WIN98 CD Authentication key at startup?

[tiremd]

I support a few residential computers. One person has win98 that was OVERLOADED with spyware a while back. I fixed that (using advice I've found on this site) and recommended they get virus software. I don't think they ever did. They called me the other night saying that their computer now won't boot, it asks for the CD Key at bootup, which they don't have or can't find, so it won't go any farther. It acts like startup.ini is messed up... Any ideas? Possible virus, corrupt file, or something else? Thanks.

 

[ski]

Press and hold the Ctrl key during startup, select 'Command prompt only' using the arrow keys, press Enter, at the C:\> prompt type scanreg /restore, press Enter, select a Registry that predates the problem, and press Enter.

 

[edfair]

And if you are supporting them, wouldn't it be wise to get the CD key documented somewhere since it appears the user is negligent. And the other keys that you'll need when the drive crashes and you'll need to reload.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[tiremd]

Thanks ski...worked perfect. I had to play around with a few registries to get the right one, but once I did it booted right up... still overloaded with spyware, so I had to remove tall that again, but all is well... Thanks.

 

[diogenes10]

And did you also pick up on edfair's suggestion and get the key documented? There's a key finder that has jelly bean in the name that has been recommended several times in these threads that works well for that purpose.

"The best optimizer is between your ears."
M. Abrash

 

[ski]

You're welcome, tiremd.
Glad to hear it's running ok again, and thanks for posting back with the solution.