[twynrivers]

Trying to help a friend out running on WIN 98. When you restart or boot up system boots up in BIOS Setup Utility Mode. There are times when I have to restart from this area two maybe three times. Not consistant with the amount of time I need to reboot from this state. I did notice that some of their photo files are appearing with the wrong date in date stored area.

My main concern is that I cannot reboot directly into WIN 98 without going through the Setup Utility Mode.

This problem started when I removed startup on Wild Tangent. I did this because he was getting an Rundll - error message concerning this program. This error appeared after running Add ware program.


Appreciate any assistance.

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have you checked no keyboard keys are stuck down (the DEL key or any of the F-keys, for example)?

[pip22]

have you checked no keyboard keys are stuck down (the DEL key or any of the F-keys, for example)?

[Tim Wellman]

When you get to the BIOS setup, do you just reboot? Try checking all the info to see if it's correct, then using the Save and Exit option... there may just be something that has changed and the bios keeps trying to get you to update it.

But, with the wrong times on some files (is the computer clock still keeping correct time?), it might be the battery getting weak on the motherboard.

It could also be that removing certain programs has messed up the mbr (master boot record) of the harddrive, so the bios has trouble recognizing the HD and brings up the bios setup screen. Boot from a floppy bootup disk for win98... at the a:\ prompt, type "fdisk /mbr" (without the quote marks)... that will reset the mbr . Note: if you have any 3rd party boot loader or disk overlay installed, it will be gone, so use the mbr command with caution (there's no problem if you only have one os on the computer and the hard drive is not compressed)

But, I'd try the Save and Exit option first on the bios setup... it may just be asking you to ok a change that has been made. And the time changes sound suspiciously like a weak battery...

but then again, since the problem started when you removed some program, it could be the mbr needs reset, but at least read up on the mbr command before using it, because it can really mess up a hard drive if used improperly. There are some really scary stories online from people who aparently don't know nearly as much as the think they do, so, before doing a google search for "fdisk /mbr", read the actual facts on Microsoft's website
http://support.micro....com/kb/q69013/
it's very safe to use if done properly.

[twynrivers]

Thank you for replying to my help request.

I corrected the files with the incorrect dates. Still have no idea what caused that problem but current files are consistently retaining correct dates. After completing that task I discovered a conflict with com port 1 and 2. Corrected problem by reinstalling drivers using Win 98 second edition disk. Rebooted and everything was fine. Thanks again.

This is a great place for getting help. Nice to see members actually responding to messages.