ragnargd

Hi, if we were a lover of old cars, the staff of msfn (admins and mods) would be the ones handing over tools, spare parts, and the occasional encouraging slap on the shoulder, while we hang under the bottom of the car, and dabble there with oily fingers. So, just for once in a while: Thank You all very much! Ragnar G.D.

@submix8c: The SSD has 29 GB, so i cannot break it with FAT32 regarding partition size. But your comment was the inspiration for what i had to look... Scandisk complains about LBA-functionality. As it did not do that before, something went very wrong. I retraced my steps, and, yes, i seriously fu**ed that one up: When extending the partition from 14GB to 29 GB, cluster size changed from 8kB to 16kB. That was why it took so long, as that means many files had to be touched. When i terminated that prematurely, i killed the partition. chkdsk (from XP and W7) shows many, many files are gone to heaven device NUL. Thanky You all for looking at it, i should have done the filechecking before even asking, I wasted your time. Sorry... None the less: The link about repairing vmm32.vxd is providing quite some insight. Read it: (http://www.easydesks...news/news10.htm) I re-post it here, so it doesn't get lost:, credit goes to the easydesk-engineers. It is capped somewhere at the end when things get interesting, but even then. ----------------------------- How to Repair the Vmm32.vxd This week we will talk about how to repair or replace a damaged or missing Vmm32.vxd file. It seems to be a popular informational search request on our site. People looking for " Unable to find VMM32.VXD" or "Cannot find or corrupt Windows Loader". You will need to know exactly what the Vmm32.vxd file is. The Vmm32.vxd file is used on the Windows 9x and ME platforms only. The Vmm32.vxd is a monolithic file that contains many different VXD files (Virtual Device Driver), much like a CAB or a ZIP file. The Vmm32.vxd file is created by the Windows Setup program, and it contains different drivers for each machine. In many cases it will contain different drivers on each installation of Windows to the same machine, so replacing this file cannot be done by getting it from another machine. There is a standard VMM32.vxd file in the Windows Cabinet files, but it is not usable as is. It only contains a few basic VXDs and Windows adds to it as it installs Windows using the Wininit.ini file. If the Vmm32.vxd file is damaged or missing Windows will not boot, so you have three choices. 1.You can obtain it from a backup. For those of you who have WinSafe, it automatically monitors and backs up the Vmm32.vxd file, it will even tell you if the file is missing or changed before shutting down Windows. If the file changed and you find out it is damaged when you try and reboot; WinSafe can restore its' backup Vmm32.vxd from DOS. If it is missing WinSafe will not shut down Windows, allowing you to restore with WinSafe backup file. 2. Reinstall Windows 3. Make a repair, which is the topic of this newsletter. You can find a list of all the files inside the Vmm32.vxd file at the Registry Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ System\ CurrentControlSet\ Control\ VMM32Files. So before you have a problem it is a good time to export this Key so you have a list for the future should you decide to repair the damaged or missing Vmm32.vxd file. If you need to get this list and you are unable to boot to Windows, You have two . go to the Command prompt and at the C:\Windows> prompt type: RegEdit /e Vmmlist.txt HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ System\ CurrentControlSet\ Control\ VMM32Files Press Enter. Now you can read the file in DOS by typing: Edit C:\Windows\Vmmlist.txt Press Enter. If you get an error you may need to go to the Windows\Command prompt and type it. Or you can copy the System.dat file to another computer using 9x or ME. Then have Registry Drill load