"I have gone to the Windows 98 SE Startup Menu and selected "Safe Mode Command Prompt Only." Typed in EDIT CONFIG.SYS, and this is how it reads:" Do the same for c:\msdos.sys. The section I'm interested in "seeing" is the PATHS section. It ~should~ look like this; [Paths] WinDir=C:\WINDOWS WinBootDir=C:\WINDOWS HostWinBootDrv=C If there is a c:\winboot.ini file post the contents of that as well. This file supercedes msdos.sys. If the msdos.sys file you post proves to be OK, then winboot.ini can be deleted. Your himem.sys file ~appears~ to be fine. Right size etc. Use the EDIT command to open c:\windows\system.ini. See if there is a line in the file: maxfilecache = 4096 Type a semicolon (;) at the beginning of the "maxfilecache = 4096" line, save the file, close the file, and then restart your computer.

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Hi Dan, Yes, I used the EDIT command to check msdos.sys and it looked exactly as you said: [Paths] WinDir=C:\WINDOWS WinBootDir=C:\WINDOWS HostWinBootDrv=C I then used the EDIT command to check "winboot.ini" and it opened the file,but there were no contents (just blank blue screen). Finally, I used EDIT command to open "windows\system.ini"and there was no line in the file reading "maxfilecache=4096." Where should I go from here? Thanks :)

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"I then used the EDIT command to check "winboot.ini" and it opened the file,but there were no contents (just blank blue screen)." If you did this without the file being already present, then you've created a blank one if you used the ENTER key when you exited through the Edit.com menu. (It does a SAVE by default.) No big thing, just delete this file. (If present, it will be processed instead of msdos.sys, so delete it.) Well, unless there are other suggestions by others, a scanreg/restore may be in order here. If files haven't been deleted or corrupted, this may get you back. Before that though, look in c:\windows\system for the file vmm32.vxd. Is it there? If so, what's the date stamp on it? (This may tell you where in time things went wrong if a scanreg/restore doesn't help.) If this file has become corrupted, you're probably looking at a O/S re-install if you don't have it backed up somewhere. As a safeguard, I've (long ago) added the following lines to my c:\windows\scanreg.ini file; Files=30,config.sys,autoexec.bat,winboot.ini,io.sys,msdos.sys Files=11,vmm32.vxd

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Yes the file is here. I'm looking in it now. Where would the date stamp be?

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About midway down, there is the following text: UPGRADE MS-DOS TO VERSION 7.01 OR HIGHER YOU NEED AN 80386 PROCESSOR TO RUN WINDOWS. WINDOWS MAY NOT RUN CORRECTLY WITH THE 80386 PROCESSOR THAT IS INSTALLED ON THIS COMPUTER. UPGRADE YOUR 80836 PROCESSOR. YOU SHOULD NOT LOAD WINDOWS INTO HIGH MEMORY. DO NOT USE "LOAD HIGH" COMMANDS TO START WINDOWS. WINDOWS ALREADY RUNNING. CANNOT RUN WINDOWS WHILE THE CURRENTLY INSTALLED PROTECTED-MODE SOFTWARE ALREADY RUNNING. QUIT THE PROTECTED-MODE SOFTWARE, AND THEN TRY AGAIN. YOU MAY NEED TO RESTART COMPUTER. NOT ENOUGH EXTENDED MEMORY AVAILABLE TO RUM WINDOWS. TRY INSTALLING HIMEM.SYS IN YOUR CONFIG. FILE, AND THEN RESTART YOUR COMPUTER BEFORE RESTARTING WINDOWS. NOT ENOUGH EXTENDED MEMORY AVAILABLE TO RUN WINDOWS. QUIT ONE OR MORE APPLICATIONS TO INCREASE AVAILABLE MEMORY OR RESTART COMPUTER. CANNOT START WINDOWS BECAUSE VMM32.VXD WAS NOT FOUND OR DAMAGED. YOU NEED TO RUN THE SETUP PROGRAM AGAIN TO INSTALL VMM32.VXD. NOT ENOUGH FILE HANDLES TO OPEN VMM32.VXD. TRY INCREASING THE "FILES=" LINE IN YOUR CONFIG.SYS FILE. ACCESS WAS DENIED WHEN OPENING THE VMM32.VXD FILE. IF THE VMM32.VXD FILE IS ON A REMOTE DISK, YOU MAY NOT HAVE PROPER ACCESS PERMISSIONS TO USE IT. CONTACT NETWORK ADMINISTRATOR... It goes on...I will continue in next post...is this helpful?

