Windows 98

[hlngreen]

Hi, my firend asked if I would help clear out some of the files that were slowing down her PC, which I did ...... badly!!

First of all the PC rebooted and the colours were displayed in 16 bit - no other options were available in the "Display" settings.

I tried switching off and back on again, and the computer then dispayed a fatal error message in the desktop. Something about a socket missing?

I've tried re-installing the windows 98 disk and now the PC appears to boot up, the Windows screen appears (flying wondow with light blue background) and then the screen turns black first with a flashing cursor at the top left hand side, and then blue with an egg timer which just hangs.

What have I done and how can it be fixed. She has no system recovery disks with her PC. Will any system recovery disks work? I have a tiny PC, complete with re-installation software.

 

[Rollin' Rog]

Since you apparently "successfully" reinstalled windows, we are probably looking at a problem either with the video driver installation or with some installed program.

The first step in troubleshooting a something like that is to determine whether the pc will boot through in safe mode. Here is a link that you should review for troubleshooting techniques:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q188/8/67.asp

Start by pressing and holding the Control key as soon as the boot process begins. Once the Boot Menu appears, select the safe mode option.

Once you are in safe mode, run msconfig and click on the Advanced tab. Put a check in "enable startup menu". This will cause the boot menu to appear automatically without your having to press the control key, and you will have the options of trying to start in safe or normal mode, or even trying "step-by-step-confirmation". It will continue doing so until you uncheck that option.

In safe mode msconfig can be used to deselect various startup files, such as autoexec.bat, config.sys, and the startup group. I would suggest trying at least one boot with those 3 options not checked on the General page. If Windows loads normally that way then you can proceed to re-enable them or the individual applications within them to narrow the problem.

You need to read the Startup Troubleshooter to get a clear idea of what I'm talking about.

If you still hang with those files deselected, Click on the Advanced tab again and put a check in "Standard VGA 640....". This will load only a "safe mode like" Vga driver -- and will test whether the problem is related to the video driver installation. You can even try this first if you want.

 

[padutch]

RR,
That was a heap of fantastic information you just posted. I copied and saved it for the future. Keep them comming.
DUTCH

 

[Rollin' Rog]

Thx Dutch, it's a basic approach to startup troubleshooting -- I hope it helps.

 

[pfoerste]

Yea, thanks Rollin'Rog, I put that in my computer blurp sheets of information you will need.

 

[hlngreen]

Fantastic, thanks for the quick reply. I'll give it a try and let you know how it goes.

Cheers

 

[Rollin' Rog]

Good luck, and be sure to note carefully any error messages you encounter and when they occur. It can be helpful in sorting things out.

Also if it looks like you need to reinstall your video drivers and you dont have a driver disk for them, you will need to know the type of video card installed to locate the drivers on the web.

 

[hlngreen]

O-ya, ma head is thumping at the though of that scenario! I think I'll stick to creating documents in Word - it would be much safer!