Cannot start Win98 2

[praise2him]

Hi all,
I have had this problem for awhile now and just can't seem to resolve it. I have a dual boot 98/2000 machine. When I choose the win98 option it starts at a DOS screen and says:
Starting Windows 98...
C:\SET PATH=C:|WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND;C:\WINDOWS SYSTEM

C:\>

But from that point the screen goes blank. Not blue or anything just blank. I can hear the hard drive loading the OS but nothing can be seen.

Could this be a video driver problem? When I start Win2000 on the dual boot menu it is fine and runs great.
Thanks,
Paul

 

[mattjurado]

Can you boot to safe mode? Could be any number of problems. When did this start happening?

Matt J.

 

[sgtjwhite]

If 2k runs ok, your problem is w/98 video drivers. I have to every now and then run my video driver install disk for 98se (do not know why). I have 5 drv as follows 3ea scsi 9gb and 2ea ide 80+ 60gb. I have OS 98se on drv C:80gb and XP pro on D:60gb and Xp pro on Scsi 9gb. When my 98se will not boot up I run my Xp OS sys and it works fine. I then go back and install my video drv install dsk on 98 and re-boot and it works fine.
Later...

 

[praise2him]

mattjurado,
Last time I tried which was probably 2-3 months ago I could boot to safe mode. I am away from my computer right now but will check again. If I remember correctly it started when I was downloading a new driver for my video, but I can't be certain on that.

Paul

 

[praise2him]

I don't know if any help is available for this one but.....
I have been trying on and off for months to get my w98 install to start. Once past the boot screen I get nothin' but black. I recently uninstalled all ATI drivers from my computer w2k and w98. Downloaded new drivers for both. Installed new w2k driver it works fine. Went to w98 safe mode installed driver and got this message.
"SEVERE!
Setup was unable to comp;ete the installation. Try to setup your display with a standard VGA driver before running setup."
When I go into My Computer\properties it shows the video with a red X through it.
I am at the end of my knowledge and way past my threshold of patience any help would greatly be appreciated,
Thanks,
Paul

 

[TekTippy4U]

Don't know if you have video card "OR" integrated graphics on the mobo chipset...(diff directions needed, usually after standard vga is up)

If you can get into 98 Safe mode , then your already using Standard VGA driver

Go into DeviceManager and delete the Display Adapter entry with the Red x in it..
Boot into 98 Safe mode and run Scandisk

If you can't start SafeMode in 98..try to boot to Command Prompt Only choice on the startup menu...type
Scandisk C:

Try to boot normally

Once done, and hopefully you can get into 98.....
post back with results

Also download this Sys Info utility and run for info

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

Also from the Command Prompt in Win 98 startup menu.....type
Edit Autoexec.bat
and add C:\; at the beginning of the PATH statement so it looks like this
C:\;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND;C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM

( these were typo's i see in "your" path statement from above?)
C:|WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND;C:\WINDOWS SYSTEM

It seems your 2 OS files, got cross-wired somewhere, and maybe even win2K took over the Boot sector.....
there's a lot more files and settings to check later

Have you changed the Video settings in the BIOS lately?

TT4U

Notification:
These are just "my" thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions....I try very hard to impart correct info at all times.

 

[praise2him]

Tektippy4u,
Thanks for your help on this.
1. I do have a video card ATI Radeon VE
2. Ran Scandisk and only problem was the free space on drive was wrong, ran fix.
3. Can boot to 98 now but it keeps searching for the drivers for my video card. Finds the card but not the drivers. I have continually gotten this error:
"SEVERE!
Setup was unable to complete the installation. Try to setup your display with a standard VGA driver before running setup."
4. I downloaded and ran Belarc.
5. Fixed the Autoexec.bat error.

Thanks again for your time,
Paul

 

[TekTippy4U]

My pleasure to help;
There's a bad .inf file in C:\WINDOWS\INF folder
Try to go to Device Manager and click on the Redx again and remove it...and "without" rebooting...Go to Control Panel>Add New Hardware....let it do it's plug-n-play thing...ignore the prompts for "found" these items(make a note of it though)...and direct it to "choose" from a list...Navigate to Display adapters and "choose" Standard VGA ...select OK and OK and reboot
Post back with results

TT4U

Notification:
These are just "my" thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs..All involved shall be spared the grief.

 

[TekTippy4U]

2 other quick questions;

1. Did the ScanDisk seem to allow win98 to load...and/or
Do you think the Autoexec.bat entry fixed it,.or both
2. Are you installing the newer win2K video driver, while in win98, or are you trying to install the win98 driver while in win98...(which version in which boot mode/OS)


TT4U

Notification:
These are just "my" thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs..All involved shall be spared the grief.