the file and you will be able to view the Key on another computer. OK, so now you have a list which looks something like this abbreviated example(your actual list may contain approximately 40 or more file names): [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ System\ CurrentControlSet\ Control\ VMM32Files] "vdd.vxd"=hex:00 "vflatd.vxd"=hex:00 "biosxlat.vxd"=hex:00 The file names are vdd.vxd, vflatd.vxd, and biosxlat.vxd. You can extract each file, one at a time to the Windows\System\Vmm32 folder. This folder is used when a vxd file needs to be added to the Vmm32.vxd file; instead of trying to have Wininit.ini try to add the file to the Vmm32.vxd file and risk corrupting the file, the new file can be placed here. If a file is listed in the Vmm32Files Registry Key, Windows looks inside the Vmm32.vxd file and in the Windows\System\Vmm32 folder for it. Now would be a good time to see what files are in this folder so you can eliminate extracting the ones that are in the folder already. I noticed that some software vendors put the files in the Iosubsys folder instead. I prefer the Vmm32 folder, Windows loads this folder first. Rename the old Vmm32.vxd to something like Vmm32.sav, if it has not already been deleted. You will find it in the Windows\System folder. You will also find a stock VMM32.vxd file in the cab files, extract it to the System folder. Now I guess you want to know how to extract a file when your in DOS. You will need to know where your Windows Installation files are located. If your files are on a CD you will need to reboot and load your CD-ROM with the Windows CD in it. Mine are on my hard drive at C:\Windows\Options\Cabs, so therefore I will move my DOS prompt to C:\Windows\Options\Cabs>. Make sure you have Extract.exe in your Windows installation files' folder. If not, you will need to do this from the Windows\Command folder, adjusting the paths accordingly. Now at the C:\Windows\Options\Cabs> type : Extract /A CabFile_Starting# /E FileName_Wanted /L VMM32_Folder Press Enter The /A switch tells Extract to search all the cabinet file from the cabinet number entered up. CabFile_Starting# = the first cabinet file number you have after the Precopy cab(s). Mine is Base2.cab, so I will replace this variable with Base2.cab. The /A tells Extract to search all the Cabinet files. If you are using the Windows\Command> prompt you will need to enter the full path, I would need to use C:\Windows\Options\Cabs\Base2.cab FileName_Wanted = The name of the file in the list. In my case I will replace this variable with vdd.vxd. The /E switch tells Extract what file name to search for and extract. VMM32_Folder = The path to the Vmm32 Folder. In my case I will replace this variable with C:\Windows\System\Vmm32. The /Lswitch tells Extract the location to extract the file to. Now, for a HOT tip, try making a Batch file (.BAT) to extract all the files at once. To make a Batch file type each command on one line, then go to the next line and type the next command. Each command consists of the file name you want to extract. Save the file and run it. Example of the Batch file that I will save as VmmList.bat: Extract /A Base2.cab /E VDD.vxd /L C:\Windows\System\Vmm32 Extract /A Base2.cab /E Vflatd.vxd /L C:\Windows\System\Vmm32 Extract /A Base2.cab /E Biosxlat.vxd /L C:\Windows\System\Vmm32 For those of you who know about Wininit.ini you can create a new Vmm32.vxd file using the following example, and extracting the required files to a temp folder. Rename the existing Vmm32.vxd and extract the standard Vmm32.vxd from your cabinet files. This method is not recommended for beginners, I have seen to many Vmm32.vxd files get corrupt installing 3rd party software when the vendor try's to use the Wininit file to add a VXD to the Vmm32.vxd. [setupOptions] Combine=1 [CombineVxDs] C:\Windows\Temp\Biosxlat.vxd = C:\Windows\System\Vmm32.vxd -----------------------------

