startup problem

Hi folks

I have a friend who asked me to take a look at their Win98 machine as it is
having problems booting up, having had problems installing a new piece of
hardware and subsequently cancelling the installation.

The PC boots the initial Win98 screen and the taskbar initially flashes into
the bottom of the screen but then the whole screen is left blank with
nothing but the clouds wallpaper remaining. ie. there are no icons or
taskbar visible. Nothing happens with any mouse clicks or keyboard types.
Pressing CTRL, ALT, DEL brings up the screen with CLOSE, SHUT DOWN, CANCEL,
but there are no programs in the box. The only option is to close down.

We don't have any of the original (now lost) disks or cds, therefore i am
unable to make a boot disk or anything.

Any suggestions?

Many thanks.

On Tue, 3 May 2005 18:29:56 +0100, "buffaloes inc"
wrote:

Hi folks

I have a friend who asked me to take a look at their Win98 machine as it is
having problems booting up, having had problems installing a new piece of
hardware and subsequently cancelling the installation.

The PC boots the initial Win98 screen and the taskbar initially flashes into
the bottom of the screen but then the whole screen is left blank with
nothing but the clouds wallpaper remaining. ie. there are no icons or
taskbar visible. Nothing happens with any mouse clicks or keyboard types.
Pressing CTRL, ALT, DEL brings up the screen with CLOSE, SHUT DOWN, CANCEL,
but there are no programs in the box. The only option is to close down.

We don't have any of the original (now lost) disks or cds, therefore i am
unable to make a boot disk or anything.

Any suggestions?

Many thanks.

You can donwload a suitable boot disk from www.bootdisk.com or make
one using another PC - Start, Settings, Control Panel, Add?Remove
Programs. Startup Disk though maybe you will need the CD.

First try booting to Command Line during startup. Press F8 repeatedly
during start. Choose Command Line option. Restore an older registry
file using scanreg Enter
scanreg /restore
and choose a registry from just before the aborted hardware install.

(1) Remove the new hardware, & try to boot.
(2) Can you boot to Safe Mode? (Hold F5 or CTRL as you boot.)
If so, there may be other measures to try.
(3) Try as here_and_there said, perhaps, i.e.,...
http://support.microsoft.com/default...87&Product=w98
Description of the Windows Registry Checker Tool (Scanreg.exe)
(183887) - When you start your computer successfully, the Windows
Registry Checker tool (Scanreg.exe) creates a backup of system files and
registry configuration information (including user account information,
protocol bindings, software program settings, and...

Boot to DOS (hold Ctrl as you boot for the Startup Menu, & select
"Command Prompt Only"), and Enter

SCANREG /Restore

It will offer five, one for each of the last five separate days you
booted successfully. Start with the one of the day the problem began, as
these backups of the entire Registry (& System.ini & Win.ini) are done
at boot, not at shut down.

CAVEAT: A /Restore restores settings only. If there was a file change
(other than to System.ini & Win.ini), those cannot be undone this way.
That could be a problem, especially if there was a hardware change or
large un/in-stall since the backup was made. Also, a large settings
change, such as adding/removing a User Profile, is likely best undone a
different way. Finally, some apps may keep a small database in the
Registry. I do believe Explorer itself may keep it's list of blocked
sites there.


--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
should things get worse after this,
PCR

"buffaloes inc" wrote in message
...
| Hi folks
|
| I have a friend who asked me to take a look at their Win98 machine as
it is
| having problems booting up, having had problems installing a new piece
of
| hardware and subsequently cancelling the installation.
|
| The PC boots the initial Win98 screen and the taskbar initially
flashes into
| the bottom of the screen but then the whole screen is left blank with
| nothing but the clouds wallpaper remaining. ie. there are no icons or
| taskbar visible. Nothing happens with any mouse clicks or keyboard
types.
| Pressing CTRL, ALT, DEL brings up the screen with CLOSE, SHUT DOWN,
CANCEL,
| but there are no programs in the box. The only option is to close
down.
|
| We don't have any of the original (now lost) disks or cds, therefore i
am
| unable to make a boot disk or anything.
|
| Any suggestions?
|
| Many thanks.
|
|

Explorer & IE are basically one & the same. Therefore, may as well try
this write-up, originally from a Gateway WEB site, which is a temporary
reversion to an earlier version of IE...

