Win98 crashes at start-up

When trying to boot my computer, it crashes almost
immediately:
- When starting it in normal mode, it goes through the
booting procedure up to where the desktop screen comes up
VERY briefly, then the screen blacks out and a message
comes up (also VERY briefly) 'Error loading Kernel. You
must reinstall Windows'. Then the system shuts down on
its own.
- When starting up in safe mode, it goes through the
booting procedure up to where 'Himem' is testing the
extended memory; then VERY briefly, the desktop screen
comes up; then a blue screen comes up with a 'Windows'
message that 'A fatal exception 0D has occurred at
0147:0000BC9D. The current application will be
terminated ...[etc].' Then the system is stuck and needs
to be shut down by pressing the power button.
- When trying to reinstall Windows (which the support of
a boot disk in drive a:\) from the original installation
CD, I get a message that 'Windows Setup requires "largest
executable program size" to be at least 442368 bytes to
run'.

I would appreciate any hints on what may have caused this
sudden problem and especially any help on how to possibly
fix it.

Many thanks!

How sure are you that no virus is involved?

If you have scanned the harddisk with an up-to-date antivirus program,
then I think you are probably dealing with defective hardware,
possibly a problem with RAM. Here are some things to try, but I think
you will probably need help from hardware technical support.

Will the computer boot a Startup Disk? You can obtain a Windows
Startup Disk at:

http://www.bootdisk.com/

Also, the Ultimate Boot Disk will: Restore corrupt system files; Flash
your PC bios; Scan your hard drive for viruses; Install or re-install
Windows; Extract cabinet files from the Windows CD; Scan your hard
drive for errors; Boot into the Windows graphical user interface; Run
DOS disk utilities like Partition Magic or Ghost; Partition your hard
drive; Backup your registry or transfer system files. 626kB. Windows
95/98/ME/NT/2000. Free at:

http://www.startdisk.com/Web1/ubd/ubd.htm

If the system will boot a floppy disk, you can run a RAM test. You can
download a test program from www.simmtester.com. You put it on a
floppy disk that you boot in order to run it. It runs a cycle of
several differently patterned tests over and over.

Also, if you can boot a floppy disk, you can make backup copies of any
files you cannot afford to lose, such as financial records, address
lists, letters, spreadsheets, etc.

Bill Starbuck (MVP)

Thanks for your prompt reply, Bill! I've tried your
suggestions, but didn't get a solution. Unfortunately I
am not sure at all that no virus is involved, but since
all I can operate in is MS-DOS with a start-up disk, I
don't seem to be able to activate a virus scan from there
(let alone do I have an up-to-date antivirus
program...yes, I know...).

Anyway, thanks again for your advice!

-----Original Message-----
How sure are you that no virus is involved?

If you have scanned the harddisk with an up-to-date
antivirus program,
then I think you are probably dealing with defective
hardware,
possibly a problem with RAM. Here are some things to
try, but I think
you will probably need help from hardware technical
support.

Will the computer boot a Startup Disk? You can obtain a
Windows
Startup Disk at:

http://www.bootdisk.com/

Also, the Ultimate Boot Disk will: Restore corrupt
system files; Flash
your PC bios; Scan your hard drive for viruses; Install
or re-install
Windows; Extract cabinet files from the Windows CD; Scan
your hard
drive for errors; Boot into the Windows graphical user
interface; Run
DOS disk utilities like Partition Magic or Ghost;
Partition your hard
drive; Backup your registry or transfer system files.
626kB. Windows
95/98/ME/NT/2000. Free at:

http://www.startdisk.com/Web1/ubd/ubd.htm

If the system will boot a floppy disk, you can run a RAM
test. You can
download a test program from www.simmtester.com. You put
it on a
floppy disk that you boot in order to run it. It runs a
cycle of
several differently patterned tests over and over.

Also, if you can boot a floppy disk, you can make backup
copies of any
files you cannot afford to lose, such as financial
records, address
lists, letters, spreadsheets, etc.

Bill Starbuck (MVP)
.

Starbuck said his "Ultimate Boot Disk" will do a virus scan. Also (I
say)...

http://cquirke.mvps.org/9x/virtest.htm - formal scanning
www.f-prot.com - free DOS-based av
www.nod32.com - free DOS-based av evaluation
www.sophos.com - free DOS-based av evaluation


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

"Gabi" wrote in message
...
| Thanks for your prompt reply, Bill! I've tried your
| suggestions, but didn't get a solution. Unfortunately I
| am not sure at all that no virus is involved, but since
| all I can operate in is MS-DOS with a start-up disk, I
| don't seem to be able to activate a virus scan from there
| (let alone do I have an up-to-date antivirus
| program...yes, I know...).
|
| Anyway, thanks again for your advice!
|
| -----Original Message-----
| How sure are you that no virus is involved?
|
| If you have scanned the harddisk with an up-to-date
| antivirus program,
| then I think you are probably dealing with defective
| hardware,
| possibly a problem with RAM. Here are some things to
| try, but I think
| you will probably need help from hardware technical
| support.
|
| Will the computer boot a Startup Disk? You can obtain a
| Windows
| Startup Disk at:
|
| http://www.bootdisk.com/
|
| Also, the Ultimate Boot Disk will: Restore corrupt
| system files; Flash
| your PC bios; Scan your hard drive for viruses; Install
| or re-install
| Windows; Extract cabinet files from the Windows CD; Scan
| your hard
| drive for errors; Boot into the Windows graphical user
| interface; Run
| DOS disk utilities like Partition Magic or Ghost;
| Partition your hard
| drive; Backup your registry or transfer system files.
| 626kB. Windows
| 95/98/ME/NT/2000. Free at:
|
| http://www.startdisk.com/Web1/ubd/ubd.htm
|
| If the system will boot a floppy disk, you can run a RAM
| test. You can
| download a test program from www.simmtester.com. You put
| it on a
| floppy disk that you boot in order to run it. It runs a
| cycle of
| several differently patterned tests over and over.
|
| Also, if you can boot a floppy disk, you can make backup
| copies of any
| files you cannot afford to lose, such as financial
| records, address
| lists, letters, spreadsheets, etc.
|
| Bill Starbuck (MVP)
| .
|

I am going through a similar situation. I ran a continouous diag on the
conventional memory and got an error at the 4th run. I swapped out the
modules with some brand new and still got the error so I am assuming it's the
motherboard.

"Gabi" wrote:

When trying to boot my computer, it crashes almost
immediately:
- When starting it in normal mode, it goes through the
booting procedure up to where the desktop screen comes up
VERY briefly, then the screen blacks out and a message
comes up (also VERY briefly) 'Error loading Kernel. You
must reinstall Windows'. Then the system shuts down on
its own.
- When starting up in safe mode, it goes through the
booting procedure up to where 'Himem' is testing the
extended memory; then VERY briefly, the desktop screen
comes up; then a blue screen comes up with a 'Windows'
message that 'A fatal exception 0D has occurred at
0147:0000BC9D. The current application will be
terminated ...[etc].' Then the system is stuck and needs
to be shut down by pressing the power button.
- When trying to reinstall Windows (which the support of
a boot disk in drive a:\) from the original installation
CD, I get a message that 'Windows Setup requires "largest
executable program size" to be at least 442368 bytes to
run'.

I would appreciate any hints on what may have caused this
sudden problem and especially any help on how to possibly
fix it.

Many thanks!