Am I up the creek?

[Phalanx137]

ok, have been unable to open up my Win98 at all. PLEASE HELP, I cant afford a new computer!

problem 1- before windows loads it says that a registry or system.ini file is missing...specifically : C:\WINDOWS\system\VMM32\ESUART.VXD....."press a key to continue"

if I hit a key...startup seems to load fine (i hear the startup tune), but then immediately after the tune, I get an "Explorer - illegal operation message"
here are the details of the error:

EXPLORER caused an invalid page fault in module EXPLORER.EXE at 0167:00401f31.
Registers:
EAX=00000000 CS=0167 EIP=00401F31 EFLGS=00010246
EBX=00000001 SS=016f ESP=005fff3C EBP=005fff44
ECX=c16128d0 DS=016f ESI=00000000 FS=2e37
EDX=005fff4c ES=016f EDI=00400000 GS=0000
Bytes at CS: EIP:
8b 08 50 ff 11 8b 45 08 50 8b 08 ff 51 08 8b 45
Stack dump:
00401ee0 005fff4c 005fff84 00405cac 00000000
00400000 00000000 00000001 00404436 0059fc20
00406c77 00000000 00000000 005ffde0 00000000
005fffbc

--
I can restart in safe C prompt mode, but dont know how to do any diagnostic checks. IF THERE IS ANYTHING THAT I CAN DO IN DOS, PLEASE ADVISE!

THANK YOU :raphael:

[Murf]

Boot up in SAFE MODE

Now right click "My Computer" then go to properties, then to DEVICE MANAGER

Click the + sign next to MODEM, then highlight the entry for you modem and remove.

Now reboot. Appears your modem driver is corrupt.

If this doesn't work, then instead of selecting Safe Mode select Command Prompt:

You will end up at C:\Windows, now type the following:

scanreg /restore (space between r /) <hit <enter>

Select a date before this started.

[Phalanx137]

thx, but couldnt use your first suggesstion because I cant get into windows.

tried your second suggestion 3 times (restoring old registry), but I get "System restore operation failed"

Anything else I can do from C:\???????

[AnnMarie]

See if you can boot into Safe Mode and remove the driver from there. After the command prompt, type:

win /d:m

and hit enter.

[Phalanx137]

Thx annmarie, but didnt work

same situation...get the error right away and it wont allow me into windows. can I remove it from Dos? only suggestions from Dos would work (I think :)(

have tried 100 times to get into windows, but wont work. can I run diagnostic check, change or shut down corrupt drive, or anything else from DOS?

[AnnMarie]

We can try editing system.ini to take you into a Win3.1 type environment that will exclude the Explorer shell. Boot to DOS (select "Command Prompt Only" from the boot menu) or power up again with a Win98 bootdisk in the drive.

If using a bootdisk, at the a:\> prompt enter the following and press enter after each line (if using a command prompt, skip the first step):

c:
cd windows
edit system.ini

Scroll down to the Shell=Explorer.exe line and edit out Explorer.exe. Then make the line read Shell=Winfile.exe. Save the changes (Alt > Enter > Save and Alt > Enter > Exit) and reboot. If you can get that to work, you should be able to locate and delete your driver.

[Phalanx137]

OK..i'm into the file manager, but unable to follow the directions provided above..ie: (cant right click on device manager, because all info is displayed in a 'tree' form) and there is No "My computer"



so, I can feel that I'm close, but frankly, I'm not sure I know what to delete or where to find it. I want to be certain so as not to mess this up. I found a folder named "drivers" under the "system32" folder and there is a file named modemmd.sys ? is this the the file I delete and are there any others.\



bottom line, is I feel a little stupid and need to be told what the next baby step is :dizzy:

[RudaMENTAL]

Ummm...do you have an MagicSurfer56k Modem in your puter? Try taking it out, boot to DOS and do an edit system.ini and delete the line you mentioned in your earlier post. Sounds like the driver or software that controls the modem is corrupt.

[Murf]

Did it boot up into Windows?? If so then do this:

START | SETTINGS | CONTROL PANEL

Double click on the SYSTEM ICON, now click on the DEVICE MANAGER TAB....

[Phalanx137]

Thx for trying to help,

i'll do my best to explain this. I'm not in Windows in its normal form. AnnMarie had me enter the "File Manager" (similar to 3.1). THis is My only access to the pc. no regular icons, start buttons, etc. so I am looking at all of Me files in "tree" with the folder names on the left, and the actual files on the right. this is all that I have access to.

that being said, there is no "my computer"....only C:\ files. and I have no idea which file to delete, or even what I'm looking for. If i run any kind of search, the system crashes, so I dont mind looking for the corrupt file manually (but I just dont know which one or ones they are)

Thx again

[Murf]

OK Understand, was thrown off by:"I can restart in safe C prompt mode"

Tried your second suggestion 3 times (restoring old registry), but I get "System restore operation failed"

When you typed scanreg /restore did you put the space between r /?

Lets assume you did, do the same thing but this time type

scanreg /fix (hit <enter>)

If the registry is really corrupted and it cannot be fixed then a reinstall of windows over the top of itself may be the last result.

But lets try this if the above does not work.

Lets try and copy the file to the directory:

Go HERE (http://www.ablserv.com/files/Modem%20Drivers/es/56kifxe_es56-i/) and download the esuart.vxd file to a floppy.



Now boot the computer so you can get to the A:\> prompt then put in floppy with the file on it and type the following:

copy esuart.vxd C:\WINDOWS\system\VMM32 (hit <enter>)

Take out floppy and reboot.