shanoger Posted May 24, 2014 Author Share Posted May 24, 2014 I will let you know what happens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZortMcGort11 Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 Does VER typed in a FULL SCREEN DOS window inside a WIndows 9x provide anything different from the output of the same command typed when booted in plain DOS on the same machine? jaclaz Yeah, it tells ME ME ME ME ME, the freaking OS!!!!!! I don't believe what HE says!!!! Why fart around telling him what to do? If I don't get some basic hard facts?!?!?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZortMcGort11 Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 (edited) ah, to heck with this place... bothering to give out free "tech" support, or any help for that matter, is a complete waste! Edited May 24, 2014 by LostInSpace2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaclaz Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 Lostinspace2012,no real need to get upset. I trust the user about running Windows 98, it would be "queer" that he confirmed seeing the Windows 98 boot screen I posted. From what I understand: Thank you jaclaz, I tried exit command from dos but the PC would restart and again load into that software. Before I removed the bios battery, upon exiting the software, the PC would boot into windows, when in windows and I would go to the folder and double click on the software icon the PC would reboot and load that software directly. The desktop would never show briefly. The OP is describing (with some difficulties) two DIFFERENT workflows/sequence of events , one that happened BEFORE a given date/event (which cannot possibly be just removing the battery) and what happens NOW (or AFTER). Probably BEFORE -> the PC booted to DOS and the DOS program was started from Autoexec.bat. Upon exit Windows was loaded "normally" AND, if from the booted windows he clicked on the program shortcut on the desktop then the same program would run in full screen DOS. Upon exit the user was back to the Windows desktop. In such a setup a "common" user would not see a difference between "first run" of the program and subsequent runs (if not for Windows desktop loading faster )AFTER (NOW) -> the PC boots to DOS and the DOS program is executed from Autoexec.bat. (exactly as before) but when the WIN.COM is invoked to load the Windows 9x, it crashes, causing a reboot loop.jaclaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanoger Posted May 25, 2014 Author Share Posted May 25, 2014 hello every one i tried the options mentioned1) ALT + Enter did not work nothing happens2) ALT + TAB nothing happens3) F8 prior to full boot worked and i did get boot options for safeboot4) i tried from safemode msconfig and i got the following screen shots https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6SweVnqrHe6cHVQRGtLbHhjV1E/edit?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6SweVnqrHe6b3VpMXZVSlpWM2s/edit?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6SweVnqrHe6SUUxWkpzVXVjT3M/edit?usp=sharing please could you guide me on how to disable auto loading of the program which is call "Water4Z.exe". I tired disabling the last three options (disabling meaning i removed the tick in the check boxes next to them) you can actually see that modification on the image. but that did not really work, the pc would reboot and ask me to "bla bla bla boot in normal mode and run applications in normal mode type Y or N" (not exactly how it is written but thats what i understood). When i type in Y, the pc would reboot and come back to the same screen over and over again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bphlpt Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 (edited) It is definitely sounding like jaclaz is right. Probably AFTER (NOW) -> the PC boots to DOS and the DOS program is executed from Autoexec.bat. (exactly as before) but when the WIN.COM is invoked to load the Windows 9x, it crashes, causing a reboot loop.In other words, your installation of Win 9x has gotten corrupted somehow and you are not able to boot into Win 9x no matter what you do because it is broken. That seems to be the problem rather than the auto loading of "Water4Z.exe". The auto loading, and DOS, seem to be working. And I also agree that this was not caused by the battery issue. I know it's an extreme solution, but can you reinstall Win 9x? Cheers and Regards Edited May 25, 2014 by bphlpt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanoger Posted May 25, 2014 Author Share Posted May 25, 2014 what would i have to do now to fix it? is there a way to transfer some files from USB to desktop. the only reason i need the desktop is to load some files to that software. Basically that software has a folder where the files have to be copy pasted, user cannot navigate to a usb drive and extract any files. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bphlpt Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 Like I said, can you reinstall your system?, I assume that would mean reinstalling everything, Win9x, Water4Z and any other software you have installed. That would be the safest solution but it would take the most work. You could also try a repair install of just Win9x, but since we don't know what happened to cause it to fail there is no guarantee it would work and it could make the problem worse. I am really not the person to be able to advise you since it has been many, many years since I have used Win9x. In the meantime, I suppose that you can copy the files to the folder using DOS, you don't need Windows to be able to do that. Cheers and Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanoger Posted May 25, 2014 Author Share Posted May 25, 2014 I cannot seem to find the drive letter ? I tried cd e: cd f: and so on is there any other way to enable USB in safe mode? