Kayak and Optimist

Firstly thanks for your help. I have done a full virus scan two days ago (Panda, even scans compressed files and cleans them, all free too) and everything seems ok. My fans appear to be working ok too (my machine is only a year old). Someone else said about the RAM, as I have SD RAM I was advised by the chap who sold me my set up to replace SD with DDR as my machine can take both (but not at the same time) so I bought two sticks of 128K DDR RAM and installed them, but the machine wouldn't even power up! So I replaced the old 128*2 sticks of SD RAM. You say to do a "Chkdsk /f" from Cprompt, how do I do that?
Do you know what those corrupted files are I posted and what they do, as they all seem to end with DLL?

To boot into DOS (the C prompt) you need a bootable floppy disk, e.g. the Windows setup disk, and use the option to boot into DOS. If you don't have one handy, you can open a MS-DOS window by clicking on Accessories/Command Prompt and use it from there. That will give you details of any bad sectors but it obviously won't do you a Scandisk without Windows as Optimist suggests.

I would try taking one stick of memory out at a time and seeing whether the situation improves with one or the other gone.

The corrupted files are symptoms rather than the cause. The Leonardo da Vinci is a screen saver, NETDI is a file used in networking, and the other is a setup program file. Those files were probably not even being used when your machine crashed and so there is likely to be some memory corruption going on if it isn't the disk itself that's faulty.

Hardware errors often show up in hot weather.

IT

In addition to Kayaks suggestions.

You can boot to the C prompt pressing F8 as you start the computer and you are presented with a menu of start up options. Choose 'Command prompt only' and you will boot to the C Prompt. Type chkdsk /f followed by enter this will check the filesystem and attempt to fix any errors.

If this checks out OK then check the memory - if you only have one stick of SDRAM you could try swapping it to a different slot.

If the fault is caused by hardware try leaving the cover off and directing an office fan into it to see if there is any difference (beware of redistributing dust). It is possible that the disk is heating up and causing errors. Can you reposition it or get more airflow over it?

Best of luck.

Optimist

All this started after the last CMC update. If I right click I and enter 'encoding' I am presented with some options, which should I select, western european (ISO) or western european windows.

Western European (ISO), but I don't think it's related to your problems. I have the latest CMC update which works fine.

I'm at present on my back up computer and running the scan disk through DOS C prompt. The only command that would work was Scandisk.exe and not the chkdsk /f command you gave me. I think this scan is going to take about five hours!

:O(

Sorry about that IT, I think we forgot to tell you that you may have to specify the full path name... Try

C:\windows\command\chkdsk /f under windows 98 or
C:\winnt\system32\chkdsk /f under windows 2000/XP

Kayak

I stopped my scandisk and put in the command you have just posted and I got this message again, 'chkdsk has not checked this drive for errors. You must use SCANDISK to detect and fix errors on this drive. Which I did and got these entries again.
Media discriptor
File allocation tables
Directory structure
File system
Free space
Surface scan (5hrs +)
So I was put back to square one again. Am I doing this right?

IT, try removing the /f.

Tried that, same message as above. If I put in 'Uninstal.exe' (A tool to remove windows 98 from the system and return the system to to it's previous state) would that mean that Win 98 would have to be installed again, including the drivers?

I think I've blown it now, I have restored an old registry from last year, and it wouldn't boot up properly because of some file. I have installed the file it mentioned (phew) but when I reboot I get a 'user' prompt before it loads wimndows up fully. Now a tech guy from AOL told me how how to stop this from happening a year ago but can't remember what he said, any ideas?
Night for now.

I think uninstal.exe is the one that brings you back to Windows 95 if you got to 98 by upgrading from 95. That isn't necessary, if you need to reinstall Windows you can do that by just loading a new copy on top.

Not sure how restoring the registry is going to help you. As I say I think it's probable that the original problem is a hardware one and I don't think there is any point in trying to fix Windows until you establish what the problem was, since it will merely recur. Also, the registry is a complicated beast which contains the changes you have made by installing/removing programs, changing defaults, etc., so restoring one from last year may well cause more problems than it solves.

The answer to the prompt issue is to go to Control Panel/Network and in the drop-down list change Network Logon to Windows Logon.

