Gary/Glen ... here's what I've done since last communication:

1. I booted up, went to Command Prompt Only and entered 'edit
c:\windows\system.ini' then changed 'Shell=Progman.exe' to
'Shell=Winfile.exe' as you suggested, then I saved and exited and re-booted.

2. This time the File Manager window was displayed with directory of
folders and files. I then tried the IE6 repair command by entering the
command you sent me for IE6 in the Run prompt. A pop up was displayed asking
me to Repair IE or Add a Component. I tried both. When i selected Repair
IE, nothing happened. When I selected Add a Component, I got an error
message saying I needed to go to a Windows menu I did not see. So I rebooted
again.

3. I replaced the 'Shell=Winfile.exe' back to 'Shell='Progman.exe' and
rebooted. This time I noticed I did not get the subject error message and
the 'Program Manager - Accessories' window was displayed (which did not
display the first time i changed the shell to 'Progman.exe' earlier and
rebooted). So I went to c:\progra~1\intern~2\explorer.exe and tried to
launch the explorer.exe program -- i was able to double click on it, and when
i did, the hourglass was displayed for a short time appearing to be
processing something, but nothing happened, and i tried to launch it from the
Run command promt on same window -- but again, nothing happened. when i
clicked the setup file, nothing happened at all. But I checked the
Properties of the 'Explorer.exe' file and it specified version 6.00.2800.1106
... 94,208 bytes, last changed 8/11/03. I turned off the pc.

So while it "appears" I have all my standard Windows programs in the c:
directory on the Program Manager - Accessories window, I still have no
desktop icons and no programs are launching.

Thoughts?

p.s. I realize you may not be able to call me, but in the event that you
can, my number is 404-329-0959. I'll be leaving the library within the hour
to go home. I'll check my email up until that time. And I'll check back to
this thread tomorrow morning if I don't hear from you beforehand.

Thanks for your continued support!!!!


"glee" wrote:

Thanks Gary....I am at work (on lunch right now), and can't get back to this thread
for a few hours.
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
~ In memory of our friend, MVP Alex Nichol ~
http://aumha.org/alex.htm
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

"Gary S. Terhune" wrote in message
...
Again, be very careful not to do anything more than run IE Repair using
Winfile.exe for a Shell. Long filenames can easily be messed up. Also,
if IE Repair doesn't fix the problem (after re-editing System.ini back
to using Explorer.exe for a Shell) then the next step is to
force-reinstall IE. You do this by again switching to Shell=Winfile.exe
and then finding Setup.exe in the Internet Explorer folder (usually
C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer) and running it. Choose "Add
Components" (or "Minimal or Custom Installation" if that's the option
that offers itself.) Then put a check mark for every item that is bolded
(already installed) and continue. If you haven't previously deleted the
setup files (usually in C:\Windows Updates Setup Files") then this will
probably be a smooth operation. If you don't have the installation files
on hand, it will be necessary to connect to the internet to download
them, and that can be problematic, depending on your system.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP Shell/User
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/security.htm

"tgregg99" wrote in message
news
Gary,

I'm at the library and about to leave for home, where I'll follow your
recommendation. I won't give up. I'm very methodical, and I take
great care
in following the procedures (i'm a project manager and technical
writer :-)
.. anyways, I'll follow up with you later this afternoon with my
results.

Thanks!!!
Terry


"Gary S. Terhune" wrote:

Try Shell=Winfile.exe, as suggested.

And don't give up. We're giving you answers step-by-step, and when
one
thing doesn't work, that tends to provide hints as to what to do
next.
IOW, just because some suggestion doesn't bear immediate fruit,
doesn't
mean it didn't need to be done.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP Shell/User
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/security.htm

"tgregg99" wrote in message
...
Gary,

I did change 'Shell=Explorer.exe' to 'Shell=Progman.exe' but upon
re-booting, the following error was displayed:

'Error loading Program.exe. You must reinstall Windows.'

so, what can i do now?

Thanks!!!
Terry


"Gary S. Terhune" wrote:

As explained in the references Glen gave you earlier, you use
the
Command Prompt Only boot to edit System.ini and change the
"Shell=Explorer.exe" line to:

Shell=Progman.exe

Then restart and you will possibly be able to boot to Windows
without
having to load Explorer.exe. From there, you run the IE Repair
or
reinstall IE as needed. If Shell=progman.exe doesn't work, try
Shell=Winfile.exe. But be very careful when using these modes,
and
only
use them to perform these limited tasks, as they can mess up the
file
system if you do certain things, particularly Copy/Paste/Move
operations. When the IE Repair or reinstallation are completed,
re-edit
System.ini to restore normal Shell to Explorer.exe.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP Shell/User
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/security.htm

"tgregg99" wrote in message
...
Glen,

Thanks. I had no luck by trying to restore the most recent
registry
backups
-- i tried every one listed, which went back a coupe days
before
my
problem
-- still, this didn't work.

