io.sys file deleted

[speedracer]

I installed the Microsoft Windows ME debugger that apparently overwrites the io.sys file. Of course my machine responded worse after installing the debugger, so I unistalled. Now my machine does not have the io.sys file and will not start Windows. I can't seem to get restore to work properly either. Any help is appreciated!

[GretaP]

You could try restoring a previous good registry via a Windows ME startup disk, as I outlined in this thread (http://cybertechhelp.com/forums/showthread.php?&threadid=13997) , or use the startup disk to start System Restore from a command prompt, as outlined in this MSKB article (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q279736) .

If you don't have a Windows ME startup disk, you can d/load the file to create one from here (http://bootdisk.com/original.htm) . Click on the link for Windows ME OEM, and d/load the file to hard drive (do NOT d/load it directly to the floppy). Once d/loaded, put a formatted floppy disk in the drive and double-click on the d/loaded file to create the startup disk.

[speedracer]

GretaP, Although I was able to get in and run a system restore, in normal start-up my PC continues to come up with a blue screen with a message stating there are problems with the system files, followed with VxD error. It prompts to continue using windows (Y/N). No matter which option I choose it takes me to a black box with red header stating the NAV could not find the appropriate files. I then get a blue screen message stating there were errors and I would need to restart my PC. In safe mode I get a Kernel error and the PC will not respond when I click "o.k.". Obviously, I ran restore with several older dates, only to end in the same position. Any advice from here? This started as a challenge and learning situation, but is turning towards frustration and "Rage Against The Machine"! Your help is greatly appreciated!

[GretaP]

You mentioned doing the System Restore to a few previous dates, but did you try doing the scanreg /restore to a previous good working registry, too? If not, try that to see if you can load a previous good registry that pre-dates when you ran the debugger.

[speedracer]

GretaP, SCANREG /RESTORE didn't work either. I selected a date prior to the problem and restarted my PC. While rebooting, I received the message that there is an error with a system file. That lead me back to restarting my PC. I tried reinstalling ME from the CD, but received an error at 65% install that there was an error in SUWIN. This basically freezes my PC. Anything else I can try?

[GretaP]

Could you post the exact SUWIN error message that you receive when you try to reinstall Windows.

[speedracer]

I will post that SUWIN message when I get home tonight (in approximately 6 hours from now). I was thinking, since the start up disk contains the io.sys file, can I copy that file from the start up disk to the c:\ and have my PC running like it did before?

[speedracer]

O.k. GretaP here are the messages I received when reinstall reaches 65%:

SUWIN

An error has occurred in your application.
If you choose Ignore, you should save your work in a new file.
If you choose Close, your application will terminate.

Close Ignore

Choosing Ignore does nothing.
Choosing Close gives the following message:

Application Error
SUWIN caused a General Protection Fault in
module VERX.DLL at 0002:24AE.
Close
Clicking Close takes me to a message to remove any floppy disks and press any key to restart.

When I restart I get to the startup screen. When I choose Safemode I get the message about Winspool.drv missing (this message went to the next message too quickly for me to get it all down).



Then I get a message that states:

Windows
An error has occurred. To continue:
Press Enter to return to Windows, or
Press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart you computer
Then I get a message stating:

Stmgr
STMGR caused an invalid page fault in
module KERNEL32.DLL at 0167:bff8e64b.
Close

Choosing close gives the blue screen:

Windows
An error has occurred. To continue:
Press Enter to return to Windows, or
Press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart you computer

Hitting enter gives the message:

Kernel32
KERNEL32 caused an invalid page fault in
module KRNL386.EXE at 0001:00004cb2.
Close

Clicking Close causes the hourglass (freezes).

Any ideas?

[GretaP]

The SUWIN error that you are receiving is commonly associated with having Windows Media Player 9 installed when you attempt to do an "overinstall" of Windows.
As for the other errors, they are a little more difficult to try to "pinpoint".
Are you able to boot into Safe Mode? If so, try renaming the Window Media Player file wmploc.dll (located in C:\Windows\System folder) to something like wmploc.old
Also, I would uninstall any Norton programs that you currently have installed (I noticed you mentioned NAV in one of your previous responses) and if you updated Internet Explorer, I would return to a previous version first, before attempting the overinstall of Windows again. I think these items may be interfering with your trying to do the reinstall of Windows.
Obviously, you could only do the uninstall and the rollback to the previous version of IE if you're able to boot into Windows via Safe Mode.

Once you have done the above, try doing the reinstall of Windows.

