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

I would like to have some idea of what hit me.
A few mornings back, I find the computer with the vmm32.vxd missing message.
Now that I think about it, something must have forced it to reboot as well.
To complicate matters, this was an upgraded machine, and the upgrade disk
going to SE is the one that only works on 98. That is the machine has to be
up and running to install it. And the machine has no floppy and I never got
around to making a bootable CD. I manage to get into DOS and get into the
windows directory. There are only three folders and most of the files are
missing.

Are the other partitions of the 80 GB HDD accessible in DOS? Maybe it was
me?
And now the question of the updated files for the larger HDD come to mind as
well. Because I decided to proceed with installing Gold and as soon as
completed run the SE upgrade CD. But the scandisk reported numerous errors
on C. Other partitions OK. It reported a folder named BAER which aroused my
curiosity as I have never had any program, etc. associated with that name on
my machine, to the best of my knowledge of course.

Any help is greatly appreciated because I really want to avoid this mess
again. Current result is that everything will have to be reinstalled.
Machine is currently running and everything remains on the other partitions,
so most of my data is obviously OK. But on the C drive I have a ton of DIR
folders and almost 300 filexxxx.chk files. Registry was obviously lost,
hence the total reinstall. And after much sifting, I will likely find most
of the other data in those DIR's.

After too many failed tape recovery systems, I had decided to dabble with
external USB HDD. Thoughts on this are welcome as well and BTW this isn't
going to well either. Can't break 15MB/s on USB2. And it came with GHOST,
which I have yet installed. I had picked up a copy of Partition Magic 8 at
the same time. At least one of these I tried to install and it failed,
crashed. I thought I uninstalled, but later found folders/files, associated
with some security company that Norton may use as part of antipiracy. I got
rid of what I was aware in that area, but now wonder if there was some
remnant left that timed out at the 30 day not registered and could have went
haywire. What search I've done indicates dibeng.dll or was it dib32.dll need
replacing, causation for the vmm32.vxd error, but the files exist in the
created DIR's, possibly indicating as well that everything just got
scrambled.

Definitely need to Get Around to It, and make that bullet proof back up that
will act as a recovery.

Norman

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

| Definitely need to Get Around to It, and make that bullet proof back
up that
| will act as a recovery.

Once you have a functioning system, especially one close to a clean
install, do a full system backup. If you have multiple partitions, I
guess a backup is a bit more complex. It depends upon the ties between
the Registry & the other partitions, as to whether they must be backed
up concurrently. Also, if you've changed the hardware since the backup,
you may need to change it back before a restore.

http://home.satx.rr.com/badour/index.html Backup & partitioning strategy
http://home.wanadoo.nl/geurt/home.html Extended Operating System Loader
http://www.acronis.com/products/trueimage/ TrueImage
http://www.arjsoftware.com ARJ Archiver
http://www.betterbackup.com/ Retrospect CD Backup
http://www.bootitng.com/ 's BootIt NG, has a variety of backup
capabilities: Copy to HDD, or Image to HDD or to CD. (TBIView, freely
downloadable, can retrieve individual files from an Image.)
Shrink/expand your partitions without data loss. Multi-boot, if you
dare. Free, run from floppy, but pay up as I did if satisfied. To
install & use beyond 30 days, $34.95.
http://www.cdrfaq.org/ CD R/W Backup
http://www.cyberiapc.com/backup.htm MyOwnBackup (MOB) (Free)
http://www.han-soft.com/habt.php Auto Backup (30-day free trial)
http://www.hp.com/cgi-bin/cposuppo [...] pcdwriter2
Simple Backup
http://www.karenware.com/ PtReplicator (Free)
http://www.lifesaverbackup.com/
http://www.mvps.org/links.html Should have good info
http://www.pcmag.com/ Lots & lots of sturdy downloads. There is a $20
yearly charge now.
http://www.powerquest.com/partitionmagic Partition Magic
http://www.ranish.com/part/ Ranish Partition Manager
http://www.rescue-me.net/gold.html
http://www.simtel.net/pub/dl/58307.shtml Backups
http://www.stompinc.com/bump/bump_details.phtml?stp Backup MyPC
http://www.thirdstar.net/thirdstar_datarecovery.htm Data recovery
http://www.tomsterdam.com/ BU process, performance, etc.
http://www.v-com.com/product/pc_ind.html Partition Commander
http://www.veritas.com Backup apps
http://www.xxcopy.com/ Detailed Procedure Copy (Free)
http://www.zeleps.com/ Partition re-sizer (Free)

All gathered at this site. Whichever you choose, approach it carefully
and verify all is well. After making a copy, run Scandisk/Defrag on it.
If it's an Image, use it's verify option; perhaps, restore it and do a
Scandisk/Defrag.

