i am stuck in a looping bootup because my himem.sys is missing. all I can do is get into dos safe mode but not into windows. what should I do? I recall having this problem before but not sure what I did that time.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/296636/en-us http://support.microsoft.com/kb/116253/en-us#top It's a good day when you learn something

I tried replacing the file which did not solve the problem. I also edited the config as to what Microsoft recommended, but that too failed. The config had the line for the himem.sys but not for the other they mentioned so I added that. It still loops.

Try this: Boot to Dos standalone and type: scanreg /restore Pick a date before the problem. Any installs done after that date will have to be redone. Sorry, I do not check for private messages

Maybe you could also try using the Windows startup disk, which I believe has himem on it. You need to have the correct disk for your OS (ie Windows 98SE disk for 95C and 98/SE, Windows XP (6 disk set), etc. Stephen Fox sdfox7@aol.com Windows 95 4.00.950 C PENTIUM MMX 166MHz; 256MB RAM GATEWAY P55C-166 HAMPTON; 80GB

If you've ensured that himem.sys is definitely where it should be, then follow ham30's steps for the scanreg/restore. (Unless you've modified the c:\windows\scanreg.ini file to include other files in the backup, scanreg will only backup/replace system.dat, user.dat, system.ini, and win.ini. So if system files are missed or damaged it doesn't do much.) I have added two lines to the end of my scanreg.ini file. The first line adds the basic boot files to the windows backup; config.sys, autoexec.bat, winboot.ini,(in case it's a dual boot system), io.sys, and msdos.sys. The second line adds the all important vmm32.vxd to the backups. If this file is "lost" or corrupted, it ~usually~ means a reinstall. ScanReg.Ini ======================================================= ; ; Scanreg.ini for making system backups. ; ;Registry backup is skipped altogether if this is set to 0 Backup=1 ;Registry automatic optimization is skipped if this is set to 0 Optimize=1 ScanregVersion=0.0001 MaxBackupCopies=5 ;Backup directory where the cabs are stored is ; <windir>\sysbckup by default. Value below overrides it. ; It must be a full path. ex. c:\tmp\backup ; BackupDirectory= ; Additional system files to backup into cab as follows: ; Filenames are separated by ',' ; dir code can be: ; 10 : windir (ex. c:\windows) ; 11 : system dir (ex. c:\windows\system) ; 30 : boot dir (ex. c:\) ; 31 : boot host dir (ex. c:\) ; ;Files=[dir code,]file1,file2,file3 ;Files=[dir code,]file1,file2,file3 Files=30,config.sys,autoexec.bat,winboot.ini,io.sys,msdos.sys Files=11,vmm32.vxd It's a good day when you learn something

Thanks Dan, I had been occasionaly making a copy of vmm32.vxd in /helpdesk. Your idea is much cleaner and I don't have to remember to do it! Slick. Best