[islandcat]

Well new one again for me. When start computer it brings up 'Windows Protection Error' Need to Restart. Not possible to restart just continues to go through whole routine again. Going to attempt again to go into safe mode and restore. Any idea why this comes up, always learning on here. Thanks

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So I have tried several different prompts including system restore and none of it gets me past the error message. I'm now getting before the protection error 'while initializing device DOSMGR and another time 'while initializing device VKD' the of course the windows protection error. I'm at a loss as to how to get windows up to even try anything else.

[islandcat]

So I have tried several different prompts including system restore and none of it gets me past the error message. I'm now getting before the protection error 'while initializing device DOSMGR and another time 'while initializing device VKD' the of course the windows protection error. I'm at a loss as to how to get windows up to even try anything else.

[Neil Jones]

Windows Protection errors in the Windows 4 series (Win95, 98 and ME) are almost always caused by hardware failure of some sort or major software incompatibility. Google and leave running overnight "Memtest86" and see what happens.

[SRX660]

The VKD error has to do with faulty drivers or a bad connection to the keyboard. First try a different keyboard and maybe even try a USB keyboard to see if either clears up the problem.

The DOSMGR error seems to be in the I/O loading while booting up. Microsoft seems to think it is a virus in this article.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/263466

There it seems to lead people to try a clean boot of the system.

http://support.micro...kb/192926/en-us

SRX660

[islandcat]

Hey thanks for both your replys. I cant get into program start, cant get that far. so where would I type in memtest86???
SRX660 - I have been on the microsoft help stuff all day and most of their suggestions always say go to Start and etc. but can't get in that far. I either to straight to a blank page that says Windows Protection error or depending on how I restart I get the page with safe mode etc. The only way I can do anything through that page is through the prompts but dont know what more to ask for there.????? The only new thing that has been done on my computer is we got a digital camera and downloaded pics, would this have anything to do with it. Thanks for replys.

[islandcat]

So its rather coincidental that new software was added? What I guess I need to know is what I can put in the C prompt to get in and get rid of the new software. I have a feeling that win98 cant handle the new Kodak program and this must be the root of the problem? Is there anyway I can get in with the prompt?

[SRX660]

It's been a while since i have messed with a older computer and Win 98. I assume you do have a floppy drive. A win 98 boot floppy will get you to the hard drive( c prompt) using DOS commands. There, using the dir command you should be able to drill down to the folder that has the kodak software and the del command will delete the files to where Win 98 may boot up.

DOS commands

http://elsa.berkeley.../basic.dos.html

http://www.techtutor.../dcommands.html

If you still cannot get to even a command prompt, more than likely the file system for 98 has been corrupted and it would be easier to wipe the drive ( using the drive makers utilities to do a low level format) and reinstall Win 98( or ME).

SRX660

[islandcat]

thanks, still working away on this. Not sure where I get a Win98 Boot floppy? Is that like a back up disc? or do you have to buy one? If I ever get through this am going to get rid of 98, thats a promise.

[SRX660]

You can download boot disks from here. They are free to download.

http://www.bootdisk.com/

Click on the first link so it can take you the win 98 boot disk page. The latest one there for Win 98 SE will work the best. Most of the files there are disk images. Download the file to your C: drive, put a fresh disk in your A: drive, then click on the file to create the bootdisk.

SRX660

[islandcat]

k, saved boot disc to C drive then to floppy. So far does nothing, am going to try again and hold control key down? Just as a side question, any recommendations as to a new computer, middle of the road, nothing fancy, good solid one. I have heard Dell has come up with better puters than past??? Ready to give up, read that not worth fixing win 98 especially on older computer even though have done continual upgrades. Hmmm advice?

[islandcat]

OMG! I did it! after several tries using the boot up floppy I am in. 2 days of work. Thanks again to this site. Now that I am in not sure where to begin again. I think I will remove the Kodak program as it was the last new software added and start checking all I know how to check. Thanks again, but you may hear back.

[SRX660]

I assume that you do not have a Microsoft windows 98 CD for the computer. That makes it tough since you have to try uninstalling the software that is causing the problem, If it is a software problem. I still run a Windows 98 computer so i can play some games i bought many years ago. I do not add software to this computer anymore since any newer software is not made to be compatable with win 98. All you can try doing is to delete the kodak software while in DOS. The kodak software is usually in its own folder under the "Program Files" folder in the "C" drive. If doing this does let the computer boot up normally you will need to also run a registry program to get rid of orphan entries in there.

http://www.worldstar...-cleaner4.3.htm

The above program RegCleaner is a well used program for this.

I personally no longer use programs like these because if i have a problem with software i use a Microsoft win98 CD i have and just reinstall windows on the computer again. I also have a Ghost image of my own system with all the software added and usually use that image to reinstall on my own computer. That way i do not have to reinstall all the software again if i have a problem.

Yes, Win 98 is so old that it is not even supported by microsoft anymore. Newer hardware usually do not include software that is compatible with the win 98 system so it does cause problems like you are experiencing. Recently i had to give a Compaq computer with Win ME on it back to someone simply because it was not worth the expense to find the problem with the computer and try a reinstall of the operating system to fix it. Newer computers are so cheap it is not worth spending $200 or more to repair a old computer. So i spent a day setting up the computer and transferring emails and some documents and pictures the customer wanted to save to floppy disks and then to another computer so i could burn the 100 MB of data to a CD for her. If she was not a good friend of my wifes i would not have even done this . As it was i charged her $20 ( thats about $2.50 a hour) simply because she usually has me setup any new computers she buys.

On a new computer i truly think you can't go wrong with most of the name brand computers if you do not have special needs for the fastest and best computer. I need to show what i can do with computer so i build my own instead of buying store bought ones. In reality any H-P, Compaq, Dell, Gateway, Acer, and some other well known brands work prefect for almost everyones needs. Any computer over 3 years old is Obsolete anyway and that is what i suggest to people when they buy new computers. Don't buy top of the line unless it is on sale and you were going to spend that much money anyway. Some of the money you spend is for bells and whistles you will seldom use anyway. Better to spend around $400 for a solid computer that you won't have any problems with for a few years. Half the computers i have here are factory computers. 2 Compaq's, a H-P, A Dell, A Acer Laptop, and A Toshiba Laptop are what i'm running right now along with a new build i do every 3 months or so.

Another thought is if you get a new computer you will be amazed at how much better Windows XP and Vista are than Win 98. I personally won't go back to the old windows, but i do still prefer XP over Vista right now.

SRX660

[islandcat]

Thanks for all that info. Well didnt work after all, how I got in at all surprises me. After shut down that was it. It happened that a neighbor wanted my computer if I was done with it, but he found he could get it going. He has installed XP and said that he replaced the compressor? that it had over heated. Well so far so good, unfortuneately win98 has to stay on as XP would not install without a partition?so hoping that doesnt cause me any grief. I couldnt get my old info onto floppy so emailed it all to myself, pics and all, lol. At this point am putting virus protection on, Clean up and looking for pop up protection. I have to say I dont trust all this but we will see, buys me a little more time anyway. I keep getting a message up that tells me my registry has some corruption, but this its just an ad cause it takes me registryrepair.exe and then asks me to buy it??? Oh and on my final and last try with win 98 I got registry scan up through dos prompt and at 43 percent and 5 hours of fixing corrupt files I gave up. I think I said before the more you learn the more confused you get. If you have any advise on what has all been done here be glad to hear it. Thanks