Windows 98 Safe Mode
Roy Schestowitz
primarily for storage. Until some time ago, I thought I was the only one
who occasionally needed to go to safe mode, shut down the machine without
any changes made and then re-boot. I had to do this every time the machine
froze during start-up. This has been going on for about 3 years and I now
found out that it may be a common Windows 98 bug. Does anybody know how to
get around this problem? Any links that can help in solving it?
Roy
--
Roy Schestowitz
http://schestowitz.com
John of Aix
It happens but it isn't common and if youir Windows doesn't boot
properly there must be something wrong with the installation somewhere.
have you tried reinstalling Windows on itself (you won't lose anything)
which will put back any missing ir damaged
Roy Schestowitz
> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>> I have a relatively antiquated laptop (Compaq Presario 1246), which I
>> use primarily for storage. Until some time ago, I thought I was the
>> only one who occasionally needed to go to safe mode, shut down the
>> machine without any changes made and then re-boot. I had to do this
>> every time the machine froze during start-up. This has been going on
>> for about 3 years and I now found out that it may be a common Windows
>> 98 bug. Does anybody know how to get around this problem? Any links
>> that can help in solving it?
>
> It happens but it isn't common and if your Windows doesn't boot
> properly there must be something wrong with the installation somewhere.
> have you tried reinstalling Windows on itself (you won't lose anything)
> which will put back any missing or damaged
My hard-drive 'died' about 5 months ago and I replaced it with a new one. I
then restored everything from the QuickRestore CD and I still have the same
problem.
I thought that the Compaq images or my programs were to blame, but I then
saw another (Toshiba) laptop with Windows 98 which had similar symptoms. I
still have no idea what changes when entering Safe Mode. It somehow fixes
it.
John of Aix
> John of Aix wrote:
>
>> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>>> I have a relatively antiquated laptop (Compaq Presario 1246), which
>>> I use primarily for storage. Until some time ago, I thought I was
>>> the only one who occasionally needed to go to safe mode, shut down
>>> the machine without any changes made and then re-boot. I had to do
>>> this every time the machine froze during start-up. This has been
>>> going on for about 3 years and I now found out that it may be a
>>> common Windows 98 bug. Does anybody know how to get around this
>>> problem? Any links that can help in solving it?
>>
>> It happens but it isn't common and if your Windows doesn't boot
>> properly there must be something wrong with the installation
>> somewhere. have you tried reinstalling Windows on itself (you won't
>> lose anything) which will put back any missing or damaged
>
> My hard-drive 'died' about 5 months ago and I replaced it with a new
> one. I then restored everything from the QuickRestore CD and I still
> have the same problem.
Oh yes, Quick Restore. I'll say no more other than it is the thing that
most put me off Compaq. A straight Windows 98 non Compaq would be
better. I've put one on a Presario and it was fine, I think I had a
little difficulty finding the modem driver that was all.
> I thought that the Compaq images or my programs were to blame, but I
> then saw another (Toshiba) laptop with Windows 98 which had similar
> symptoms. I still have no idea what changes when entering Safe Mode.
> It somehow fixes it.
Well fail-safe mode only loads what is strictly nécessary for Windows to
function so it manages to get to the interface even if, otherwise, there
are all sorts of things missing and so all sorts of errors and/or
blockages. As far as I know, like all modes, it writes to the registry
when shut down so I suppose that it is what allows you to start next
time, the offendng entry or entries having been corrected or removed.
Then, once you start using Windows normally after an OK reboot (it might
be just opening Notepad or something you don't see on the surface)
something else is written, again and you are back to square one. Have
you tried running one or several good registry cleaners?
Roy Schestowitz
> Well fail-safe mode only loads what is strictly necessary for Windows to
> function so it manages to get to the interface even if, otherwise, there
> are all sorts of things missing and so all sorts of errors and/or
> blockages. As far as I know, like all modes, it writes to the registry
> when shut down so I suppose that it is what allows you to start next
> time, the offending entry or entries having been corrected or removed.
> Then, once you start using Windows normally after an OK reboot (it might
> be just opening Notepad or something you don't see on the surface)
> something else is written, again and you are back to square one. Have
> you tried running one or several good registry cleaners?
No, I never did. I lost hope and decided to just let the machine boot itself
twice while I do something else. I am no longer a Windows user; I dread
these bootstrap failures which I find unacceptable. The whole registry
system is a complete disaster, especially because it gets bloated. The O/S
soon makes poor use of the machine's available resources, even in XP. How
can anyone defend that?
Thank you for your time and your advice.
John of Aix
> John of Aix wrote:
> Have you tried running one or several
>> good registry cleaners?
>
> No, I never did. I lost hope and decided to just let the machine boot
> itself twice while I do something else.
"Oh ye of little faith" ;-)
> I am no longer a Windows
> user; I dread these bootstrap failures which I find unacceptable. The
> whole registry system is a complete disaster, especially because it
> gets bloated. The O/S soon makes poor use of the machine's available
> resources, even in XP. How can anyone defend that?
>
> Thank you for your time and your advice.
You're welcome.
Tim W
"John of Aix" <j.mu...@libertysurf.fr> wrote in message
news:4231558f$0$1247$8fcf...@news.wanadoo.fr...
>
> [...]if youir Windows doesn't boot
> properly there must be something wrong with the installation somewhere.
> have you tried reinstalling Windows on itself (you won't lose anything)
> which will put back any missing ir damaged
>
re-installing windows without reformatting? Is there a danger of balls-up
and lost data?
tim W
John of Aix
You double click on Install.exe or Setup.exe, from within Windows if you
like, it's as simple as that. You'll lose nothing at all, not even the
placing of your icons on the desktop.
Rob Hemmings
I've done this dozens of times on many systems with no problem.
However, if the PC has faulty hardware (particularly a failing hard
disk, bad RAM or faulty PSU) which caused the original problem,
then things can go wrong.
If it's simply a corrupted boot sector, then boot with the 98 floppy
and at the A: prompt, type:
fdisk /mbr
which will reset the master boot record, then type:
sys c:
after which the system should boot if there are no other problems
with windows. Both the above should be safe to do, assuming
hardware is ok.
HTH
--
Rob
Holly in France
....but IME it has very little chance of solving your original problem :-)
Worth a try though.....
--
Holly, in France
Holiday home in Dordogne
http://la-plaine.chez.tiscali.fr