I like to thanks all of you who responded to Bonzo's post, he kept me up to date on the phone. Well I fix everything and didn't loose one peace of data. Once I got my system stable in DOS I was able to start using some of my tools and after 12 hrs of DOS work I finally got to boot to windows and then went to work on the rest of the fixing. I just finish and have everything back to 100%. This as been the longest trip to Microsoft Hell for me, 20hrs plus and I had a few of those over the years. Final score one damage cluster that hit the registry right on the head, bulls eye .
I am very glad that I didn't have to re-format my hard drive and start over again.
Glad to see you back, keep a watchful eye on your computer. Once you start getting a bad cluster they have a very bad habit of multiplying quickly especially if your drive is 3 years old or more.
Age is not that important, Tankhead's drive is less than a week old (last one had a bearing failure). Mean time between failure is just that. Some drives don't even make it a minute before dying, others don't seem to ever die. I finally tossed the old 286 a few months ago. The old 40 meg HD was still working fine. Tankhead's disk??? Maybe It will settle down. But a watchful eye should always be kept on your machine.
Robert (Bonzo) Lindsay, Webmaster
28th (North-west) Battalion Headquarters
Main http://www.nwbattalion.com
E-mail
Bonzo - You are saying run ScanDisk frequently, I take it?
Couple weeks ago I was clobbered by Outlook Express deciding to compact mail folders - at exactly the wrong time, while I was surfing.
Blooie!! Lights out, total lockup, alarm in the computer case went off, nothing functioned, had to pull plug from wall.
ScanDisk said Outlook Express had an argument with Windows over the size of one file. That did it. I'll compact manually, thank you - if that is reallyi necessary, which much of the time I doubt.
Bing
"For Those That Fought For It, Freedom Has a Taste And A Meaning The Protected Will Never Know. " -
From the 101st Airborne Division Association Website
...yup ...had a two day old hard drive go once...ironically I was on the phone with technical support from Iomega at the time...but that's another horror story....if the hard drive is new you'd better replace it now and back up what you can't lose quick...
I have a very good book written by the guys at PC Pitstop, and they basically said that computer manufacturer's do not install top-of-the-line hard drives because nobody demands them, so we get the lowest bidder type of drive (in fact, it's doubtful that there even IS a top-of-the-line hard drive out there). ScanDisk has shortcomings, in that it usually won't pick up on trouble until the trouble happens. Steve Gibson of Gibson Research has a very nice program called "SpinRite." It's pricey, and takes days to run (you can interrupt and continue later, thank goodness) but it does a much more comprehensive job of checking drive health than ScanDisk, and will catch potential failure before your drives melts down. But the best way to be almost totally safe is to install a 2nd hard drive, strictly for backing up the main drive... it makes a lot of sense.
Originally posted by Jester: ok guys, it's time to pass to LInux!!
Tankhead had a hardware problem, caused by the shortcuts taken by disk manufacturers. IMHO even if he had been pushing penguins, the problem would have happened.
Thank you all for your help and concern. For those of you interested in how to rebuild your REGISTRY and not re-installing Windows 98SE. You do this in the true DOS and command promt safe mode. Bonzo found this on the net for me and I have made the .BAT fles and use it and so far so good. Well here it is. It took over 1 hrs fore my puter to finish.
PS: IF YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO MAKE BAT FILES AND USE DOS COMMAND DO NOT TRY THIS YOU MIGHT DO SEVERE DAMAGE TO YOUR OPERATING SYSTEM.
Learn to rebuild the Windows registry from DOS
July 2000
Severe problems resulting from severe registry damage may require a fresh install of Windows. But for most annoyances and anomalies caused by registry corruption, a quick rebuild will get you back to a smooth working system.
But what is the registry?
The registry is a database¡Xan amalgam of two special files, SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT. These files are written to and edited much like any other database files, and just about any installation program will write to or edit them, although sometimes not as cleanly as we'd like. The "garbage in, garbage out" principle applies here, as well¡Xexcept in the case of the registry, the "garbage out" seems to manifest itself as one or more Windows problems.
