Sure - just 'dir' will list every file and folder from c:\ (which is usually quite a few) 'File not found' indicates the files aren't there (if entered correctly) 'WIN98 <DIR>' on a hard drive is probably your installation CAB files - good to know, and you could likely extract the required files yourself from DOS, but it's probably simpler if I send them Ok - hopefully you have a floppy drive? I'll email you the files with instructions We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true

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Yes, I have a floppy drive. Will look for the files. Truly appreciate the help provided!!! As a safety net, I took the hard drive out of the system last night. switched it from a Master to a Slave then connected it up to a system at my Mom's house nearby. Copied off all important data to a folder I created on her system as a temporary backup storage spot just in case. Question about that is her system is XP so in the event that I have to recover those files from her system back to mine will that present any issues?? Again, hopefully this won't be necessary but just wondering in case.

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If you were able to successfully backup files to that system, I don't foresee any problems. It is odd for Windows files to just 'disappear' - if that is the case, there's usually some reason: deleted by user virus file corruption We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true

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*#!$ The system I'm working on right now is my work laptop. Our company email system is locked down pretty darn tight and they end up blocking most zip file and .exe file attachments from coming through. Can you resend this to another email address (Mom's system)?? How can I send that email address to you without posting it within the thread here?

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Just replace the address in the email field by your name - that way it will be encrypted, and available only to registered users here - and post a message back OR you could use the Private Message function from "My Computing.Net" - I believe the one launched from the icon here is disabled for the original poster (long story) We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true

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I'm also very curious to know how these files got deleted, corrupted, or a virus. The only way deletion could have happened is if that happened during the downloading of the 4 critical updates from Microsoft. When I start the system without the Windows 98 Startup Disk or the Emergency Recovery CD (Bootable) in the system, it goes to the Windows 98 Start Up Menu and when I choose Normal it runs the AVG Bootup Scanner virus detection software installed and does not find any viruses before giving the Cannot Find WIN.COM message.

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Would it be possible to change the extension on the file that you are sending to something other than zip or exe, and if the filter lets it go through then just let me know what to rename it to change the extension back. My wife suggested trying this as they used to do this at the financial software company she worked at when they had to email files to institutions that filtering software in place. Just a thought to save some time with treking over to the other system.

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I sent a message to the email address it showed from the attachment file email you sent. My company's filter system shows information on who sent the email and what type of file it blocked. Provided alternate email address. See post right before this one as well regarding file extension?? Thanks!

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The AVG scanner is loaded from DOS - Win9x systems boot to DOS before attempting to invoke Windows. The startup menu is a function of IO.SYS, the main (DOS) system file. 'Cannot find win.com' occurs because: a) the PATH information contained in MSDOS.SYS is absent or incorrect b) win.com is actually missing (or corrupt) Sometimes you never really know "why" We can try renaming the extension, but there is no guarantee that will be successful We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true

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If you don't mind send the original one to the alternate email address that I sent to you. Then just for the heck of it, try the change extension thing, to maybe something like a .doc, and email it to that first email address again. Sorry for this snag and I appreciate you hanging in there with me on this!!

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I sent the 'renamed' attachment to the original address, as 'TXT' If that is unsuccessful, post back & I'll resend the ZIP to the new address We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true

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Well looks like it still blocked it! Go ahead and send it to the alternate email address and I'll take a drive over there and copy off these files. Anything specific I need to do regarding the Zip file. Will the file your sending fit on one floppy disk (1.44MB)? I'll take my laptop with me to correspond in case I run into problems. Thanks again for all the effort!!

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They'll fit (with room to spare) Should be there by now We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true

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Well the system I had you resend the file to is having some type of email problems. Since it is not my system, I'm not going to mess with trying to fix it, at least not right now. I figured out a way to get into my home email account from a guest computer. I know this is testing your patience, but would you mind sending the file again to the new email address listed for me. I appreciate all of your efforts here and again sorry for the repetitive tasks!

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Got that first set copied over to my system and it booted up past the point it was sticking on before, but it now stopping at the following message on the DOS screen: VMM32.VXD is required to run Windows. If this file is not in your PATH, you may need to reinstall Windows. C:\> Is this another file or file(s) that can be transferred over?? Thanks again for everything thus far!

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That system of yours has certainly taken a beating. That particular file may be problematic, as it is compiled upon installation - the one thing you don't want to do is extract a copy from the CD - that one would be useless. It's been widely held that the only (simple) way to restore that file is to reinstall Windows into its original folder - some have reported success by using a file from another machine. To that end, I'll send you a copy from one of mine - nothing lost by trying. If that doesn't do it, then you would probably need to reinstall to C:\windows - although there is a way to recreate the file manually, it is somewhat convoluted. We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true

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Yeah, it needs a meritorious reinstall. For future refrence, you can avoid the email blocking by using: www.yousendit.com If at first you don't succeed, you're about average. M2Go

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That may well be the case, as I'm wondering what other missing files or new errors may turn up as we progress. I've recommended scanning the HDD for errors Yah - things could've gone a tad faster if a known good email addy had been used, but that was just a minor snag We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true

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OK, I've copied the VMM32 file over to a floppy and I'm heading back home to run it. In the meantime, I'm sure this is probably very simple but how do I get Scandisk to run from a DOS start or from the boot disk as you suggest?? Thanks again!

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I copied the VMM32 file to the system and then did a restart. Here is the DOS screen showing: C:\SET PATH=C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\WBEM;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND C:\> VMM32.VXD is required to run Windows. If this file is not in your PATH, you may need to reinstall Windows. C:\> When the system boots up it goes to the Windows 98 Startup Menu. Which option should I be choosing?? I tried to use NORMAL and the results are what I entered up above. If this file copied over successfully from the floppy disk, why isn't the system finding it??

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"Which option should I be choosing??" Do I really need to answer that one? To run scandisk from DOS (wait for it.... ) enter scandisk c: Replacing that file was 'iffy' at best - that PATH info looks like it's coming from autoexec.bat? Usually unnecessary, path information is kept in MSDOS.SYS, although there is a Windows default Go ahead and reinstall Windows into its folder, unless you receive a better suggestion We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true

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First off...Thanks again for the efforts thus far! To answer your question, Yes I wanted to make sure that NORMAL was the route to take, as I did not know if SAFEMODE should possibly be used. Not sure why that is perceived as a unnecessary question?? BTW, the scandisk command (scandisk c:) did not work. Returned the Bad command or file name message. When I tried to enter it as (cd scandisk c:) it returned a message of "Too many parameters - c:" I only have an Emergency Recovery CD (Bootable) and the Windows 98 Startup Disk that I created, as the system came loaded with Win98se but no Windows 98 disk. Will the recovery disk contain everything necessary to reinstall Windows as you now suggest?

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cd means "change directory". No such directory as scandisk so that's why it didn't understand you. With DOS commands you have to be spot on. DerekW

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Derek, Thanks for explaining that to me. I'm trying to learn these type of things as I go, especially DOC commands. Like a foreign language to me. Any reason why the command "scandisk c:" did not work. Typed it in exactly as shown on the post.

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It should have worked so I've no idea why it didn't. You could try the full command line (but it shouldn't be necessary):- c:\windows\command\scandisk.exe Do it exactly as above with no extra spaces. DerekW

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... no idea why you were unable to transfer vmm32.vxd from floppy either. With floppy in drive (from any DOS prompt) you type:- copy a:\vmm32.vxd c:\windows\system Note there are two spaces in that line. Worth trying to run scandisk first tho if poss. DerekW

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This sounds like a lot of fun! Have we established whether the windows directory contains any files? dir c:\windows There should be hundreds.

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