Help with Registry errors

[Dinah]

I have a friend that has an AMDK6-2 333, 64mgs RAM. It has a Pinegroup VIA Apollo Super MVP4 super 7 motherboard with video/sound/modem built in. She uses a separate pci modem, though. Clean install Windows 98 SE.


The computer was giving registry errors, memory errors, was locking up all of the time, and finally it wouldn?t boot.

I looked at it and found that the CPU fan had frozen so I installed a new heatsink and fan and everything?s running cool now.

Since so many things were corrupted, I reformatted the drive and did a clean install of Windows 98 SE. During installation it told me the disk boot sector was about to be modified, but it seemed to install okay. However, I am still getting the registry errors. Is there another piece of hardware that could have been affected by the heat that would cause registry errors?

I have read that bad memory will do this exact same thing of saying there is a registry error, you reboot, it repairs and it?s okay for a while. I am not sure about the memory that is in it. There were 3 32mg sticks. One said it was pc100. The other two sticks have a number ending in 66 so I thought they might be 66MHz, which may be wrong for this computer. I guess the pc100 stick is bad (it reads only 8mgs when installed by itself even accounting for the video memory usage) so I took it out.



Everything works okay, but this registry error occurs almost daily. It fixes itself but I?m worried one of these days it won?t. I don?t know how to troubleshoot this problem. Occasionally it acts a little squirrely and will lock up.

This machine was home built and then rebuilt by two different people. It has always given my friend problems from day one.

I have noticed that there is no autoexec.bat file, is this okay? I have never seen a computer that didn?t have one.

Wow, I?m sorry, I have written a ton! This friend doesn?t have much money and I would like to help her if I could. I wanted to try sticking in some of my memory to see if that would correct it but I don?t know if it would hurt my memory if something like the motherboard or processor is messed up.

If anyone has any suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks, Dinah

 

[cucumber]

Well, I'd hate to say it, but my first inclination would be to get a new motherboard. I've come across several "all in one" boards with modem/sound/video built in, and I have never seen one that worked properly. With these boards I've seen similar problems like yours. Some would not recognize some or any of certain sticks of ram, even though they were brand new and worked perfectly in other machines. In my experience, many problems that seem like software problems (registry errors, no autoexe.bat...etc...) were linked to a crappy board. A BIOS update might help you, but it never helped me in the cases I've come across...
It's possible that the processor was damaged by the heat, but being that I've seen these problems before I would doubt it. My suggestion would be to first repartition the drive, reformat, then reinstall windows. If this does not help, get a better board (aprox $90-100 [Aopen, or Asus], a reasonable video card ($40-60 [AGP-Ati Expert98Rage,3dfx Velocity100, PCI-Ati Expert98 Rage])and sound card ($10-20 [Creative Sound Blaster 16, WaveForce-576] ). Money being a consideration, I have listed the cheepest parts that give way better performance than the onboard crap, and are reliable. For the best online prices look in pricescan.com, or pricewatch.com

 

[KGB]

Somme things to try:

1. Verify the MB setting are correct for FSB, multiplier, voltage etc.
That CPU requires a 95MHz FSB (3.5X) @ 2.2V.
2. Once you have verified these and your instability is still happening, try some other RAM.
If you're afraid of trying your own, the chances of damaging it will be slim to none.
If you are still uncomfortable, perhaps there is a local shop that can test it for you.
3. When you say it "fixes" the registry errors, how and when does it do this?

 

[Ladi]

Of course, chkdisk/scandisk would never hurt in this situation...Nor would running the computer with minimal hardware (just memory and proc on the motherboard) for a while hurt. Another approach would be to add modem/sound/video in separate cards and disable those on the mobo just for purposes of narrowing down what hardware may have gone bad.

Also, make sure your friend isn't installing/uninstalling anything (and on the same note, what apps were installed along with the new install of 98se that may have caused any problems?) or playing around with deleting files without letting you know (which is where the autoexec.bat may have disappeared off to). Sometimes, the problem isn't hardware at all...

And one last question....just when did autoexec.bat disappear off to? Might be worth it to try installing 98se just one last time to keep closer track of any possible software problems that may be causing the errors.

~Ladi

 

[Dinah]

Thanks everyone for your help.

When I first looked at the computer it was locking up at boot-up when it would hit "found cd-rom". Before it wouldn't boot anymore, she told me that she had been getting registry errors, memory errors and it was locking up frequently while in Windows.

When I got it home it booted-up on it's own when I plugged it in. I researched some of the errors and started removing memory modules. After I found the bad one and removed it, the computer never has locked up at boot-up again. At first I thought that had fixed everything, but then I noticed the cpu fan was frozen after checking out over-heating possiblities from research.

By changing the cpu fan out, removing the one stick of known bad memory, reformatting and reinstalling Windows98, I cleared up all of her problems except the registry error which usually comes right after Windows loads up. (I also changed out the power supply, it was making a lot of noise and some of the symptoms could have been related to it. I thought maybe when the fan froze up it put a load on the power supply.)

Windows reports a registry error and prompts you to restart and restore. Windows will fix it, load and not bother you anymore while the computer is on. This does not occur each time you boot up - about one out of three times.

At first she said the errors were actually getting fewer and farther between. The system has been working like this about 6-8 weeks, but she is starting to see the registry error more often now and the "squirreliness" has been going on about 3 weeks. When she notices her mouse starting to act funny, she reboots and everything's okay again for a while.

I checked all of the jumper settings (thankfully, she had the mobo manual)and Bios settings. Everything was okay.

I kept the system for a few days with just Windows loaded and got the registry error before ever loading anything else. I always close everything running in the background before installing software. Other than the registry error it seemed pretty stable so I started loading some of the basics like Works, Word, Adobe Business Photo Deluxe, some games, etc. I tried multi-tasking and it held up. I tried using some of the MS themes and it held up. I, unfortunately, did not notice anything about the auto exec file until later. Just ever so often it would give me the Registry error.

I have researched the onboard Via chips and tried the new drivers for the 4-in-one. I have run thorough scan disks, and used Fix-It's 2000 utilities to check all of the hardware using deep scans. Everything always checks out okay.

I have been told and also researched that it could be almost anything - mobo, memory, cpu, hard drive. I hate to start replacing things one at a time, it could get expensive for her and I would rather see her invest her money in another computer and use this one for her son. I have the memory to try (if it wouldn't kill it) and I am fixing to get myself a newer, bigger, faster hard drive so I could try replacing that with my old one.

Thanks for helping, we really appreciate it! Dinah