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/three-- & one (by Glee) that was so-so (or worse). SO, BETTER
make a full system backup, before wiping Windows.


--
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
"E_Net_Rider" <nthums1@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:%23nh3IfmoFHA.1044@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
| I would like to have some idea of what hit me.
| A few mornings back, I find the computer with the vmm32.vxd missing
message.
| Now that I think about it, something must have forced it to reboot as
well.
| To complicate matters, this was an upgraded machine, and the upgrade
disk
| going to SE is the one that only works on 98. That is the machine has
to be
| up and running to install it. And the machine has no floppy and I
never got
| around to making a bootable CD. I manage to get into DOS and get into
the
| windows directory. There are only three folders and most of the files
are
| missing.
|
| Are the other partitions of the 80 GB HDD accessible in DOS? Maybe it
was
| me?
| And now the question of the updated files for the larger HDD come to
mind as
| well. Because I decided to proceed with installing Gold and as soon as
| completed run the SE upgrade CD. But the scandisk reported numerous
errors
| on C. Other partitions OK. It reported a folder named BAER which
aroused my
| curiosity as I have never had any program, etc. associated with that
name on
| my machine, to the best of my knowledge of course.
|
| Any help is greatly appreciated because I really want to avoid this
mess
| again. Current result is that everything will have to be reinstalled.
| Machine is currently running and everything remains on the other
partitions,
| so most of my data is obviously OK. But on the C drive I have a ton of
DIR
| folders and almost 300 filexxxx.chk files. Registry was obviously
lost,
| hence the total reinstall. And after much sifting, I will likely find
most
| of the other data in those DIR's.
|
| After too many failed tape recovery systems, I had decided to dabble
with
| external USB HDD. Thoughts on this are welcome as well and BTW this
isn't
| going to well either. Can't break 15MB/s on USB2. And it came with
GHOST,
| which I have yet installed. I had picked up a copy of Partition Magic
8 at
| the same time. At least one of these I tried to install and it failed,
| crashed. I thought I uninstalled, but later found folders/files,
associated
| with some security company that Norton may use as part of antipiracy.
I got
| rid of what I was aware in that area, but now wonder if there was some
| remnant left that timed out at the 30 day not registered and could
have went
| haywire. What search I've done indicates dibeng.dll or was it
dib32.dll need
| replacing, causation for the vmm32.vxd error, but the files exist in
the
| created DIR's, possibly indicating as well that everything just got
| scrambled.
|
| Definitely need to Get Around to It, and make that bullet proof back
up that
| will act as a recovery.
|
| Norman
|
|

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

"E_Net_Rider" <nthums1@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:%23nh3IfmoFHA.1044@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...

At least to me, your post mind boggling. Answers inline on what I can make any
sense of.

>I would like to have some idea of what hit me.
> A few mornings back, I find the computer with the vmm32.vxd missing message.

Error Message: Cannot Find a Device File That May Be Needed to Run Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/defau [...] us;Q132008

Err Msg: Cannot Find a Device File That May Be Needed to Run...
http://support.microsoft.com/defau [...] us;Q166832


> Now that I think about it, something must have forced it to reboot as well.
> To complicate matters, this was an upgraded machine, and the upgrade disk
> going to SE is the one that only works on 98. That is the machine has to be
> up and running to install it. And the machine has no floppy and I never got
> around to making a bootable CD. I manage to get into DOS and get into the
> windows directory. There are only three folders and most of the files are
> missing.

You can create a 98 boot disk from any other 98 machine or get one at:
http://www.bootdisk.com/

Please read Read1st in the right pane for instructions on how to create the boot
disk from the downloaded file.



> Are the other partitions of the 80 GB HDD accessible in DOS? Maybe it was
> me?

If they are there, yes. At the prompt type:

d: and press Enter
dir d:\ and press Enter

If the drive has many folders/files and scrolls by to quickly, then use a /p
switch and/or the /w switch. The /p switch will allow you to see a page at a
time. The /w switch makes the list wide.

dir d:\ /p

If at any time you want to abort the switch/es and and get back to the prompt,
press ctrl+c.


