Have Win 98 se for OS- cd rom 1st stopped responding then I was closed out completely. Got it back running w/boot cd and then scandisk said system failure back-up data. Now my computer won't start goes right to screen saying safe to turn off! Can't get into safe mode and my boot cd won't let me extract? HELP!!! should I just format?

Boot with emergency floopy and run a virus scan.

Go back to a good copy of the registry . Toggle F8 ( when , verifying DMA pool message comes on ) or Press Ctrl during bootup , depends on your computor . Select , Command prompt only . After the C prompt , type , scanreg /restore Follow the prompts and select a registry dated prior to the problems . This article describes how to restore a backup copy of the Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition (Me) registry scanreg /restore http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q221/5/12.ASP?LN=EN-US&SD=gn&FR=0&qry=scanreg/%20restore&rnk=3&src=DHCS_MSPSS_gn_SRCH&SPR=W98 Start the System Restore Tool from a Command Prompt in Windows XP (Q304449) http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q304449 Restore Operation Failed (Q220878) The information in this article applies to: Microsoft Windows 98 Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q220878 --------------- To improve on the 5 days MS have on registry backups , use the Cabrest system below & get 14 days . http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/regback1.html For those that find the above site confusing , here is what to do . Alter MaxBackupCopies from 5 to 14 as per instructions at above site or it can be done this way . Start > Find > Files or Folders , type scanr in the top space ( Named ) , make sure the 3rd space ( Look in ) is set to where your operating system is ( usually C ) & press Enter . Right click on Scanreg ( C:Windows > configuration settings ) & click on open & change from 5 to 14 . Close & save . Download the zipped copy of the Batch file from , http://www.pcnineoneone.com/downloads/cabrest.zip Unzip , copy & paste cabrest onto the top of C: in Windows Explorer . Delete zip file , or save it on floppy , if you want it for others or the future . Print the instructions below & stick on your comp in front of you , so when you have to go back to a good copy of the registry , you don't need to search for them . ------- Toggle F8 ( when , verifying DMA pool message comes on ) or Press Ctrl during bootup , depends on your computor . Select , Command prompt only . Type in cabrest & press Enter , keep answering y & you will see a table , which will allow you to select which CAB file to restore from . So , for example , to restore from rb009 cab , you look at the table & see 09 corresponds to the letter j . You type j & Not the number . Follow instructions . Type win & press Enter to exit . If after following the instructions to Restore , things arn't working , go to an earlier date & try again .

you can do a selective startup by pressing f8 when it says starting windows and choose that from the list bypass autoexec.bat and config.sys and see if that gets you into windows

Lorraine, Take a look at Microsoft Knowledge Base Q141898: Windows 95/98 Boots Directly to "Shut Down" Screen The information in this article applies to: Microsoft Windows 95 Microsoft Windows 98 Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition Symptoms When you start your computer, you may see the following message: It's now safe to turn off your computer This behavior can occur in any mode. Cause This behavior can occur if the Vmm32.vxd or Wininit.exe file is missing or damaged. Resolution To resolve this issue, follow these steps: To Obtain a New Copy of the Wininit.exe File Extract a new copy of the Wininit.exe file from your original Windows 95/98 disks or CD-ROM to the Windows folder. In Windows 95, the Wininit.exe file is located in the Win95_11.cab cabinet file on the Windows 95 CD-ROM or disk 11 of your original Windows 95 disks. For more information about using the Extract tool, click Start, point to Programs, click MS-DOS prompt, type extract, and then press ENTER. For additional information about using the Extract tool, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Q129605 How to Extract Original Compressed Windows Files Restart the computer. NOTE: If you installed Windows 95 from a CD-ROM, you may need to enable the Mscdex.exe line in the Autoexec.bat file or reinstall the real-mode CD-ROM drivers included with the CD-ROM drive before you can reinstall Windows 95. After you enable the real-mode CD-ROM drivers, repeat step 1 to restart the computer. To Re-Create the Vmm32.vxd File Restart your computer. For Windows 95, when you see the "Starting Windows 95" message, press the F8 key, and then choose Command Prompt Only from the Startup menu. For Windows 98, press and hold down the CTRL key after your computer completes the Power On Self Test (POST), and then choose Command Prompt Only from the Startup menu. Type the following line to change to the Windows\System folder: cd \windows\system Type the following line: ren vmm32.vxd vmm32.old Reinstall Windows 95/98. NOTE: If you installed Windows 95 from a CD-ROM, you may need to enable the Mscdex.exe line in the Autoexec.bat file or reinstall the real-mode CD-ROM drivers included with the CD-ROM drive before you can reinstall Windows 95. After you enable the real-mode CD-ROM drivers, repeat step 1 to restart the computer. More Information A Vmm32.vxd file is included on the Windows 95 disks and CD-ROM. Extracting this version of the file does not solve the problem, as it is an incomplete version of the file. You must run Setup to re-create a system-specific Vmm32.vxd file. If Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) is enabled in your computer's Basic Input/Output System (BIOS), the "It's now safe to turn off your computer" message may not be displayed when you shut down Windows 95/98.