ONE THING: Do nothing more than stated here using Winfile, because, if
you move a file with it, you will lose that file's LFN (Long File Name)
in the destination.

Desktop Icons and Taskbar Are Missing

Affected Products: Software, System CDs
Affected Operating Systems: Windows® 98 , Windows® 98 SE,
Windows® Me

ISSUE: After starting Microsoft® Windows® 98 or Windows
Me, the taskbar is missing and there are no icons. When
starting Windows, the taskbar may flash on for a brief
second and then disappear. The only display visible is the
background wallpaper and the mouse cursor. Pressing
CTRL+ALT+DELETE brings up the Close Program dialog box,
but selecting End Task on the items on the list may not
have an effect. When the computer is started into Safe
mode, the issue still occurs. Running Scanreg /Restore
does not resolve the issue.

There have been several reports that the issue occurred
when restarting the computer after receiving a dialog box
that displays "Virus/spyware found. Do you wish to
remove?" or "Do you want to install Spyware Monitor?" The
dialog box only has Yes or No selections, and selecting
either can cause the issue. There is no X to close the
dialog box, however pressing CTRL+ALT+DELETE to bring up
the Close Program dialog box lists a "Remove found
spyware?" entry, which can be end tasked.

(1) Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE, & click Shut Down.

(2) After the computer has been shut down, turn on the computer. Hold
CTRL as you boot for the Startup Menu, or begin pressing the F8 key in
one-second intervals. If you complete this step successfully, the
Microsoft Windows Startup Menu is displayed. If no menu is displayed and
Windows starts up normally, repeat this step.

(3) At the Microsoft Windows Startup Menu, use the ARROW keys to select
"Command Prompt Only", and then press the ENTER key.

(4) At the command prompt, type:
EDIT C:\Windows\System.ini
Press ENTER.

(5) In the C:\Windows\SYSTEM.INI file, locate the line of text under the
[boot] section that lists "Shell=Explorer.exe". This is typically the
third line in the file.

(6) Edit the "Shell=Explorer.exe" line by deleting the "Explorer.exe"
text and replacing it with "Winfile.exe". The line should list the
following:
Shell=Winfile.exe

(7) To save the changes...
(a) Press the ALT+F+X keys separately.
A "Save File" requestor appears.
(b) Press ENTER to save the changes and return to the command prompt.
(TAB navigates the buttons of the requestor.)

(8) At the command prompt, restart the computer by pressing the
CTRL+ALT+DELETE keys. Once Windows has restarted, it starts into the
Windows File Manager (Winfile.exe).

(9) In the File Manager window, double-click "progra~1" in the left
hand window to open the Program Files folder.

(10) Double-click "intern~1" in the left hand window to open the
Internet Explorer folder.

(11) Double-click "setup" in the left hand window to open the Setup
folder.

(12) In the File Manager window, double-click "Setup.exe" in the right
hand window to launch Internet Explorer setup.

NOTE: If the setup folder is not available, Internet Explorer has not
been updated and a previous version of Internet Explorer cannot be
restored. You cannot use this method. Close "Winfile", shut down, & post
back, or try the URL at the very bottom of this post, which is an
over-install of IE.

(13) In the Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Tools Setup window, click
OK.

(14) In the Setup Message dialog box, click Yes to restore the previous
version of Internet Explorer.

(15) Internet Explorer setup removes components.

(16) In the Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Tools - Restart Windows
dialog box, click Restart Windows.

When the computer is restarting, hold CTRL for the Startup Menu, or
begin pressing the F8 key in one-second intervals. If you complete this



step successfully, the Microsoft Windows Startup Menu is displayed. If
no menu is displayed and Windows starts up normally, repeat this step.