I get no blue screen. I normally start windows 98 from the commandline with "win" (I boot up to DOS 7 first). At first I get: "Sektor kann nicht gelesen werden" (can't read sector) "(Wiederholen), (A)bbrechen, (F)ehler" (repeat, abort, error) ...and THEN i get (tranlated)... "Cannot find or load vmm32.vxd" "Press enter" On pressing enter, the machine powers down. "Tampering" means, I had a second unused NTFS-partition on that disk, removed it, and extended the FAT32-partititon - with EASEUS Home Edition (I installed that on, and started it from XP). So i can start DOS 7, but cannot continue to W98SE. As i was impatient, i restarted that process inbetween, which is a Very Bad Idea , of course. It may turn out there are more damaged files... then there is no way except for reinstalling.. but that is speculation until now... Ragnar G.D.

Hello, VuMartin, let's start with the obvious: Most of your hardware *should* work out of the box, (Motherboard, Graphics, etc.), except for one thing: The 250 GB SATA-disk. (If you can, though, please name your motherboard, as there are some, which have a 945G chipset, and still do not work). W98SE does not support HDDs greater 127 GB out of the box. There is some software from rloew, but you have to pay for it. I cannot say anything about it, as i'm not using it. W98SE does not support SATA-controllers in SATA Mode, but only in IDE-Mode. Even then, some won't work ever. There's more than one way to solve your problem, here is mine. It may mean spending a bit of money (not much, though), but it will spare you a lot of headaches. 1. Get an IDE-HDD Buy (or get one somehow) an IDE HDD smaller than 127 GB. As W98SE really doesn't need much, even a used HDD of 30 GB will do it. You can get a new one with 60 GB for about € 60, and get a Transcend SSD 320 of 30GB for about €50, or get a used one via ebay. The cheapest way may be to get one from your local Nerd (over the age of 35) for free, though, just ask around... ;-) 2. Connect it Connect that HDD to your Parallel ATA port (also called IDE port or PATA port) - you may have to enable it in your BIOS, and make it the boot device. DON'T connect the SATA-Disk now, you'll do that later. 3. Install W98SE Install W98SE to this disk. If you want to makes sure this works flawlessly, have only 512MB Ram installed. Test and install, until everything works fine. Power down. TIP: Copy the conent of the W98SE-CD into a directory you might call "INSTALL.W98", and have your W98-registry point to that. If you don't know how, ask me later. 4. Connect SATA-Disk NOW connect your 250 GB SATA-HDD to the SATA-port. Boot up your W98SE. If the systems boots up without warning, everything is fine, and you can power down, and proceed to step 5. IF you have strange warnings about compatibility-mode, disable the SATA-disk in your hardware-manager (if you don't know how, ask me). As your SATA-HDD should be reserved for your installation of XP, and you will not be able to access it because of NTFS anyway, that should not pose a problem. Now re-boot W98SE, and the problem should be gone. If it is not, you may have to delete a certain registry-key (ask me about that in case of need), and THEN after another reboot it WILL work. 5. Install remaining RAM Install your other 512 MB of RAM, if you didn't already right at the beginning of step 3. MSFN.org is full of advice on how to configure your machine in the sticky topics, read that first. In case you have problems with it AFTER reading: Ask me... Reboot and configure until everything works fine, then power down. 6. Install XP to the SATA-disk (have it formatted with NTFS right from the start) That's it. Ragnar G.D.

Hi, i managed to install all three classic OS on one machine: W7 64bit, XP, and W98SE, each on it's own ssd, with 4GB (98 just seing 1GB), a phenom II x4 910e (passively cooled), a GF6600 (Passively cooled), DX fully working on each OS, and a SBLive, EAX working fine on XP and 98SE, everything running just fine, and absolutely silent. Call me McGyver. Then, suddenly, after some days, and after tampering with partition sizes, W98SE doesn't start, but complains it cannot load vmm32.vxd. Call me Looser. By googling around, the solutions named were: - reinstalling W98SE (wooo... would you if you were me?) - some findings on some obscure scanner (which i don't have, see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/191874/en-us) - repairing dibeng.dll (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/311188/de - german txt, to which the english original cannot be found anymore) - building a new vmm32.vxd (http://www.easydesksoftware.com/news/news10.htm) The last one makes the most sense somehow, but i find it rather confusing - but that may be due to me not being a native speaker. So: - is it just me and my insufficient english, and the instructions on repairing are just fine, and i should keep on re-reading it? (if they are, they should be transferred and stickied somewhere around here on msfn, IMHO) - are there any other links, which i should read? - what do *you* think may be the cause, or a solution? Thank you very much! Ragnar G.D.

