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ivebeentired
08-05-2005, 09:00 PM
hello, I have a problem starting up my Windows 98 computer. I have no clue whats wrong. I only use the computer to edit music and right before it stopped starting up i had been working on something that I need to save so I dont want to re install windows at this point.

when i start the computer this is what it says-

"CANNOT FIND DEVICE FILE NEEDED TO RUN WINDOWS OR A WINDOWS APPLICATION

THE WINDOWS REGISTRY OR SYSTEM.INI FILE REFERS TO THIS DEVICE FILE BUT THE DEVICE FILE NO LONGER EXISTS.

IF YOU DELETED THE FILE TRY UNINSTALLING ASSOCIATED APPLICATION USING ITS UNINSTALL OR SETUP PROGRAM

IF YOU STILL WANT TO USE THE APPLICATION ASSOCIATED W/ THIS DEVICE FILE TRY REINSTALLING THAT APPLICATION TO REPLACE THE MISSING FILE

C:/WINDOWS/SYSTEM/VMM32/ifsmgr.VXD
C:/WINDOWS/SYSTEM/VMM32/ios.VXD
C:/WINDOWS/SYSTEM/MVV32/IFSMGR.VXD
C:/WINDOWS/SYSTEM/MVV32/IOS.VXD

WHILE INITIALIZING DEVICE INT13: INVALID. VxD DYNAMIC LINK CALL TO DEVICE NUMBER 10, SERVICE7. YOUR WINDOWS CONFIGURATION IS INVALID. RUN THE WINDOWS SETUP PROGRAM AGAIN TO CORRECT THIS PROBLEM."

Then the computer shuts itself off

i can get the the command prompt but i have no clue what to do there. any help would be appreciated. these are very important files that i need to save as quickly as possible.

thanks
-pete
BertImmenschuh
08-06-2005, 05:09 AM
Can you get into Safe Mode? Start pressing the Ctrl key when you hear the computer beep.

<font color=blue>Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.</font color=blue> <font color=green>Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.</font color=green>
ivebeentired
08-06-2005, 10:22 AM
no i cant. the computer isnt even beeping. i pressed the ctrl key but it didnt do anything.

it will go to the prompt where you can choose safe mode but it wont let me choose it, it only stays up for a second before it switches to the windows 98 screen.
monkey_1
08-06-2005, 10:31 AM
Use the F8 key instead of CTRL...

<font color=orange>Mono</font color=orange>
BertImmenschuh
08-06-2005, 10:39 AM
See if there's some help on http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/index.php?act=ST&f=3&t=31700 (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q188867>http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q188867</a>

Check)
for more information on Startup.

<font color=blue>Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.</font color=blue> <font color=green>Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.</font color=green>
ivebeentired
08-06-2005, 10:40 AM
okay well it went there and it let me choose safe mode but it still came up with that original message about system.ini.
ivebeentired
08-06-2005, 11:14 AM
i tried running scanreg but that didnt work, i told me it failed. so im trying a lot of random things now to try and get this thing to start up
BertImmenschuh
08-06-2005, 02:20 PM
At this point I'd try either booting to the Win98 CD or a Win98 boot floppy that gives CD support and try re-installing Win98 [over the top of itself], can't hurt and may fix the problem.

Scanreg /restore didn't work? There's 5 backup copies of the Registry on Win98, usually named rb000.cab and up to rb005.cab [skips one number] in the C:\WINDOWS\SYSBCKUP folder.
<a target="_blank" href=http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=scanreg+%2Frestore&btnG=Google+Search>http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=scanreg+%2Frestore&btnG=Google+Search</a>

These files are included:
system.dat
system.ini
user.dat
win.ini

Having WinZip on a computer or maybe WinXP will allow extracting the necessary files if the /restore doesn't work. The 2 .dat files are the Registry.

Be sure any disk you boot to is for your version of Win98, either Win98 or Win98SE [Second Edition].

<font color=blue>Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.</font color=blue> <font color=green>Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.</font color=green>
The_Dude
08-30-2005, 12:41 AM
You could try the system file checker. It will scan your install for missing or corrupt system files and replace them with files from your 98 CD. At the command prompt run sfc /scannow and have your CD ready when it asks for it. If these files were installed by another program this may not work.

PC performance buffs have long measured hardware advances using a few simple metrics: Is it faster? Is it bigger? Does it have more blinky lights?