Made big mistake help please

I was updating my sisters compaq desktop with the critical updates for Win98
SE, this had not been done ever on this pc. But before I connected to the net
I did place Norton 2003 AV on it updated the defs, and it came up clean as to
Norton anyway. I saved the DirectX 9.0 critical update for last. Previously
her son had played on the pc and messed it up some how so the display on the
screen was not correct. All of the icons on the main page ran out of the
monitors screen parameters, when you would open any program or the control
panel etc., the pages were larger than the screen. I got the screen back to
where I could see the pages in the parameter of the monitor, at least closer
to normal than it was. But no matter what settings I tried it never was
correct. I searched the net for help to no avail, was thinking maybe it was a
driver issue or maybe the adapter was going bad or something. But then I
finally did something right I guess and it was close enough to where it
should be by default that I was going to let it go. This is an old compaq
anyway. Pent. 1, 32 mb of ram, 2 gig hd, But for what needs to use it for, it
is okay for now. But I don't want to trash it if I can save it. As you have
already noticed I'm sure, I'm no wis at this pc stuff. And I believe that I
made a mistake that may cause me to lose the computer anyway. Because now I
cannot get it to booth up. After I downloaded the critical update for
DirectX, I opt out of restarting so I could look to see if the IDE shut down
update was available in the other area of Windows updates. But I did not load
it or any other update then. However, I did go back into the settings and
reset the display settings one more time because I was still not satisfied
with it, and I restarted the pc then without realizing what I had done. Duh !
Then it wouldn't reboot, I got a back screen after the Starting Windows
Screen came up, then I couldn't get it to shut down either. I had to turn it
off by the power button, because the keyboad method didn't work either. When
I tried to restart again after that, it went into scandisc and then the same
back screen. I see the activity flashing light dimly and it gets bright
sometimes and I can hear it try to do something. but then it just goes right
back to the dim flash.
Have I lost this pc ? At what point do you hold down F5 to bring it into
safe mode, before or after the Windows 98 screen ? I am not 100 % sure at
what point it starts to boot Windows after has shut down. Can anyone help me
or is this a lost cause now ? I would really appreciate any info someone can
give me. I'll check back in a while to see if anyone has read this. Sorry
this is so terribly long, and no unforunantly I didn't create a rescue disc,
I have no empty floppy's. But I do have a 98 SE upgrade CD, can I reboot from
that ? What gets me is as I have been writing this message tonight, I have
been sitting here trying everything possible to get this up and running
again, so I could delete the message and not show you all my ingonrance. I
did get it to shut down finally on it's own, Gave me the Windows is shutting
down screen and it went right into restart on it it's own. After it showed
the size of memory and the flashing cursor, I hit F5 and held it until it
beeped at me. But don't think it went into safe mode, or at least it didn't
give me any screen other than the Windows 98 start up at the very beginning.
But it sounded like it was going to start up fine, it was obviously trying to
load, but the screen never came back. Does that help at all to give you more
detail ? Please if you can help me save my sisters pc ! And yes, she is
married LOL .... But do it anyway ...... hahaha Thanks duhme
--
never say never, murphy's laws rule 99.9% of the time

When the screen was larger than the monitor, did you try re-adjusting =
the vert/horiz form the controls on the monitor itself?
You also may not be waiting long enough for the boot to complete. I =
have seen many machines appear to stall on boot and letting it sit for =
5-10 mins lets it complete, then after the boots are quicker. Try it and =
see what happens as long as it shows any sign of activity.

Another problem I see is: Pent. 1, 32 mb of ram, 2 gig hd, Norton 2003 =
AV and DirectX 9.0. I'd think again about using a different AV app on =
that machine that will not write every which way to Sunday in the =
registry. You may also see a lot of slowdown with operations if any/all =
automatic settings are enabled in NAV. DX9 I believe is essentially for =
the newer machines although it may be possible to use it, I certaily =
wouldn't use it on the machine mentioned.

As for the question: "At what point do you hold down F5 to bring it into =
safe mode, before or after the Windows 98 screen ?"