Third-party registry utilities
Before I begin describing the rebuilding process in detail, let me state that I know all about REGCLEAN and other Windows utilities that are supposed to cure registry ills. However, these programs work only if you can boot into Windows. Even then, Windows is using the very registry we're trying to clean. To me, this is like working on your car's engine while you're driving. Instead, we're going to clear things up another way. We're going to do it from DOS.
Before we begin...
Warning: The following article involves editing your system registry. Using the Windows Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems requiring the reinstallation of your operating system. EDI City does not and will not support problems that arise from editing your registry. Use the Registry Editor and the following directions at your own risk.
Using REGEDIT in DOS
The utility we're going to use is REGEDIT.EXE¡Xthe same REGEDIT that we use in Windows also runs as a DOS program. REGEDIT.EXE supports command line arguments that allow us to do a complete registry rebuild, while leaving the "dirt" and empty spaces behind. We'll eliminate the need to repetitively type commands by creating four batch files that you can carry with you and run from a floppy.
Please note the following
For the sake of simplicity, we'll assume that SYSTEM.DAT, USER.DAT, and REGEDIT.EXE reside in the C:\WINDOWS directory.
Step one: Remove the ReadOnly and Hidden attributes from SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT
The first step in rebuilding the Windows registry from DOS is to remove the ReadOnly, Hidden, and System attributes from the SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT files. A batch file that allows you to toggle the attributes off and on at will (REGATT.BAT) looks like this:
@echo off
if not "%1"=="-" if not "%1"=="+" goto INSTRUCT
attrib %1r %1h %1s c:\windows\system.dat
attrib %1r %1h %1s c:\windows\user.dat
goto ENDIT
:INSTRUCT
echo.
echo You must specify a - or + parameter, as in "%0 +" or "%0 -"
:ENDIT
echo.
To use it, enter the command REGATT - or REGATT + to remove or add the file attributes, respectively.
Here's how REGATT.BAT works:
@echo off: Prevents the lines that follow from being displayed on the screen while the commands are being executed. The "@" prevents "echo off" from displaying.
if not "%1"=="-" if not "%1"=="+" goto INSTRUCT: This makes the batch file look for one parameter and limits the parameter choices to either "-" or "+." If neither is found, the script jumps to the INSTRUCT portion of the batch file. Note the use of the double "equals" signs (==).
attrib %1r %1h %1s c:\windows\system.dat: Runs the "attrib" command on SYSTEM.DAT with either "-r -h -s" or "+r +h +s," depending on the parameter.
attrib %1r %1h %1s c:\windows\user.dat: Runs the "attrib" command on USER.DAT the same as it does for SYSTEM.DAT.
goto ENDIT: Jumps over the INSTRUCT statement since all went well.
:INSTRUCT: Label that identifies this portion of the batch file.
echo.¡V: Prints a blank line on the screen. Note that there is no space between "echo" and "."
echo You must specify a - or + parameter, as in "%0 +" or "%0 -": Instructions for using the batch file. The %0 is a variable that is automatically replaced by DOS with the name of the batch file you typed on the command line. If you typed regatt in lower case, the line will read "You must specify a - or + parameter, as in regatt + or regatt -." If you change the name of the batch file to "wom.bat" and type WOM in upper case, it will read "You must specify a - or + parameter, as in WOM + or WOM -" without further editing. Neat, huh?
:ENDIT: Label that identifies this portion of the batch file.
echo.: Prints a blank line on the screen before returning to the prompt.
Step two: Create a backup of SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT
THIS IS NOT AN IDLE ADVISORY¡XTHIS IS A CRITICAL STEP!
The rebuilding process effectively destroys the current registry. If the rebuild fails (I've seen it happen when the DAT files are badly corrupted), there will be no registry. Having a corrupted registry to restore is better than having no registry at all.
