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ophil · Jun 30, 2006, 09:30 AM

Help!
Unable to start windows, keeps going to C prompt, I have lost my floppy rescue disk. Can someone help me with this?

shunned · Jul 1, 2006, 05:53 AM

Type "win" at the dos prompt, or find the exe file to start windows.
Sounds like you should eventually upgrade to XP.

ophil · Jul 1, 2006, 06:14 AM

Thanks shunned but I have tried Win already, even exit but same thing. I even tried to make a rescue disk with all that I could find on the net but there seems to be something missing in config.sys. I need to extract all my files before upgrading. Any other suggestions please.

fredg · Jul 1, 2006, 07:15 AM

Hi, ophil,
I also use Win98SE, and love it!
But, there are more problems with it than later operating systems, as another said.
Since you can get to the C>, then at that prompt:
Type in "scanreg /restore", without quotes. There is a space between the g and the /.
It will look something similar to:
C:>scanreg /restore then press Enter.
You should get a Blue screen, maybe black, with choices with dates.
Use the up and down arrows on the keyboard, to choose a date before today's date, maybe one 2 or 3 days ago.
Then, press Enter.
Your computer should then change your Registry to that previous date, and will give you a pop-up, which you click on "yes" or "ok".
It should then go back to the C:> prompt.
Then, reach over or down, and turn off your computer.
Wait a few seconds, then turn it back on.
If this doesn't work, please post back, and I have some other things to try.
I keep my floppy boot disk in a special place, hoping to not have to use it!
Best of luck, and I hope this does it for you. Please let me know, as I have some Maintenance Steps for 98/98SE that really keep my computer running smoothly (most of the time! LOL).

ophil · Jul 3, 2006, 03:45 AM

Hi Fredg,

Thanks for your suggestion but that didn't work either. Windows 98 flashes once and goes back to c prompt. I also tried tapping F8 while booting up and from start up menu I can't get anywhere, same thing it goes back to C prompt. I tried WIN from C:\Windows and the message is that the Himem.sys is missing, I checked the directory and it's there! Any other sugestions? Thanks!