Right after drive detection and before the Windows logo. You do not =
want to wait until you see the flashing cursor/underscore.
Other ways to try a
Press and hold the CTRL key just after the mem count during POST until =
you get the Startup menu.
or
Continually tap the F8 key when you see the drive detection until you =
see the Startup menu.

--=20
Brian A.

Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

"duhme" wrote in message =
...
I was updating my sisters compaq desktop with the critical updates for =
Win98=20
SE, this had not been done ever on this pc. But before I connected to =
the net=20
I did place Norton 2003 AV on it updated the defs, and it came up =
clean as to=20
Norton anyway. I saved the DirectX 9.0 critical update for last. =
Previously=20
her son had played on the pc and messed it up some how so the display =
on the=20
screen was not correct. All of the icons on the main page ran out of =
the=20
monitors screen parameters, when you would open any program or the =
control=20
panel etc., the pages were larger than the screen. I got the screen =
back to=20
where I could see the pages in the parameter of the monitor, at least =
closer=20
to normal than it was. But no matter what settings I tried it never =
was=20
correct. I searched the net for help to no avail, was thinking maybe =
it was a=20
driver issue or maybe the adapter was going bad or something. But then =
I=20
finally did something right I guess and it was close enough to where =
it=20
should be by default that I was going to let it go. This is an old =
compaq=20
anyway. Pent. 1, 32 mb of ram, 2 gig hd, But for what needs to use it =
for, it=20
is okay for now. But I don't want to trash it if I can save it. As you =
have=20
already noticed I'm sure, I'm no wis at this pc stuff. And I believe =
that I=20
made a mistake that may cause me to lose the computer anyway. Because =
now I=20
cannot get it to booth up. After I downloaded the critical update for=20
DirectX, I opt out of restarting so I could look to see if the IDE =
shut down=20
update was available in the other area of Windows updates. But I did =
not load=20
it or any other update then. However, I did go back into the settings =
and=20
reset the display settings one more time because I was still not =
satisfied=20
with it, and I restarted the pc then without realizing what I had =
done. Duh !=20
Then it wouldn't reboot, I got a back screen after the Starting =
Windows=20
Screen came up, then I couldn't get it to shut down either. I had to =
turn it=20
off by the power button, because the keyboad method didn't work =
either. When=20
I tried to restart again after that, it went into scandisc and then =
the same=20
back screen. I see the activity flashing light dimly and it gets =
bright=20
sometimes and I can hear it try to do something. but then it just goes =
right=20
back to the dim flash.=20
Have I lost this pc ? At what point do you hold down F5 to bring it =
into=20
safe mode, before or after the Windows 98 screen ? I am not 100 % sure =
at=20
what point it starts to boot Windows after has shut down. Can anyone =
help me=20
or is this a lost cause now ? I would really appreciate any info =
someone can=20
give me. I'll check back in a while to see if anyone has read this. =
Sorry=20
this is so terribly long, and no unforunantly I didn't create a rescue =
disc,=20
I have no empty floppy's. But I do have a 98 SE upgrade CD, can I =
reboot from=20
that ? What gets me is as I have been writing this message tonight, I =
have=20
been sitting here trying everything possible to get this up and =
running=20
again, so I could delete the message and not show you all my =
ingonrance. I=20
did get it to shut down finally on it's own, Gave me the Windows is =
shutting=20
down screen and it went right into restart on it it's own. After it =
showed=20
the size of memory and the flashing cursor, I hit F5 and held it until =
it=20
beeped at me. But don't think it went into safe mode, or at least it =
didn't=20
give me any screen other than the Windows 98 start up at the very =
beginning.=20
But it sounded like it was going to start up fine, it was obviously =
trying to=20
load, but the screen never came back. Does that help at all to give =
you more=20
detail ? Please if you can help me save my sisters pc ! And yes, she =
is=20
married LOL .... But do it anyway ...... hahaha Thanks =
duhme
--=20
never say never, murphy's laws rule 99.9% of the time

(1) F5 gets directly to Safe Mode.
.......Start...Quote from Windows 98 Secrets (Livingston/Straub).....
Ctrl or F8: Starts the Windows 98 Startup Menu. You need to hold down
the Ctrl key before the DOS bootup process begins. If you have quick
fingers you can press the F8 key in between the end of the power-on self
test & the beginning of the DOS bootup phase.
.......End........