[speedracer]

When I try to start in Safemode I get a message:

Error Starting Program
A required .DLL file, WINSPOOL.DRV, was not found.
OK
My machine then locks on the hourglass.

[GretaP]

You could try extracting the winspool.drv file from your Windows install CD to the C:\Windows\System directory.
First, boot from the WINME startup floppy disk, and choose to start WITH CDROM SUPPORT. When it gets to the A: prompt, first look at the lines above it as there should be one that refers to the drive letter that, for this session, will be assigned to your CD-ROM (or DVD-ROM, whichever is the type of ROM drive you have).
It will say something like this:

Drive x: = Driver MSCD001 unit 0
(where x will be replaced with the letter of your CDROM drive for this session).

Put the install CD in the drive, then, at the A: prompt, key in:
ext <ENTER>

You should now see this:
Please enter the path to the Windows CAB files (a:) :

At this point, key in:
<CD drive letter>:\WINME
or
<CD drive letter>:\WIN9x
(I can't recall which is the actual name of the directory on the CD that holds the CAB files........it is either WINME or WIN9x)
press ENTER when you've finished keying in the path to the CAB files

You should now see this:
Please enter the name(s) of the files(s) you want to extract:

A this point, key in:
winspool.drv
press ENTER

You should now see this:
Please enter the path to extract to ("Enter" for current directory):

At this point, key in:
C:\Windows\System
press ENTER

It will now recap the options you entered, the ask if this is okay...if you have entered the information correctly, press Y and hit ENTER...if you need to make a change, press N and hit ENTER, then start over from "Please enter the path to the Windows CAB files (a:) :"

When you have keyed in the information and then Y to start the extract tool, it will search thru the CAB files and then, when it finds winspool.drv, it may ask if you want to overwrite C:\Windows\System\winspool.drv
key in Y and press ENTER

When the extract is finished, you will be returned to the A: prompt.

If you are able to extract the file succesfully, try to boot into Safe Mode again and see if you are successful.

[speedracer]

Unfortunately, when I type in ext at A:\ I get the message
Bad command or file name

However, when I type in Extract that opens Microsoft Cabinet Extraction Tool Version (16). Now I'm just trying to figure out what codes will extract and place winspool.drv into c:\windows\system. When I'm in D:\WIN9X> I type:
extract win_16.cab

This seems to run down the list of files within win_16.cab, but I can't figure out how to get winspool.drv out of win_16.cab and copied into c:\Windows\System. I've tried:
extract win_16.cab c:\windows\system

This seems like it is running down the list of files within win_16.cab, however, when I check the dir of c:\windows\system the winspool.drv file has not be moved into that directory. Oh, I should say that I know winspool.drv is in win_16.cab because I found it using my laptop.

Of course I continue getting the same errors mentioned before when attempting to start in safe and normal modes.

Any ideas of how to use this Cabinet Extraction Tool?

As you can see, I'm not very proficient with DOS. Guess I'll have a beer!

[GretaP]

I've never used the Cabinet Extraction Tool that you are speaking of, but I'll have a look at it.

btw........what type of startup or bootdisk are you using? Just wondering because I have used both a WIN98 startup disk and a WINME startup disk and have been able to open the Extract Command Line Helper by keying in ext at the A: prompt for each of these startup disks.

[GretaP]

Okay, I just toyed around with the Cabinet Extraction Tool that you are accessing.........try this:
At the D:\WIN9X> prompt, key in:
extract win_16.cab winspool.drv c:\windows\system

[speedracer]

Well, I was able to get to the point where DOS accepted ext as the extraction command. I think my Bios were messed up. Still not sure if the Bios are what they should be, but I did get winspool.drv extracted and placed into C:\Windows\System (using your awesome instructions!). Then I restarted my machine and went into Safe Mode. Instead of the winspool.drv error, I now get the never ending hour glass. I tried to run a normal start and again received the message about an error with a system file (the same error I've been getting when trying to start in normal mode and results in the NAV errors). Any ideas at this point? Is there a way for me to delete NAV from DOS. My subscription is just about out for NAV anyways, so it's no big deal to dump that app.

[speedracer]

I just hit CTR+ALT+DEL during the hour glass in the Safe Mode start up and received the message:

System Busy
The system is busy waiting for the Close Program dialog box to be displayed. You can wait and see if it appears, or you can restart your computer.

Of course I get the option to hit any key to wait for Windows or CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart. When I hit the space bar I get the message:

Windows
An error has occurred. To continue:
Press Enter to return to Windows, or
Press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart your computer. If you do this, you will lose any unsaved information in all open applications.

