win98 stuck in safe mode

[ellisz]

I need help getting a computer out of safe mode. I went into msconfig and unchecked all items under selective startup and I still get a re-boot. I also did scanreg /fix and it did repair a file but no dice.

I have booted under the step by step confirmation and it hangs after msmouse.vxd. I did an SE upgrade and cleaned out all the duplicate drivers in the device manager.

Not sure what else do. I have checked out a few links at MS support but all have not worked so far. The computer belongs to a lady that just lost her husband and she is not real sure what is on the computer so I hate to format.

The only other information I have is that the problems seem to have started after she ran adaware per a friends instructions. Currently, when it powers up it goes through the motions and reboots forcing me into safe mode.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Rocket321]

I would try disconnecting any unnessicary devices (printer, scanner, etc). Basically the only dif between safe mode and normal mode is the lack of device drivers loading. Also you could try going into device manager and see if there are any conflicting devices.

 

[jackschmittusa]

Agreed that it is likely a driver problem. Uninstall driver sets one at a time in safe mode and try rebooting.

 

[montag451]

Do what Rocket says.

Also, while you are in safe mode, have you got any antivirus installed? do a scan.
Might also want to scan with the might Adaware. [Unlikely that this caused the problem in the first place]. Running it in Safe mode will give it more of a chance to do what it was born to do.
You can still backup her data for her - plug the drive into another computer and copy to another hdd.
Or
Get another hdd, install win, keep the old drive with the data as a slave.
If the lady wants to keep the data that much, she'll fork out for another drive.

 

[jackschmittusa]

Thinking about it a little more, I suppose it is possible that some malware might have replaced a Windows critical file with one that calls on a malware DLL, and when it can't find it now, it crashes. Replacing that file or re-installing Windows should fix it if that is the case.

 

[daniel49]

you say she ran adware had she just installed it also?
try uninstalling it in safemode and see if anything changes.
a lot of these malware progs try to sound like legit apps too make sure she got the right one.

 

[ellisz]

adaware is no longer installed. It does have Norton 2002 on it with current definitions but it took almost 36 hours to run last time. Came up with no viruses.

I did a scan using the system file checker and it came up with a problem with setupx.dll but after reading some that appears to be a problem after installing a new OS. I did update 98 with 98SE.

Only thing hooked up to the PC right now is the basics but I have not disable anything in the device manager other than duplicates.

When I did the 98 update it asked me if I wanted to overwrite the current system files. It recomended that I don't so I didn't. I think I should have now.

 

[Trashman]

try running scandisk, maybe even regcleaner

 

[ellisz]

So far nothing has worked. Ran scan disk but not sure about regclean. Is this a windows program?

Nothing left in the device manager except keyboard, floppy,cdrom,hard disk controller and monitor. Everything is plug and play pretty much.

I did start to get a blue screen right before the forced reboot but it is gone before i can read it.

I might try to install win98SE again...

 

[Slikkster]

Take a look in the c:\windows folder for "wnbootng.sts". If Windows sees that file at bootup in that folder, it will always boot to safe mode.

Delete it.

Open a msdos prompt while in Safe Mode. Then, type:

del c:\windows\wnbootng.sts

Or, delete it from Windows Explorer or via My Computer.

Close Windows and reboot.

Also, look here for more info, and another fix in addition to the one above:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q143283/

 

[ellisz]

wnbootng.sts is not on the computer. I searched for it and it did not find it?

I also tried the io.sys item that is mentioned it did not work as directed. The last step which tells you to type A:\sys C: did not work. The boot disk did not have a sys command in the main directory. I did find the sys command but it did not appear to work.

Thanks

 

[Slikkster]

Sorry for the delay...missed your post. Anyway, if you haven't done so already, I would just reinstall Win98.

Just keep in mind that it will detect your C:\Windows folder and try to install to C:\Windows.000 instead.

When that box comes up showing it wants to install to c:\windows.000 just backspace over the .000 so it reads c:\windows

You'll have to reinstall all security updates and things like video drivers, etc., but at least it will be a clean install.

 

[ellisz]

Thanks for the help. I will try to install 98SE again.

 

[ellisz]

Well, nothing changed. It did not try to write to windows.000 though. It restarted 2x during the install like it should and I thought I was golden but on the final load up, it reboots at the last minute. Then safe mode is my friend

Device manager look good. Is this a software issue for sure or could it be hardware? I really don't know what else to do except format. Not sure that will work now though...

