HELP Every time I try to boot Windows 98, it boots twice and ends up in safe mode. I always boot clean - that is, I never just turn of the computer without going thru the Shut Down Windows routine. No recent power outages, and I have an uninterruptable power supply anyway. I've been thru all sorts of TroubleShooting attempts, with nothing changing in the least. Yes - its really safe mode. It says safe mode at the 4 corners of the screen and I have to click "OK" on a popup window that tells me Windows was not able to load, and I'm in safe mode so I "can fix the problem that keeps Windows from loading properly..." Less than 24 hours before it started, I downloaded McAfee's latest dat files and did a scan of my entire hard drive. All files, all folders, including .zip files... No Viruse Found. The first time the system went into safe mode (and the last time I saw the system work right) was immediately after (successfully) installing EZ CD Creator. After the message saying the program was successfully installed, it asked for a reboot. I said OK and BOOM - Safe Mode. I've rebooted dozens of times since then, attempting different solutions (well, non-solutions.) Uninstalling EZ CD Creator didn't change the problem one iota. During the boot up, BIOS recognizes the CDROM drive, and identifies it, just like before. "FOUND CDROM : CD-RW CDX100E" Under the Windows StartUp screen (I hit "escape" when the windows graphic is on-screen), there are no error messages. It happens exactly the same way every time. I think its attempting to load Windows drivers, reaches some sort of contradiction, reboots. Once in Windows Safe Mode, the CD drive is "unavailable" (it doesn't exist). Windows Explorer and "My Computer" show 2 floppies (A: and B: - though I only have one floppy drive) and the C: drive and those are the only drives shown. And under Start/Control Panel/ I'm not able to "Install New Hardware" because the computer is in Safe Mode. Under Start/Control Panel/System/Device Manager the "CDROM" and "CDROM Controllers" drivers appear to be the original (Sony) drivers that have always been there. (and they're dated 1998, not new). Under "Properties" for the CDROM driver, I find that "Status is not available when Windows is running in Safe Mode." Under the "Settings" tab, TargetID is 0, only "Auto Insert Notification" is checked, and drive letter assignment is R: Under the "Driver" tab, clicking "Update Driver" tells me the current driver is the best driver for the device... I don't want to delete these drivers, because I can't "Install New Hardware" unless I can get out of Safe Mode. I can't access the modem (I'm using another computer to post this message) or the Network Neighborhood (my local network - 2 computers). During the re-boot, when I'm told Windows was unable to load properly, and I'm given the choices of going into Safe Mode or not, when attempting choice #1 - Normal - Windows still boots into Safe Mode. Over and over again. Using Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Information I find there are "no identified Hardware Conflicts" and there is "No CDROM Drive" - but then again, it's in Safe Mode. I can't get out of Safe Mode to find out if there WOULD be Hardware Conficts if the System were in Normal Mode. Registry Checker finds "No Problems" and after a manual (visual) scan of all the entries in the Registry, I couldn't find any mention of Easy CD Creator (or any variation)... I've reverted to a previous version of my Registry, from the day before the installation that started all this. Same problem. "Dr Watson found nothing obviously unusual." Dr Watson does show a reference to Adaptec (maker of EZ CD Creator) under the "Kernel Drivers" tab. "Adaptec APIX Virtual Device" which is part of "Adeptec's ASPI Layer" I have no idea if this is in any way related to the CDROM drive ??? When I go to the command prompt, instead of trying to load windows, I do have access to the CDROM. I have drivers being loaded in the CONFIG.SYS file and a lh (load high) statement in my AUTOEXEC.BAT file, and that works. But not in Windows. I selectively choose NOT to run the AUTOEXEC and CONFIG.SYS files, and that makes no difference. In fact, I've renamed both of them, just to be sure, but still the same problem. I've also done 14 consecutive reboots, selectively NOT allowing one of the Windows drivers (a different one each time) to install, all to no avail. This is extremely frustrating, and I NEED to get past this. Can anyone make any suggestions? All help appreciated. Screens...

Did u try a registry restore to the original .reg ? i'd got to start run type msconfig, check everything there is ok, have u tried bottin into dos and typing win.

yes, yes and yes. It seems like I've tried everything, but I obviously am missing the ONE thing that will work... Thank you for the fast response, Screens

wow - long one there. Seen all this before. Basically your registry is screwed. You can :- 1. Reinstall Windows (it will overwrite the registry and hopefully solve your problem) 2. Try and restore your registry (using a cleaner - can find free ones on the net) 3. Try and find the root of the problem i.e. which driver is causing the problem. This is the most time-consuming - but may help you to understand a little about your computer. Go to help - troubleshooting - startup/shutdown problems and have a look there. You can also play around with your startup options with a windows program (can't remember what it's called - (start menu,programs,accessories, i think is where you find it)) Hope this helps.

you can also get windows to write to a boot log so that you may be able to see where it goes wrong. Bootlog.txt which you will have to find when windows loads into safe mode.

ok try this: Use Windows Explorer or My Computer to delete the Wnbootng.sts file in the Windows folder, and then restart your computer. If deleting this file does not resolve the issue, try the following steps. Type the following lines at a command prompt, pressing ENTER after each line attrib -s -h -r :\io.sys ren drive:\io.sys drive:\io.xxx where drive is your computer's physical boot disk. Insert the Windows 95/98 Startup disk in drive A. Type the following line, and then press ENTER a:\sys drive: where drive is your computer's physical boot disk. Remove the Startup disk and then restart Windows 95/98. Might work u never know. Liam

If you haven't already done so (I think you may have by now), try this: 1. Restart your computer 2. Peck on the F8 key until you see a list of options. 3. Choose "Command Prompt Only" 4. At the prompt, type--> scanreg /restore (That's scanreg space slash restore) 5. Choose an older registry date (when you didn't have the boo boo), like a week ago. You only have 4 dates to choose from. I always pick the oldest one. 6. Hit the "R" key to Restore. 7. Then you should get a message saying you have restored your registry to one that's not corrupt. 8. Restart. It's very simple, and just might work. Good Luck!