> And now the question of the updated files for the larger HDD come to mind as
> well. Because I decided to proceed with installing Gold and as soon as
> completed run the SE upgrade CD. But the scandisk reported numerous errors
> on C. Other partitions OK. It reported a folder named BAER which aroused my
> curiosity as I have never had any program, etc. associated with that name on
> my machine, to the best of my knowledge of course.

Was it a fresh install or overinstall?
Is there more than one HD installed? If so, have there always been?
Have you run a drive integrity check with the manufacturers utlity to make sure
the disk is not failing?


> Any help is greatly appreciated because I really want to avoid this mess
> again. Current result is that everything will have to be reinstalled.
> Machine is currently running and everything remains on the other partitions,
> so most of my data is obviously OK. But on the C drive I have a ton of DIR
> folders and almost 300 filexxxx.chk files. Registry was obviously lost,
> hence the total reinstall. And after much sifting, I will likely find most
> of the other data in those DIR's.

Sounds like an fdisk/format/reinstall time. Definitely check the drive
integrity, that's a lot of scandisks .chk files.


> After too many failed tape recovery systems, I had decided to dabble with
> external USB HDD. Thoughts on this are welcome as well and BTW this isn't
> going to well either. Can't break 15MB/s on USB2. And it came with GHOST,
> which I have yet installed. I had picked up a copy of Partition Magic 8 at
> the same time. At least one of these I tried to install and it failed,
> crashed. I thought I uninstalled, but later found folders/files, associated
> with some security company that Norton may use as part of antipiracy. I got
> rid of what I was aware in that area, but now wonder if there was some
> remnant left that timed out at the 30 day not registered and could have went
> haywire. What search I've done indicates dibeng.dll or was it dib32.dll need
> replacing, causation for the vmm32.vxd error, but the files exist in the
> created DIR's, possibly indicating as well that everything just got
> scrambled.
>
> Definitely need to Get Around to It, and make that bullet proof back up that
> will act as a recovery.



--

Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Shell/User }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

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

Get rid of the current partition, don't reformat it.
Your backup may be bad too.
USB2 will not work at high speed unless in the proper OS environment. Real
mode msdos is not one of them.
For partition backups, am continuing to use DriveImage 2002 for all FAT32
partitions on this PC. Its very hard to find nowadays. Will not allow
highspeed USB operation though in the recovery, uses msdos environment. Am
using a ide adapter, and hard drive connected to that for recovery source.
Basically foolproof.

"E_Net_Rider" <nthums1@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:%23nh3IfmoFHA.1044@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> I would like to have some idea of what hit me.
> A few mornings back, I find the computer with the vmm32.vxd missing
message.
> Now that I think about it, something must have forced it to reboot as
well.
> To complicate matters, this was an upgraded machine, and the upgrade disk
> going to SE is the one that only works on 98. That is the machine has to
be
> up and running to install it. And the machine has no floppy and I never
got
> around to making a bootable CD. I manage to get into DOS and get into the
> windows directory. There are only three folders and most of the files are
> missing.
>
> Are the other partitions of the 80 GB HDD accessible in DOS? Maybe it was
> me?
> And now the question of the updated files for the larger HDD come to mind
as
> well. Because I decided to proceed with installing Gold and as soon as
> completed run the SE upgrade CD. But the scandisk reported numerous errors
> on C. Other partitions OK. It reported a folder named BAER which aroused
my
> curiosity as I have never had any program, etc. associated with that name
on
> my machine, to the best of my knowledge of course.
>
> Any help is greatly appreciated because I really want to avoid this mess
> again. Current result is that everything will have to be reinstalled.
> Machine is currently running and everything remains on the other
partitions,
> so most of my data is obviously OK. But on the C drive I have a ton of DIR
> folders and almost 300 filexxxx.chk files. Registry was obviously lost,
> hence the total reinstall. And after much sifting, I will likely find most
> of the other data in those DIR's.
>
> After too many failed tape recovery systems, I had decided to dabble with
> external USB HDD. Thoughts on this are welcome as well and BTW this isn't
> going to well either. Can't break 15MB/s on USB2. And it came with GHOST,
> which I have yet installed. I had picked up a copy of Partition Magic 8 at
> the same time. At least one of these I tried to install and it failed,
> crashed. I thought I uninstalled, but later found folders/files,
associated
> with some security company that Norton may use as part of antipiracy. I
got
> rid of what I was aware in that area, but now wonder if there was some
> remnant left that timed out at the 30 day not registered and could have
went
> haywire. What search I've done indicates dibeng.dll or was it dib32.dll
need
> replacing, causation for the vmm32.vxd error, but the files exist in the
> created DIR's, possibly indicating as well that everything just got
> scrambled.
>
> Definitely need to Get Around to It, and make that bullet proof back up
that
> will act as a recovery.
>
> Norman
>
>

