drive and reinstalled my W98SE. The reformat/reinstall went flawlessly. I reinstalled all my drivers, almost all my applications, etc., and then I checked the new W98SE reinstallation using Norton System Works 2001, CheckIt 98 and SystemSuite 4. The system worked perfectly! Actually, it seemed to work even better than when I first got it! All the hardware and software worked flawlessly. I then ran the W98SE Registry Checker, and there were no errors, so I backed up the Registry, created a W98SE Startup Disk and a set of Norton Rescue Disks. Then I was ready to reinstall my final application - Visual Studio 6. During the reinstallation of VS6, the computer was required to restart itself numerous times. Each time it worked fine. Then, when the the VS6 installation had been completed, and the computer had to restart for the last time, the boot sequence only got as far as the logo on the opening screen, and then the computer froze. The Enter Setup message did not appear at the botom of the screen. I restarted the computer using the Norton Rescue Disks. I ran all the diagnostic applications noted above, and no errors were detected. I could not figure out what the problem had been, but because it occurred during the boot sequence, I went to the General tab of the System Configuration Utility, and unchecked all the Selective Startup boxes, and restarted the computer. It completed the boot sequence without any problem. One by one, I checked each box in Selective Startup, and restrated the computer. Each time the boot sequence worked, until I checked the last box, the Autoexec.bat box. This time the boot sequence got up to right after the Windows logo screen, and then a new splash screen appeared in DOS letters, with the lines of my Autoexec.bat file, plus a new line telling me that Windows could not find the WIN.COM file, and so it could not load. I got the computer restarted again using the Norton Rescue Disks, and immediately unchecked the Autoexec.bat box in the General tab of the System Configuration Utility. Then I searched for WIN.COM. It was in the C:\WINDOWS folder. I went to the Microsoft Knowledge Base, and found Article Q136630, which seemed to be diectly on point. Unfortunately, the instructions were a bit confusing to me. The Article indicated that I was getting that error message during the boot sequence because WIN.COM was missing. Yet it was right there in the C:\WINDOWS Folder, and it was exactly the right size listed in the Article. Item 1. explains how to extract Win.cnf from a .cab file on the W98SE CD. Item 2. explains how to rename that file to WIN.COM. Following the instructions for Item 1. results in creating a shortcut, not the WIN.COM file itself. Entering the indicated command for Item 2. in the Run line results in an error. I then just renamed WIN.COM to WIN.OLD, and then ran System File Checker. SFC indicated that WIN.COM had been deleted, and then I was able to restore WIN.COM from the W98SE CD (the new WIN.COM is the exact same size as WIN.OLD - which is the correct size, according to the Article). I checked the Autoexec.bat box again in Selective Startup, and restarted the computer. I got the same splash screen, saying Windows could not load because WIN.COM couldn't be found. I got the computer restarted again, unchecked the Autoexec.bat box, and then restarted in DOS mode. Then I ran scanreg /fix. It got up to 77%, and then I got an error message: "Microsoft Registry Checker REPAIRING C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.DAT Registry Repair Results Windows found an error in your system files and was unable to fix the problem. Try deleting some files to free up disk space on your Windows drive. If that doesn't work then you will need to install Windows to a new Directory.". Just to be sure, I ran scanreg /fix again, and got the exact same result. I have a 20Gb hard drive, with 12Gb of free space, so why should I need to "delete some files" (which ones?) "to free up disk space."? I do not have any partitions on the drive. W98SE is installed in its default directory, and I did not make any changes to any installation settings during the W98SE or VS6 installations. The computer seems to be working fine, except for this pesky Registry problem. I am particularly bothered by it due to the fact that my recent reformat/reinstall seemed to improve the system's performance. Now I do not really know what the problem is with my Registry, and apparently cannot fix it. Does anyone have any experience with this issue? If so, is there a successful fix for this problem (whatever the problem is?)? I have a MICRON Millenium with 768Mb RAM. Any advice would be most appreciated. Thanks. Marc.