[JillH]

Today we found an unopened Hitachi Studiopad tablet(I believe it was made for Windows 95, so it probably wasn't the best idea to install it on a newer computer) and decided to install it to see if it work as a backup should my other tablet ever stop working. It ended up not working on my computer, which has Windows XP installed, and when I restarted, I got an error. Even then, I was still able to click close and everything was okay. I couldn't uninstall the program for some reason, it's not on the Add/Remove Program list; I ended up just sending all the files to the Recycle Bin and getting rid of them that way, but I am not sure it's completely gone.

Not taking the hint, we tried installing it on my mom's computer, which has Windows 98 installed. Again, the tablet did not work(We could get as far as the light coming on, and the pen seemed to be in working condition, but the cursor never moved.) We unplugged the mouse to see if it was interfering, still no response. I decided to give, but when we plugged the mouse back in, it didn't work either so I restarted.

Upon restarting, the mouse was working, but an error popped up(and if you looked past it, you would see that the desktop hadn't loaded).

It said:

This program has performed an illegal operation and must be closed and will be shut down.

If the problem persists, contact the program vendor.

Clicking "Details", this is what it said in the box:

MSGSRV32 caused a general protection fault in module USER.EXE at 000f:00000915.
(followed by a list of registers, bytes at CS:EIP, and a list of stack dump. I don't know if you need any of that, let me know)

Here's a picture of it, if that helps any:
http://img.photobuck...ots/Picture.jpg

After we click close, we're left with nothing but the desktop's background. No start button, no desktop icons, nothing. The mouse works, and if you press CtrlAltDel, the Task Manager pops up(empty). But there is no way to get anywhere or do anything. From the Task Manager we were able to shut down properly, but still nothing.

We restarted in Safe Mode, but the message still popped up, and except for the words "Safe Mode" in all four corners of the screen, the desktop was still blank. Any and all help is absolutely appreciated. I'd hate to think I destroyed my mom's computer. Especially right before Mother's Day. Thanks so much in advance.

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Hi JillH...

You'll need a startup disk for this. If you don't have one, you can download this Win98SE OEM version. Save the file to the desktop of a working machine. Double click on the downloaded file and put a floppy in the floppy drive when prompted to do so by the application. This will create a startup disk to use on the Windows 98 machine.

Start the Win98 machine with the startup disk in the floppy drive. At the options screen, press Shift + F5 for a command prompt. At the command prompt (A:\), type c:windows\command\scanreg /restore (Note the space after scanreg)

This should bring up a window containing 4 or 5 "snapshots" of the registry. Select (using the arrow keys) a file two or three down the list and press "Enter". This will restore the registry to an earlier state.

Hope this works for you...let me know how it goes.

wannabe1

[wannabe1]

Hi JillH...

You'll need a startup disk for this. If you don't have one, you can download this Win98SE OEM version. Save the file to the desktop of a working machine. Double click on the downloaded file and put a floppy in the floppy drive when prompted to do so by the application. This will create a startup disk to use on the Windows 98 machine.

Start the Win98 machine with the startup disk in the floppy drive. At the options screen, press Shift + F5 for a command prompt. At the command prompt (A:\), type c:windows\command\scanreg /restore (Note the space after scanreg)

This should bring up a window containing 4 or 5 "snapshots" of the registry. Select (using the arrow keys) a file two or three down the list and press "Enter". This will restore the registry to an earlier state.

Hope this works for you...let me know how it goes.

wannabe1

[JillH]

Thank you! Thank you!

We did just as you said, and found the registry only contained five dates from 2000. I can't imagine why it hadn't saved any registry information since, but we restored anyway(and the desktop is back. Hitachi was deleted soon thereafter). We figured we would have to re-install practically everything, though we've run into a bit of a snag as we can't get the internet to work on it. Back in 2000, this computer had a dial-up service, so it's trying to connect to Lightspeed(We have Comcast broadband now), and we can't figure out how to change that.

EDIT: After trying and failing and then accidentally doing something right, we managed to get the internet working again. I'm not even sure how.. So, nevermind that part, I guess. I think everything is basically okay now, just that we have to re-install many programs so that we can access certain files.

So thank you, very very much for all your help! I honestly didn't think we'd be able to access the computer again.

Edited by JillH, 14 May 2006 - 11:57 AM.

[wannabe1]

Glad I could be of assistance...

If you run into other problems or need help with anything, don't hesitate to ask!

wannabe1

[JillH]

It seems we have run into a new problem.

We can't do any Windows updates or download anything because the computer says we need to be an Administrator. In the area where it should list who is the Administrator, it's just blank. We may not be able to see it, I think. So we were wondering how we'd get to that administrative account, or how would assign administrative powers to this current one?

Thanks.