Probs after installing Webcam

[ChrisW]

Hello everyone.
Today I tried installing my new Logitech Webcam Express - I am not the best with computers, so naturally I had problems. I think I finally got it right but now my Winamp and Windows Media Player wont work. If I try to run them the hour glass comes on and nothing happens. I have since uninstalled the webcam and defragmented my C drive but still the same thing happens. What have I done?
I am running Windows 98 on a Pentium III 500, 352MB RAM.
Any help at all will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[smurfy]

Hi there ChrisW, welcome to the forum.

Step 1 is going to be getting you back in a working situation that you were before the problems.
Luckily, Windows 98 can do this for you.
Start>Shutdown>Restart in MS-DOS mode.

At the C:\WINDOWS> prompt, type
scanreg /restore and press enter

The Microsoft Registry Checker will present you with a list of dates when Windows started OK. Pick a date prior to your webcam installation blues and press enter to Restore.
Once back at the DOD prompt, type exit to restart windows and you're Media Player & winamp problems will hopefully be fixed.
There is a possibility this will not fix the problems if Webcam software has overwritten files rather than just amended registry, in which case you'll need to reinstall Winamp & media player.

Once you are back to "normal" we can then try to reinstall your webcam.

[ChrisW]

Hi smurfy and thanks very much. The info you gave worked a treat.

I'm not too sure whether to install the webcam now - this problem really had me worried.

On another topic, I want to sort my system out to get it running at peak performance. I am sure I have loads of old rubbish in the system that isnt being used. Would it be best to wipe the whole system and reload all the software or try to sort it out manually. I am also upgrading my hard drive from 6.4 top 40G. Again, any help really appreciated.

Thanks again mate.