"Ben Myers" wrote:

"Arlykat" wrote in message ...
Hi Ben,
Again, thanks so much for sticking with me and trying to help me get this
computer up and running for my friend. Will tell you something before I go
any farther in this response - I am a female and I am about 2% under the
point of starting to cry over this in frustration. Okay? Just so you know
what frame of mind I am getting shoved into.
I found something similar to what you said to click when the computer was
starting up and it took me to the Setup menu which is the one that also lists
computer info, etc. When you then say to "Restart pressing appropriate key"
you lost me.
snip

Most computers have built-in configuration program for basic things like hard
and floppy drives. This is typically accessed by pressing a certain key in the
early stages of bootup, usually "Delete", "F1" or "F10". Instructions sometimes
appear at the bottom of the screen and there may be no mouse support. The
idea is to get the system to redetect the hard drive or drives. Be sure to save
the new settings before exiting the configuration program. Then start the
computer with the Windows 98 boot floppy and run Scandisk again.
Also, some of the symptoms you are describing could be caused by
a missing or corrupt "C:\MSDOS.SYS" file. Copy and paste the
following text to Notepad and save it to a floppy as "a:\winboot.ini"
Start the problem computer in Command Prompt, insert the floppy,
type "c:\windows\command\move a:\winboot.ini c:\" and press
"Enter". Then remove the floppy and restart.

[Paths]
WinDir=C:\WINDOWS
WinBootDir=C:\WINDOWS
HostWinBootDrv=C

[Options]
BootGUI=1
;end


Ben

____________
Hi Ben,

I copied down what you wrote above, thank you, again. I just wanted to make
sure that you are fully aware of the little quirks and responses I have been
getting from the computer. I am going to copy here what I wrote to glee's
(Glen) most recent response to me - it tells you exactly what my computer is
up to right at this point. It will be directly below this text to you. I am
also going to send Glen what you have just told me above. Arlykat
**
"glee" wrote:

Reading you other replies in this thread, it sounds like you are at the frustration
point where you are not working with a clear mind. Hence we cannot determine what
is happening. Some of the descriptions you have given indicate that you are
starting with the Windows installation CD in the drive, as well as with the boot
floppy. You have also mentioned numerous error messages but without giving the
exact messages in each case, or stating things like "it told me to run SYSREG I
believe". Well was it Sysreg or was it something else? Sysreg is a spyware app
from Gator, but I doubt you would see anything related to that before Windows
starts.

Your latest report indicates that scandisk /surface did not find any errors on the
hard drive....this is good.

Turn off the computer. Have a good cry. Now when you are feeling as little better,
make sure there is NO floppy disk in the floppy drive, turn on the computer and
eject any CD from the CD drives right away. We do not want any disks in any of
those drives now.

When the computer startup process gives you an error message of any kind, stop and
write it down word for word in its entirety, and post the message here. Do NOT
start typing commands on the screen trying to get something to work.

If it brings you to the startup menu with Normal, Safe Mode, and so forth, select
Safe Mode using the arrow keys on the keyboard, then press Enter, and see if it will
start into that.

Post back with all messages in their entirety, and wait for further direction.

If your main objective is to get any pictures you can off this hard drive, then find
someone with the proper tools and knowledge to remove and slave the drive to another
computer, or connect it via a USB enclosure to another computer, to get any pictures
off it. After that, you can return the drive to the original computer and reload
Windows.
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.net/
http://dts-l.net/goodpost.htm


Hi Glen,

Thank you.

Without any disks in the computer I started it, the IBM Aptiva screen
flashed (showing press F1 to go to Startup Menu, which when pressed
previously will take me to the Startup Menu which shows all info regarding
the computer) and then goes to the following menu showing 1. Normal, 2.
Logged (\BOOTLOG.TXT) etc. with:

5. Command Prompt Only highlighted. A message below that reads: "Warning:
Windows has detected a registry/configuration error. Choose Command Prompt
Only, and run SCANREG."

I click return on Command Prompt Only (When I click on Safe Mode I am
brought to the same following screen) and the message reads:

"The following file is missing or corrupted: C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS
The following file is missing or corrupted: C\WINDOWS\DBLBUFF.SYS
The following file is missing or corrupted: C\WINDOWS\IFSHLP.SYS

C:\
Cannot find WIN.COM, unable to continue loading Windows
C:\"

At the C:\ prompt I type in SCANREG and hit return and get "Bad command or
file name" and below that the C:\ prompt shows again. If I retype SCANREG I
get the same response.

Okay Glen, that is exactly where I am at now.