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

Thanks for the list.
I have to ask if any are known to be able to make a solid back up to medium
that only requires putting in the medium and letting it run to get back
where one was? Supposedly GHOST will do that, but I haven't yet tried. I had
read in these ms groups where the tendency was to favor bootItNG maybe, but
there was a sale, but now I've missed the rebate date with all the hassle.
So unlikely near as good a bargain.
Definitely humor in "should things get worse".
Can't imagine how at this point, unless the drive up and totally dies losing
what data is available. Which is another subject. Which medium is best?
Norman

"PCR" <pcrrcp@netzero.net> wrote in message
newsCR1PIroFHA.1412@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> | Definitely need to Get Around to It, and make that bullet proof back
> up that
> | will act as a recovery.
>
> Once you have a functioning system, especially one close to a clean
> install, do a full system backup. If you have multiple partitions, I
> guess a backup is a bit more complex. It depends upon the ties between
> the Registry & the other partitions, as to whether they must be backed
> up concurrently. Also, if you've changed the hardware since the backup,
> you may need to change it back before a restore.
>
> http://home.satx.rr.com/badour/index.html Backup & partitioning strategy
> http://home.wanadoo.nl/geurt/home.html Extended Operating System Loader
> http://www.acronis.com/products/trueimage/ TrueImage
> http://www.arjsoftware.com ARJ Archiver
> http://www.betterbackup.com/ Retrospect CD Backup
> http://www.bootitng.com/ 's BootIt NG, has a variety of backup
> capabilities: Copy to HDD, or Image to HDD or to CD. (TBIView, freely
> downloadable, can retrieve individual files from an Image.)
> Shrink/expand your partitions without data loss. Multi-boot, if you
> dare. Free, run from floppy, but pay up as I did if satisfied. To
> install & use beyond 30 days, $34.95.
> http://www.cdrfaq.org/ CD R/W Backup
> http://www.cyberiapc.com/backup.htm MyOwnBackup (MOB) (Free)
> http://www.han-soft.com/habt.php Auto Backup (30-day free trial)
>
http://www.hp.com/cgi-bin/cposuppo [...] pcdwriter2
> Simple Backup
> http://www.karenware.com/ PtReplicator (Free)
> http://www.lifesaverbackup.com/
> http://www.mvps.org/links.html Should have good info
> http://www.pcmag.com/ Lots & lots of sturdy downloads. There is a $20
> yearly charge now.
> http://www.powerquest.com/partitionmagic Partition Magic
> http://www.ranish.com/part/ Ranish Partition Manager
> http://www.rescue-me.net/gold.html
> http://www.simtel.net/pub/dl/58307.shtml Backups
> http://www.stompinc.com/bump/bump_details.phtml?stp Backup MyPC
> http://www.thirdstar.net/thirdstar_datarecovery.htm Data recovery
> http://www.tomsterdam.com/ BU process, performance, etc.
> http://www.v-com.com/product/pc_ind.html Partition Commander
> http://www.veritas.com Backup apps
> http://www.xxcopy.com/ Detailed Procedure Copy (Free)
> http://www.zeleps.com/ Partition re-sizer (Free)
>
> All gathered at this site. Whichever you choose, approach it carefully
> and verify all is well. After making a copy, run Scandisk/Defrag on it.
> If it's an Image, use it's verify option; perhaps, restore it and do a
> Scandisk/Defrag.
>
> 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/three-- & one (by Glee) that was so-so (or worse). SO, BETTER
> make a full system backup, before wiping Windows.
>
>
> --
> 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
> "E_Net_Rider" <nthums1@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:%23nh3IfmoFHA.1044@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> | I would like to have some idea of what hit me.
> | A few mornings back, I find the computer with the vmm32.vxd missing
> message.
> | Now that I think about it, something must have forced it to reboot as
> well.
> | To complicate matters, this was an upgraded machine, and the upgrade
> disk
> | going to SE is the one that only works on 98. That is the machine has
> to be
> | up and running to install it. And the machine has no floppy and I
> never got
> | around to making a bootable CD. I manage to get into DOS and get into
> the
> | windows directory. There are only three folders and most of the files
> are
> | missing.
> |
> | Are the other partitions of the 80 GB HDD accessible in DOS? Maybe it
> was
> | me?
> | And now the question of the updated files for the larger HDD come to
> mind as
> | well. Because I decided to proceed with installing Gold and as soon as
> | completed run the SE upgrade CD. But the scandisk reported numerous
> errors
> | on C. Other partitions OK. It reported a folder named BAER which
> aroused my
> | curiosity as I have never had any program, etc. associated with that
> name on
> | my machine, to the best of my knowledge of course.
> |
> | Any help is greatly appreciated because I really want to avoid this
> mess
> | again. Current result is that everything will have to be reinstalled.
> | Machine is currently running and everything remains on the other
> partitions,
> | so most of my data is obviously OK. But on the C drive I have a ton of
> DIR
> | folders and almost 300 filexxxx.chk files. Registry was obviously
> lost,
> | hence the total reinstall. And after much sifting, I will likely find
> most
> | of the other data in those DIR's.
> |
> | After too many failed tape recovery systems, I had decided to dabble
> with
> | external USB HDD. Thoughts on this are welcome as well and BTW this
> isn't
> | going to well either. Can't break 15MB/s on USB2. And it came with
> GHOST,
> | which I have yet installed. I had picked up a copy of Partition Magic
> 8 at
> | the same time. At least one of these I tried to install and it failed,
> | crashed. I thought I uninstalled, but later found folders/files,
> associated
> | with some security company that Norton may use as part of antipiracy.
> I got
> | rid of what I was aware in that area, but now wonder if there was some
> | remnant left that timed out at the 30 day not registered and could
> have went
> | haywire. What search I've done indicates dibeng.dll or was it
> dib32.dll need
> | replacing, causation for the vmm32.vxd error, but the files exist in
> the
> | created DIR's, possibly indicating as well that everything just got
> | scrambled.
> |
> | Definitely need to Get Around to It, and make that bullet proof back
> up that
> | will act as a recovery.
> |
> | Norman
> |
> |
>
>