Ok, i now have the ASUS N7600GS (passive), with 7600 GS of course, having 256 MB. Still, display is scrambled --> the "512MB"-explanation can't be applied here. Still, no problem on XP or W7. I use the UnOfficial driver 82.69, as otherwise the 7600 GS is not usable at all. I tried to use a different model (6600, 6200) from the 77 driver, but no luck until now. Even tried the 7800 GS and 7600 GT from the 82.69. All these attempts did not "recognize" the card at all, everything remaining at 640x480x16colours. Setting aperture size from 128 to 256 seemed to lessen the effect a bit, but not completely - although this seems contradictory to me, knowing what aperture size is for. Anyone any idea? Regards, Ragnar G.D.

Well, that IS a consistent explanation, at last, as it at least explains all things that work, and all things that don't (except for the Bliss, and here it's perhaps that unlucky luck that made me overlook a possible explanation). Thank you, loblo! Ok, now to buy (or better: Borrow)... some < 512 MB nVidia card, and some more detailed experiments with aperture settings...

Hi, i'm Ragnar G.D., i've been lurking on msfn for a year now, and this is my first post - a question, of course... I both own a AM2NF3 (with a Phenom II X4 910e, TDP 65 W) and a 775Dual-VSTA (with a C2D 8500), and have (besides many other things) an PNY nVidia 6200 with 512 MB (passively cooled), and a Gainward Bliss 7800 GS+ with 512 MB (with acceptable noiselevel - this is a 7800 GT, and not GS, despite the name, as far as i know). I can run with 4GB by Ushers method (could even use more, but that's not making sense, as only W7 could make use of it, and that one is not for gaming, rather for service, to not have the space in my room wasted). Both have a small IDE-SSD for W98SE (16/32 GB), and a medium-sized SATA-I-SSD (60GB) for XP and W7 together, where i set the SATA-controller (which is disguised as an IDE-controller, as we all know) to "No Channel activated" in W98SE in the system-panel to avoid the dreaded compatibility-mode (works like a charm!). Oh yes, both CPUs are passively cooled, all 12"/14"-casing-fans used with 7V only, only the Bliss is barely audible. I'm sensible to noise... On both mainboards i aim for a triple-boot legacy-gaming machine, to have LAN-gaming via network, with 98SE, XP and W7 64 bit. Almost there... On the 775VSTA-Dual, both nVidia-cards work, each with 77, and the modded 82.69 Drivers. No shutdown-problem, i use some soudblasters and Intel-Gigabit PCI-LAN, no problems at all on all three OS. On the AM2NF3, only on W98Se (not on XP or W764bit), with BOTH nVida-cards in ANY combination with the two drivers, the screen shows red dots on a blue background. Quite psychedelic. W98SE irrevocably crashed, of course, only solution is to remove the drivers on Safe Mode. The csreen is a 33" BENQ that can do 1280*1024 at 60Hz via VGA (i have DVI on it as well, but that is used by my big gaming rig as a secondary monitor for watching internet-videas and modern demos from farbrausch and the like). What i already did: I exchanged the CPU (i use a single-core 1640LE at the moment). I exchanged RAM (i only use 512, just to make sure). Did i mention using both drivers on each card? I reinstalled with all Motherboard-drivers four times (only other SW installed beyond drivers is IE6SP1 with inoff SP1, and HIMEMX, although the crashes are with himem.sys as well). I used a GF4200 Ti and a Radeon 9550 (no problem encountered, its just that these cards are not supported on W7, and, well, the GF 4 Ti is only DX 8, and the Radeon 9550 is, plainly speaking, crap). I played with AGP-settings in BIOS (8X->4X, no fast write, no side-band, Aperture-Size, etc. - that helped in getting the Radeon work, but not for both nVidia-cars). What is that? Shall i send back my AM2NF3? Don't ask me how many hours in the last nights i spent on this (proverbial) nightmare... Any advice is welcome. Hugging is ok, too. Regards, Ragnar G.D.