my pc says line 10 of my config.sys file is missing or corrupted. I can't load Windows. I have tried reinstalling windows from cd, tried using restoration cd from GW at bootup. nothing works. how can I fix this? would someone be able to tell me how to edit my config.sys file so that I can run Windows 98. The error message I get originally is "can't find configuration files." Thanks!

What is the text on line 10 exactly?

Config.sys is a text file - you can open & alter it with DOS Edit. Post your config.sys here so it can be examined. Win98 doesn't really require config.sys, & although it can be used to load DOS hardware drivers, that really shouldn't prevent Win from loading. "can't find configuration files" is something of an odd message, even for Windows - it would be better if you could describe what brought all of this on, and quote any & all error messages **exactly** - probably be better on the Win9x forum too, but we'll see if anything suggests itself. (Tiffany Too - why so shy?) Use

Here is the error message I get. "Unable to determine the location of the configuration files" It looks like a dos message , in a big square, at the top it reads NAV AUTO PROTECT I have been able to access my config.sys file, the line in question reads DEVICEHIGH=C:\CDROM\OAKCDROM.SYS/ D:CD1 MY CONFIGSYS FILE FILES=100 REM T SHOOT: REM DEVICE=C: PROGRAM~1\NET200~1\N2000.SYS 1950 REM TSHOOT: DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS REM [HEADER] REM==PISETUP BEGIN DELETE== REM==PISETUP END DELETE== REM [CDROM DRIVE] REM [MISCELLANEOUS] REM [DISPLAY] DEVICEHIGH = C:\CDROM\OAKCDROM.SYS/D:CD1 I can't seem to save the config.sys file once i edit it while in DOS edit. I thought placing REM in from of the last line may work and let me load windows, but I can't save the file once edited. thanks for replying.

Ok - it seems like that error message is being generated by Norton - some troubleshooting info here Normally, Windows does not need a config.sys (or autoexec.bat) to start, but in this case Norton AV runs low level DOS protection before Windows actually launches. Nothing wrong with your line 10 that I can see - although it's not needed (you could REM it out) - it loads the DOS driver for your CD drive. Possibly there is no such file or folder? By my count though, that's not line #10 Also REM== may be a problem - the REM statement requires a space after it to be read as a 'remark' Not sure why you can't save config.sys - have you tried renaming it as config.old or similar? A bad line in config.sys shouldn't halt Windows (well, not normally) but Norton may have other ideas. Use

Thanks for your help! I've noticed now that the himem.sys file seems to be missing. Do you think this could be the problem? How can I add it? Thanks!

You're getting the famous 'himem.sys is missing' (or corrupted) message? Definitely Windows won't start without the file - normally it resides in c:\windows - you can check from DOS or just copy the file from another (Win98) machine etc. If the file is on floppy a: then copy himem.sys c:\windows and agree to overwrite if asked. Seems like your machine has suffered a fairly serious 'incident' of some sort - the NAV warning would seem to indicate some of its files have been corrupted. Like I was saying, other than to provide DOS functions (not needed in Windows) and to provide low level (DOS) AV protection, config.sys & autoexec.bat aren't really necessary for Win98. The config.sys you've posted is something of a mess - lots of unecessary statements - possibly the only one that you need is the Norton line, although it may require himem.sys to be loaded, I'm not sure. The CD ROM line starts with DEVICEHIGH, which should be ignored and read as DEVICE (with an error message of its own) because devicehigh depends upon emm386 being loaded as well. Missing himem.sys could mean that the file is missing or damaged, or it could be a sign of bad RAM. IIRC, it may also mean your copy of MSDOS.SYS (another text file in Win9x) might be incorrect. That one you do need to launch Windows. If restoring the himem.sys file doesn't help, might be advisable to repost in Win9x, as this seems to be going beyond a simple DOS problem. Might also be advisable to perform a thorough scandisk from DOS, as well as a virus scan. Use