(2) Get a Startup Diskette from
http://www.bootdisk.com/ , if you don't already have one from "Control
Panel, Add/Remove Programs, Startup Disk tab". Test the Startup
Diskette. Boot it, put in a CD and "DIR" the CD. It will say which
letter is the CD. (Otherwise, it is likely one letter higher than
normal.)


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

"duhme" wrote in message
...
| I was updating my sisters compaq desktop with the critical updates for
Win98
| SE, this had not been done ever on this pc. But before I connected to
the net
| I did place Norton 2003 AV on it updated the defs, and it came up
clean as to
| Norton anyway. I saved the DirectX 9.0 critical update for last.
Previously
| her son had played on the pc and messed it up some how so the display
on the
| screen was not correct. All of the icons on the main page ran out of
the
| monitors screen parameters, when you would open any program or the
control
| panel etc., the pages were larger than the screen. I got the screen
back to
| where I could see the pages in the parameter of the monitor, at least
closer
| to normal than it was. But no matter what settings I tried it never
was
| correct. I searched the net for help to no avail, was thinking maybe
it was a
| driver issue or maybe the adapter was going bad or something. But then
I
| finally did something right I guess and it was close enough to where
it
| should be by default that I was going to let it go. This is an old
compaq
| anyway. Pent. 1, 32 mb of ram, 2 gig hd, But for what needs to use it
for, it
| is okay for now. But I don't want to trash it if I can save it. As you
have
| already noticed I'm sure, I'm no wis at this pc stuff. And I believe
that I
| made a mistake that may cause me to lose the computer anyway. Because
now I
| cannot get it to booth up. After I downloaded the critical update for
| DirectX, I opt out of restarting so I could look to see if the IDE
shut down
| update was available in the other area of Windows updates. But I did
not load
| it or any other update then. However, I did go back into the settings
and
| reset the display settings one more time because I was still not
satisfied
| with it, and I restarted the pc then without realizing what I had
done. Duh !
| Then it wouldn't reboot, I got a back screen after the Starting
Windows
| Screen came up, then I couldn't get it to shut down either. I had to
turn it
| off by the power button, because the keyboad method didn't work
either. When
| I tried to restart again after that, it went into scandisc and then
the same
| back screen. I see the activity flashing light dimly and it gets
bright
| sometimes and I can hear it try to do something. but then it just goes
right
| back to the dim flash.
| Have I lost this pc ? At what point do you hold down F5 to bring it
into
| safe mode, before or after the Windows 98 screen ? I am not 100 % sure
at
| what point it starts to boot Windows after has shut down. Can anyone
help me
| or is this a lost cause now ? I would really appreciate any info
someone can
| give me. I'll check back in a while to see if anyone has read this.
Sorry
| this is so terribly long, and no unforunantly I didn't create a rescue
disc,
| I have no empty floppy's. But I do have a 98 SE upgrade CD, can I
reboot from
| that ? What gets me is as I have been writing this message tonight, I
have
| been sitting here trying everything possible to get this up and
running
| again, so I could delete the message and not show you all my
ingonrance. I
| did get it to shut down finally on it's own, Gave me the Windows is
shutting
| down screen and it went right into restart on it it's own. After it
showed
| the size of memory and the flashing cursor, I hit F5 and held it until
it
| beeped at me. But don't think it went into safe mode, or at least it
didn't
| give me any screen other than the Windows 98 start up at the very
beginning.
| But it sounded like it was going to start up fine, it was obviously
trying to
| load, but the screen never came back. Does that help at all to give
you more
| detail ? Please if you can help me save my sisters pc ! And yes, she
is
| married LOL .... But do it anyway ...... hahaha Thanks
duhme
| --
| never say never, murphy's laws rule 99.9% of the time