Ok, I did something stupid. I used some program that was supposed to modify the system to have the USB drivers and such. Well, long story short - USER.EXE is screwed up with some fake version that makes windows freeze up at the login screen! I went back into DOS and double-checked the system files, they all check out except for USER.EXE and DDHELP.EXE. I tried extracting the files from my Win 98 CD but when I did, I got some error message about USER.EXE being corrupt then it shuts down. So, basically I need someone to email me Win 98SE's USER.EXE and DDHELP.EXE from the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM folder, please put it in a ZIP file and email it to wegg_2000xxx@yahoo.com ([please remove the 3 xxx's it's to prevent spam). Safe mode doesn't work either!

The following files were ok
EXPLORER.EXE
MSHTA.EXE
MPREXE.EXE
GDI.EXE
MSGSRV32.EXE
KERNEL32.DLL
MMTASK.TSK

Thanks,
Faris,

check windows~sysbckup folder for files,

DDHELP.EXE is part of directX, could reinstall,

Win98_42.cab

try running sfc.exe in safe mode,

user replace
... info suggest that if unable to re-istall windows, :(

6B 69 6C 72 6F 79 20 77 61 73 20 68 65 72 65

Ok, this program was a sly one! It replaced the good copies of USER.EXE and DDHELP.EXE with the bad ones!!! Even the ones in C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS!

I really need someone with Win 98 SE to email me them please!

Also, whenever I try safe mode I get an error in MPREXE stating it was in KERNEL32.DLL, I checked both these files are ok. Also, I did DIR USER.* /A/S/P at the C:\ level and it found nothing but the bad ones.

I was able to get the good DDHELP from my CD but I would prefer to get one that I know works from someone who has it.

Thanks,
Faris,

HOW TO: Extract Original Compressed Windows Files

As mentioned - DDHELP.EXE is part of DirectX - likely you are using an updated version, rather than the outdated (original) version on the CD

See here wrt SFC & User.exe

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.. and I find it (very) difficult to believe that this 'rogue program' modified the Windows CAB archives.

Like they say on TV: "Shirley, you must be mistaken"

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Hey,
People, please! As I stated before, I CANNOT ACCESS WINDOWS AT ALL! Not even in SAFE MODE. Only MS-DOS.

I can't run SFC in DOS, safe mode gives me the MPREXE error and regular windows is a complete lockup at the login screen! I get the hourglass and it freezes, not even CTRL ALT DEL works.

Well, I assure you, I am NOT embarrased and lying. It was some program that supposedly gives windows 98 the properties to accept USB devices like Win ME and such without tons of drivers and then I saw it said a message that it was replacing USER.EXE and such and by the time I reacted, it was too late! I had no original copies at all on the HD. I don't remember exactly what I searched but it was on Google and something like "USB hard drive in MS-DOS mode" and I found one link on bootdisk.com (not the bad site) and another site that totally screwed me up when I downloaded a program. When I get the system up and running again I can tell you what it is.

Also, the date of the file is something like 1-02-02 or something like that at 8:33 AM, the CAB archives on the HD state the SAME thing instead of 4-23-99 like it should.

Not intending to be pushy but could some kind person please email me the files please?? I repeat, SFC will NOT work because Windows will NOT load in safe or normal mode for me, period. USER.EXE is damaged which means that I can't access windows, USER.EXE is the core component of windows.

Can I use the Windows 98 FE USER.EXE in Win 98SE? I have a CD of Win 98 FE as well but I didn't try that for fear of worse problems. I know someone who still runs win 98 but I won't be able to see him again until next week so I would prefer to resolve this ASAP!

Also, I am unsure exactly about what DirectX is but I am running IE 5.5, I don't do windows update so let's assume I'm using the older version. Is it a problem to use the original version?

Thanks,
Faris,

Try to condense your replies to a more readable length

You can extract files from DOS if need be - I don't think your assessment of your present situation is accurate (nor am I terribly surprised at the inevitable outcome)

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Well, I have another working computer at home, I can just copy them to a floppy and put them on the 98 since both files fit on a floppy. That is why I am asking for someone to email me them.

