windows 98 boot problem

[imcrobie]

When booting my old laptop, I get the message "Windows found an error in your system files and restored a recent backup of the files to fix a problem. Press enter to restart your computer"
When I press enter the laptop doesn't restart but instead comes up with the same message so ids effectively looping around attempting to fix a system file.
The laptop is an old Pentium 100 (not sure of HDD size but I think 20gb). Laptop has a floppy only and no CD, so any fixes need to be able to be applied via a floppy.
I have a Win 98 boot disk but don't know where to go from there.

 

[RuralGuy]

Others will jump in here but I would start by seeing if it will boot into Safe Mode with the F8 key. If it does then run ScanDisk to see if there is a problem with the HDD.

HTH RuralGuy (RG for short) acXP winXP Pro
Please respond to this forum so all may benefit

 

[imcrobie]

Ruralguy, thanks for the response. Unfortunately I get the same system response and just end up re-booting and going nowhere.
I found a program "scandskw" in my windows directory and attempted to execute this only to get a response that this would not run in DOS mode. I guess in order to find if I have a disk problem I need to find a scandisk program that will run in DOS mode.

 

[edfair]

I suspect that you have a corrupted registry and that the first backup copy is probably also corrupted.
Suggest that you do a google search for "98 registry repair" and the microsoft technote page for all your options.
There are multiple backup copies saved but you may have overwritten all the good ones by now.
If you can't get a good version your repair options are listed.
And last, you may end up reloading the OS. With no CD it is likely you have all the install stuff in one directory, sometimes windows\cab but no certainty since I've little experience with 98 laptops and all the possible places it may be stored.


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

 

[imcrobie]

Thanks for the advice Ed Fair, I located a scanreg and scandisk program on the net and downloaded and ran. Once the scanreg / fix had run I was able to reboot completely and now have the machine up and going.

 

[RuralGuy]

Great news! Thanks for posting back with your success.

HTH RuralGuy (RG for short) acXP winXP Pro
Please respond to this forum so all may benefit

 

[se2000]

Search for a program called regclean 4.1. This program came from MS but you can no longer get it from them. You load the files on a floppy and run that.