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Jay As a complete aside, don't just post your email address openly on forum pages or you are likely to get spammed like mad (they use search engines which look for "at signs"). Furthermore they collate data bases with adresses and sell the CD's to each other. Note that we can email you by clicking on your name in the header to your post (safe option). If you must put it in the text area then disguise it somehow, in this form for example: name "at sign" hotmail dot com Derek.W

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IF THE FILE IS ON A LOCAL DISK, THE DISK MAY BE DAMAGED. RUN THE CHKDSK PROGRAM IN YOUR WINDOWS DIRECTORY. YOU MAY NEED TO INSTALL WINDOWS AGAIN. A SHARING VIOLATION OCCURRED WHEN OPENING VMM32.VXD. QUIT THE PROGRAM THAT IS USING VMM32.VXD, MAKE SURE NETWORK FILES HAVE APPOPRIATE ATTRIBUTES, OR RESTART YOUR SYSTEM. REGISTRY FILE WAS NOT FOUND. REGISTRY SERVICES MAY BE INOPERATIVE FOR THIS SESSION. REGISTRY FILE WAS REPLACED WITH BACKUP COPY. CHANGES MADE IN LAST SESSION MAY BE MISSING. XMS CACHE PROBLEM. REGISTRY SERVICES MAY BE INOPERATIVE THIS SESSION. WARNING: THE 80386 PROCESSOR IN THIS COMPUTER MAY NOT RELIABLY EXECUTE 32-BIT MULTIPLICATION. WINDOWS MAY OCCASIONALLY FAIL ON THIS COMPUTER. YOU MAY WANT TO REPLACE YOUR 80386 PROCESSOR. PRESS ANY KEY TO CONTUINUE...CANNOT FIND SYSTEM.INI. YOU NEED TO RUN WINDOWS SETUP AGAIN TO INSTALL THE FILE. INSUFFICIENT FILE HANDLES TO OPEN SYSTEM.INI. RUN WINDOWS SETUP AGAIN TO INSTALL A COMPLETE SYSTEM.INI FILE. CANNOT FIND A DEVICE FILE THAT MAY BE NEEDED TO RUN WINDOWS OR A WINDOWS APPLICATION. THE WINDOWS REGISTRY OR SYSTEM.INI FILE REFERS TO THIS DEVICE FILE, BUT THE DEVICE FILE NO LONGER EXISTS. SYSTEM INI. IS MISSING "[386enh}" SECTION. IF YOU DELETED THIS FILE ON PURPOSE, TRY UNINSTALLING THE ASSOCIATED APPLICATION USING ITS UNINSTALL OR SETUP PROGRAM. A DEVICE HAS BEEN SPECIFIED MORE THAN ONCE IN THE SYSTEM.INI FILE, OR A DEVICE IN SYSTEM.INI CONFLICTS WITH A DEVICE WHICH IS BEING LOADED BY AN MS-DOS DEVICE DRIVER OR APPLICATION OR A DEVICE LOADED FROM THE REGISTRY FILE. REMOVE THE DUPLICATE ENTRY FROM THE SYSTEM.INI FILE, AND THEN RESTART WINDOWS. DUPLICATED DEVICE: A DEVICE FILE THAT IS SPECIFIED IN THE SYSTEM.INI FILE IS DAMAGED. IT MAY BE NEEDED TO RUN WINDOWS. YOU MAY NEED TO RUN THE WINDOWS SETUP PROGRAM AGAIN. IF THE FILE IS INCLUDED IN ANOTHER SOFTWARE PACKAGE, YOU MAY NEED TO REINSTALL THE SOFTWARE THAT USES THE FILE. CANNOT USE A DEVICE FILE THAT IS SPECIFIED IN THE SYSTEM.INI FILE. THE FILE MAY BE NECESSARY TO RUN WINDOWS. THE PERFORMANCE OF WINDOWS SHOULD NOT BE AFFECTED WITHOUT THIS FILE. A DEVICE FILE WHICH MAY BE NEEDED TO RUN WINDOWS IS BUILT WITH AN OLD BETA VERSION OF WINDOWS DDK. CONTACT THE SOFTWARE PROVIDER FOR A NEWER VERSION OF THE DEVICE FILE. OVERRIDE STANDARD. LOADER CANNOT GET ALL THE CONVENTIONAL MEMORY. WINDOWS WAS UNABLE TO PROCESS THE REGISTRY. THIS MAY BE FIXED BY REBOOTING TO COMMAND PROMPT ONLY AND RUNNING SCANREG /FIX. OTHERWISE THERE MAY NOT BE ENOUGH FREE CONVENTIONAL MEMORY TO PROPERLY LOAD THE REGISTRY. Ok that's the end of it. Any thoughts?