Error: OE : 0167 : BFF8E64B

Press any key to continue

When I press enter I get some weird colors at the top of the screen with the hour glass.

When I hit CTRL+ALT+DEL my machine restarts.

[GretaP]

I have a suggestion that hopefully won't make matters worse than they are already.
No, I'm not quite ready to tell you to format and then reinstall Windows, though I see things headed in that direction, to be quite honest with you.

If what you are using for a startup disk is a Windows ME startup disk (for my suggestion, I want you to be using the startup disk that is for the operating system that you are currently using), boot from it, then, at the A: prompt, key in:
sys C:
and press ENTER

Hopefully this will solve the problem with the missing/corrupted system files (such as io.sys, for example).

[speedracer]

I did the sys C:, but that did not change the outcome. Still getting the never ending hour glass on Safe Mode and the usual error message when attempting a normal start.

If the best thing at this point is to reformat, then so be it. Not like I have Nobel Prize information that will be lost here. I'll see a new begining and not the scorched earth. Would you be able to provide assistance on the reformat - reinstall?

Also, should my bios be set up differently? Currently they read:
1st Boot Device Floppy
2nd Boot Device IDE-0
3rd Boot Device CDROM

I changed them around to get the CDROM to kick off and seemed to forget what order they were in originally. Stupid mistake on my part.

Thanks for your help!

[GretaP]

The way you set the order of boot devices in your BIOS looks pretty "normal" to me...if you need to change the order depending on circumstances (want to boot from a bootable install CD, for example), you can either leave it be or change back to previous settings once you have finished what you were doing. Some prefer to have the first boot device as the hard drive (IDE-0) when they're not wanting to boot from floppy or CD, as this makes booting to the hard drive a little faster.

Prior to starting with the reformat/reinstall, make sure that you have available to you not only the install CD for Windows, but the install disks for items that require drivers (sound card, video card, modem/NIC card, printer, scanner, etc.), just in case Windows doesn't have the drivers for these devices in its "bank" of drivers.

Once you're prepared to go, boot from the startup floppy disk, and choose to start WITH CDROM SUPPORT. At the A: prompt, key in:
format c:
press ENTER

You should then see this message:

WARNING, ALL DATA ON NON-REMOVABLE DISK DRIVE C: WILL BE LOST!
Proceed with Format (Y/N)?

The cursor should be flashing beside the question mark in the Proceed with Format question. Key in Y and press Enter.

Formatting will now commence.

When formatting is complete, you should then see a message saying:

Volume label (11 characters, ENTER for none)?

Press Enter to NOT give it a volume label.

At this point, you can run either run setup for Windows directly from the install CD or by copying the CAB and setup files to hard drive and then running setup.

To run setup directly from the install CD, place the CD in the drive, and at the A: prompt, key in:
setup
and press ENTER.

To copy the CAB files to your hard drive first, and then run setup from the hard drive, At the A: prompt, key in:
C:
and press ENTER
You should now be at a C: prompt.
At the C: prompt, key in:
MD WINDOWS
and press ENTER
When you’re back at the C: prompt, press your F3 key, and you should see your prior command beside the C: prompt, and here you would key in:
\OPTIONS
and press ENTER
When you’re back at the C: prompt, key in:
CD WINDOWS\OPTIONS
and press ENTER
At the C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS prompt, key in:
COPY <drive letter for CDROM drive>:\WIN9x
and press ENTER

When the cab files and setup files have been transferred from the CD to the C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS directory, you will be returned to the C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS prompt. You can now take the install CD out of the drive, and run setup from the hard drive by keying in, at the C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS prompt:
setup
and press ENTER

[speedracer]

GretaP, Went through the reformat and ME reinstall. I've been working most of the day getting most of my drivers and files back on the hard drive. Your help was excellent and much appreciated! Oh, quick question. A buddy from work thinks ME is a very poor operating system (not his exact words). Do you feel XP is more stable than ME?

Thanks again for your help!

Speedracer

[GretaP]

Glad you made it through the reformat and reinstall relatively unscathed!
You're very welcome for all the help with that.....I've done it more times than I can count (don't have that many fingers and toes, you know :D )

Yes, I feel that WINXP is far more stable than WINME. One thing, though, if you're planning on upgrading the operating system to XP, you should ensure that your hardware and software are going to be compatible with XP prior to upgrading. This is probaby the biggest problem that people experience when they upgrade their operating systems.........they don't check compatibility issues first.