To make a backup, we simply copy the "unattribbed" SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT files with REGBACK.BAT:
@echo off
if "%1"=="" goto INSTRUCT
copy c:\windows\system.dat c:\windows\system.%1
copy c:\windows\user.dat c:\windows\user.%1
goto ENDIT
:INSTRUCT
echo.
echo You must enter a 1 to 3 character file extension, as in "%0 sav"
:ENDIT
echo.
Most of the lines in REGBACK.BAT are similar to those in REGATT.BAT. The three unique lines are:
if "%1"=="" goto INSTRUCT: This jumps to the INSTRUCT section if no parameter is given after the "regback" command. Without a parameter, the value of %1 is null, so the statement translates to if ""=="" goto INSTRUCT and, since double-quotes indeed equal double-quotes, the script jumps to give the user instructions.
copy c:\windows\system.dat c:\windows\system.%1: Copies SYSTEM.DAT to SYSTEM.parameter. Be sure to limit your parameter to three allowable DOS characters.
copy c:\windows\user.dat c:\windows\user.%1: Copies USER.DAT to USER.parameter as above.
Step three: Rebuilding the registry
Warning: Have you made your backup?
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RUN THESE COMMANDS UNLESS YOU HAVE MADE BACKUP COPIES OF SYSTEM.DAT AND USER.DAT! Remember, you will destroy the existing copy of the registry in the rebuilding stage. If the rebuild fails, so will you. Be sure you have your own backup.
REGREBLD.BAT looks like this:
@echo off
echo.
echo Exporting registry contents. Please wait...
regedit /l:c:\windows\system.dat /r:c:\windows\user.dat /e c:\windows\newreg.reg
echo Rebuilding the Windows registry. Do not interrupt!
regedit /l:c:\windows\system.dat /r:c:\windows\user.dat /c c:\windows\newreg.reg
echo.
del c:\windows\newreg.reg
echo.
REGREBLD.BAT takes no parameters. Here's what the crucial lines do:
echo Exporting registry contents. Please wait...: The REGEDIT "export" command displays no information while it's executing. This is a courtesy line to let you know that something is happening.
regedit /l:c:\windows\system.dat /r:c:\windows\user.dat /e c:\windows\newreg.reg: Exports the contents of the current registry to a file we'll call "newreg.reg." The "/l:" and "/r:" switches point to the exact paths of SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT, respectively. The "/e" switch is for "export" and "c:\windows\newreg.reg" is the name of the target file that is created during the process.
echo Rebuilding the Windows registry. Do not interrupt!: Another courtesy statement. Unlike the "export" command, the REGEDIT "create" command displays a progress counter. However, it doesn't state what it's creating, only that it's importing.
regedit /l:c:\windows\system.dat /r:c:\windows\user.dat /c c:\windows\newreg.reg: Creates a new registry from the contents of "c:\windows\newreg.reg." The key here is the "/c" switch, for "create." As soon as it is encountered, the current SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT are destroyed as new files are created from the data in newreg.reg. If this process is interrupted, the new registry will be incomplete and, therefore, useless.
echo.: The progress counter that is displayed by REGEDIT does not have a carriage return. This statement forces one at the completion of the "create" process.
del c:\windows\newreg.reg: Deletes the now unnecessary newreg.reg data file. You can remove this line if you want to look at the contents of newreg.reg before you delete it manually.
The full export/create routine can be quite time-consuming, depending on the size and state of the current registry. I've seen it take anywhere from five minutes to over an hour to rebuild the registry on desktop PCs. I don't recommend using it on laptops. If the rebuilding is successful (and most of the time it is), you won't need the next step.
Step four: Restoring a failed rebuild
Step four involves returning the registry to its previous state in the event a failed rebuild leaves you without working SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT files. We'll call this batch file REGRET.BAT. Remember the extension you used when creating your backups? You'll need it here:
@echo off
if "%1"=="" goto INSTRUCT
if not exist c:\windows\system.%1 goto NOFILE
if not exist c:\windows\user.%1 goto NOFILE
attrib -r -h -s c:\windows\system.dat
attrib -r -h -s c:\windows\user.dat
del c:\windows\system.dat
del c:\windows\user.dat
copy c:\windows\system.%1 c:\windows\system.dat
copy c:\windows\user.%1 c:\windows\user.dat
goto ENDIT
:NOFILE
echo.
echo Cannot locate one or more of your "%1" backup files!
echo Please verify your file extension and try again.
goto ENDIT
:INSTRUCT
echo.
echo You must give a valid backup file extension, as in "%0 ext"
:ENDIT
echo.
