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Incomplete startup of Me



 
 
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  #11  
Old September 1st 07, 10:07 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsme.setup
Mike M
External Usenet User
 
Posts: 2,047
Default Incomplete startup of Me

Forget about the XP upgrade PERIOD
If your system isn't booting this is the last thing you should be doing.
Once you've corrected the booting problem and you've run the XP Upgrade
Advisor then perhaps you should consider upgrading to XP but not before.

And then if this doesn't work, I'll use
scanreg /restore to get back to where I was just yesterday


Scanreg offers no such escape route OR are you saying that when running
scanreg /restore you can see a backed up copy of the registry from
yesterday and then no others except for four (a total of five should be
visible) from "years ago"? If so that is indeed very strange and begs the
question as to why the registry started being backed up yesterday having
not been so for a year or more.

Data backup. If you can only boot to DOS using a boot floppy then this is
probably easiest done using an external USB drive which should I think be
available provided you enable USB Legacy Support in the PC's bios.
--
Mike Maltby




JNB wrote:

Thanks guys for the suggestions....so I guess my approach will be to
use the scanreg /restore to get back to a very old registry, assuming
Me boots then I'll use Sytem Restore and hopefully there is a much
more recent checkpoint available. Before this though, will it be
possible to backup my data files and other downloaded executables
(esp updates) to CD? How? And then if this doesn't work, I'll use
scanreg /restore to get back to where I was just yesterday and try
the XP upgrade. Please comment one last time.


  #12  
Old September 1st 07, 11:20 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsme.setup
JNB
External Usenet User
 
Posts: 7
Default Incomplete startup of Me

OK....will a memory stick in a USB port work? Also, I have a ZIP drive on
the computer. Please guide me, I speak some the language but as you can tell
I really am a novice.

"Mike M" wrote:

Forget about the XP upgrade PERIOD
If your system isn't booting this is the last thing you should be doing.
Once you've corrected the booting problem and you've run the XP Upgrade
Advisor then perhaps you should consider upgrading to XP but not before.

And then if this doesn't work, I'll use
scanreg /restore to get back to where I was just yesterday


Scanreg offers no such escape route OR are you saying that when running
scanreg /restore you can see a backed up copy of the registry from
yesterday and then no others except for four (a total of five should be
visible) from "years ago"? If so that is indeed very strange and begs the
question as to why the registry started being backed up yesterday having
not been so for a year or more.

Data backup. If you can only boot to DOS using a boot floppy then this is
probably easiest done using an external USB drive which should I think be
available provided you enable USB Legacy Support in the PC's bios.
--
Mike Maltby




JNB wrote:

Thanks guys for the suggestions....so I guess my approach will be to
use the scanreg /restore to get back to a very old registry, assuming
Me boots then I'll use Sytem Restore and hopefully there is a much
more recent checkpoint available. Before this though, will it be
possible to backup my data files and other downloaded executables
(esp updates) to CD? How? And then if this doesn't work, I'll use
scanreg /restore to get back to where I was just yesterday and try
the XP upgrade. Please comment one last time.



  #13  
Old September 2nd 07, 12:10 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsme.setup
Mike M
External Usenet User
 
Posts: 2,047
Default Incomplete startup of Me

A USB stick should work provided USB Legacy Mode is enabled in the bios.
This may or may not be an option and depends on your motherboard.

A Zip drive may or may not be usable depending on whether DOS drivers are
required and if so whether they are available. It does rather depend on
how the Zip is connected. If internal it may need no special drivers.
--
Mike Maltby



JNB wrote:

OK....will a memory stick in a USB port work? Also, I have a ZIP
drive on the computer. Please guide me, I speak some the language
but as you can tell I really am a novice.


  #14  
Old September 2nd 07, 01:53 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsme.setup
Mart
External Usenet User
 
Posts: 1,190
Default Incomplete startup of Me

I totally concur with your conclusions Mike (thanks for chipping in mike),
however there was a niggling point which I overlooked from JNB's original
post and consequently I (we?) made an ASSumption.

