scanreg /fix crashes (Win98SE)

MrBurns

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Sep 15, 2003
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First I have to say, that I am from Austria (Europe) and so my English maybe isnt perfect.



All program output is translated from German.



Because I had an increase of system crashes in the last few weeks, I decided to first make a scan and safe w/ scanreg in dos-mode and after this use scanreg /fix to fix the registry.


When I checked the registry w/ scanreg, it found no errors. So I satrted scanreg /fix. The check of the registry also worked w/o problem, but when the program tried to restore the registry, it crashed alread at the first file (system.dat). the first point (searching for valid registry keys) worked, but at the second point (checking structure of the registry) it always crashed, when it is at 0%. One of these things happened:

1. the pc just did a reboot

2. strange chars and colored rectangles appeared on the screen (see pic, the dark blue chars should be black) and the system didnt react anymore, only the reset button helped.

3. The same kind of chars appeared, but only very short, than the system rebooted.

4. strange colored chars appeared (see video), and after this the system rebooted

5. the picture just froze at 0%. again only the reset button helped.


The registry wasnt damaged by this, windows is running as good (or as bad) as before.


I only want to know, if this could be a sign for a damaged registry.


Thanks in advance.



Here is the pic of the strange chars (2.,3.; dark blue chars should be black):

http://members.chello.at/edith.matuskovics/Scanreg_klein.jpg

uncompressed version, original size (1.22MB)


Video (4.):

avi, 5.12MB

I also have a few other videos, where you maybe dont see the colored chars of 4., or you dont see the reboot, but you can see other things better. So if someone has a problem w/ the quality of the video, just post where you have this problem and I will upload this video to my webspace an post a link. The other videos are between 2.25MB and 2.65MB big (yes, I uploaded the biggest one, but it is also the longest one w/ 20 sec.).



@everyone, who says I should upgrade to WinXP: I already have WinXP in dual boot. I cannot get rid of Win98 completely, because I need to use some programs, which run in Win98, but not in WinXP.



I also have tried a few things, that some people in other forums suggested:


I renamed all c:\windows\sysbckup\rb*.cab files in rb*.old. The only difference was, that I got a new version of the crash, but I think that this new version occured the first time when I disabled autoexec.bat and config.sys.

First the screen output looked normal, but than it became this:


http://members.chello.at/edith.matuskovics/Scanreg1_klein.jpg

uncompressed version, original size (792kB)

After this again only the reset button helped.


Also scandisk in DOS + Windows (including surface tests) didnt help. It only found one error. This error was, that the free memory of the partittion is wrong. In Win9x you get this error nearly every time you run scandisk. When I started scanreg /fix after this the same happened as after I renamed the .cab files (I renamed them back in .cab before I ran scandisk).


I also tried to start DOS w/o autoexec.bat and config.sys. However it didnt work w/o confg.sys, because scanreg needs himem.sys. So I only renamed autoexec.bat and in config.sys I wrote a rem at the beginning of each line except the himem.sys line.

The only difference this time was, that it didnt alwqays crash at 0%. On the 3 tries I made, it crashed one time at 3%, one time at 1% and one time at 0%.


Something else, I forgot to mention: When I go to DOS from windows, the floppy-LED is alway until I return to windows or reboot. But the floppy drive only makes a short sound when I exit windows, after this you dont hear it anymore. So it semms, like the LED is on all the time even when the drive isnt active.

When I strat dos by pressing f8 at boot and selecting command prompt only, the floppy-LED works normal.


When I had renamed my .cab files in .old I also ran scanreg /backup and scanreg /restore, bit both worked normal.


I also made a few virus checks:

Before you read my logfiles, you should know, that on my system Win98 is on C: and WinXP is on D: (dual boot).

about one week ago I found a few viruses w/ avg 6.0 free edition. logfile.

A few days ago I made a few scans again. I always tested all 3 partitions (also in the test I made one week ago).

First I ran the DOS-VErsion of Norton Anti Virus 2004 in DOS-mode, but I used a very old virus database form 11/2003 (because this was when my trial licence expired). NAV didnt find any viruses.

After this I made a scan w/the freeware program AntiVir in WinXP. The program only found viruses in backup files and in a uninstall program, but i think the virus in the uninstall program was a wrong alert, because the program is from a reliable vendor and also I had a wrong alert w/ this program once in the past (at this time the reason for the wrong alert was a defective ram). logfile

After this I made a scan w/ avg in Win98 (the setup program for avg doesnt work in XP). This time the program didnt find anything.
 

LiLithTecH

Diamond Member
Jul 28, 2002
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From the pics you provided I would say that is a classic
case of BAD RAM (either on the MOTHERBOARD or on the VIDEO card).

You may want to run the DIAGNOSTIC Utility for you Hard Drive also
as bad ram will corrupt it very quickly.
 

