How To Recover From A mistake Like This One...

[bluenoser337]

Asked to help with a 98 SE system that accidentally had all the files in the C: root deleted. Recovered the files in DOS using Norton Unerase but when booting now it says HIMEM.SYS is missing, and that's as far as it will go. Any suggestions? Restoring the system files with SYS a: / SYS c: didn't make any difference. Any suggestions? Can Windows 98 be reinstalled without losing the registry contents (ie: all installed software "forgotten about&quot. Thanks!

 

[reghakr]

bluenoser337,

Use the Windows98 Startup floppy to boot up the computer.
At the C:\> prompt, rename the config.sys and autoexec.bat as config.old and autoexec.old
It looks like this.
C:\>rename config.sys config.old <hit enter>
C:\>rename autoexec.bat autoexec.old <hit enter>

Then transfer the system to the C:\ drive as
A:\>sys A: C: <hit enter>

Restart the computer without startup floppy to safe mode and then restart to normal mode.

Till you do not get the Himem error message.
Then at the normal desktop, rename the config.old and autoexec.old as config.sys and autoexec.bat.
Go to Start, run, type sysedit to open the config.sys.
In the config.sys, make certain the first line and second line to be like that: -
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICEHIGH=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS

Save and exit.
Restart the computer.
Inspect if you get rid of that error message successfully.

Credit goes to Patricia / pslh at Experts-Exchange.com

reghakr

 

[ANFPS26]

Reghakr,
I looked at my config sys out of curiosity, and my second line is as follows:
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE

What would the DEVICEHIGH and NOEMS do for me???? &quot;A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.....&quot;

 

[reghakr]

nobrain,

Unless you have problems like bluenoser337 is describing, I always recommend 0 byte autoexec.bat and config.sys files if you're running Win95 or higher. They are only needed for DOS apps. The only one I would leave alone is a line (in autoexec.bat) for your virus scanner to check files at boot time. Disabling real-mode drivers speeds your startup.

DOS commands go in the Exit To Dos and dosstart.bat files in the c:\windows directory.

The NOEMS gives you more free conventional memory, no expanded memory. DEVICEHIGH loads the device into upper memory.

reghakr