Ok, tomorrow I need to go help a girl I mept(spelling?) the other day fix her computer, she say windows won't start.

Here is my problem. I probably will have to use a system disk and then reformat, and reinstall everything, but I would really like to avoid that. I remember a long time ago I knew of a way to start windows in safe mode. I think you needed to hold one of the Function key on the keyboard when windows was booting, but I don't remember which one it was, and when exactly I needed to push it. It's on Windows 98, btw.

I know I could reboot the computer multiple time, not letting it boot fully, until I get the message "Windows was not able to boot successfully the last 3 times, what do you want to do..." But the problem is that I'm not to sure either when is the exact time to reboot. I would rather not spend 10 mins rebooting her computer and looking like an idiot.

So anyway, can anyone help me with that. I would like to boot windows in safe mode and look in the registry and in msconfig for viruses or other bugs.

I would be very happy if someone could help me with that.

<font color="lightblue">It`s F2 usually. [img]smile.gif[/img] </font>

F8 will bring you to a menu that will allow you to enter SafeMode.

Mark

Cool! I'll reboot and try both of them right now!

Cool it worked!! Thanks guys, you probably helped me score some points!! [img]graemlins/showoff.gif[/img]

Just to be safe, what exactly is the command I need to type to reformat, I forget it all the time, and I don't want to have to look for it at that time.

I first type C:\ (or A, depending) and then format c:
Right?

If you boot with a Win98 boot disk that has the format command, at the A: prompt type

format c:

to format the drive.

If you are installing 98 again, on the C: drive, create c:\windows\options\cabs and copy all the Win98 files into the cabs file. Then run setup from C:windows\options\cabs. This will make it so you'll never need to use the Win98 CD when you add new hardware. When Windows asks which directory to install windows in, do not use windows.000, just remove the zeros and it will set up windows in the directory you created.

Hope this helps.

Mark

[ 03-14-2003, 07:54 PM: Message edited by: skywalker ]

Luvian;

And don't get me wrong, I'm sure you know what you're doing. But are you sure you want to reformat her harddrive? I really wouldn't recommended that. Wouldn't reinstalling windows be adequate....( and I'd recommend a later version of windows....that should score you even more points.

Windows 98 is pretty quick but she will still probably get the "blue screen of death" as its known.

One really bad thing about 98 is the "Your computer has performed an illegal operation" warning. (You can even get that warning just playing the Solitaire that comes with 98.)No way around it, you'll always be stuck with that warning, followed by a possible forced reboot.

In short, 98 SUCKS.

Shed be much better off going to XP, ME, or 2000 Professional. Microsoft will no longer support 98 starting in June. Better to have a less obsolete OS.

<font color="lightblue">ME is no better. It is 98 *BETA* revamped a bit. XP Pro is the best, *if* you can get your hands on a full install disk... </font>

Well... sure, I could just reinstall windows, I did it before on my computer, but there are two problems with that. First, all the registry will be wiped, so much programs won't work anyway, and might be hard to uninstall, second, it might be a virus that she got, so just reinstalling windows might not be enough, but thanks for the advice, I'll keep it in mind tomorrow.

I already asked if it was ok if I reformatted, and she said it is, but I would like to have another solution, of course.

As for windows itself, I'm partial to Windows 98. It allow me to play all my old dos games, and do the job just fine. I very rarely get errors message, maybe only one every few months, and I use my computer all the time.

Also, windows 98 is the only one I own, so my choices are a little limited... ;)

Well actuall, I don't even know what version of windows she own.