[Resolved] ME Wont boot past ME Screen

Pentium II 300mhz machine
Running ME

Recent events:

Two weeks ago installed a TDK 24X10X40 CDRW successfully. Machine worked fine for the two weeks after.

Had power outage (machine on surge protector)

Powered up and the machine froze on the ME start-up screen. I turned it off then back on and it started in Safe Mode. I ran scan disc, no errors found, check the device monitor, everything appeared ok and then rebooted.

This time it goes to the ME start up and then past one screen to where it would normally say verifying pool data or something like that and at the bottom it would say looking for start-up floppy -NO
IDE OK and then it would freeze. When you shut it off and restart you may or may not get the Safe Mode option.
The next time I went to Safe Mode I attempted to use the feature of resetting the registry back to a past date, which I did before the installation and rebooted, still same problem. In addition if I did to much in safe mode I would get the blue screen that the system has become unstable.

Questions: (of course how do I fix this)
If you don't have any direct knowledge of what is wrong and how to fix it I have some questions.
1) Can I reload ME from the Safe Mode and if so do I need to do anything special i.e. uninstall ME first?
2) If it comes down to having to reformat and start over, can I do this from Safe Mode?
2a) If I have to do the Fdisk I don't remember exactly how to do it can you help.

Thanks for any help you can give.

Sam

 

When you say you restored a registry from safe mode, I think you mean you used "system restore". This restores system files, I'm not sure if it restores or repairs the registry.

To restore or repair a registry you must be in DOS. To get to DOS in WinME you must use your startup disk, select "minimal boot".

At the a:\> prompt enter:

c:
cd windows
scanreg /restore

here you will see 4 registries. Use the arrow keys to select one that predates the crash, if available -- one should be if you can only boot in safe mode.

Alternately you can also try to "repair" the registry with the command:

scanreg /fix

Here is a WinME startup troubleshooter. Try the selective boot options covered here:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q273738

Edit: re the issue of system restore and the registry -- I just found this nifty Technet article on system restore, and evidently the registry is restored, but the article is a bit confusing

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnwinme/html/winmesr.asp

It really doesn't sound like the problem is with system files so much as hardware detection. I think I'd try removing the cd-rw and installed software to see if that gets you in.

 

Use System Restore to select a restore point to before the error started occuring. Pick the restoire point to After you installed the CDRW or it's software will be uninstalled.

To start System Restore, click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Restore. Or, in the Help and Support main screen, click Use System Restore under Fix a problem.

 

Hi,

Thanks for the help. I was able to get to the DOS prompt and do a scan disk and then registry scan restore and got the crazy thing to boot. Thanks for the help.

Sam

 

Great -- we appreciate the good news and the follow-up