Honestly, what do I have to do here? I was looking for DOS USB drivers to use a USB hard drive regarding my recent post in hardware about my 160 GB HD not being recognized and one of the sites must have been something that messes up computers. Has anyone on here heard of something that changes your version of USER.EXE being a good thing?

Also, I am extracting the files from my CD on this Windows ME computer. Whenever I press "extract" on USER.EXE in WIN98_46.CAB it just says "Extracting" and nothing ever happens no matter how long I wait.

Also, I apologize in advance but I have to know. Why is it out of the question for someone to email me the file?? Does no one that has replied have Win 98 anymore or what exactly?

Thanks,
Faris,

Farris (comma)

While it may be an emergency to you (albeit self inflicted) it's past three in the morning here.

I would've thought someone with your experience could easily dig your way out of a simple problem like this.

Whatever - over the years I've sent many files to folks I barely knew - but they all had one thing in common (they'd managed not to irritate the hell out of me)

Be patient - someone may send you the files (just not me)

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Sorry, major apologies there! But I have some important word docs on here that I need submitted by this saturday that I was a few mins away from emailing myself to my other computer just before that chrisis happend. It's several big documents that are many, many pages long and won't fit on a floppy and if I open them in the MS-DOS editor, they're all gibberish so I can't just recopy. I wouldn't go on an on about this if it weren't of the most imporant priority for me.

Won't you please reconsider sending them? I would never do this again. Yeah, I do know a lot but there isn't much someone can do without a replacement component. I'm sure you know what I mean.
I'll be getting off now and probably won't be back til 5 PM as I'm busy all day tomorrow. Anyway, it's a crazy thing here, on this computer, I have backups of ALL system files but on my Win 98 computer I never did anything like that and it turns out that is the computer I needed to do it on! How ironic!

Thanks,
Faris,

If you have another system available, you could remove the hard drive and connect it to the other system as a slave. Then copy off the critical files. That might be safer than trying to restore your present system and ending up with losing everything.

Do yourself a favor BACKUP!!!

Firstly both user.exe and ddhelp.exe are files that get updated. This means that nobody really knows what file versions you need (unless you do).

You can get the "orginal" ones off your W98SE CD using DOS if that's what you want.

However it seems you don't wish to do that, so sure I'll send you the original CD versions (rather than the ones I have on my HD).

I suppose anything will be better than nothing but it is quite possible you'll have re-install DirectX for starters.

DerekW

I've sent them.

DerekW

DerekW, THANKS A TON!! It worked! I can now access windows and everything is fine! I also, ran SFC and found nothing wrong. Also, that bad USER.EXE had a version number of 4.10.2231 instead of 4.10.2222 and the DDHELP had a different version number as well. I've deleted the files and am backing up all my other system files as well just incase this ever happens again. Also, I was searching "Using an external Hard disk in DOS" on google and clicked on one of the links. I'm not searching again but according to the history the site was "www.datopic.com" and I downloaded a file called DAT.EXE that is 669 K in size. I've deleted this as well. Has anyone ever heard of this?

Also, I was able to get those word docs emailed to another computer, thanks again! Those were vital documents!

Also, jboy sorry for irritating you, hope everything between us is still going good.

Thanks,
Faris,

Just for info, the user.exe on my HD (obviously updated sometime) is 4.10.2227 so if you ever need that I can oblige.

As SFC has been mentioned, it's worth noting my collations plus WhitPhil's additions here:

SFC CAN GET IT WRONG

User.exe get's a mention but I made sure it was the right one.

Moving on, shove "dat.exe" in Google. There are quite a few hits - most likely a virus it seems.

DerekW

Hey,
Thanks again. You're a life-saver, Derek! Ok then. I will keep it in mind.

Yeah, well. I just guess I'll have to be more careful next time and I won't download anything pertaining drivers or such unless it's from a refutable site.

Thanks,
Faris,

Glad all is OK now and thx for popping back to let us know.

DerekW