(Dual Boot Set-up) Can?t start W98se after software install in w2k??huh?

[dudleydocker]

I have a dual boot w98se/w2k which has worked just great previously. I just installed TurboTax 2001 into W2k. Started up the program and it worked fine. I then rebooted into w98se to copy a disk in Adaptec EZ Creator. That worked fine too. I then rebooted to go back into w2k. I had already taken out the CD copy: I then got a BSOD prompting me for the disk, which I reinserted. When I tried to reboot a second time, I got my w98se desktop momentarily them another BSOD. Cntrl-Alt-Del results in a black screen with a cursor that needs a system reset to clear. I have no problem going into w2k after this.

I booted into DOS and did a scanreg /restore in the Windows\Comand folder, successfully restoring a copy of the registry from two days ago. Upon reboot into w98se, same result, BSOD, then black screen requiring reset.

I?ve also uninstalled TurboTax; didn?t make any difference.

I can?t for the life of me figure out how to get into w98se safe mode. F8 gets me into w2k safe mode only.

I have an Abit BF-6 with a PIII 700@934 (stable), 128 MB of M-V cas2 SDRAM, Seagate Cheetah 18.2 GB SCSI, Adaptec 19160 SCSI card, and a Plextor 12/4/32 SCSI writer.

Any ideas how to fix my w98se install? Thanks

 

[KGB]

You can get to the 98 safe mode by hitting F8 after you select 98 from the boot menu (you have to be very fast).

Are you by any chance running 98 & 2K on the same partition?

 

[dudleydocker]

w98 is on c: (2 gb), w2k is on d: (2 gb), then three other partitions for data and other stuff.
this is the message i now get at boot-up:

A fatal exception 0E has occurred at 0028:C2A28EC6 in VXD
Adpu160m(01) + 0000DCE6. The current application will be terminated.

I know nothing on how to decipher these. Is the "Adpu160m" possibly a reference to my Adaptec 19160 SCSI card?

Again everything works fine in w2k......

 

[obenton]

Go into w2k and, on C:, check boot.ini and the win98 boot files to make sure nothing got corrupted. If they're all OK, you're likely doomed to a win98 repair install, and afterwards to a fixboot/fixmbr from Recovery Console.

 

[dudleydocker]

obenton:

What am I looking for when I check the boot.ini files and w98 boot files? I have another PC with a clean install of 98...can I look at the files on this box for comparison?

"win98 repair install, and afterwards to a fixboot/fixmbr from Recovery Console"...how do I do this? Where do I access it?

 

[obenton]

In boot.ini, make sure each OS disk is correctly pointed to (likely this is OK). Check autoexec.dos and config.dos (used for win98) to make sure no ugly lines were added by some program install that are fouling up win98. Repair install of win98 would be run from the win98cd. Sometimes win98 recognizes the w2k dual boot and sometimes not. If not, and it's destroyed (can only boot into win98), then you'd boot from the w2k cd, select Recovery Console from the options, and run both fixboot and fixmbr from its command line (to fix bootsect.dos, just in case it's corrupted, and restore the w2k dual boot).

 

[dudleydocker]

obenton:

"w98 repair" from cd....how do I invoke this? Is it like w2k? Sorry if this sounds dumb; I just wasn't aware that there was an equivalent function in w98. I've sucessfully done a repair in w2k in the short time I've worked with the OS...

 

[obenton]

win98 repair install would simply be installing win98 over itself, which would cause setup to find and keep the old settings. I used to do this when I was running win95 and win98. Worked most of the time - occasionally not, if the corrupted program file, driver, or registry error was retained. One time, I recall, I had a corrupted registry after uninstalling Wingate, and had to do a format install to get the network working again. But it's worth a try. Another possibility is that bootsect.dos (which boots win98) got corrupted - and to fix this you'd run sys C: from a DOS command prompt (using the win98 startup disk), and then run fixboot from the w2k Recovery Console, which restores bootsect.dos and repairs the w2k boot at the same time.

 

[dudleydocker]

obenton,

sorry for the delayed response....OK, I checked everything you reccomended; I just unchecked the contents of config.sys and autoexec.bat, and unchecked everything but systray in startup, and it booted! I never was clear what purpose the config and autoexec files served in w98. At any rate, w98 appears to be none the worse for wear without them. I'm more interested in what caused this problem in the first place, to prevent it from happening again. Thanks for your advice!