You will do the bit about checking the memory and also trying the fan trick Optimist suggested? :-)

Hi again

My computer is still in DOS Scandisk from 8am this morning! I still have the same corrupt DLL files as before the registry back up. I have now been told today that I may have an Operating system error because of the corrupt files I have, and the way IE6 is playing up. Have been told to reformat and start again.
I right clicked on C drive and noticed that there is a format option. If I choose to format from there is that different from the usual DOS format (F5)?
Will I still need to load up my drivers etc?
Thanks again.

The DLLs are separate files to the registry and would not have been affected by restoring the registry.

It's obvious that you have an "operating system error" since you have corrupted files. That does not give you any indication of the cause. It is very rare for files to get randomly corrupted in this way unless it is a hardware error.

If you format the disk you will lose everything on it, programs and data, so make sure that you are in a position to reload all applications and data that are on your computer, e.g. by taking backups first. Use the DOS format.

However, there is no point in doing all of this until you have identified the cause of the problem, since it is likely to happen again, particularly if it's a hardware problem.

IT

If you format the disk you will lose ALL of the programs and data stored on it and will have to re-install Windows all of your programs and copy your data from your backup media. Do this only as a last resort.

If you have to reformat your disk you are best to boot from the installation CD and use the format option on that.

However, if your operating system is really un-recoverable, and bearing in mind that your hard disk may have a problem, a far better solution would be to buy a new hard disk (about 70) and mount your existing one as a second drive so that you can easily copy the data across. You should also consider upgrading to Win 2K or Win XP at the same time (if you do, make sure that you select the NTFS file system when you install).

Whenever I install a program I copy the CD contents to a directory called Setup on my hard disk and run the setup program from the hard disk. Not only is this a quicker way to install the programs but also if I ever have to start from scratch all I have to do is copy my setup directory instead of searching for all of the CD's.

Edit Kayak beat me to it but these comments are still relevant.

Yes, I agree with your comments Optimist.

Kayak and Optimist

You both have been very helpful and I really appreciate the time and effort you have given. I have restored the registry twice now as the first time I got a few blue screens again. So far so good (touch wood) I have had no IE6 errors. I have done the complete DOS scan disk which took approx 8.5 hrs (no errors) then defragged as well. My machine is running a lot faster now. I have one new SD RAM stick on order (256k) to replace the 128k stick nearest the processor. My machine will soon be running 384k as a pose to 256k which can only help things along. Also have bought a new surgemaster to be on the safe side. If I start getting the same errors all over again I will reformat and try again for the last time on 98 second edition, failing that it will used as a flying frisbee and will purchase 2000/XP and install, (who's the most stable?)also a bit worrying though at the moment with the MS blaster worm from hell doing it's dirty deeds on XP/2000.
So as for now, I will play it by ear and see what's in store for me next week. Reflecting back on missed trading opportunities it would have been more viable for me to have bought a new up to date computer, as a pose to trying to trade on the old Dell Pentium 2 back up (which has been the most reliable machine ever), whilst my usual AMD Duron 1300 has been out of action.
Can you two tell me your valued opinions on what Processer is the most reliable, Pentium or AMD Duron?
Thanks again.

HELP required.....

wives pc stopped working all the case fans etc are working but no power up beep or any video signal to the monitor or even hardrive spinning....

does this sound like power supply or motherboard????

Fans working suggest it could possibly not be power supply unless you now different..

Looks like the the MoBo are there any test that i can carry out???

Trouble with pc,s it is a matter of isolating the problem the repair is pretty cheap these days.

Hope someone can help..

Rick...

IT

Don't format your existing disk get a new one it will always be useful.

If you are going tobuy a new computer then my personal predudice is always go for Intel (I had a bad experience with a K5 many years ago) but many people seem to get away with AMD these days.

More important than the processor is what goes with it. Make sure you get DDR memory (512MB min), a fast hard disk and that the motherboard has an up to date chipset. Go for a mid range processor in terms of speed your money is far better spent on extra RAM than a faster processor. Also avoid cut down processor's such as Celoron

Mega Bucks

I would not like to call this one it could be either.

Check the easy things first. Disconnect all disk drives etc and remove any PCI cards to see if that makes a difference.

Power supplies are cheaper than motherboards so I would go for that next. I have been known to stand 2 computers together and plug the power leads from one into the other.