WIN 98 will not load

[Chris Cucksey]

We have a HP 6350 with Windows 98. When I boot the PC I get an error message that there is not enough extended memory to operate Windows 98. I looked in the MS Support site and the solution per them was to check the TTFontDimenCache for duplication. We did this and there is no duplicates. We have tried to reboot using a start-up disk, but it will only let us get into a safe mode.

We also reinstalled Windows 98 and that did not correct the problem. Anyone with any ideas?

Thanks Chris C

 

[Rikku]

Is there some stuff listed in your autoexec.bat or config.sys files?

Maybe you should try pressing F8 when it says "Starting Windows 98" then stepping through the items Windows goes through when it boots.

Sounds like somethings loading that's not supposed to in the boot process.

 

[SavvyLady]

Is it still under warranty?
If so I'd call HP.


Savvy

 

[Nick Scott]

There are a few other things to check out.

If you can boot to DOS try searching for himem.sys (at the C:> prompt type dir /s himem.sys) If it is missing the PC won't be able to initialise any extended memory (past the first 1 MB) so all that RAM just goes wasted.

If it is missing you will need to extract a copy from your Windows CD again in DOS, Type Extract /? and it will give you a list of all the syntax and commands to use to get at the file. It needs to go into the Windows folder.

Another thing to check is for invalid entries in your autoexec.bat and config.sys files, possibly loading or referencing invalid memory managers such as emm386 with invalid switches. Post them here if you like and I'll take a look over them.

Lastly, in terms of what I can think of off the top of my head, is the vmm.vxd still on the system. Search for it as per himem.sys. VMM stands for virtual memory manager, and if its missing it can also cause a similar problem.

Hope that some of this helps.

 

[Nick Scott]

Another quick thought.

Did you format the hard drive before reinstalling Windows? If not a bad configuration file or registry entry may not have been over written. In that case I would format and try again.

If you did format already then you might have a failed RAM module or other hardware problem.

 

[Chris Cucksey]

I cannot find the vmm.vxd. We did see the himem.sys in windows.
When we search for vmm.vxd, we see a vmm32 vxd and a vmm32 folder. Is that what I should be looking at, or is my vmm.vxd gone?

Also, in search I can see
device= c:\windows\himem.sys and c:\windows\emm386.exe

We have not reformateed the the drive yet, that's a last resort thing. But...it is looking better every minute.
The PC is no longer under warranty and I have searched the HP site, but this site has given me much more to go on.

 

[Rollin' Rog]

If you can boot in safe mode, run msconfig and clear the checks on the general page for autoexec.bat and config.sys and try restarting.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q188867

Also click on the Advanced tab in msconfig and see if Windows is recognizing all your installed memory (you will see that under "limit memory to..")

You wouldn't be able to start in safe mode if vmm32.vxd were missing. It is a compressed file which is created during install and is unpacked every startup.

 

[SavvyLady]

you're in good hands now




Savvy