 

[praise2him]

I went to Device Man. the video adapter had a yellow ! on it when I removed it the screen went haywire. Rebooted, (had to), it says new hardware found then goes through the can't find file, insert manufac. cd etc. I don't want to use the original cd for drivers though. Anyway after saying no to all it froze and never finished loading desktop. Earlier I did go to start\run\configsys and saw that there is nothing under the config.sys tab or the autoexec.bat tab. Not sure but that doesn't seem right either.

I downloaded driver files in w2k since I could only boot to safe mode in 98 I could not get on line. Installed 2k drivers while in 2k. I downloaded the 98 drivers directly to c drive (98) desktop started in safe mode and tried to install them there.

Paul

 

[TekTippy4U]

I don't want to use the original cd for drivers though.
soory to say, but, this is illogical to me....the original OEM driver is specifically written for that card/machine hardware..

Win2k file system NTFS, is entirely incompatable with 98 Fat32

It's very possible and likely that "support" for that particular card/driver was overlooked/neglected/forgotten/ in win98 versions..

The only way I was able to update my Nvidia TNT2 Pro drivers, was to "First" have it installed....the updated driver install will overwrite whatever it need to and add a bunch of newer stuff

I downloaded the 98 drivers directly to c drive (98) desktop started in safe mode and tried to install them there
was it a .zip file? or .exe or other
I'm thinking that d/l-ing while in win2k, that the file got written in win2k NTFS, on your disk...
If you must insist on going with your method, i would suggest d/l-ing on a 98 machine....
Or
you may have just gotten a corrupted d/l

Were you aware...
ATI and "Made for" ATI or somesuch are different, did you know.?
One is ATI's technology made by a diff manu.
One is ATI manu.


Anyway after saying no to all it froze and never finished loading desktop.
Did u make a note of what was listed as i suggested??

you're not in safe mode are you? cause
Can boot to 98 now but it keeps searching for the drivers for my video card
i assumed you were in full 32bit protected mode...
Safe mode won't allow you to do anything with protected mode drivers...that's basically what the term means....

Safe mode also doesn't process Config.sys and Autoexec.bat on startup, however it's quite normal for these files to be empty, even when NOT in safemode, as the default load values are in the Io.sys file....which is un-editable.

Config.sys entries over-ride those defaults....
Also if you open a MS dos prompt window and type
Path
hit enter
you'll see the statement
Path=C:\;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND;C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM
along with Tmp, Temp, WinBootDir, and other environment variables.

TT4U

Notification:
These are just "my" thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs..All involved shall be spared the grief.

 

[TekTippy4U]

look here;

http://support.microsoft.com/defaul...port/kb/articles/q268/8/52.asp&NoWebContent=1

Although it applies to win2k, there's some useful info here

I'm going to ATI's site to hunt around...
wish me luck


TT4U

Notification:
These are just "my" thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs..All involved shall be spared the grief.

 

[TekTippy4U]

One more quick thought....
Are you're DirectX drivers up to date?
Go Start>Run DXDIAG
find the version and important video card info

Here to D/l and upgrade

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/default.aspx?url=/windows/directx/downloads/default.htm

TT4U

Notification:
These are just "my" thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs..All involved shall be spared the grief.

 

[praise2him]

(tt4u)I'm thinking that d/l-ing while in win2k, that the file got written in win2k NTFS, on your disk...
If you must insist on going with your method, i would suggest d/l-ing on a 98 machine....
Or
you may have just gotten a corrupted d/l

I did install w2k in fat32 although in this case I don't know if that matters. Just to let you know.
As for the drivers I am trying to use ATI drivers I just didn't want to use the original cd, thinking that the drivers were probably outdated and may be causing some problems. I heard somewhere ATI was notorious for driver problems. When I do try the CD I get the error previously posted.

(tt4u) was it a .zip file? or .exe or other
I believe it was a .exe file but will have to check when I get home. I will check and follow through your other suggestions then as well.
Paul

 

[praise2him]

TT4U,
Well after considerable trys and agravation I am in. My W98 now starts up with the ATI drivers working. I did use the .exe file I downloaded from ATI on W2k. Thank you for all your help, I learned a great deal about diagnosis, and patience with these machines. I am a machinist by trade and have learned that I am "smarter" than the machines I use. LOL! So it is with computers, they only work as well as the operator. I do have a couple questions though. At start up the screen says:
"Starting Windows 98

C:\>SET PATH=C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND;C:\PROGRAM~1\ATITEC~1\ATICON~1

C:\>"

What does this mean? Just for knowledge purposes.
Also sometimes the desktop does not finish loading and I must reboot to get it going, is this just a 98 glich?

Again thank you for your help I had been fighting this driver thing for close to a year,
Merry Christmas,
Paul