Windows will not fully load

[Terri Creagh]

I have an older computer on which Win98 is running. This system basically
crashed after an attempt to re-install a printer that was giving me a
problem. I have tried re-installing Win98 from the CD that came with my
IBM computer, but I get a message saying that I already have an upgraded
version of Win98 on my computer, and it will not re-install. Presumably,
this has something to do with my having installed the service packs for
Win98. I have run scandisk successfully. However, when I boot into Windows
safe mode, I get the "program has performed an illegal operation and will be
shut down" error message with the following details:

EXPLORER caused an invalid page fault in

Module EXPLORER.EXE at 0177:00401f31

Registers:

EAX=00000000 CS=0177 EIP=00401f31 EFLGS=00010246

EBX=00000001 SS=017f ESP=0080ffic EBP=0080ff24

ECX=c156a1c0 DS=017f ESI=00000000 FS=27ef

EDX=0080ff2c ES=017f EDI=00000000 GS=0000

Bytes at CS:EIP:

86 08 50 ff 11 8b 45 08 50 8b 08 ff 51 08 8b
45

I have tried to create a FAT32 EBD by running FAT32EBD from the Windows 98
CD. However, when I get to the stage of "Insert diskette into A drive -
Warning: all info on diskette will be erased. Press ' Y 'to continue or any
other key to exit. " I enter ' Y ' and then I get into a loop where the
program just keeps asking if I want to continue.

I do not want to upgrade this computer to any higher Windows version right
now for a lot of complicated reasons. Reformatting is not an option,
because I have some very valuable data on this computer. Of course, I have
backups, but reconstructing the database would be a huge effort. Does
anyone have suggestions as to what I might do?

Thank you.

[glee]

Do you get the same illegal operation error message and details, in both normal and
safe modes? Do you get to the Desktop? How far into startup do you get?

Try the procedures here -
Recovering From a Failed Internet Explorer Upgrade in Windows 98:
http://www.cs.bsu.edu/~gjjones/administrivia/stories/2003/03/21/recoveringFromAFailedInternetExplorerUpgradeInWindows98.html
or
http://tinyurl.com/r5ba

Especially this section at the end:

"If you still have boot problems after you reboot, you should use the command prompt
to edit the c:\windows\system.ini file. On the command line type edit
c:\windows\system.ini.

"Once it is open, change the line shell=explorer.exe to shell=progman.exe. What you
are doing here is changing the default shell (that is having problems) from the
Windows Explorer to the old Windows Program Manager shell.

"Reboot Windows. It should now successfully boot with no errors into an empty
Program Manager shell. Use the File | Run | Browse drop down menu selection to
browse to c:\program files\internet explorer and launch ie5setup.exe or ie6setup.exe
(depending on what is there). Do a custom install and check all the Bold faced
options. When the setup program alerts you that these files are already installed,
tell it to reinstall all of the files.

"When the Internet Explorer Setup program is done and reboots, hit the F8 key to
bring up a Boot Menu. Choose Command Prompt and boot to the command prompt. Once
there, type edit c:\windows\system.ini and, once it is open, change the line
shell=progman.exe back to shell=explorer.exe. Save and exit the file. You have now
set the shell back to the original value."
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP W95/98 Systems
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

"Terri Creagh" <met...@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:P38hd.15223$ta5....@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net...