when your in the selective start up mode....eliminate each application one by
one until you find the one thats hanging


"Martin Healy" wrote:

My Windows 98 operating system can not load up properly. When you restart
the machine it goes through the normal boot up process initially, then it
proceeds to Microsoft Scandisk (due to not being shutdown properly the last
time) and scans completely. Next the Windows 98 logo appears temporarily,
but then it fails to load up as it displays the following error:

"Cannot find a device file that may be needed to run Windows or a Windows
application" Error message continues by saying "The windows registry or
System.INI file refers to this device file, but the device file no longer
exists". "If you deleted the file on purpose, try uninstalling the
associated application using its uninstall or setup program" It finishes by
saying "If you still want to see the application associated with this device
file, try reinstalling the application to reinstall the missing file:
ndiswan.vxd" Then when I press a key to continue, it finally displays the
vserver.vxd error file. Eventually, when I press any key, it displays an
error networking box saying that it is unable to load snp32.d11 in writing
format.

The main problem is that I can't identify the corrupt application associated
with the ndiswan.vsd missing file because I have not installed any new
applications or drivers recently and furthermore I can't access the usual
Windows 98 desktop environment anymore. My machine was working fine up to
today. The only thing I did with my computer was to check my mail and
updated my antivirus definitions (dat) files. The problem came about when I
opened my browser. Windows update website appeared and the machine crashed
or froze. When I restarted the machine using the reset button, it went
through the Microsoft ScanDisk like usual when this happens, but it came up
with the frustrating ndiswan.vxd missing file error as described above.

Do I need to enter the Windows 98 system in safe mode and uninstall the
application associated with the missing file? The first problem with this
is that I not sure of the application with the missing file causing the
problem, and the second is that it may not be possible to uninstall any
application in safe mode. The other problem is that I can't use the System
Restore, Recovery Console and the Last known good configuration F8 utility
like that found in Windows XP. Alternatively, do I need to change any BIOS
settings in my Windows 98 machine? I see that there is some setting in the
BIOS where you can load best performance settings but I'm not sure whether to
use it or not. Or do I need to use a Windows 98 Boot disk?

I would like to remind you again that I have not installed any new
applications or drivers recently to have caused this problem. It may be my
antivirus software but
at the same time I was able to successfully update my antivirus the last
time just before this happened. Anyway, I would be deeply grateful if
anybody could assist me with this problem to fix my operating system state.
I hope I won't have to do a clean installation in order to resolve this
problem as I may loose all my current Favourites, MyDocuments files etc.
Also, is it possible to back up my date files in safe mode?

This is a most frustrating problem since I haven't installed any application
or driver recently and my antivirus is always up to date. Furthermore, I
haven't open any suspicious mail attachmnets either.

I await your advice in due course.

Thanks,

Martin Healy