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#1
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Start Windpws 98 from Command Prompt
Hello All,
The system indicates it has Windows 98 but goes into a C prompt. Any ideas how to start graphical Windows 98 from a command prompt? Thanks, Angel |
#2
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The system indicates it has Windows 98 but goes into a C prompt. Any ideas
how to start graphical Windows 98 from a command prompt? Try typing in "win", or "exit" |
#3
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As the system boots up, at the end of the initial diagnostic screen (or
manufacturer's splash screen) hold down the Ctrl or F8 key. The goal is to bring up the Startup Menu. The moment that this hotkey needs to be pressed is short and fleeting, so if you get the C:\ prompt, just try again. You might also try repeatedly pressing the key instead of holding it down, in order to prevent a "stuck-key" error. When you get to the Startup Menu, choose "Normal" startup. Does that get you into Windows or does it just drop you into the C:\ prompt again? -- Gary S. Terhune MS-MVP Shell/User "Angel" wrote in message ... Hello All, The system indicates it has Windows 98 but goes into a C prompt. Any ideas how to start graphical Windows 98 from a command prompt? Thanks, Angel |
#4
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I'm betting on two things....
It's a used system and a fresh format was done or someone has played around with the msdos.sys file and screwed things up. All the best, -- George Aker aka SG Google is your friend www.google.com Anything else is just a search engine "Gary S. Terhune" wrote in message ... As the system boots up, at the end of the initial diagnostic screen (or manufacturer's splash screen) hold down the Ctrl or F8 key. The goal is to bring up the Startup Menu. The moment that this hotkey needs to be pressed is short and fleeting, so if you get the C:\ prompt, just try again. You might also try repeatedly pressing the key instead of holding it down, in order to prevent a "stuck-key" error. When you get to the Startup Menu, choose "Normal" startup. Does that get you into Windows or does it just drop you into the C:\ prompt again? -- Gary S. Terhune MS-MVP Shell/User "Angel" wrote in message ... Hello All, The system indicates it has Windows 98 but goes into a C prompt. Any ideas how to start graphical Windows 98 from a command prompt? Thanks, Angel |
#5
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I was thinking primarily of the latter...
-- Gary S. Terhune MS-MVP Shell/User "SG" wrote in message ... I'm betting on two things.... It's a used system and a fresh format was done or someone has played around with the msdos.sys file and screwed things up. All the best, -- George Aker aka SG Google is your friend www.google.com Anything else is just a search engine "Gary S. Terhune" wrote in message ... As the system boots up, at the end of the initial diagnostic screen (or manufacturer's splash screen) hold down the Ctrl or F8 key. The goal is to bring up the Startup Menu. The moment that this hotkey needs to be pressed is short and fleeting, so if you get the C:\ prompt, just try again. You might also try repeatedly pressing the key instead of holding it down, in order to prevent a "stuck-key" error. When you get to the Startup Menu, choose "Normal" startup. Does that get you into Windows or does it just drop you into the C:\ prompt again? -- Gary S. Terhune MS-MVP Shell/User "Angel" wrote in message ... Hello All, The system indicates it has Windows 98 but goes into a C prompt. Any ideas how to start graphical Windows 98 from a command prompt? Thanks, Angel |
#6
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On Wed, 17 Aug 2005 07:30:03 -0700, "Angel"
The system indicates it has Windows 98 but goes into a C prompt. Any ideas how to start graphical Windows 98 from a command prompt? First: Do you have a boot diskette or CD in the relevant drives? If so, remove these, and ideally prevent those drives from booting first via the relevant CMOS settings. Enter the VER command. If you see "MSDOS 6.22" or similar, as opposed to a Windows 9x version number, then someone did a SYS C: from an MS-DOS diskette boot, or you are somehow trapped in an F8 "Previous Version of MSDOS" session. The latter is common only in Win95 SR2. Enter the EXIT command. You may be in the middle on a "Specify a new..." DOS mode .pif session, and that will continue (across reboots) until you Exit it via that command. If still no joy, then I'd enter the following command: EDIT C:\WINBOOT.INI C:\MSDOS.SYS These files, in that order, inform the boot process where Windows is, and whether or not it should be booted (as opposed to DOS mode). Normally, C:\WINBOOT.INI is not present, so that it is C:\MSDOS.SYS that is in effect. The syntax of both files is the same; it should have a [Paths] section that points to your Windows directory, and an [Options] section that has a big wad of ; xxxx... lines to pad it out. PgDn past all of those lines to see if there are extra "live" lines added after that! Any line starting with ; is inactive. If you find the file is a tiny stub, with just one line like ;FORMAT or ;SYS at the top, then that's your problem - something ate your MSDOS.SYS and you need to write a new one. Reply to that effect if so, and I'll paste something that should work. If you see a line within the [Options] section like this... BootGUI=0 ....then that's your problem; that line prevents Windows from starting up and forces you to stay in DOS mode instead. If still no joy, enter the following command: EDIT C:\CONFIG.SYS C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT Look for a line in Config.sys like this... DOS=SINGLE ....and if you see that, expect to see three lines at the end of Autoexec.bat that state "these lines were added by Windows" and have something like WIN.COM /WX etc. in there. The DOS=SINGLE line will force the system to stay in DOS mode, and is used internally by the system (along with WIN.COM /WX etc.) to manage a "Specify a new..." DOS mode .pif session. If the system shows the Windows splash screen (as an in-progress .pif session does not) and then stay in DOS mode, even after you enter EXIT as a command - then you're in the "double launch misbehavior". What happens when you run a DOS mode "Specify a new..." .pif is: - C:\Config.sys and C:\Autoexec.bat are copied to C:\*.WOS - new copies of those files are extracted from the .pif - the system shuts down and restarts into the session If you launch the session twice before the shutdown and restart can commence, then this is what happens... - C:\Config.sys and C:\Autoexec.bat are copied to C:\*.WOS - new copies of those files are extracted from the .pif - C:\Config.sys and C:\Autoexec.bat are copied to C:\*.WOS - new copies of those files are extracted from the .pif - the system shuts down and restarts into the session ....and you can see the problem. When the session is ended via the EXIT command, the "live" files go back into the .pif (thus re-incorporating any changes) while the .WOS are renamed back to the "live" names. But the .WOS are not the Windows system settings files they should be, but another instance of those from the .pif - so the ..pif session starts all over again. This time, the system has no awareness (mystery: What is the nature of that awareness?) that a "Specify a new..." session is in effect. That's why you see the splash screen, and why EXIT doesn't (it has no idea what session to "exit" from). If this is the problem, then don't just edit out the DOS=SINGLE line, as is usually advised. Rename away the files, like this... REN C:\CONFIG.SYS CONFIG.EDM REN C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT AUTOEXEC.EDM ....so they won't be used, and reset. This will give a cleaner result than running Windows on top of inappropriate settings. Still no joy? OK, then it sounds as if something worse has happened, like the loss of part or all of the Windows subtree. You can't boot Windows if the Windows code isn't there to be booted! --------------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - Error Messages Are Your Friends --------------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - |
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