dtamonis

Nah, there are so many things installed/customized that clean reinstall would be the last thing I would do. Anyway, problem is now solved, and the reason was Nvidia drivers 61.76. I vaguely remember downgrading the display drivers in hoping to fix the shutdown issue. It was not fixed, but I forgot to roll back to newer drivers. And this bluescreen issue was noticed much later, so I didn't relate it with the driver downgrade. Now I installed 77.72 drivers and everything is fine. The hint came when I was able to call the task manager and see ddhelp not responding, and after reading below links I knew that was it. http://www.ttlg.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=89957 http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f6/blue-screen-of-death-starting-halflife-12601.html

Update to KernelEx was 4.5.1 > 4.5.2. So far, I tried uninstalling and installing again 4.5.1, which made no difference. Will look into Destro's suggestion when I'm home. I also looked more closely at the bluescreen messages, and they are always fatal exception 00 in VXD VDD. Video card/driver problems? Uninstalling and reinstalling video drivers did not help, dxdiag tests are OK. Maybe I should try to get another card, but there are no problems on Windows XP on the same machine...

I have this issue now that certain games (Half Life, Collin McRae 2, zDoom) won't start, and the result is always bluescreen. Furthermore, after reboot Windows does not load into GUI until I restore a previous copy of registry with Scanreg. This does not affect other games - for example GlQuake and Quake 2 run without problems. Time interval between the moment when everything was OK, and the moment when I noticed this issue was a couple of months. The only change to the system during this time span that I remember was updating Kernelex. However, uninstalling it did not solve the problem. Any ideas where to start troubleshooting?

I'm now posting from Win98 So thank you, because I was about to install it on top of itself. No big deal, but then I'd have to roll back some files, and I don't like reinstalls in general. The following line was added to BOOT.INI: C:\BOOTSECT.W98="Windows 98 added" /win95 What does /win95 switch mean? Is it necessary? As I understand, now I can replace Default=C:\ with Default=C:\BOOTSECT.W98 and remove the line C:\="Win98".

Is strange. It has always been the same, ever since I installed XP on the second partition. Didn't seem strange to me as I don't know much about bootloaders and bootsectors. Yes, BOOT.INI file is located in C: and the system files are there. Here's the output of bootpart: Physical number of disk 0 : 2bd2c32a 0 : C:* type=c (Win95 Fat32 LBA), size= 102406311 KB, Lba Pos=63 1 : C: type=f (Win95 XInt 13 extended), size= 385977690 KB, Lba Pos=204812685 2 : C: type=b (Win95 Fat32), size= 184659111 KB, Lba Pos=204812748 3 : C: type=5 (Extended), size= 201318547 KB, Lba Pos=574130970 4 : C: type=b (Win95 Fat32), size= 201318516 KB, Lba Pos=574131033 In other words, there are three partitions, all FAT32, C: is 100GB and has Win98SE installed, D: is 185GB and has WinXP installed, and E: is 200GB. I'd be grateful if you could provide step by step procedure of rebuilding the bootsector.

I don't know much about that; here's how boot.ini looks: [Boot Loader] timeout=3 Default=C:\ [Operating Systems] C:\="Win98" multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINXP="WinXP" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect How should I update it?

I have a dual boot system with Win98SE installed in C: drive and WinXP installed in D: drive, and SATA hard disk connected via SATA>IDE adapter. Recently this adapter died and from this moment I could not boot to Win98, even after replacing the adapter. From the OS selection menu, if I select WinXP, it loads without problems, but when I select Win98, it immediately says "Invalid system disk". After pressing a key, another message appears "Select proper boot device", and after pressing a key again, it returns to the OS selection menu. This is puzzling, because all the system files in C:\ are present (command.com, io.sys, msdos.sys and drvspace.bin), and I checked the drive with chkdsk from WinXP, it found no problems. I copied the system files from the backup drive, that didn't help. What could prevent Win98 from booting? Without even "Starting Windows 98" stage appearing, I cannot access even the command line, so that I could go the Win98 installation folder (CD is long gone, installation is only on the hard drive). Running the installation from WinXP, I imagine, would not be a good idea. I would really like to solve this without installing Win98 on top of the old installation, as it would revert all the updated files, including ESDI_506.pdr. But even for that, I would have to burn a bootable CD.

