Reinstalled win 98 on lod computer because exe's would not longer run. Problem continues but is corrected when antivirus is run. Problem returns after start up. Also what is the best way to upgrade win 98 to win 98 se?

 

Thanks

The restoration disk installed 98 instead of 98se.

Like this -

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MICROSOFT-WINDOWS-98-SECOND-EDITION-UPGRADE-CDROM-and-MANUAL-/301038602089

Retail or Upgrade will work. OEM will not.

edit - a cheaper one -

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Microsoft-Windows-98-Second-Edition-SE-Upgrade-Retail-CD-w-key-/261738909003?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cf0dacd4b

 

HTH

Edited January 18, 201511 yr by submix8c

You have gotten a virus, obviously. It "kills" registry entries upon Startup.

 

Your other Topic -

http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/173327-what-is-the-best-way-to-upgrade-from-win-98-to-win-98-se/

what Antivirus program are you using?

Merged both topics.

Will the Win 95 to Win 98 SE upgrade work for Win 98 to Win 98 SE?

 

I used an old version of McAfee. The other I tried said they were expecting a newer version of windows. 

1 - Not really sure. I'd have to try it (I own all three). I give that a big *MAYBE*.

2 - McAfee stinks. Unsure of another suitable free version except...

2a - SpyBot v1.62 (scroll down to that older version - only for Spyware) http://www.safer-networking.org/dl/

2b - Maybe http://www.oldapps.com/avg_antivirus.php?system=Windows_98

2c - Clamwin - http://www.clamwin.com/

If you *do* have a virus, an Upgrade 98->98SE won't help a bit.

 

HTH and good luck.

Thanks for the response.

 

I  seem to be in a catch 22. It seems I need 98 se to run a decent anti virus such as the ones you've mentioned above. When I try to install them, I am informed that the software expects a newer version of windows 98 and to try again when I have one.

AVZ Antiviral Toolkit can repair exe association. It should run on Windows 98 SE, but I'm not sure about FE. Note that it's not a full-featured antivirus, but rather a tool for professionals for removing malicious software.

To restore exe associations, on the File menu click System Restore, then select the first check box and click the corresponding button to perform the operation. I'm using a russian version, so I'm not sure if menu commands are named as I wrote.

Edit: Even after restoring EXE association it's strongly recommended to check your system with a full-featured antivirus. You can try downloading and burning a boot CD with an antivirus, and then check the system after booting from the CD - without the need to upgrade Windows.

Edited January 22, 201511 yr by M()zart

You may get lucky using one of the Kaspersky tools on this page, specifically CleanAutoRun.

Additionally, this sounds familar.

https://support.microsoft.com/kb/250931/EN-US

 

See this for a complete Registry fix (scroll down to the Windows 98 one):

http://filext.com/faq/broken_exe_association.php

Download it (DOWNLOAD, not run) to a safe place, *then* double-click on it (hopefully, that's not screwed up). The REG file contents will add/merge/replace whatever is incorrect in the Registry. Now reboot and see if you're fixed. If it does *not* merge, just do "Start->Run->Regedit" and "import" the REG file and reboot.

 

HTH

I remember a virus (looong ago) which hijacked the exe registration. Instead of "%1" %* it did \full\path\to\virus.exe "%1" %*. This way the virus was activated as soon a you started an executable.

Then the virusscanner removed the virus, but did not correct the registry key. Result: you could no longer start an executable, not even regedit.

Solution: Boot the box to dos (F8 while booting? Long ago), rename regedit.exe to regedit.com. Boot to Windows, execute regedit.com and fix the entry.

Edited January 23, 201511 yr by Mijzelf

I've seen that registry thing also, definately from the days of Windows 98. It is still used by current day viruses too, ran into one maybe a year ago that did this.

I remember a virus (looong ago) which hijacked the exe registration. Instead of "%1" %* it did \full\path\to\virus.exe "%1" %*. This way the virus was activated as soon a you started an executable.

Then the virusscanner removed the virus, but did not correct the registry key. Result: you could no longer start an executable, not even regedit.

Solution: Boot the box to dos (F8 while booting? Long ago), rename regedit.exe to regedit.com. Boot to Windows, execute regedit.com and fix the entry.

I had such problem too. I did it in a longer way - wrote an application that runs exe's passed as a command line parameters with their passed command line and placed it to the virus location

Then used AVZ.