"Arlykat" wrote in message
...
Hi. I have a computer I haven't run for about a year. It got plugged in
and
out, disconnected things, connected them back, etc. thru the year. When I
now
want to start it up to copy or move all of my important pics/info so I can
give the computer to a friend, Windows won't start. It is Win. 98 prob
with
2nd edition. 1st it started and I got the screen files were missing or
corrupted - choose how to proceed: Safe Mode, Regular, Safe Mode With
Commands, etc. Whatever I clicked it took me to Startup Options. Told me I
had missing or corrupted files, 3 of them, can't remember exactly which,
Win
HyMem, Win.com and something. It told me to run SYSREG I believe to sort
of
scan the machine to find out what was wrong. It wouldn't do that, it would
go
to

snip

Hold it right there.

before you go any further...
run a RAM test and run the HD mfg's diagnostic.

No sense in doing anything else until you are sure your hardware is ok