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bphlpt Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 In safe mode the USB driver might not be loaded, I'm not sure, but if you can get to DOS by just exiting from Water4Z then you might be able to find the USB from there. But if the USB driver is only loaded by Windows and not by DOS then you might be out of luck after all. If your system has a CD drive, then maybe you can transfer the files from USB to a CD using another system and then access the files that way? Sorry, but I'm really just guessing. Is there anyone else there who is more familiar with the hardware and software? Maybe trying a repair install of Win9x might be the easiest thing to try and do, but be aware that you might very well make matters worse, so be sure you have a way to start over from scratch if things go wrong. That includes having a backup of all data you want to keep and all the installation files you might need to reinstall the OS and all programs. Sorry I'm just not as familiar with Win9x as to able to help you more. Cheers and Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaclaz Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 Good (which means bad),the situation is as it has been diagnosed. Now the issue is what is the actual issue with "normal" Windows and how to fix it (short of starting from scratch by re-installing everyting. If you REM out those lines in Autoexec.bat, you should be able to boot to "normal" DOS.Do check also the mentioned settings in MSDOS.SYS. Once you are in plain DOS, nothing prevents you from typing at the command prompt:CD C:\Water4zEWATER4Z.EXEand you will access your program as before, but this time, when you exit from it, you will get back to the DOS command prompt. From that you can do first thing a check of the disk (what is likely to have happened, coincidence at the time you removed the battery is that a file or more got corrupted) using SCANDISK.EXE.Then, you can start checking the "diagnostic" WIN.COM option /D:http://support.microsoft.com/kb/142544/en-us Please understand that if one or more files have been corrupted on disk, you will need anyway a source to get the corrupted files from (original CD or similar). Can you post some specs on the hardware (motherboard, BIOS, which internal connection it has, like for floppy, a second IDE channel, etc.)? jaclaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanoger Posted May 25, 2014 Author Share Posted May 25, 2014 I snooped around in the folders and found a folder that has drivers for all LAN sound and Etc and also has win 98 folder with serial key, the win98 seems to be a setup folder. Also I found ghost icon, from what I know it is a restore utility? I am not sure if that is good thing to try Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaclaz Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 No, it is not a good idea to try an "unknown" tool of which you have no specific experience with. Ghost usually means Symantec Ghost which is an extremely powerful tool (and thus potentially destructive, in - no offence intended - the hands of someone not fully familiar with it).The fact that you have a "source" folder is a good thing instead, because if we can pinpoint what the issue is and if the fix requires a "fresh" file you have it readily available and, in the worst case you can try reinstalling the OS.The generic idea is (1st possibility):1) diagnose the issue2) find a procedure to fix the diagnosed issue3) apply the given procedureor (2nd possibility)1) Reinstall the Windows 98, hoping that the files on disk are "good" Philosophically, I always tend to favour first possibility, but in some cases, it may be easier/faster to go for the second, the choice is entirely up to you. These may come handy:http://support.microsoft.com/kb/250928/en-ushttp://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;179756 Still, doing a scandisk is STRONGLY recommended anyway, and attempting a set of simple, common, repair attempts, such as attempting restoring a previous copy of the Registry:http://support.microsoft.com/kb/221512/en-uscosts nothing and can have no bad consequences (the worst that can happen is that your windows would not boot, but since it doesn't boot now, it is not really a worse situation ) BEFORE EVEN THINKING of reinstalling, make sure that you have available space on disk AND that all needed files are available.Content of the Windows 98 CD:http://support.microsoft.com/kb/188428/en-us jaclaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drugwash Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 (edited) Guys, hold on for a second! From what I've read, it looks very similar to a situation I've encountered often many years ago. Some DOS games wouldn't run properly in Windows mode so they would require certain properties modified in their .pif shortcut which made the system reboot in DOS mode and load that game. Upon exiting the game normally, the system would reboot to Windows mode. Now, if for some reason the user would break the chain and exit the game forcibly, the system wouldn't boot to Windows anymore. Why? Because some system file remained permanently changed for a DOS configuration. I suspect it's system.ini which has been swapped for system.cb or some other private copy. In that case, there should be a backup of the original system.ini which - when restored (that is, renamed to system.ini) - would then regain ability to boot to Windows mode. Of course, the command in autoexec.bat that launches the application should be REM-ed as well. EDIT: There may be changes in config.sys too; look for a backup copy of the original, as well as a backup copy of autoexec.bat and system.ini. If it's not system.ini then it must be some other similar file in the WINDOWS folder. My memory is long gone, it's been too many years since last experienced this. But you get the idea. No need to reinstall or botch the system in any way. Good luck! Edited May 26, 2014 by Drugwash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaclaz Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 @drugwashYes, almost, the thingy runs in autoexec.bat WIN.COM /W, see:http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/171878-boot-to-gui-windows-and-not-dos/#entry1078808http://support.microsoft.com/kb/142544/EN-USso the files should be .wos, but that should only affect autexec.bat and config.sys. jaclaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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