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

Thanks Brian,
And to help keep it clear I'll interleave my response as well.
"Brian A." <gonefish'n@afarawaylake> wrote in message
news:#j2mSTsoFHA.3316@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> "E_Net_Rider" <nthums1@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:%23nh3IfmoFHA.1044@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
>
> At least to me, your post mind boggling. Answers inline on what I can
make any
> sense of.
>
> >I would like to have some idea of what hit me.
> > A few mornings back, I find the computer with the vmm32.vxd missing
message.
>
> Error Message: Cannot Find a Device File That May Be Needed to Run Windows
> http://support.microsoft.com/defau [...] us;Q132008
>
> Err Msg: Cannot Find a Device File That May Be Needed to Run...
> http://support.microsoft.com/defau [...] us;Q166832

Neither apply as I could get that far. The error message was something like,
Windows needs vmm32.vxd to start. Since this is a made up file upon install,
if it is in the cabs, it is a basic one. Now that I think about it, it might
have allowed me to start at least, but I have to wonder if my problem wasn't
much more complex.
>
>
> > Now that I think about it, something must have forced it to reboot as
well.
> > To complicate matters, this was an upgraded machine, and the upgrade
disk
> > going to SE is the one that only works on 98. That is the machine has to
be
> > up and running to install it. And the machine has no floppy and I never
got
> > around to making a bootable CD. I manage to get into DOS and get into
the
> > windows directory. There are only three folders and most of the files
are
> > missing.
>
> You can create a 98 boot disk from any other 98 machine or get one at:
> http://www.bootdisk.com/
>
> Please read Read1st in the right pane for instructions on how to create
the boot
> disk from the downloaded file.
I went there, expecting to find a ready to burn to cd image for booting to
cd. I'll try again, maybe I missed that first paragraph. Then again I may
have been tired and frustrated.
>
>
>
> > Are the other partitions of the 80 GB HDD accessible in DOS? Maybe it
was
> > me?
>
> If they are there, yes. At the prompt type:
>
> d: and press Enter
> dir d:\ and press Enter

When I tried "cd e:\" it gave me invalid directory? d: is normally my swap
file.

