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#16
tanramion

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booted up my system and pressed F8
chose command prompt only option
typed edit in C:\>
blue screen appeared
opened the autoexec.bat file
found only one entry :tazz:
C:\>PROGRA~1\GRISOFT\AVGFRE~1\BOOTUP.EXE
opened the config.sys file and found nothing... ;)

important question.... did i do the right thing? ;) was it right to insert "edit" in C:\>? 'coz i remember seeing "C:\WINDOWS\>" whenever i restart my computer in ms-dos mode.... when i tried entering something to make the prompt C:\WINDOWS\>... i think cd windows.... and inserted "edit".... i can't seem to find the files while browsing in the "open file" window.... :)
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#17
gerryf

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OK, the WIndows cd you have....what kind is it?

It sounds like our problem is there. I think you have a Windows 98 OEM disk....

Is that the case?
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#18
gerryf

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thought about it for a little bit, and all of our problems seem to go back to that requirement for the windows cd key.... something you're not conveying or my not seeing is still going on.

Given that the CD you seem to be using is an OEM disk, and given the problem we are now seeing, I do not think that we are going to recover that windows installation.

That DOES NOT mean your data is gone. It will all still be there, but we are going to have to do a new installation of windows and your programs and then recover your data.

This is what I would do in your case.

Reboot to DOS again

At the c: prompt type the following

rename c:\windows c:\bakwin
rename c:\progra~1 c:\bakpf

Reboot with Windows 98 cd and install windows.

You will get a totally fresh install with no functioning programs and no updates. Reinstall your programs and hit windows update.

Your MY DOCUMENTS should be intact, unless you had a multi profile system, but the data will still be there

If you did not have a multi-user system, most of your data will be here:

c:\bakwin\desktop
c:\bakwin\favorites
c:\my documents

What email program did you use...I will walk you through restoring that.
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#19
tanramion

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OK, the WIndows cd you have....what kind is it?

It sounds like our problem is there. I think you have a Windows 98 OEM disk....

Is that the case?

View Post


:tazz: i really don't know if it is an oem disk.... hmmmm...there this part where oem appears in the cd... "microsoft corporation. all rights reserved. microsoft products are licensed to OEMs by mmicrosoft licensing inc., blah blah"... i'll try to check the manual that comes with it. ;)
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#20
gerryf

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pretty sure it is....not sure why it is giving you the disk compression message, but an OEM disk cannot install on a drive with an OS already there. Thought it could do a repair though, so I am assuming whatever went wrong has made a repair impossible
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#21
tanramion

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:tazz: hmmmmm... ok.... if that's the case, then could i just borrow another windows 98se cd, do an install and use the product key of my cd? is that legal?

i just don't want to reinstall all the programs. reinstalling ms office would be a big problem 'coz i don't have a cd of that... ;)
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#22
gerryf

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your key will not work with another cd -- it will only work with an OEM
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#23
tanramion

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just a question.... what stuff are going to be deleted?? you told me that the programs are gonna be deleted.... how about other files in drive C that are not in program files e.g. documents in a folder (aside form "my documents") in drive c?
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#24
tanramion

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thought about it for a little bit, and all of our problems seem to go back to that requirement for the windows cd key.... something you're not conveying or my not seeing is still going on.

Given that the CD you seem to be using is an OEM disk, and given the problem we are now seeing, I do not think that we are going to recover that windows installation.

That DOES NOT mean your data is gone. It will all still be there, but we are going to have to do a new installation of windows and your programs and then recover your data.

This is what I would do in your case.

Reboot to DOS again

At the c: prompt type the following

rename c:\windows c:\bakwin
rename c:\progra~1 c:\bakpf

Reboot with Windows 98 cd and install windows.

You will get a totally fresh install with no functioning programs and no updates. Reinstall your programs and hit windows update.

Your MY DOCUMENTS should be intact, unless you had a multi profile system, but the data will still be there

If you did not have a multi-user system, most of your data will be here:

c:\bakwin\desktop
c:\bakwin\favorites
c:\my documents

What email program did you use...I will walk you through restoring that.

View Post



ok here's the deal... i did what you told me to do in combination with the "remove windows 95/98 from a hard drive without reformatting" thingy posted by admin...

so here's what happened...
renamed c:\prora~1 to bakpf

then deleted the files that were to be deleted in admin's post....

renamed c:\windows to bakwin

but when i proceed with setup.... it just tells me that i already have a system in my pc and i'll have to acquire a "windows 98 upgrade" to proceed with setup...

did i do sumthing wrong? should i have followed your instructions strictly i.e. not doing the stuff posted by admin (deleting stuff)?

what shall i do from this point?
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#25
gerryf

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I probably would not have deleted the win files yet....

That was a differenet technique then mine,,,,,it must be locating another file and since it is not in the windows directory, it must be in the root.

I've done this hundreds of times, but I guess I've never done this with an OEM disk.

at a prompt, type

rename autoexec.bat autoexec.bak
rename config.sys config.bak
rename command.com command.bak
rename msdos.sys msdos.bak
attrib -r -a -s -h system.1st
rename system.1st system.bak

Now try to reinstall
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#26
tanramion

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at a prompt, type

rename autoexec.bat autoexec.bak
rename config.sys config.bak
rename command.com command.bak
rename msdos.sys msdos.bak
attrib -r -a -s -h system.1st
rename system.1st system.bak

Now try to reinstall

View Post

can't do that 'coz i already deleted those files when i followed admin's procedure
now... whenever i boot up from hard disk.... i have to insert a boot disk (or the windows 98 cd) for it to continue...

i think i'm just making things worse! :tazz:
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#27
gerryf

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think so....your old system is toast.

Wish I would have been there. OK, let's assume the old system is toast and so are the programs.

Now, all you can conceivably get is your data...is there anything on the computer that you need or is it replaceable?
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#28
tanramion

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;) solved the problem yesterday

had some vital stuff in that hd so we transfered that to another pc and set it up as the primary slave... booted up.... copied vital files..... reformatted hd.... installed 98se oem.... returned vital files to reformatted hd..... problem solved! :tazz:

;) thanks for the time and thanks for sharing your computer expertise!
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