MrBurns

Member
Sep 15, 2003
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I will run memtest86 and gold memory for at least a few hours as soon as i have time for it. i cannot run bit over night, because when i run these programs my cpu-fan has too be at highj speed and i connt sleep when it is on high speed.



Originally posted by: LiLithTecH
You may want to run the DIAGNOSTIC Utility for you Hard Drive also
as bad ram will corrupt it very quickly.

I ran scandisk in DOS and Windows (inlcuding the surface tests), but it only found the normal "wrong amount of free harddisk space" errors. it finds these errors nearly everytime youz run it on win9x. this also was like this w/ the 2 systems i had beofre, so it is not a system specific problem, it is just a bug of win9x.



Edit: Do you know a program I can use for detectinbg bad Video RAM?

Edit2: What do you think about this program?

  • Video RAM testing
 

LiLithTecH

Diamond Member
Jul 28, 2002
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Originally posted by: MrBurns

I ran scandisk in DOS and Windows (inlcuding the surface tests), but it only found the normal "wrong amount of free harddisk space" errors. it finds these errors nearly everytime youz run it on win9x. this also was like this w/ the 2 systems i had beofre, so it is not a system specific problem, it is just a bug of win9x.

Running scandisk is not very effective (it will generally only catch minor defects).

You need to run the DIAGNOSTIC Software from the manufacturer of your Hard Drive (Maxtor, Seagate, etc..).

The " free harddisk space error" is not normal nor a bug in Win98x.
There has to be an issue with the DRIVE itself (most likely a bad low-level format).
 

MrBurns

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Sep 15, 2003
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Originally posted by: LiLithTecH
Originally posted by: MrBurns

I ran scandisk in DOS and Windows (inlcuding the surface tests), but it only found the normal "wrong amount of free harddisk space" errors. it finds these errors nearly everytime youz run it on win9x. this also was like this w/ the 2 systems i had beofre, so it is not a system specific problem, it is just a bug of win9x.

Running scandisk is not very effective (it will generally only catch minor defects).

You need to run the DIAGNOSTIC Software from the manufacturer of your Hard Drive (Maxtor, Seagate, etc..).

The " free harddisk space error" is not normal nor a bug in Win98x.
There has to be an issue with the DRIVE itself (most likely a bad low-level format).

Strange, I had it on all 4 harddisks I used on my systems w/ Win98.

Ok, I will run the diagnostic software from my manufacturer (Western Digital) and see, if it finds any errors.
 

MrBurns

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Sep 15, 2003
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I restored scanreg.exe, command.com and io.sys (scanreg.exe and command.com from the win98-cd and io.sys form the win98 boot floppy, because i couldnt find io.sys on the win98-cd, not even in the .cab-files).

I also tried scanreg /opt. It didnt change the behavior of scanreg /fix, but it reduced the size of the SYSTEM.DAT from 9.16MB to 9.08MB.

I also tried RegClean from microsoft and the program RegSupreme Pro, but this also didnt help.
 

Jolt2

Senior member
Jan 8, 2001
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As LiLithTecH said, " From the pics you provided I would say that is a classic case of BAD RAM (either on the MOTHERBOARD or on the VIDEO card)".

The ram may have corupted some systems files and now 98 does not operate properly. I would restore one of my system backups and see what happens. That would take software out of the picture. This is Windows98 and if you have not made a backup of it you had better be prepaired to re-install it. With all the files you have changed in 98 already, it is going to be so goofed up that it won't run correctly anyways.

You could also try booting from a KNOPPIX Linux Live CD and see if everything runs fine on KNOPPIX. If it does not then you know you have hardware problems also.
 

MrBurns

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Sep 15, 2003
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I now used the diagnostic program from my harddisk-manufacturer (Data Life Guard Diagnostic (DOS-Version) from Western Digital). It didnt find any errors. After this i also used the Win-version to test the smart-values, but they were also ok.

I also tried sys c:, an after this I ran RegSupreme pro again, but it also didnt help.
 

MrBurns

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Sep 15, 2003
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I now ran the diagnostic tool from my harddisk-manufacturer (Data Lifeguard Diagnostic from Western Digital), but it also didnt find any errors.


After this I ran memtest86. First I hd my FSB oced, but after about 10 min. it reportet an error in the first pass at test 4.

So I clocked my FSB back to 166MHz, whihc is the default for my CPU (my RAM is PC3200, so it can do 200MHz). I also raised the timings to optimal.

After this the default test ran nearly 4 hours (over 8 times), but it idint find an error.

After this I ran scanreg /fix again, but it still crashed.

Very strange, in the old times my RAM made 12 hours memtest86 and 12hours GoldMemory w/o problems and I ran my RAM always only at 179MHz, only the timings were a little bit lower (2-2-2-7, optimnal=3-3-3-8, turbo=3-2-2-7).

I also tried but the same test w/ 2.5-2-3-7, but there was also the same error. even at the same address.

w/ optimal timings the test ran for 6 hours w/o a problem.