>
> If the drive has many folders/files and scrolls by to quickly, then use a
/p
> switch and/or the /w switch. The /p switch will allow you to see a page at
a
> time. The /w switch makes the list wide.
>
> dir d:\ /p
>
> If at any time you want to abort the switch/es and and get back to the
prompt,
> press ctrl+c.

The /p is a necessity and thankful it exists. ctrl+c I haven't used as I
recall. The way you wrote it, it sounds like some switches can be sticky?
>
>
> > And now the question of the updated files for the larger HDD come to
mind as
> > well. Because I decided to proceed with installing Gold and as soon as
> > completed run the SE upgrade CD. But the scandisk reported numerous
errors
> > on C. Other partitions OK. It reported a folder named BAER which aroused
my
> > curiosity as I have never had any program, etc. associated with that
name on
> > my machine, to the best of my knowledge of course.
>
> Was it a fresh install or overinstall?
> Is there more than one HD installed? If so, have there always been?
> Have you run a drive integrity check with the manufacturers utlity to make
sure
> the disk is not failing?

Just one HDD, unless you count my attempts at getting a USB to work as
advertised.
The main drive was upgraded and then the OS was reinstalled a few times to
correct problems. And again, because it is the 98 to SE disk, it will not
run unless you are in normal mode. The BIOS of this MOBO is a little strange
to me and I haven't yet got a grasp on some of the settings, which I don't
know if that has anything to do with what I am about to write. It is a WD
drive. I have their tools CD, ver 11 I think. When I would try to boot to
it, it would start to do the loading showing it loaded CD driver, DrDos,
etc. and when it would get to the point it might have thrown up the
utilities on screen, it would freeze. Several attempts gave the same result.
BIOS has a setting to protect against flashing it, but it seems to me some
machines have a setting to protect the MBR, which I don't have.
Putting my hands into the box, and bumping power cables, I did notice and
itermittant loss of power to the HDD, which I hadn't noticed at all before.
I can hear it spin and the lights never indicated a fail. Yet on the
cautious side, I inspected a couple of connectors and noticed that the
copper, maybe, certainly not gold, were starting to discolor, darken,
indicating a normal surface oxidation. There is a grease available at
automotive centers intended for light bulb sockets. The old stuff often used
was lubriplate, but you need to be carefull as to brand as some are slightly
conductive. This new stuff looks similar to pure silicone grease, a whitish
translucent color. I lightly coated all pins on the power connectors and put
back together, for obvious preventative reasons. Still was in the usuall
predicament, but I think it was this time that it finally loaded that WD
utilities. Only obvious thing would be that the power was totally off for
maybe an hour.
And BTW, the utilities on that CD said everything was OK. Even replaced the
MBR with a backed up copy created when the HDD was installed, and that
didn't help either. And also it wouldn't try to boot to the W98 install disk
either, earlier. Nor the ME disk I have. But because the WD utility would
try to load it's version of DOS, the drive was obviously working. Makes me
suspicious of something?



>
>
> > Any help is greatly appreciated because I really want to avoid this mess
> > again. Current result is that everything will have to be reinstalled.
> > Machine is currently running and everything remains on the other
partitions,
> > so most of my data is obviously OK. But on the C drive I have a ton of
DIR
> > folders and almost 300 filexxxx.chk files. Registry was obviously lost,
> > hence the total reinstall. And after much sifting, I will likely find
most
> > of the other data in those DIR's.
>
> Sounds like an fdisk/format/reinstall time. Definitely check the drive
> integrity, that's a lot of scandisks .chk files.
Added thought. Beginning to think the drive was dieing, I put a brand new
drive I had laying around into the machine, and initially it would do
nothing either, as to looking at the CD's. When it got back to working that
far, I switched the connectors back to the original drive, hoping to
salvage, actually hoping it would boot. That is when I found the mess of the
files with missing directories and supposedly bad files. Also why I got the
afterthought of possibly the upgraded scandisk, format, or is it fdisk &
scan reg might have been involved. That is, do the old versions on the
install CD's have a problem with...................
Oops. Now that I think about it, maybe this was the culprit. 80GB HDD.
Largest partition was like 34 GB. Would this have been a compatibility
problem? That is the old version of scandisk on the CD?
Norman
>
>
> > After too many failed tape recovery systems, I had decided to dabble
with
> > external USB HDD. Thoughts on this are welcome as well and BTW this
isn't
> > going to well either. Can't break 15MB/s on USB2. And it came with
GHOST,
> > which I have yet installed. I had picked up a copy of Partition Magic 8
at
> > the same time. At least one of these I tried to install and it failed,
> > crashed. I thought I uninstalled, but later found folders/files,
associated
> > with some security company that Norton may use as part of antipiracy. I
got
> > rid of what I was aware in that area, but now wonder if there was some
> > remnant left that timed out at the 30 day not registered and could have
went
> > haywire. What search I've done indicates dibeng.dll or was it dib32.dll
need
> > replacing, causation for the vmm32.vxd error, but the files exist in the
> > created DIR's, possibly indicating as well that everything just got
> > scrambled.
> >
> > Definitely need to Get Around to It, and make that bullet proof back up
that
> > will act as a recovery.
>
>
>
> --
>
> Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Shell/User }
> Conflicts start where information lacks.
> http://basconotw.mvps.org/
>
> Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
> How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375
>
>