JNB, you wrote :-
.... tried booting in Safe Mode and it I get a grey screen
with Safe Mode in each corner.


But you didn't say whether you could progress beyond that point - i.e. have
you tried to access System Restore in Safe Mode? Can you do anything in Safe
Mode?

If Safe Mode just 'hangs' with the "grey screen with Safe Mode in each
corner", how do you close down? And what happens when you re-boot? Does
WinMe attempt a Scandisk? And if so, what - if anything - does it report?

Regarding rescuing your data, if Mikes plan doesn't work due to the driver
issues discussed, you may have to remove your HDD and connect it to your
'other' PC (a couple of options available), but don't expect to transfer
*INSTALLED* downloaded executables, only the pre-installed files. Updates -
as in WinMe updates - are all still currently available from MS - I think!!

Mart


"Mike M" wrote in message
...
A USB stick should work provided USB Legacy Mode is enabled in the bios.
This may or may not be an option and depends on your motherboard.

A Zip drive may or may not be usable depending on whether DOS drivers are
required and if so whether they are available. It does rather depend on
how the Zip is connected. If internal it may need no special drivers.
--
Mike Maltby



JNB wrote:

OK....will a memory stick in a USB port work? Also, I have a ZIP
drive on the computer. Please guide me, I speak some the language
but as you can tell I really am a novice.




  #15  
Old September 2nd 07, 12:57 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsme.setup
Mike M
External Usenet User
 
Posts: 2,047
Default Incomplete startup of Me

Mart,

I had thought along much the same lines as yourself, that is, that Safe
Mode had "hung" at around the point the desktop is usually displayed.
Whenever that has happened to me the problem has always been cleared by
scandisk running automatically following a reboot.
--
Mike Maltby



Mart wrote:

I totally concur with your conclusions Mike (thanks for chipping in
mike), however there was a niggling point which I overlooked from
JNB's original post and consequently I (we?) made an ASSumption.

JNB, you wrote :-
.... tried booting in Safe Mode and it I get a grey screen
with Safe Mode in each corner.


But you didn't say whether you could progress beyond that point -
i.e. have you tried to access System Restore in Safe Mode? Can you do
anything in Safe Mode?

If Safe Mode just 'hangs' with the "grey screen with Safe Mode in each
corner", how do you close down? And what happens when you re-boot?
Does WinMe attempt a Scandisk? And if so, what - if anything - does
it report?
Regarding rescuing your data, if Mikes plan doesn't work due to the
driver issues discussed, you may have to remove your HDD and connect
it to your 'other' PC (a couple of options available), but don't
expect to transfer *INSTALLED* downloaded executables, only the
pre-installed files. Updates - as in WinMe updates - are all still
currently available from MS - I think!!


  #16  
Old September 2nd 07, 02:07 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsme.setup
Mart
External Usenet User
 
Posts: 1,190
Default Incomplete startup of Me

Mike wrote :-

Whenever that has happened ... the problem has
always been cleared by scandisk running
automatically following a reboot.


Unless of course one cancels the 'forced' scandisk operation as being
irrelevant, totally unnecessary and a compete waste of time VBG (Not
exactly unheard of - and not that long ago, either)

BTW - WinMe Auto-update is still working - just tried it this morning.

Mart


"Mike M" wrote in message

Mart,

I had thought along much the same lines as yourself, that is, that Safe
Mode had "hung" at around the point the desktop is usually displayed.
Whenever that has happened to me the problem has always been cleared by
scandisk running automatically following a reboot.
--
Mike Maltby



  #17  
Old September 2nd 07, 10:24 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsme.setup
JNB
External Usenet User
 