REGRET.BAT runs by entering "regret ext" at the prompt, where "ext" is the extension you used when creating your backups. If the ext files aren't found, REGRET tells you. All of the REGRET commands are similar to ones we've used in the previous batch files. Note that after we delete the failed SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT files, we copy the backups to the DATs as opposed to renaming the backups. I never feel comfortable deleting critical backup files until I'm absolutely sure they won't be needed again. Delete them manually when you are comfortable.
Use what you've learned
Now that you have your batch files, go ahead and try them on a sick system. Boot the PC to a true DOS "Safe mode command prompt only" and run the files from a floppy. If you make the floppy bootable, be sure that you have an AUTOEXEC.BAT that contains a path statement pointing to C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND. A successful rebuilding of the registry will solve many of your "mysterious" Windows problems, including many Windows protection errors.
ahem...Tankhead....why dont you pick up a copy of DiskImage or Ghost and make an image of your boot drive. put it in another partition or on a cd, then when your boot partition melts down, all you need to do is format it (optional) and restore the image, which includes all hidden files, registry, etc etc. i make my c: partition 2 GB for this reason, all else is on other partitions. DI has a 50% compression scheme, so you can figure a mite over 1.5GB will fit on one cd. this has saved my butt many times and takes about 5 minutes to get back to a good boot. Its a no brainer dood.
AOPEN 12x rw burners are @ about 100 bux at places like www.newegg.com
Welcome back, Tankhead. You were missed. As for the rest of it, I'll just reformat and start over. I'll never comprehend what you computer gurus are explaining here
Wild Bill
In Arduis Fidelis
Wild Bill Wilder
Independent Game Consultant
i can recommend "GHOST". my HD died. GHOST
worked perfectly. Back up and running 30 minutes, after buying a new HD. froze the old one and got most of the data off it...mp3 and
such ...
Ghost & CD-R is not a practical solution for a lot of people. I'm running a 30 gig HD with about 25 Gigs of software & data which will not fit on a CD, compression or no. I have tried the multiple partition route in the past & found it wastes a lot of space as you are never really allowed to completely fill a partition.
Another problem, for folks like me who live away from the big city, is acquiring a replacement HD quickly. Often, these are special order items in small towns & thus you will be down for a day or two at least. Installing a second HD & mirroring software would be a more functional solution & one I will be investigating, once I can squeeze together the cash.
Robert (Bonzo) Lindsay, Webmaster
28th (North-west) Battalion Headquarters
Main http://www.nwbattalion.com
E-mail
Thanks Wild Bill it is good to be back.
BAT files are easy, the old DOS programming and easy to do simple language. The good old days.
Yes Bonz same here I have tried the partition route and gave me more headache than it's worth. Now a days with the huge hardrive and the software just keeps getting bigger the best way is another hard drive for back up the most economical way to go. I use to have tape back up but took for ever. Just have to find a good peace of software to mirror your goodies to the hard drive.
Originally posted by REMF:
[QB..... But the best way to be almost totally safe is to install a 2nd hard drive, strictly for backing up the main drive... it makes a lot of sense.
[ June 06, 2001: Message edited by: REMF ][/QB]
I highly reccommend this approach, and began doing it a couple of years ago. Drives
are relatively cheap compared to one's personal time and the cost of losing data
that may be irreplacable.
Greg.
It is better to die on your feet
than to live on your knees.
I will say that I tried Ghost, made all the CD's, and then when I went to restore the data THEN it told me that there was an error in the first CD. Man I hate that program!
.