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It appears as though you are opening the vmm32.vxd file with Edit.com. If so, Don't do that. I meant the latest date of the file. Type; dir/v c:\windows\system\vmm32.vxd and hit the enter key. The file modified date will be listed on the right side of the screen. This date represents the date the file was changed. That's not as important as this; Now that you've verified that msdos.sys is OK, ~if~ there is a c:\winboot.ini file, delete it. Now type; scanreg/restore and pick a date which preceeded your problem. Confirm and let it restore the registry. (Do this only once.) Then reboot and post the results. All the above presupposes you are in either raw dos or Safe Mode - Command prompt only.

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how do i delete the c:\winboot.ini file?

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I HAVE A CLEAN HIMEM.SYS FILE ON FLOPPY DISK. HOW CAN I REPLACE THE "HIMEM.SYS is missing" on my hard drive?

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What's all the yelling for? Boot to dos. then type "copy a:\himem.sys c:\windows" and press enter. If it asks if you want to replace the existing file, say yes.

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ugh...i overwrote the hard drive "HIMEM.SYS" file with a clean version on my A drive and I still get the "HIMEM.SYS is missing" message when I check C:\>win. Can't imagine what the problem is. Anyone have any insight? Also, still getting the "VFAT DEVICE INITIALIZATION FAILED" message on the blue screen.

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"how do i delete the c:\winboot.ini file?" At a command line (A:\> or C:\>)type; del c:\winboot.ini "Can't imagine what the problem is. Anyone have any insight?" My #9: :Well, unless there are other suggestions by others, a scanreg/restore may be in order here. If files haven't been deleted or corrupted, this may get you back." & my #14: "Now that you've verified that msdos.sys is OK, ~if~ there is a c:\winboot.ini file, delete it. Now type; scanreg/restore and pick a date which preceeded your problem. Confirm and let it restore the registry. (Do this only once.) Then reboot and post the results. All the above presupposes you are in either raw dos or Safe Mode - Command prompt only."

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The HIMEM.SYS is missing, can also signify that you have have faulty or failing RAM modules. You could try taking out the memory sticks, and cleaning the contacts, and maybe also swapping them around in the different slots. Krystyna