So I decided to make a test w/ the fastest setting (according to benchmark) that was left, which as 13.5x175@2.5-2-2-6. I made the full test for 10 hours, which is more than one complete pass and it didnt find an error. I also had teh quick test of GoldMemory running for 1 1/1 hours, which is 1 1/2 passes. GM also didnt find an error. I will make the complete test of GoldMemory and also tests w/ other programs to find out, if my system is really 100% stable at this settings.


I also tried the following vbs-scrip to check the .cab-files for errors:

http://members.chello.at/edith.matuskovics/checkcab.vbs.txt

The program found errors in all of my 21 .cab files (rb000.cab-rb019.cab, rbbad.cab) except rb001.cab.

After this I renamed all .cab files in .old, so that a new rb000.cab was created at reboot. after the reboot, there was a new rb000.cab and a new rbbad.cab. the scrip only found errors in rbbad.cab. after this I ran scanreg /fix again, but it crashed again.
 

thegorx

Senior member
Dec 10, 2003
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the graphics are strange but it looks like your system.dat is too large for scanreg /fix
I've been seeing this more and more lately
programs now with windows xp out aren't to concerned about how much they add to the registry

but with windows 98 it can be a problem.

first, you have to know how to keep and restore registry back ups
which it looks like you know your way around in DOS.

This is what I've been using lately with mixed results
perhaps someone with better knowledge of smartdrv could get better settings

I use an old windows 95 trick with regedit
with mixed results
if it doesn't work you'll have to restore the registry because a lot of the registry will be lost
but after saying that here it is


LH C:\WINDOWS\smartdrv.exe 20480 /B:32786 /E:32786
regedit /e full.txt
pause
regedit /c full.txt
pause
scanreg /opt
pause

this is my attempt at a workaround to the scanreg /fix problem
I just use it in a batch file

this is just crude and I use pause to make sure things don't run together
and also have a chance to complete

I'd look for and old registry to test scanreg /fix to make sure it is working
but the file size of the system.dat you mentioned is right at the error point where scanreg /fix will lock up.

You could also try removing orphan registries or recently added programs that might have added to the registry.
Also I think removing optional keyboard layouts and timezones should decrease the system.dat

like I said this is hit and miss
I got this to work when I couldn't get scanreg /fix to work
but with other settings with smartdrv I totally lost a lot of data in the registry after and had to use scanreg /restore

just make sure you copy your rb00 cab file so the don't get overwritten.
 

MrBurns

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Sep 15, 2003
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I already tried to shrink the registry a littel bit w/ registry optimization programs, but i just cannot get the system.dat below 9MB.
 

thegorx

Senior member
Dec 10, 2003
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also I have to mention that this workaround whether it works or doesn't it takes a long time
the export part is just a blinking curser that can take 45mins
the import give you a 100% count but is slow too.

also if you have a creative sound card you may be able to edit it settings in the HKLM software creative to reduce bulk

my workaround won't make it any smaller but it will
that is it will if it work rewrite and compact the registry
 

thegorx

Senior member
Dec 10, 2003
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well it's not gonna get any smaller unless you take something out
also I think microsoft office adds a bunch to the class ids
 

MrBurns

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Sep 15, 2003
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ok, i will try your .bat file.

i dont have a creative soundcard. i have the nforce2 onboard sound.
 

MrBurns

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Sep 15, 2003
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Originally posted by: thegorx
also I think microsoft office adds a bunch to the class ids

and how do i know, which class ids come from office? and how do i know, which of them i need?
 

thegorx

Senior member
Dec 10, 2003
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if your audio has software other than the drivers you might try removing it and see it it reduces the size of the system.dat
 

thegorx

Senior member
Dec 10, 2003
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Originally posted by: MrBurns
Originally posted by: thegorx
also I think microsoft office adds a bunch to the class ids

and how do i know, which class ids come from office? and how do i know, which of them i need?


there not too much you can do
I just remember installing it before the bloat

well you answered quick
I was editing some line while you where posting

I'm signing off

I'll check back in about 8 hours
 

MrBurns

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Sep 15, 2003
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Originally posted by: thegorx
if your audio has software other than the drivers you might try removing it and see it it reduces the size of the system.dat

I need my audio software to setup my soound system. I have to change from 5.1 to headphones and the other way round very often. also afaik my audio the soundstorm control panel (this is how my audio software is called) doesnt need a lot registry keys. I didnt find any entries in the registry which contain soundstorm or sndstorm (sndstorm.exe is the name of the sound storm control panel) and I only found 3 entries for sstray.exe (which is the nforce tray options program), one of them in the run section. I also found only 2 entries for nForce Control Panel, which were both subkeys off ...\software\NVIDIA Corporation key (The SSTray keys were subkeys of the same keys).
 

thegorx

Senior member
Dec 10, 2003
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well I guess if you want to keep everything loaded on the windows 98 of your dual boot system
then you're just gonna have to get use to the fact that scanreg /fix will not work.