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

"E_Net_Rider" <nthums1@comcast.net> wrote in message
newsO6VYkzoFHA.3960@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
[snip]

> When I tried "cd e:\" it gave me invalid directory? d: is normally my swap
> file.

Might not matter, but to get to the e:\ drive, just type e: ,at the C:\ prompt
and press Enter.
Ex: C:\e: and press Enter.
Then at the E:\ prompt , you can type dir /p to see what directories are in
there, if any.(Ex: E:\dir /p)

What you did was try to cd (change directory) to a directory called e:\, which
does not exist because it is a drive, not a directory.
Sorry to butt in.



[snip]

> > Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Shell/User }
> > Conflicts start where information lacks.
> > http://basconotw.mvps.org/
> >
> > Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
> > How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375
> >
> >
>
>

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

Backups seem to be a somewhat confusing problem.
Much of it might stem from my first experiences of trying to use MSBackup
W95
followed by Colorado Bu for the tape drive, which seems was W3.1, not 32bit
and somewhat proprietary as to medium and throw in Seagate which allowed a
larger medium on the same drive. This was closer to W98 MSBackup, yet
differences. Toss in a number of attempts to back up to CD's with different
packages and learn that multi-session burns may not be compatible across
different burners or software packages.
Yes I'm very confused.
If I understand your strategy, you use DriveImage to back up individual
partitions, all being FAT32.
Is that a requirement? Do you run multiple OS?
I have noted that the USB drive will get loaded as if a regular IDE drive,
that is it shows up in explorer with other partitions of the main drive
shifted. Hence, I must remember to remove it before rebooting. Somewhat a
pain, and I haven't found a way around this. Yet, oddly the USB2 port seems
to be a separate dedicated jack on the machine.
Yet since it appears to be loading in dos, or at least that low level, I
have to wonder if there is a way to copy it back to the main drive without
loading the OS?
Is that the method you are using? Do you know if it works for ME with its
very limited DOS? XP? I hate to have to buy tons of software I already own
in some form simply because MS deems it old.
Sort of sounds like you are removing the drive from its USB housing and then
hooking up on its IDE connector???
Reminds me of another trick that might be possible. Using the copy function
in the new drive utilities. The way the one for WD works is that you could
copy to larger or smaller partitions as long as there is room for the data
on that partition. Also has a neat trick in that you can set up the new
drive for FAT32 and copy from a FAT16 drive. This I know works, at least in
the versions that came on the floppies. I'm not sure that I've used the CD
version for that.
This would give an up to date copy of your main drive although it might
require fooling with hooking and unhooking. But then it brings up whether
you are copying something questionable over a good? So are you doing
incremental backups?
I'm thinking that an active drive is doing automatic refreshs of data on the
drive. Possibly a function of the IDE internal drive electronics.
Does anyone have an idea how long the data on the disk will remain good on a
powered down drive? Since this is a rewritable medium I wouldn't expect it
to last as long as a CDR, or maybe even a CDRW. But then maybe enough
difference in the technology.