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When I run C:\>scandisk, I get the following message: There is no extended memory driver loaded on your computer. Make sure that you have HIMEM.SYS file on the disk from which you are starting your computer, and the restart using the 'command prompt only' option. Depending on the location of the HIMEM.sys file, you may nned to add a line such as DEVICE=A:\HIMEM.SYS or DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS in the config.sys file on your boot drive. SO HERE ARE MY QUESTIONS.... how do i get to the "A prompt" if I am unable to load Windows in either Safe or Normal Mode? I always end up at C:\> ... which I think is the DOS prompt. I would like to copy the Windows 98 SE file that I downloaded from bootdisk.com onto my comp. using the A:\>sys c: command to see if it helps matters... Also, DAVEINCAPS once instructed a poster to do the following: "Ok, that's second edition. I'll email you a copy of my msdos.sys. Even though it's a small file I'll zip so it won't be blocked. Unzip it to a blank floppy disk. Then boot the ailing computer to the dos prompt again. At the prompt type: path c:\windows;c:\windows\command and enter. Then type: attrib -s -h -r c:\msdos.sys and enter. Then put the floppy disk with the downloaded msdos.sys in and type: copy a:\msdos.sys c:\ and enter. Answer Y to overwriting the existing file. When it's done type: attrib +s +h +r c:\msdos.sys and enter. Take the bootdisk out and restart the computer and post back what happens." I think I might have the same problem. Does anyone have a copy of msdos.sys they can email me? I am running on a WIN98SEFAT3....should I try what DAVEINCAPS said before I try the A:\>sys c: command? I greatly appreciate everyone's help :)

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I don't think the problem is with your msdos.sys file as it looks to be the windows and not the dos/bootdisk version. I don't think himem.sys is causing the VFAT message either. It sounds like you only got the 'himem.sys is missing' when you booted to 'safe mode command prompt only'. Using that option prevents himem.sys from loading. If you then type 'win' to start windows you get the himem.sys missing message. You get that message because it didn't load, not because the file is actually gone. Since you can't boot to safe or normal mode, you have few options. If you're lucky maybe it's a registry problem. Choose command prompt only from the boot menu and at the prompt type scanreg/restore and enter. Choose a registry to restore with a date that precedes the problem. If there is no previous registry preceding the problem or that doesn't fix it, I think you'll need to try reinstalling windows over itself.

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Adding to that, if you want to run scandisk from dos make sure a line that reads device=c:\windows\himem.sys is in your config.sys. Then from the boot menu choose 'command prompt only'--which loads config.sys--and not 'safe mode command prompt only' which doesn't load it.

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Bob's VFAT link indicates ifshlp.sys can cause a vfat error. If you still have that line in your config.sys, use edit to change it to: REM DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\IFSHLP.SYS so that particular line doesn't load. Then attempt to reboot normally and see what happens.

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Microsoft Scandisk: "Scandisk detected an invalid long filename on this drive but was unable to fix it. To fix problem, run Scandisk for Windows." Clicked 'ok.' Says it can't repair a file in C:\WINDOWS\... How do I reinstall Windows over itself?

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Have you tried the scanreg/restore suggested by myself (# 9 & 14) and DAVEINCAPS (#22)? This approach will be wiser than just jumping to a reinstall, especially if you plan to do a clean install. (ie; formatting the hard drive.)

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yes, I tried and it didn't work. One of the five registry dates works. It says: "You have restored a previous backup of your registry that contains no errors. To begin using the new registry, you must restart your computer now." Then I restart and get the blue "VFAT INITIALIZATION FAILED" screen again. Don't know what's up....but disheartening...

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Also, my CD-ROM drive is faulty. Is it possible to do reinstall Windows over itself without the use of the D drive? Unless anyone else has any other suggestions (which I deeply appreciate by the way :)....what do I need for a reinstall?

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Well, with the cdrom drive cacked, there's not a lot you can do. Some copy the Win98 folder from the cd to their hard disk to run setup, but with an inoperable cdrom drive, the only way would be a direct cable transfer of the files. Or a large data dump space on the net which you could download the files from. You can pick up a new cdrom drive for under $20.00 or $30.00. (CDN funds.)

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Are you sure the cdrom is physically bad? Sometimes they'll be problems with it's operation in windows that are software related. You can try booting with a bootdisk, choose cdrom support and then do a DIR on a cd data disk to see if you can get a directory listing. Did you try modifying the line in config.sys to disable the loading of ifshlp.sys?

