I did a bad thing. I removed 3 .vxd files while in Win98 and now PC won't boot.

[rnmcd]

I removed 3 .vxd files while in Win98 and now PC won't boot.

DOS message says

"cannot find a device file that may be needed to run Windows or Windows application. The Windows registry or SYSTEM.INI file refers to this device file but the device file no longer exists.

If you deleted this file on purpose, try unistalling the associated application using its uninstaller setup program.
If you still want to use the application associated with this device file, try reinstating the application to replace the missing file.

Insufficient memory to initialize Windows. Quit 1 or more memory resident programs or remove unnecessary utilities from your CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT files and restart your computer.

Press any key to continue."


When I press a key the PC shuts down.

HELP!

Thanks,rnmcd

 

[Shukla]

No problemo.

One of the beauties of Win98 is that you can reinstall it upon itself.

Just boot to dos, and run Win98 setup.

 

[rnmcd]

I can't seem to get to DOS, I will try it again though.

After restarting with the Boot disk in drive a: I get the error message I posted in my original message.

Also, I don't think that the 3 files that I deleted are Win98 files. I think that they were the drivers for a modem I removed (of course I could very well be wrong).

Is there any way I can change the SYSTEM.INI files to remove the device that the .vxd file is referring to?

Will that help me out?

Sorry that I don't have more knowledge.

 

[eddie]

I did the same thing. If its not finding your bootup disk make sure in your bios that the order is removable devices, cdrom, harddrive. Then try booting up and it should find your floppy drive first. And then install windows 98.

 

[rnmcd]

But what if the .vxd files are not Win98 files?

I think the files are modem drivers.

Is there any way I can eliminate this device from the SYSTEM.INI file while in DOS?

Thanks, rnmcd

 

[eddie]

I did the same thing. I deleted the drivers for the modem in c:windows\system and when I rebooted it said I was missing .vxd files. I just rebooted with the win98 boot up disk and reinstalled windows.

 

[vanquest5]

after turn on the computer hit the delete key, in order to get into your bios , and change the settings for the boot order so that the 3.5 disk drive is first, then the cd rom , then the hd. then reboot, and when it promps you: choose num 1(boot with cd-rom support). you might choose 3 , the help file.

after like a minute you will end up in a: prompt. try "scandsk c:" from there, and see if it picks up ther errors.
if that doesn't work, try "regedit" and choose an older saved registry.

if these don't work , I can reccomend some other thinks i have tried.

good luck
vanquest

 

[vanquest5]

after turn on the computer hit the delete key, in order to get into your bios , and change the settings for the boot order so that the 3.5 disk drive is first, then the cd rom , then the hd. then reboot, and when it promps you: choose num 1(boot with cd-rom support). you might choose 3 , the help file.

after like a minute you will end up in a: prompt. try "scandsk c:" from there, and see if it picks up ther errors.
if that doesn't work, try "regedit" and choose an older saved registry.

if these don't work , I can reccomend some other thinks i have tried.

good luck
vanquest

 

[rnmcd]

I was able to boot from the boot disk.

I tried "scandisk c:" but no errors were found.

When I tried "regedit" and "regedit c:" I received a 'Bad Command' reply.

Any suggestions on what I should try next?

Thanks, rnmcd

 

[Dantoo]

To restore an older registry you use scanreg.

I don't think you actually want to do that.

Start up the computer with the windows disk in a: drive.

Choose the option that starts the computer with a dos prompt and cd rom support

With the w98 disk in the cd rom drive, type in each of these commands:

d:
cd win98
setup

This will start a win98 reinstall on top of itself. It should fix the problem (it may not but try it first).

If it doesn't, come back and post again.

 

[rnmcd]

I started to re-install Win98SE but I wasn't sure what to do when asked about saving DOS & Windows system files.

In the Win98SE Setup Wizard it asked if I want to save DOS and Windows system files.

What should I do?

By the way, will this reinstall of Win98SE make any other changes to my system?

-rnmcd

 

[bigcfromcinci]

just reinstall ,
it won't make any changes to my knowledge.

 

[rnmcd]

Do I save DOS and Windows system files and reinstall do I choose not to save DOS and Windows system files and reinstall?


{EDIT}: I reinstalled without saving DOS Windows system files and I am able to boot to Win98SE!!

Thanks,rnmcd