I don't use AV for years, and no problems with malware. Anyway, I checked the PIFs, didn't find anything I could suspect, just to be sure scanned the system partition with Drweb CureIt (it took forever), and then just copied all the files (except hidden or system) from the backup copy of Windir and System folders, ovewriting the existing ones. Problem solved, so thanks for the idea about corrupt files.

I've got a strange problem. Many DOS programs, including command.com, recently stopped working. When I execute them, I get an illegal operation error: screenshot. Fault location is always the same. This does not affect all DOS programs, some of them work fine, but this error still appears when I break them with Ctrl+Break. I remember that everything was fine on January 2nd, so I restored a registry copy of December 31st (with scanreg), that didn't help. Tried searching the net, but the only solution that helped someone was to disable the antivirus protection. I do not have antivirus installed at all. Any ideas?

PSU now changed. The problem persists, I didn't expect any magic, though Windows now seems to be more stable, it used to crash after 12-20 hours of uptime and had problems with shutdown. Now it does restart itself, without the need to press the Reset button. I was considering the idea to do a reinstall, but it would take probably months to reconfigure everything and make all the software work again, so I only do this when I cannot use Windows anymore. Current installation is about 5 years old, and there aren't any serious issues with it, so I'd rather connect the HDD via SATA>IDE adapter than go into the hassle. Is it worth trying to reinstall on top of the current installation? Many files then would revert to old/non-patched versions, how can I easily compile a list of system files that are modified since new installation? As I mentioned in the first post, it's Asrock 775Dual-880Pro, I believe it has SATA-I controller, at least the description doesn't tell anything about SATA-II. I wonder, is it safe to try it out? I do have a full disk backup that is 3 weeks old, shouldn't take long to synchronize before installing UNIATA, but, even if it's working, is there a way to make sure it won't cause any data loss in the future? I will have a possibility to try out a PCI SATA controller (I believe it's called RAID controller, it's a PCI card with two SATA and one IDE slot), anyone tried this thing? Though I'm afraid that I may have the same problem - if Windows doesn't boot with BIOS set to RAID mode, it will probably do so again.

Thank you for the tip - but still no luck... I tried this over and over and over, and it's all the same. Here's how it goes. I go to Safe Mode, remove the device from the Device Manager, reboot. Windows detects new hardware. If I press Cancel at this dialog, I get a blank Desktop and must reboot. So I have to go through it - I choose Have Disk, navigate to the driver (tried both the one from Asrock website and from your link), install. Reboot when asked, go into the BIOS, set SATA Operation Mode to RAID, reboot. And then Windows doesn't load (occasionally displaying protection error, associated with the device CONFIGMG, sometimes device IOS). Since I can't boot neither in normal mode, nor in safe mode, I revert to the non-RAID setting in the BIOS, reboot again. Windows then load for some time and then stops (just prior to displaying the GUI). If I wait for a long time, after a few minutes blue screen pops out, saying "Unable to write to drive C:". When I reboot once more, Windows loads succesfully, again in compatibility mode. End of story. No matter which driver I tried, every time it was the same - I was not able to boot with the RAID setting no matter what, and with non-RAID setting Windows fails to boot just after installing the driver, and later it shows the exclamation mark and works in compatibility mode. The only visible difference was that once the "Sata Raid Controller" somehow appeared under Disk Drives, not the SCSI Controllers. Though it still had the exclamation mark. I am lost. If I don't solve this problem (and I'm pretty sure I don't have any more ideas), will connecting the drive via SATA>IDE adapter make it be detected and work exactly like an IDE drive? Or maybe a better option would be a PCI card with SATA and IDE connectors? Though I'm afraid to have the same problem. One more crazy idea. I've been told that my 300W PSU is too weak, and that it barely gives enough power. I am going to change it in the near future. Could this be the culprit, at least theoretically?