Posts: 7
Default Incomplete startup of Me

Sorry for the delay guys....i'm having to use someone elses
computer/connection so there is a delay between reading you comments and
trying/checking stuff and replying. Anyway...scandisk did run automatically,
i've learned that when the system hangs and I have to use the power button to
shut down that scandisk finishes alot faster if i start in Safe Mode. Then I
do an orderly shutdown from Safe Mode and then it has always powered up
normally. However, now after scandisk finishes it goes to the grey screen
that I mentioned before and hangs...I cant do anything. I dont recall now if
scandisk runs automatically anymore after i use the power button to shutdown
from the hung state (I'll have to go back and try it) Also, one mystery that
I can clear up is the reason there is a very recent .cab available from
scanreg /restore is that I after you guys turned me on to scanreg I noticed
its "backup" option and used it to create the .cab. The other 4 that show up
in the list now are several years old.
Is this still the right way to proceed? I'm deathly afraid I'll blow away
data etc if I try this and it doesnt work. For now though from DOS, I've
looked around on the C: drive and it looks like all is still intact and the
HDD is OK. I havent tried saving to the memory stick yet but that will be my
next step...or should I just take the HDD to another computer and back it up
there first?

"Mart" wrote:

Mike wrote :-

Whenever that has happened ... the problem has
always been cleared by scandisk running
automatically following a reboot.


Unless of course one cancels the 'forced' scandisk operation as being
irrelevant, totally unnecessary and a compete waste of time VBG (Not
exactly unheard of - and not that long ago, either)

BTW - WinMe Auto-update is still working - just tried it this morning.

Mart


"Mike M" wrote in message

Mart,

I had thought along much the same lines as yourself, that is, that Safe
Mode had "hung" at around the point the desktop is usually displayed.
Whenever that has happened to me the problem has always been cleared by
scandisk running automatically following a reboot.
--
Mike Maltby




  #18  
Old September 3rd 07, 01:23 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsme.setup
Mart
External Usenet User
 
Posts: 1,190
Default Incomplete startup of Me

No 'solutions' I'm afraid but a couple of further pointers which might be
worth looking at :-

"How to Troubleshoot Windows Millennium Edition Startup Problems"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/273738/en-us

Virus has to be a (strong?) contender - as mentioned in the KB article.
Try F-Protect for DOS from http://www.f-prot.com/download/

BTW - May be worth throwing as much hardware off as you can (especially
USB), leaving minimal kit - Monitor, Keyboard and (preferably) serial or
ps/2 Mouse.

Also :-
"How to Start the System Restore Tool from a Command Prompt"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/279736/en-us

But the fact that you haven't got any *recent* .CAB files (typically 5) - as
Mike has already pointed out - is a major worry, especially for the days
leading up to the day on which your PC went down.

..or should I just take the HDD to another computer
and back it up there first?


If you've got some serious (personal) data which you can't afford to lose,
then Yes!

Mart


"JNB" wrote in message
...
Sorry for the delay guys....i'm having to use someone elses
computer/connection so there is a delay between reading you comments and
trying/checking stuff and replying. Anyway...scandisk did run
automatically,
i've learned that when the system hangs and I have to use the power button
to
shut down that scandisk finishes alot faster if i start in Safe Mode.
Then I
do an orderly shutdown from Safe Mode and then it has always powered up
normally. However, now after scandisk finishes it goes to the grey screen
that I mentioned before and hangs...I cant do anything. I dont recall now
if
scandisk runs automatically anymore after i use the power button to
shutdown
from the hung state (I'll have to go back and try it) Also, one mystery
that
I can clear up is the reason there is a very recent .cab available from
scanreg /restore is that I after you guys turned me on to scanreg I
noticed
its "backup" option and used it to create the .cab. The other 4 that show
up
in the list now are several years old.
Is this still the right way to proceed? I'm deathly afraid I'll blow away
data etc if I try this and it doesnt work. For now though from DOS, I've
looked around on the C: drive and it looks like all is still intact and
the
HDD is OK. I havent tried saving to the memory stick yet but that will be
my
next step...or should I just take the HDD to another computer and back it
up
there first?



 




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