Windows protection Error workaround

[scroce]

I have a windows95 machine that won't boot normally.

It says "windows protection error - you need to restart your computer"

I have been through all of the microsoft topics from support.microsoft.com already, and nothings seems to work. This is a last ditch effort to fix before I just re-install the whole operating system.

The curious thing is the following: (i discovered this purely by accident)

If I press f8 and option #6 (boot directly to dos) and issue the following commands in sequence, windows will boot and works normally.

net Start
net logon

(i then type my user name)<enter>
(i then type my password)<enter>

net stop

win

Basically what I'm doing in starting, logging on, then logging off and then stopping the network service, then typing &quot;win&quot;

Windows95 will not boot at all unless I do this.

does someone have an idea what's wrong or a possible fix for this? I thought maybe i'd try upgrading to win98 to see if that corrects the problem, or else I'd just reinstall the whole op system, but that seems just like copping out.

Much obliged - any help is good help

Steve C.

 

[Doylet]

if you run sysedit you can add those commands to your autoexec.bat (to automate those starting steps) and even find some clues to solve your problem on your system.ini or win.ini files.

==================
learning &amp; sharing

http://come.to/iwn

 

[scroce]

Hmmmm.

Interesting. Here are the contents of the AutoExec.bat file

SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 T4
rem SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 T4
rem @SET CLASSPATH=C:\PROGRA~1\PHOTOD~1.1\ADOBEC~1

PATH=%PATH%;


PATH=%PATH%;&quot;C:\Program Files\Mts&quot;


what would the commands look like to do what you have suggested?

I am not sure what all that information means, i.e., why are there references to Adobe PhotoDeluxe or to Miscrosoft Transaction Server?

 

[Doylet]

The PhotoDeluxe and MTS commands were set by installation or rem by deinstallation programs; the lines you need to add at the end are...

net Start
net logon (your user name) (your password)
net stop
win

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learning &amp; sharing

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[scroce]

OK - I will try this and post back on the results, but why Oh why, would I have to do this in order for windows to boot properly?

I mean, I didn't &quot;used to&quot; have to do this. what could have caused?????

 

[scroce]

Ok - this seems to have worked at least partially - here's a question.

during that process, after you type &quot;net logon&quot;, there is a prompt &quot;workstation services is not started - would you like to start it?&quot; to which you would type &quot;y&quot; then &quot;enter&quot;

How would I type those commands properly into autoexec.bat?

thanks.

 

[Doylet]

I would try...

net Start
net logon (your user name) (your password) /yes
net stop
win


==================
learning &amp; sharing

http://come.to/iwn

 

[scroce]

doylet,

Thanks - editing the autoexec.bat seems to have worked, but I'm still at a loss as to why this problem occurred in the first place. Has anyone ever run into this problem before, or maybe could offer a theory about why this began to happen in the first place?

 

[estesflyer]

i got that problem when i installed win95 over win98.
that what you did?

- RUsty

 

[goodweb]

did you try restoring a previous working version of your registry?


boot to DOS

type:

C:\>scanreg /restore

GoOdwEb's Internet Cafe

http://www.goodwebs.net

 

[mhughes]

Scanreg/restore does not work in W95 however there is an article on doing a registry clean.

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q271/7/71.asp

 

[guidos]

Sorry this is late...maube this is fixed by now, but we had the same problem here at work with multiple PCs getting that Windows Protection Error. We finally (after much ado) found that the cause was the networking components, specifically the NIC driver. To be safe, we ended up booting to Safe Mode, removing ALL the networking stuff and reinstalling it...all became well (????????). Still trying to figure out how NIC drivers would cause that error in the first place...

Have a good one...

 

[BYarn]

Had this same problem (99% of time) after installing Outlook 97 on the Acer 166s in my shop (no problem before or after) The workaround (I had the luxury of many similar machines) was to replace the system.dat (reistry) file with one from another machine. After restarting windows I had to customize the machine to its own settings (printer,etc) since system.dat brought some of its settings with it from previous machine. Got to point where I automated it on a disk. The problem was solved, however.

 

[scroce]

To estesflyer (Rusty):

No - I didn't install windows95 or windows98. It seemed to just crop up on its own. It worked fine, then it the problem cropped up, so I re-imaged the machine which seemed to have taken care of the problem for a while, only to have it eerily crop up again.

To Goodweb:

One of the fixes i tried was to restore a previous version of the registry. That actually did solve the protection error issue, however, the registry on this particular machine had not been backed up since it was configured, and so I lost all software/network settings, which was a real pain. I did manage however to get an image disk that someone had made with Ghost, and as I mentioned above, it worked temporarily until it cropped up again recently.

To Guidos:

Interesting. I didn't try blowing out all of the nic/network settings and then re-installing them. That would seem to fit with the wierdness of being able to boot only after starting and stopping the network service.

Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread.

SteveC