I looked up the BIOS again, and couldn't find anything similar to "Controller mode IDE/SATA". The only setting is Sata operation mode, and it can be toggled from RAID to non-RAID. As I mentioned, when it is set to RAID, Win98 doesn't boot. That is what is happening: compatibility mode is on, and under System Properties Performance tab there is a warning about that. As I understand, the problem is that Windows fails to accept SATA drivers. When I installed them, Windows did not boot the next time, then it booted and I got the exclamation mark, as shown in the screenshot above. A few more observations. Whenever I try to remove the SATA Raid Controller from the Device Manager, system freezes, I can only do that in Safe Mode, then when I reboot, Windows says Found new hardware -> PCI IDE controller, then asks for drivers, again suggests VIA SATA RAID controller, I install them, and it again doesn't boot the next time... and it all repeats. When installing the drivers, Windows also lists some Dual PCI IDE controller as compatible driver, but if I try to install it, the system freezes instantaneously. What is happening here? Why would Windows stop responding when trying to start the controller? These are the drivers downloaded from Asrock, specifically for this motherboard and officially supporting Win98. I remember that quite a few members here use Asrock boards for their compatibility with Win98, and certainly some of them must have SATA drives. How did you make it work?

I've got an Asrock 775Dual-880Pro motherboard, been using IDE hard disks until now, a few days ago I switched from a 320 GB IDE drive to a 500 GB SATA. All the info was copied over to the new drive and everything is OK (Windows boots up, everything works), except one thing: the reading and writing is very slow, about 2MB/s, and when the data is copied/written, it's nearly impossible to do anything else. Hard disk does not appear in the Device Manager, all the software that shows information about hard disks and displays SMART data (like Speedfan or WD's own Data Lifeguard) do not see the disk at all. As I understand, I need to install SATA drivers, so I downloaded them from Asrock (SATA_XP64_XP_2K_ME_98(430g).zip) and tried to install them. I was asked to reboot, and then Windows did not load. After rebooting once more, Windows loaded, but data transfer is still slow, and now I have this in the Device Manager: click here to see. So, for some reason Windows hangs while trying to start SATA controller, and I don't know how to solve this. Any ideas? I vaguely remember reading here that others set SATA mode to RAID in BIOS, but when I attempted this, Windows refused to boot at all. This machine has dual boot Win98SE/XP and in XP everything's fine: drive works at its full speed. I wonder, if I have to reinstall Win98, will the Setup see the hard drive? And if I fail to install SATA drivers properly, maybe I could connect the drive via SATA>IDE adapter and have it as an IDE drive?

I copied the installation from CD to hard disk like 7 years ago - much more convenient (don't have to put the CD every time Windows needs some CAB). Slipstreaming is a great idea, replacing the file in the CAB is very simple. Will put 2225 there, then. I still wonder in what exactly 2226 differs from 2225, still 2226 is being used (keep forgetting to replace it) but no ill effects.

Yes, LLXX's 2226 patch that is attached to the first post in this thread. Now I'm pretty sure that everything is fine, here is the screenshot: http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/3531/testyl4.jpg As can be seen, drive E: is filled with more data than C: can hold, and Scandisk detects no errors in C:. Now, just one more question. I think I know the answer, but it's better to double check. Most probably, I'll have to reinstall Windows sooner or later, so, if the primary partition (C:) is less than 137GB and if I skip the Scandisk check during the installation with the command line parameter, the installation shouldn't touch the other partitions, right? So, during the first reboot, I press Shift + F5 to go to comand prompt, replace the PDR file, edit MsDos.sys to disable automatic Scandisk check and let Windows load. Are these steps enough to make the installation safe? I don't want to install to another hard disk, but if the above steps are unsafe I'll have to consider it.

I wonder, what's the difference between 2225 and 2226? I installed 2226 because it was the latest and had the most downloads. So far, it seems to be working fine, I have nearly 70 gigs of data written on my 3rd partition which is all beyond the limit, and no data corruption occured. Drive C: now is 100 gigs large with 15 gigs filled, so it should have been affected if 48bit LBA wasn't working properly. However, if you say that 2225 should be used, I'll download that and replace the 2226 version with it. Thanks for the warning, I appreciate that, but there's no need to worry as I still have all my data on the old drive put safely on the shelf. I really value my data, that's why I've been reading this forum for two years and only now decided to upgrade the HDD. I first applied the patch while I still was on my old drive, then and ONLY then I installed the new drive.

