My computer had a major meltdown for no apparent reason. Among the problems: 1. Lost sound 2. Games acting funny 3. Would not reinstall joystick software 4. Would not connect to internet Before I could fix anything the computer stopped booting up saying: WINDOWS PROTECTION ERROR. YOU NEED TO RESTART COMPUTER. SYSTEM HALTED. After that, I could not boot up in normal OR IN SAFE modes. I put in my WinME OS disc in the D drive. It then gave me the options of [Setup], [boot w/ CD-ROM support], and [boot w/out CD-ROM support]. I didn't want to reinstall through [Setup], so I pressed F3 to exit, and ended up at the prompt: D:\WIN9X>. Don't know what that means, so rebooted. Choosing either [Boot w/ CD-ROM support]or [Boot w/out CD-ROM support] inevitably leads me back to an "A:\>" prompt. I have my ME startup disk in the A drive, but the computer does not read it automatically, and I do not know what to type at the A prompt. Everything I type results in "BAD COMMAND, etc." I have searched Computing.net thoroughly, including this link: http://computing.net/windowsme/wwwboard/forum/30687.html and I do not see the answer to my problem. I have searched Microsoft.com, but for some reason there is plenty of info on CREATING startup disks, but no info on USING THEM. Why do I end up at the "A" prompt? What do I type? Please tell me how I can at least boot up long enough to get my essential files & mp3s off. I don't mind reinstalling the whole darn OS after that. Thank you very much.

You can try restoring a previous version of the registry by entering scanreg /restore from DOS. You could also try reinstalling Windows into its original directory without the loss of files. Neither is guaranteed to be successful, since much depends on the actual cause of the problem. Navigating in straight DOS in order to rescue files might prove to be a bit of a challenge if you're unfamiliar with using a command line. I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?

hordeprime, SWAG, sounds like a virus to me. Restore, as suggested by jboy sounds like a good idea if it works. Another thing you might try (assuming you don't have the original CD) is to try without disk support (that assumes a bootable disk). That will tell ME to look in it's .cab files for the files it needs to repair/replace. FWIW, "A>" is the prompt for your A drive (usually floppy disk) and expects any command or program to originate there. HTH. Ed in Texas.

Could you expand on these answers? >>>“Try restoring a previous version of the registry by entering scanreg /restore from DOS” How would I do this when trying to boot up using the WinME OS cd-rom? >>>“You could also try reinstalling Windows into its original directory without the loss of files.” I went through part of the reinstallation process to see if it would work at all. It says it can save my “system files”. What files is it saving? Will this protect my mp3s and such, while Windows reinstalls around them? This would be an acceptable solution. >>>“Another thing you might try (assuming you don't have the original CD) is to try without disk support (that assumes a bootable disk). That will tell ME to look in it's .cab files for the files it needs to repair/replace. FWIW, "A>" is the prompt for your A drive (usually floppy disk) and expects any command or program to originate there.” Now, the problem is; whether I choose “Start WITH cd-rom Support”, or “Start WITHOUT cd-rom Support”, I always end up at the “A” prompt. Once there, WHAT DO I TYPE? So far, the computer has never acknowledged the startup disk I have placed in the A drive. Any clarification is appreciated. Thx.

"Why do I end up at the "A" prompt? What do I type?" If you're using a startup diskette, it should take you to a DOS A:> prompt. From there, you can enter scanreg /restore to restore an earlier registry version - which may or may not help If you're able to boot from the ME CD, then you don't need to use a boot floppy 'with CD support' - reinstalling Windows into its original folder will only replace Windows files, and shouldn't affect other files. There may be other, better approaches - I'm more familiar with 9x than ME - and, these are only things to try, as many things can cause Windows Protection Errors I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?

Thank you jboy & EiT for the help. Although the computer would not accept the command "scanreg/retore" a the A prompt, (or any other commands), I successfully reinstalled WinME using the factory cd-rom. This allowed Norton Antivirus to identify 2 viral files & quarantine them. I have saved all my essential files & will continue doing basic maintenance.

I'm glad that things are looking up Sometimes DOS commands need to be prefaced with the path information to the actual file: c:\windows\command\scanreg /restore .. but it doesn't sound as if it was registry problem after all I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?