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Has anyone tought of posting a copy of msdos.sys to Jay, it does after all load himem.sys + ifshlp.sys.. Which just amazes me that someone said to load it in his config.sys file.. Also the point that Krystina made about ram being faulty is what i've encountered when errors like what Jay is mentioning.. The problem with most bios default settings is the extended memory test is always turned off to decrease boot time & thus we end up chasing our tails as a result. Just my AU .002cents worth.

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I'm not sure what you mean. I don't think anyone has suggested attempting to run msdos.sys from config.sys. He already has himem.sys and ifshlp.sys in his config.sys. Himem.sys needs to be there if he wants to run scandisk in dos. REMing out ifshlp would be a test to see if it being there is causing the error. Unless he has a truncated version of msdos.sys he has the correct version. However it would be helpful if he could post back the entire file.

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But he does'nt need to have himem.sys or ifshlp.sys to load in his config.sys.. The 1.62kb msdos.sys loads them both either when he boots to command prompt or fully boots the system.. Try this & you'll see what I mean.. Format a floppy & make it bootable, when done go to the C: drive of the win98 conputer , unhide all files & folders & now copy the 1.62kb - somtimes 1.64 kb Msdos.sys to the floppy you just made bootable overwriting the one thats already there... Now boot a computer that does'nt have an OS installed on it yet with that floppy you just made.. Youll get an error message about being unable to find either the himem.sys & the ifshlp.sys file yet there's no config.sys trying to load it because the msdos.sys does. Now put the himem.sys & ifshlp.sys on the floppy & now you'll get an error about unable to find win.com but no error about himem or ifshlp.sys because msdos found them on the floppy.

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Ken, I believe it's io.sys that loads the memory manager & ifshlp.sys. Msdos.sys is just an elaborated config.sys. ie; memory managers aren't even mentioned in there. Config.sys (which is run after io.sys) dictates (if you want) the loading of either. If there are no mentions in config.sys, they both load.

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Dan , I know the Io.sys loads the himem.sys + ifshlp.sys but it's the contents of the Msdos.sys that invokes the Io.sys to load Himem + ifshlp. The point i was making is why would you need to load the himem.sys & ifshlp.sys via the config.sys when it should be loaded at startup if the right Msdos.sys is on the boot drive.

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If you read the 1st post made by Jay you will see he posted the contents of the config.sys file which is being used to load the himem.sys & ifshlp.sys , why , it should'nt need to be if the right Msdos.sys file is on the boot-drive.

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"but it's the contents of the Msdos.sys that invokes the Io.sys to load Himem + ifshlp.' That's just... fascinating - and completely without factual basis. Just where in MSDOS.SYS are himem & ifshelp invoked?? How does MSDOS.SYS invoke IO.SYS? Or for that matter, why? If you read the 8th post made by Jay you will see he posted the contents of the MSDOS.SYS file - how can that not be the'right' one? this may help: The Computer Boot Process A bad cause seldom fails to betray itself

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I did try overwriting the dos msdos.sys on a sys'd bootdisk with the windows version as suggested in #33. I got messages of missing c:\windows\himem.sys, c:\windows\dblbuff.sys and c:\windows\ifshlp.sys. Adding those files to the bootdisk and rebooting resulted in the same messages. I then added a: to the paths in the msdos.sys [paths] section and got the same results. I then added a: by itself on separate path lines. Booting up with that gave a boot menu as well as a compressed drive error message, but no missing file messages. I ran scandisk and it worked OK indicating himem.sys had loaded. The [paths] section in msdos.sys tells the OS where to look for the files it needs. The process didn't look on the a: drive for the files until that section was modified to include a:. On the computer I used I just set the HD to NONE in cmos. I doubt the results were any different than if the HD had been there but had no OS on it. The OS was 98 FE. I made the recommendations about config.sys because Jay was apparently using 'safe mode command prompt only' both in attempting to run scandisk and to start windows. Since himem.sys doesn't load under those circumstances--whether from config.sys or elsewhere--it wasn't evidence of a problem with the file itself. You can run scandisk and start windows from 'command prompt only' because the necessary files do load.

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