I want to fill my 320 gig hard drive with that copy2gb utility, but the download link is broken. Where can I get it (or a similar utility)? On the other hand, maybe I don't need it? I partitioned this drive into three partitions - 100, 100, 120 gigs, respectively, and copied all the data from the old 80 gig drive. Now, as I understand, the whole E: partition is beyond the 137 gig limit and it is filled with more than 40 gigs of data. Scandisk runs on the whole three partitions without any error. Of course, it's best to fill the disk completely just to be sure. One more thing: I installed version 2226 because this was the latest version, but I noticed now that it's for IBM laptops, and I'm on a desktop PC. Does that mean I installed the wrong version and I should replace it by 2225?

Well, here's how the error message window looks, for me it doesn't tell much... I tried various versions of MSVCR80.DLL - all the same.

Hello, This is a very nice freeware photo stacking software, and I really love it. However, starting from version 3, I cannot run it on win98, I get an exception in MSVCR80.DLL. I'd be really grateful if someone could try to install and run it, and possibly tell why it doesn't run and if it's possible to do something about it. Its author is also a very nice person, I contacted him once with this problem, he said that, theoretically, it should run, as it only uses GDI+ resources. Of course, he cannot test it on win98 as he doesn't have it and he has better things to do, like improve the software. But if I could tell him the exact reason why it doesn't run, maybe he could implement win98 support just for me. BTW, I don't have KernelEx installed (I have problems watching movies with it installed), nor any of those user packs. I'm reluctant to install them, but if I get confirmation that it runs with those packs, I'll have to consider installing them. Thanks in advance for any help.

After downloading, I didn't install the whole thing again, just replaced the dll. It still displayed an error. However, I installed KernelEx and now it works and opens kmz files It's my happy day today, thanks Actually, it's past 3AM and now I'm going to sleep. But thanks again

Same here. Now, let's pray that eidenk just forgot to put the right version of dll, and that once it's replaced, everything will work

So far, I only shut down my computer once after installing the drivers. It was a normal shutdown, with computer turning off by itself. I downloaded 81.98 drivers from Nvidia's site and installed exactly like described in the text file: first changed the adapter to standard VGA, rebooted, then pointed to the inf file via "Have Disk", rebooted again. Now, I answered my part and I want to know how kmz files open at your end I didn't quite understand what you meant by icon files (probably you referred to kmz.ico and kml.ico files in GE directory), but kmz files are files which show various paths, areas and other things overlayed on the map in GE. In particular, I want to use this file, which shows lightning strikes in Europe nearly in real-time (and updates itself every minute). But when I try to open it, I receive the above error, and it's the same with every kmz or kml file that I tried. Can anyone open kmz files on win9x? BTW: I'll keep in mind that registry trick to switch modes, thanks.

Heh, I was also with 77.72 drivers, updated to 81.98 ant yes, it works! Now, only one problem left for me... I can't open any kmz file, how about you? I get this error:

Rick, I'm having exactly the same problem. GE only fully loads when there is no internet connection present or something other prevents it from contacting its servers (uTorrent having opened too many connections, for example). Then it says that I'll only be able to browse the cache, but since I don't have any cache, I only get the sky. No software firewall, no antivirus, nothing. Just the Linksys WRT54GL router, but laptop computer with XP, connected to this same router, has no problems. Actually, it does have a similar problem when GE runs in Directx mode: it hangs on the same message, just then another message appears saying something bad about Directx mode. Then I force it to run in OpenGl mode, it displays a message that now it will run in OpenGl, and then runs fine. On win98, command line parameter -setOGL has no result, as well as -setDX. Note that GE does not display the message about it being forced to run in said mode; maybe forcing to run in OpenGl doesn't work?

I've been looking for a way to run GE for quite a while and it's very nice to hear that someone has got it to work. But... I can't get it to work myself for some reason, I get this: Any hints would be appreciated as I need this application quite often. Yes, there are Google Maps, but I also need to measure distances etc.