Since I don't know anything of DriveImage, except it was touted a good
product and much cheaper before Norton bought it (Symantec), I hope you
continue to have good luck with it. Whether I try it or not will be based
upon it's prospects for the future, XP may be in my future whether I like it
or not. And if it not only gives the total restore you claim, although I
didn't clearly understand your procedure, but whether it offers some
incremental.
That is, once I'm sure I've gotten a solid, mostly installed other packages
as well, running system, I can make such a total install image. Maybe even
make incrementals during the install because of the tremendous amount of
time involved in reaching that point without having trouble. (ME has that
restore feature which can be very useful).
From that point, I'd like to do a major backup, maybe monthly, and retain
the previous backup just in case. Of course routine incrementals at least
weekly covering any new installs or uninstalls and hopefully, if necessary a
separate program just placing a data backup, daily at least, somewhere that
might be saved off system or to a separate partition etc. And the more
automatic the better. The daily of data I might handle internally by sending
them to the other computer.
My rambling is evidence of the confusion. Is anything really bullet proof?
Norman


"Lil' Dave" <spamyourself@virus.net> wrote in message
news:u5RTX6xoFHA.576@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
> Get rid of the current partition, don't reformat it.
> Your backup may be bad too.
> USB2 will not work at high speed unless in the proper OS environment.
Real
> mode msdos is not one of them.
> For partition backups, am continuing to use DriveImage 2002 for all FAT32
> partitions on this PC. Its very hard to find nowadays. Will not allow
> highspeed USB operation though in the recovery, uses msdos environment.
Am
> using a ide adapter, and hard drive connected to that for recovery source.
> Basically foolproof.
>
> "E_Net_Rider" <nthums1@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:%23nh3IfmoFHA.1044@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> > I would like to have some idea of what hit me.
> > A few mornings back, I find the computer with the vmm32.vxd missing
> message.
> > Now that I think about it, something must have forced it to reboot as
> well.
> > To complicate matters, this was an upgraded machine, and the upgrade
disk
> > going to SE is the one that only works on 98. That is the machine has to
> be
> > up and running to install it. And the machine has no floppy and I never
> got
> > around to making a bootable CD. I manage to get into DOS and get into
the
> > windows directory. There are only three folders and most of the files
are
> > missing.
> >
> > Are the other partitions of the 80 GB HDD accessible in DOS? Maybe it
was
> > me?
> > And now the question of the updated files for the larger HDD come to
mind
> as
> > well. Because I decided to proceed with installing Gold and as soon as
> > completed run the SE upgrade CD. But the scandisk reported numerous
errors
> > on C. Other partitions OK. It reported a folder named BAER which aroused
> my
> > curiosity as I have never had any program, etc. associated with that
name
> on
> > my machine, to the best of my knowledge of course.
> >
> > Any help is greatly appreciated because I really want to avoid this mess
> > again. Current result is that everything will have to be reinstalled.
> > Machine is currently running and everything remains on the other
> partitions,
> > so most of my data is obviously OK. But on the C drive I have a ton of
DIR
> > folders and almost 300 filexxxx.chk files. Registry was obviously lost,
> > hence the total reinstall. And after much sifting, I will likely find
most
> > of the other data in those DIR's.
> >
> > After too many failed tape recovery systems, I had decided to dabble
with
> > external USB HDD. Thoughts on this are welcome as well and BTW this
isn't
> > going to well either. Can't break 15MB/s on USB2. And it came with
GHOST,
> > which I have yet installed. I had picked up a copy of Partition Magic 8
at
> > the same time. At least one of these I tried to install and it failed,
> > crashed. I thought I uninstalled, but later found folders/files,
> associated
> > with some security company that Norton may use as part of antipiracy. I
> got
> > rid of what I was aware in that area, but now wonder if there was some
> > remnant left that timed out at the 30 day not registered and could have
> went
> > haywire. What search I've done indicates dibeng.dll or was it dib32.dll
> need
> > replacing, causation for the vmm32.vxd error, but the files exist in the
> > created DIR's, possibly indicating as well that everything just got
> > scrambled.
> >
> > Definitely need to Get Around to It, and make that bullet proof back up
> that
> > will act as a recovery.
> >
> > Norman
> >
> >
>
>

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

Not butting, very thankful. Who said I was a DOS dummy? (;-
Thanks for eliminating a small frustration.
Norman
"Buffalo" <eric(nospam)@nada.com.invalid> wrote in message
news:CO-dnZ2dnZ34oQPTnZ2dnTjKnt6dnZ2dRVn-y52dnZ0@comcast.com...
>
> "E_Net_Rider" <nthums1@comcast.net> wrote in message
> newsO6VYkzoFHA.3960@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> [snip]
&