(17) At the Microsoft Windows Startup Menu, use the ARROW keys to select
Command prompt only, and then press ENTER.

(18) At the command prompt, type:
EDIT C:\Windows\System.ini
Press ENTER.

(19) In the C:\Windows\SYSTEM.INI file, locate the line of text under
the [boot] section that lists "Shell=Winfile.exe". This is typically the
third line in the file.

(20) Edit the "Shell=Winfile.exe" line by deleting the "Winfile.exe"
text and replacing it with "Explorer.exe". The line should list the
following:
Shell=Explorer.exe

(21) To save the changes...
(a) Press the ALT+F+X keys separately.
A "Save File" requestor appears.
(b) Press ENTER to save the changes and return to the command prompt.
(TAB navigates the buttons of the requestor.)

(22) At the command prompt, restart the computer by pressing the
CTRL+ALT+DELETE keys

(23) Windows starts to a blue screen, but will still be
accessing the hard drive for a period of time. When
finished, Windows is on the desktop with icons, but an
older version of Internet Explorer is installed. You
should update your antivirus software, and then perform
Windows Update to install a new version of Internet
Explorer again.


http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=249191
Blank Desktop or Illegal Operations Error Message After You Install
Internet Explorer. This is a temporary reversion to an earlier IE, IF
that option is present.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=293174
Over-Install IE in Progman. This is an over-install of IE. I have a
detailed write-up for it, if you want.


--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
should things get worse after this,
PCR

"buffaloes inc" wrote in message
...
| Hi folks
|
| I have a friend who asked me to take a look at their Win98 machine as
it is
| having problems booting up, having had problems installing a new piece
of
| hardware and subsequently cancelling the installation.
|
| The PC boots the initial Win98 screen and the taskbar initially
flashes into
| the bottom of the screen but then the whole screen is left blank with
| nothing but the clouds wallpaper remaining. ie. there are no icons or
| taskbar visible. Nothing happens with any mouse clicks or keyboard
types.
| Pressing CTRL, ALT, DEL brings up the screen with CLOSE, SHUT DOWN,
CANCEL,
| but there are no programs in the box. The only option is to close
down.
|
| We don't have any of the original (now lost) disks or cds, therefore i
am
| unable to make a boot disk or anything.
|
| Any suggestions?
|
| Many thanks.
|
|

You didn't happen to update just before this did you, there is an update
that causes this problem as it did to me ...


"buffaloes inc" wrote in message
...
Hi folks

I have a friend who asked me to take a look at their Win98 machine as it
is
having problems booting up, having had problems installing a new piece of
hardware and subsequently cancelling the installation.

The PC boots the initial Win98 screen and the taskbar initially flashes
into
the bottom of the screen but then the whole screen is left blank with
nothing but the clouds wallpaper remaining. ie. there are no icons or
taskbar visible. Nothing happens with any mouse clicks or keyboard types.
Pressing CTRL, ALT, DEL brings up the screen with CLOSE, SHUT DOWN,
CANCEL,
but there are no programs in the box. The only option is to close down.

We don't have any of the original (now lost) disks or cds, therefore i am
unable to make a boot disk or anything.

Any suggestions?

Many thanks.

disable any usb or cd burners and go into safe mode and eliminate programs
that are installing one by one until you find the one causing the problem.

"buffaloes inc" wrote:

Hi folks

I have a friend who asked me to take a look at their Win98 machine as it is
having problems booting up, having had problems installing a new piece of
hardware and subsequently cancelling the installation.

The PC boots the initial Win98 screen and the taskbar initially flashes into
the bottom of the screen but then the whole screen is left blank with
nothing but the clouds wallpaper remaining. ie. there are no icons or
taskbar visible. Nothing happens with any mouse clicks or keyboard types.
Pressing CTRL, ALT, DEL brings up the screen with CLOSE, SHUT DOWN, CANCEL,
but there are no programs in the box. The only option is to close down.

We don't have any of the original (now lost) disks or cds, therefore i am
unable to make a boot disk or anything.

Any suggestions?

Many thanks.