Thanks

 

[Slikkster]

Can you take a look at your msdos.sys file? It's in your c:\ directory.
You can view it with notepad. Please print out what it says here, line by line.

Also, for a test, rename your autoexec.bat and config.sys files (also in your c:\ directory)
to autoexec.111 and config.111 so they don't try to load up at boot time. Then try and reboot and see what happens. You'll get warning messages about changing the suffix of those files. Just click OK and change the names.


So, your assignment again is to open up msdos.sys with notepad and print out the contents here, and rename autoexec.bat and config.sys and try booting.

 

[WPFossil]

The best solution is probably going to be a clean install. Hopefully your friend has all their software CDs so they can reinstall everything. Backup anything important first, of course.

 

[RelaxTheMind]

did you try "scanreg /restore"?

 

[ellisz]

I will try the renaming today thanks!

As for the scanrer \restore, yes I did try it but the according to the date, all the previous backups were from 2002. Is the date usually right for this? There was only 4 to choose from.

 

[Slikkster]

I'd avoid the scanreg /restore thing for now until you can see if something simple is preventing you from getting into safe mode. A registry restore from 2002 is going to probably result in all sorts of applications not running correctly that have been installed since then.

Please try the simple stuff first. Print out contents of msdos.sys and rename the autoexec.bat and config.sys files.

 

[runningnak3d]

The only other information I have is that the problems seem to have started after she ran adaware per a friends instructions.

You said Ad-ware is no longer installed. The real question is, did you delete the quarantine directory? If not I would re-install it and rollback all the changes it made. Sure, she will have spyware / adware for a little bit ... but at least she can get her stuff off the machine.

One of my clients had this very problem. I beat my brains out for hours trying to get the machine up and running. Finally they imparted the little tidbit of information that the problem started after they ran Ad-aware. I REALLY wanted to say "You could have told me that EARLIER!!" but I didn't. Once I rolled back the changes, the machine worked like a champ. I don't remember what pices of ad / spyware it was ... but I do remember that it was a bear to clean without blowing up the machine. That is why all spyware / adware programs give you the ability to undo their fixes.

--Brian

 

[ellisz]

Ok, I renamed config.sys and autoexec.bat with no changes. I had them unselected from the start up lately anyway.

Weird thing is I can't fine the msdos.sys. There is a msdos.drv but a file search turned up nothing of the .sys file.

As for installing adaware, can I do this in safe mode? CD rom does not show up in my computer. I don't know if usb is supported so I don't think I can use my usb drive. Can I transfer the setup file in dos and then load it up in safe mode?

Why would I not have a msdos.sys file?

Thanks all!

 

[Slikkster]

You probably don't have Windows Explorer set to view protected operating system files.

How to make Windows show all files

Situation:
You need to configure Windows to show all files.

Solution:

To configure Windows to show all files


In Windows 98, on the Windows desktop, double-click the My Computer icon.

In Windows 98, on the View menu, click Folder Options.

On the View tab, uncheck Hide file extensions for known file types.


In Windows 98, in the Advanced Settings box, under the "Hidden files" folder, click Show all files.

If you see a warning message, click Yes.

Click Apply.

Click OK.

 

[ellisz]

OK, feel stupid now I thought I had done that already ...

Here you go:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Paths]
WinDir=C:\WINDOWS
WinBootDir=C:\WINDOWS
HostWinBootDrv=C
UninstallDir=C:

[Options]
BootMulti=1
BootGUI=1
DoubleBuffer=1
AutoScan=1
WinVer=4.10.2222
;
;The following lines are required for compatibility with other programs.
;Do not remove them (MSDOS.SYS needs to be >1024 bytes).
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxa
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxb
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxc
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxd
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxe
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxf
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxg
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxh
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxi
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxj
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxk
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxl
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxm
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxn
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxo
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxp
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxq
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxr
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxs

 

[Slikkster]

That file is fine. Exactly how it should be. But now I would suggest you look again for the file you didn't find before. Perhaps not having explorer toggled correctly prevented it from being found by the search program. Search for:

wnbootng.sts

 

[ellisz]

still no luck on that. searched for that file and *.sts with no results.

Will the bootlog show anything? It shows a lot of load failures on windows\fonts.

Also I can't find any leftover file for adaware in the program files directory. There is a program called spyware stormer that is installed but it opens, says loading and that is it.

Thanks