I'm confused about ...

Following that, use the info mentioned in the link I gave
you to
reinstall IE, but
instead of progman.exe, use winfile.exe.

.. the IE repair tool instructions assumed i could click
Start ..
Run
....
but I can't. so I can only get to a command prompt and use
DOS
.... so
how do
i reinstall IE from the DOS command prompt?

Thanks .. looking forward to your answer!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Terry

"glee" wrote:

Each time you use a different .cab file backup in scanreg
/restore,
you are
replacing the Registry with the one using that dat, and
"going
back"
to that date as
far as the Registry is concerned. So, if none of the
restores
helped the problem,
you should go back and restore the most recent backup prior
to
when
you began the
restoring experiment (Of course, if you onlty went back a
couple
of
days, there
should not be much difference other than the entries for the
updates
you did).

Following that, use the info mentioned in the link I gave
you to
reinstall IE, but
instead of progman.exe, use winfile.exe.

Post back with your results.
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
~ In memory of our friend, MVP Alex Nichol ~

http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"tgregg99" wrote in
message
...
Glee ...

I tried using DOS command 'scanreg /restore' and selecting
the
backup
(rb###.cab files) -- i tried each one, rebooting each
time,
but
that didn't
work. I also used the DOS command to 'edit the
c:\windows\system.ini' file
and replaced 'explorer.exe' with 'progman.exe' where you
told
me,
then saved
and rebooted, then got an error that 'progman.exe could
not be
found, must
reinstall windows' or something to that effect.

One other thing i forgot to mention. I downloaded Windows
updates
to my pc,
the night before my Windows crashed. One or two of the
updates
were for IE6.

Any other suggestions? Thank you for helping me with
this!!!!

Terry

"glee" wrote:

Before trying the procedure mentioned in my first reply,
you
may
want to try
this
first:
Boot to DOS Mode by accessing the boot menu at startup
and
selecting Command
Prompt
Only (you get to the boot menu the same way you get to
it
when
you selected Safe
Mode).
At the DOS Prompt, type:
scanreg /restore
and press Enter.
Select one of the backups (rb###.cab files) dated JUST
prior
to
when the problem
occurred.
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"glee" wrote in message
...
Follow the procedures he
Recovering From a Failed Internet Explorer Upgrade in
Windows
98:






http://www.cs.bsu.edu/~gjjones/admin...nd ows98.html
or
http://tinyurl.com/r5ba

Especially this section at the end:

"If you still have boot problems after you reboot, you
should
use the command
prompt
to edit the c:\windows\system.ini file. On the command
line
type edit
c:\windows\system.ini.

"Once it is open, change the line shell=explorer.exe
to
shell=progman.exe.
What
you
are doing here is changing the default shell (that is
having
problems) from
the
Windows Explorer to the old Windows Program Manager
shell.

"Reboot Windows. It should now successfully boot with
no
errors into an empty
Program Manager shell. Use the File | Run | Browse
drop
down
menu selection to
browse to c:\program files\internet explorer and
launch
ie5setup.exe or
ie6setup.exe
(depending on what is there). Do a custom install and
check
all the Bold faced
options. When the setup program alerts you that these
files
are already
installed,
tell it to reinstall all of the files.

"When the Internet Explorer Setup program is done and
reboots,
hit the F8 key
to
bring up a Boot Menu. Choose Command Prompt and boot
to
the
command prompt.
Once
there, type edit c:\windows\system.ini and, once it is
open,
change the line
shell=progman.exe back to shell=explorer.exe. Save and
exit
the file. You have
now
set the shell back to the original value."
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"tgregg99" wrote
in
message

news
Can someone please help me resolve my problem? Upon
starting MS Windows 98,
I see the MS Windows screen then it appears to start
loading
programs as
usual, then i get the above ERROR message. I then
restarted
via SAFE mode,
but there were no desktop icons. Upon checking
Program
Manager, I only see
'Runapp' and no other programs listed. I checked my
memory
via DOS prompt,
and everything looks normal (but I really am not a
DOS
user,
so I'm limited
in my ability to use DOS commands). I restarted
again
and
tried step by
step
confirmation, but again, I only get the above ERROR
message.

I don't have the CD - or - the diskettes for loading
MS
Windows 98. Is
there a way to restore my MS Windows 98 otherwise?

I appreciate your time and help very much .. thank
you!!!

Terry