Boot W/98 after scandisk and removing from the network/ files not fnd

[Mark59]

Hi,I went on a call to service a desktop that is running W/98 and is on a network. I am not familiar with networking and how it is all set up. The client attempted to run a backup and backup to a tape drive that is internal.When she did this scandisk automatically came up and required that she run it. She did and chose the fix it option. When she tries to reboot it freezes at the W logo. I took the system off the network and brought it back to my shop and used fix it to run another scandisk. I also choose to fix it. It told me that some clusters where bad and that it would move the information to a good cluster and mark that one bad. It also corrected and changed the names of files and directories to Dir00001-Dir00028 and File0001-File0113.When scandisk finished it reported 24 invalid directory entries were removed, 63 invalid directory entries were corrected, 55 lost directories were reinstated, 1976 lost clusters were saved as files and 653 bad clusters were patched. Now when I try to reboot it sits at<br>I try to reboot it sits at verifying dmi pool data and won't boot into W. Using a W/98 boot disk it asks for himem.sys, dblbuff.sys, ifshlp.sys and win.com. I copied them to C: as well. I noticed on my system that&nbsp;&nbsp;with 98 these files are in the Windows directory but there is no Windows directory on the machine I am trying to fix, is this because the folder is on the server?. I have copied the files to the root of c and to the Win98 directory which is the only Windows reference to a directory. Idragged this out but I want to give as much info as possible. <br>Thanking you in advance for your input!!<br>&nbsp;Mark<br>&nbsp;Have A Safe Day<br>

 

[edfair]

Win98 is installed on the local drive. Networking adds capability to talk to a network card and adds support to look at other drives across the network. You have a hard drive that is failing. Scandisk fixed a whole bunch of stuff that it thought was bad, which was everything on the windows directory by the number of files involved. The fix is total reinstall, but with a drive problem showing already, reinstalling on the current drive is exercise in futility. <p>Ed Fair<br><a href=mailto: efair@atlnet.com> efair@atlnet.com</a><br><a href= > </a><br>Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. <br>
Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.<br>

 

[tomw]

I agree with the above post, your Windows directory was re-named to be on of the DIR0001-0028 entries.&nbsp;&nbsp;After that many problems though, you will be chasing this problem for a while.&nbsp;&nbsp;I would put a new hard drive in and start over with this one if this is a production machine (one you need every day).&nbsp;&nbsp;If not critical to run, there are a ton of things you could do to try and get it back, but I feel that without re-formatting and re-installing Windows as a minimum, you will have lots of problems... <p>Tom Whitehead<br><a href=mailto:twhitehead@commeq.com>twhitehead@commeq.com</a><br><a href= > </a><br>

 

[ATCal]

I concur with Tom. 28 bad directories and 113 bad files is more than just a hint that something is going afoul inside that drive. If its a company machine don't risk it, just replace the drive. Even if you could patch it up, it will look bad for you when it finally goes in another two months. <p>Al<br><a href=mailto: atc-computing@home.com> atc-computing@home.com</a><br><a href= > </a><br>

 

[Phoenix9969]

The Posts above cover quite nicely the idea that the W directory was currupt, either as a result of a damaged HDD, or (as I have also noticed sometimes occurs) - viral infection, possible in the MBR. My recommendation would be the same as &quot;edfair above&quot; - replace the HDD, and install W on it. Once that is done, install an anti-virus program (i.e., Mcafee V-Scan 5) and updated Dat files to prevent a virus in the future, and to also protect the next step: add the original HDD to the system as a slave to the new HDD and transfer any DATA files (*.doc, *.xl?, etc) that the E-User might have &quot;accidentally&quot; forgotten to backup themselves (we all know how E-Users are!) to a &quot;backup&quot; folder on the new HDD, THEN remove hte old HDD, re-run VScan (ALL Files) and re-install the apps the E-User had.

As EdFair put so eloquently &quot;Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.&quot; Thanks

Sdemar@computechtx.com

 

[comtutor]

I have another alternative, possibility. I have had a MB with a bad IDE port. All the above are good solutions, but wanted to throw mine into the mix. It was a bugger to find. But with even new drives showing errors, I decided to scrap the MB, then the origional drive worked fine.


Draq
comtutor@uswestmail.net

 

[Guest_imported]

I want you to know that you have a virus, and that it has written itself into the bios. The virus renames all the window files just like you said. If you change the mother board, and nothing else, you will rid yourself of your problem. You will also need to format the hard drive, but don't throw it out, as it is not the problem. If you have the drive partitioned, you will only need to format the c drive.

I had the exact same problem, and a buddy of mine was also attacked by the same virus. The virus checkers do NOT detect it, and running scandisk makes the virus attack more files. The scandisk goes into an infinite loop and keeps deleting more files on each pass.

I can tell you that I have removed this motherboard, and set it up with only a vga card, and some memory, and still had the same problem. It is definately in the bios.

Another solution is: If you are lucky enough to be able to boot from an a: drive (mine would not) then I suggest you flash the bios. This will cleanup the virus in the bios.

Good luck.