Re: Windows won't start

Tech-Archive recommends: Repair Windows Errors & Optimize Windows Performance

Sharon

Thanks for staying with me on this. Your advice is appreciated.

I did, finally, manage to re-install Windows 98. I lost all my program links
(the installation process told me that would happen) but my DATA was safe.
The display is awful (barely useable) but enough to grab my data and copy it
to another drive.

Next, I tried to upgrade to XP using my "upgrade" disk. All seemed to go
well until . . .
Got a message saying Uninstall option not available as backup greater than
2GB limit. This didn't seem to be a problem (though I don't remember it from
before) and the installation continued.

Then got to the "Upgrade Report" which identified some possible hardware
problems (camera and display card) and suggested I might need to look at
these later but, and here is the problem, it identified one "Block Issue" -
which said that Microsoft Shared Fax Client was preventing the upgrade and
had to be uninstalled first. It suggested I use Add/Remove software.

I do not know what this Fax Client is and have never (knowingly) used it.
Given that I was upgrading immediately after re-installing Windows 98, there
were only two files listed under Add/Remove Software - "Delete Windows
Uninstall information" and "Uninstall Windows 98". Consequently I could not
comply with the instruction to uninstall the Shared Fax Client. Tried the
upgrade disk several times with the same result.

Can you still offer some help or is this into the territority of a new
thread now?

Regards

Chris.

"Sharon F" wrote:

> On Tue, 28 Jun 2005 08:26:05 -0700, Chris A. wrote:
>
> > Sorry for delay in responding but I have very limited Internet access when my
> > own PC is down!
> >
> > I ran the Set-up/Reboot cycle five times in a row with the same result each
> > time - ie another reboot. The system did not hang.
> >
> > In the light of your further comments, I tried to run chkdsk to see if it
> > would help. Chkdsk would not check the disk but asked me to run Scandisk
> > instead. This I did and it found problems with the size of my System.log,
> > Software.log and TVdebug.log files which is said were "misreported". It also
> > found that the amount of free space on my C drive was incorrectly reported.
> >
> > I let Scandisk fix all of these and tried running Setup again. The results,
> > however, were almost identical. The only difference was that when Setup
> > started to check my drive it seemed to do so for perhaps five seconds instead
> > of three seconds previously - but perhaps I am just looking too hard for
> > signs of improvent!
> >
> > Unless you have any further suggestions, it looks like the clean install you
> > suggest might be the only option left? This, however, raises another problem
> > for me. My XP disk is an "upgrade" disk (SP2) and booting from the CD rom
> > drive ONLY takes me to the "Setup" screen with the options that I have
> > already been trying. I do not seem to be able to access anything that gives
> > me the chance to install. (Do I have to go back and install Windows 98 from
> > my old Windows 98 disk and then subsequently "upgrade" from it?)
> >
> > Advice, as always, greatly appreciated.
>
> Having an upgrade XP and OEM Win98 can be problematic. IF the Win98 CD has
> the standard Win98 setup files (folder full of cab files and a setup.exe),
> then you can do a clean install of XP and insert that CD when prompted as
> "proof" of owning the older operating system.
>
> If the Win98 CD is a specialized OEM recovery CD, then it gets a little
> sticky.
>
> First consideration: Your hardware is a lot newer than what was around when
> Win98 was released. You may have trouble installing it on that criteria
> alone.
>
> Second: Some OEM CDs, even in the Win98 era were BIOS locked. Made to
> install on an exact set of hardware. Others were customized without the
> extra protection of BIOS lock but still designed for specific hardware.
> These do not always install well, if at all, on new hardware
> configurations.
>
> If you could get Win98 to install... There is a way to reinstall Win98 and
> then clean install XP but it's been so long since I've done it, I've
> forgotten the exact steps. I just looked this last week for a step by step
> guide for someone else and couldn't find one. (When I did it, I had backups
> and the luxury of experimenting with different methods).
>
> You could strip down the Win98 setup to bare necessities and then upgrade
> it to XP. Most of Win98 will be replaced anyhow due to the differences in
> the operating systems. Sometimes this method works in your favor, sometimes
> not.
>
> Another thing that you could do - hang on to your Win98 CD as it's the base
> for your upgrade license. But for convenience's sake, borrow a friend's
> retail CD (if they don't need it any longer, buy it from them) and use it
> for the verification step and do a clean install.
>
> "Regular" backups with the last one being in November? I think you need to
> re-think your "regular" schedule! ;^)
>
> I've tried many backup and imaging programs through the years. I prefer
> imaging programs to backup programs although backup programs are great if
> you're just trying to preserve data. Previously, my favorite was Image for
> Windows from terabyteunlimited.com. It's still a very fine program but I
> have a new favorite that I tried last week - Acronis True Image.
>
> I have Windows and major applications installed on C:, data files (my
> documents, outlook's .pst file, OE's data store, etc) are redirected to
> another drive. The redirection keeps the size of my Windows partition down
> and it fits on a single DVD. I chose to backup to an external hard drive,
> another option with these programs. Time to create an image: 10 minutes.
> Time to restore an image: 10 minutes.
>
> Sorry to bore you with those details but I think for any backup regiment to
> be successful it has to be easily do-able. If it's too complicated or takes
> too long, you're going to end up with a November date on your last
> "regular" backup.
>
> So what to do about all of that data you stand to lose, hmm.... One
> possible solution: If your system can support another hard drive, they're
> very reasonably priced these days. You might consider doing your clean
> install on a new drive. Then adding your old drive back as a
> secondary/slave. Grab your data off of it. Then re-partition and format so
> that it can be used for storage.
>
> --
> Sharon F
> MS-MVP ~ Windows Shell/User
>
.

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