Help! 98SE Lost User Interface, and I need it back NOW!!!

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion (More info?)

If errors are caused by hardware, then a reinstall of Windows is not the
cure. However...

Setup.exe, run from your Installation CD or from your .cabs folder,
accomplishes either an Over-Install or a Fresh Install. The procedural
difference is you first wipe the prior Windows installation for a Fresh
Install, or install it to different folders. Two folders are involved:
"C:\Windows" & "C:\Program Files", and these files: MSDOS.sys,
Config.sys, Autoexec.bat & System.1st.

For an Over-install, you must direct it to install to C:\Windows,
instead of C:\Windows.000 (where it normally would want to go, when it
sees a "C:\Windows" already exists).

An over-install supposedly leaves all else intact, but there are some
who say it will over-write .vxds (drivers) and otherwise musses
settings. Therefore, it becomes a lot of work to do it, as you must
un/re-install large applications, before/after the over-install. Also,
you must go to Windows Update afterwards, to see whether it detects it
needs to reinstall it's criticals. There is Version Conflict Manager to
do. Finally, they say, it is wise to back up critical data even before
an over-install.

Others swear an over-install is effortless (under an hour) and
effective. Just select to install to the existing directory, when it
makes the offer to go elsewhere. If it fails, then you may need to do a
tweak, such as renaming Win.com before starting. (Personally, I have
never Fresh or Over-Installed Windows. I did actually click Setup.exe
once, and was presented with an alluring screenful-- but I cancelled.)
Well, anyway, take a look at the URLs below, which really apply to both.

You want to do a FRESH Install? Are you pure Windows or OEM, such as
Compaq? If you are OEM, then you can get back to factory condition by
using their recovery CD, such as QuickRestore, which may contain
proprietary drivers and add-ons. Otherwise...

http://www.hexff.com/index.html How to Clean Install
This first has it all, but..
(a) Perhaps don't do the 2.5 swap file thing, &
(b) You may rather have multiple partitions, &
(c) Attend it's warning: Have any non-Windows peripheral drivers
available to install afterwards. Here...
http://www.pchelpandconsulting.com/links/windows.html WinDrvExpert
http://www.jermar.com/wdrvbck.htm WinDrvBckup free version
Those two supposedly back up all currently installed drivers, such that
they can be reinstalled. I never tried it but have seen a favorable
report.

http://home.satx.rr.com/badour/html/w98_restore.html Badour has one
http://aumha.org/win4/a/clean.htm Aumha has one
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=250928 How to Reinstall Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=193902
How to Reinstall Windows into a new folder

"Setup.txt", located in the same folder as "Setup.exe", either on CD or
hard drive. This instructs how to run it from a folder on the hard
drive, but "hexff" says it better.
http://support.microsoft.com/defau [...] roduct=w98
"SU" Error Message List for Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me Setup

Get a Startup Diskette from
http://www.bootdisk.com/ , if you don't already have one from "Control
Panel, Add/Remove Programs, Startup Disk tab". Test the Startup
Diskette. Boot it, put in a CD and "DIR" the CD. It will say which
letter is the CD. (Otherwise, it is likely one letter higher than
normal.)

Here is what I know of those Installation CD's. The full list of
capabilities of each type of CD is as follows, says Harper. Each
requires a valid Product key. "Proof" means it must see you had a prior
version. So, if it isn't sitting there, expect to insert a floppy or
earlier CD.

FULL VERSION: Will perform either clean install or upgrade of existing
OS. Does not ask for proof of ownership of an earlier version.

UPGRADE VERSION: Will perform either clean install or upgrade of
existing OS. Will ask for proof of ownership of an earlier version if
one is not installed.

WIN98 SE UPDATES: Will only install if Windows 98 is present on the hard
drive. Cannot be used for a clean install at all.

OEM VERSION: Only installs on a clean, fresh-formatted hard drive. May
be customized to include or omit components that would be found/not
found on a retail CD.

Be sure of your ProductKey...
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
ProductKey "12345-12345-12345-12345-12345"

(1) "START, Run, RegEdit"
(2) Click plus signs beginning at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE", & ending with
"Windows".
(3) Click "CurrentVersion" in the left pane under "Windows".
(4) Look in right pane for ProductKey.

That is the one that was used to install your current Windows. Jot it
down, as it may work if different from the one on your Windows 98 Manual
or CD case.


--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
should things get worse after this,
PCR
pcrrcp@netzero.net
"geebee" <geebee@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:4111EBCB-E0A2-4A29-A5AE-FC4E3CE034E4@microsoft.com...
| My old Win98SE machine has frozen up one too many times, and gotten
the
| "power-off" treatment one too many times (apparently) and now the
| graphic-interface boots up, but I just get the mouse cursor and the
Desktop
| background color -- no Taskbar, no Icons, no other evidence of a
Windows
| interface showing!! Even in Safe Mode! No error messages that I could
find.
| Rolled back to a "System Backup" (Registry) from a few days ago, but
that
| didn't help either. And OF COURSE, I have to leave town Tuesday for a
series
| of doctor appointments, for which I need data off the disk...
|
| Backups? What backups? I tell everyone ELSE to do that, but
realistically:
| who's going to sit there for multiple hours and swap CDs out of your
drive
| while 12 or so gigs get backup up? And I probably STILL wouldn't have
the
| Windows OS files I need...
|
| The machine is a stupid HP, and comes with a Restore disk which will
be
| happy to let you reinstall Windows -- providing you don't mind that it
| FORMATS YOUR HARD DRIVE WHILE IT'S DOING IT!!! In other words, you
don't get
| a usable Windows CD with the computer. The Restore CD probably has the
files
| I need on it, but they're packed in some HP proprietary format, and
| apparently can only be unpacked by the HP software. I'll NEVER buy
another HP
| computer, but that's beside the point.
|
| I'm assuming I'll have to buy a Win98 Full Install disk, and reinstall
over
| top of what I've got. I can deal with the expense, and reinstalling my
| applications... but I need that disk YESTERDAY!! (and it's early
Sunday
| morning here...) Does anybody know where I can purchase the OS for
download??
| Like IMMEDIATELY???
|
| Barring that: anybody know how I can get my UI back? Does anybody know
of
| some of the likely suspects for critical files to get the UI to load
| completely and DO something? And whether there's way I could obtain
them
| other than getting the Full Install CD? Like maybe a Service Pack?
Other
| suggestions/options??
|
| Thanks, GB
|
| P.S. Forgot to add that the system lost the user interface only after
I had
| diligently run SFC (System File Checker), restored some files which
had been
| altered or deleted (as many as I could find in CAB files on the hard
drive).
| Naturally, that just made things worse...
|
|
|