HELP:Upgraded PC, problem with Krnl386.exe

[Drew R]

> I recently bought the following to upgrade my PC:
> -Chaintech Mainboard with 1000MHZ Duron
> -512 SDRAM
> -Geforce4 MX440
>
> I then scavenged these few items from an older PC:
> -Floppy
> -ATAPI CDROM
> -HP CD-Writer 9100+
> -Hard drive (formatted)
> -Ethernet card
>
> I put all these items into a new case, then installed Windows 98SE.
> When I started it up, it detected the IDE Drives, then went to
> verifying DMI pool data. After that, the windows loading screen
> appears, blinks, then stops responding and shows:
> While initializing device SHELL:
> Cannot find or load required file KRNL386.EXE
> I then enter Safe mode, and find the file in the Windows system
> folder. I also cannot access my CDROM, which says it cannot find the
> device specified. I cant figure out how to get it to read the KRNL
> file or why it cannot load it.
>
> Any help on this situation would be appreciated.
>
> Drew

[HKEd]

Hi Drew...welcome to the board.

This MSKB article describes your situation exactly:

While Initializing Device Shell: Cannot Find or Load... (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q197685)

Let us know if it helps.

[Drew R]

Well, I tried the site, but I was unable to fix the problem. There were no driver conflicts, disabling IRQ Steering didn't help, but I couldn't figure out how to disable bus mastering because I didn't have a bus mastering controller. I also tried msconfig, trying Boot A,B, and C, but nothing worked. Also, I found my autoexec.bat (the only autoexec file on my comp) in the Ebd folder in the System folder. Isn't that supposed to be in just C: with other autoexec files? Anyway, it does not process autoexec when it boots up. Finally I went into Advanced and selected Force Compatibility Disk Access. This started Windows up normally, installed some drivers and was unable to install some required Win98SE files because it did not recognize my CD-ROMs. I couldn't install other drivers either, and couldn't find out why it was not recognizing my CD-ROMs. :(
There seems to be so many problems with it I think I should just have it taken somewhere.
Anyway, thanks for your help, I appreciate it.

[Jaytee]

This is probably more of a question than an answer.
Do you have the correct floppy boot disc?? If you have you should be able to start your computer with c/d rom support.
The disc is available at this site or I can post you the c/d file to add to your floppy.;)

[Drew R]

I found the bootdisk you recommended, and it recognized the CD-Roms, and said it set them to Drive X:. When I loaded Windows though, I went into Run and tried drives D,E, and X, but it showed it could not find the device specified.
Also, when in Safe mode, I went into the File System, then into Troubleshooting, and checked Disable 32-bit Protected-Mode Drivers. This seemed to correct the Krnl386.exe error, and will load Windows normally, but does this harm the system or decrease performance?
I also found out that in System Properties that both Drive A and C are using MS-DOS compatibility mode file system, and above that I get this message: Compatibility mode paging reduces overall system performance. When I clicked details, it showed this:
Windows was unable to identify a real-mode driver or memory-resident program loaded in your Config.sys or Autoexec.bat file. You will see another message that lists the name of the driver or program causing the problem.
Because Windows could not identify the driver or program, it has switched to MS-DOS compatibility mode to ensure the program will run. However, this decreases overall performance. To improve performance, remove the program or driver causing the problem, or contact its manufacturer for an upgraded version.

My last problem I encountererd was during Windows Startup(before the Krnl386.exe error, which only happens if 32-bit protected-mode drivers are enabled). I recieve this error everytime:
Cannot find a device file that may be needed to run Windows or a Windows application
The Windows registry or System.ini file refers to this device file but the device file no longer exists
If you deleted this file on purpose, try uninstalling the associated application using its uninstall or setup program
vnetbios.vxd
Press any key to continue

Windows still seems to load up fine with this problem, so it doesn't seem to be a big deal. Its the CD-Rom, Drives A & C, and Krnl386 problem I'm mainly concerned with, and whether or not disabling the 32-bit protected-mode drivers will effect anything.

[Jaytee]

To stick to the problem with the drives.
When you use the floppy, it gives the c/d a temporary drive letter (in your case X) which is usually one letter higher than its original letter ( was yours W?) the allocated drive letter (X) is only valid for the time you are useing the floppy disc. When you get windows you should lose the Xdrive and it should become the Wdrive in your case
Can you open windows explorer (or my computer)??
How many drives do you see? and what are there drive letter allocations eg a =floppy c=hard drive ?= c/d:)

[b1kra]

Hi Drew R

This is more of a question than an answer. Just wondering if you have been able to identify the software that windoz is looking for and leading to the Krnl386 problem ?

Is it possible to reinstall the software or device (driver) and if not needed, use uninstall to remove it?

One should not have to turn off 32-bit protected-mode drivers to get windoz to boot properly.

This message could be due to a bad uninstall, or if related to a driver/device one should be able to use sysedit to remove any references in the win ini and auto exec files, (RUN/sysedit).

If run from the registry and there is no reference in the files. Someone with more knowledge than me should be able to assist.

Good luck!

[Drew R]

I doubt its an issue with an application I installed. I formatted my hard drive, so the only thing on there is Win98SE. Also, I did try enabling/disabling the System.ini,Win.ini,Config.sys, and Autoexec.bat files to see which were related to the problem, but instead I would just receive different errors. Anyway, I decided to take it in to a shop today, I gave up on it. :D

Still, thanks so much for all the help, this is the only site that responded to my problem. I appreciate it.

Drew

[Jaytee]

Sorry we were not much help for you:(
Please come back with what the shop said/ did so we all can learn more about the problem(s) ;)