Guest Ray K Posted February 29, 2008 Posted February 29, 2008 Probably due to the win32.agent.cmn virus that got me earlier today, despite using several programs to remove it, including SpyBot, I can't boot properly, Once I get past the splash screen, I see the desktop and all the icons. But once all the startup items are loaded, I see a series of newly opening dialog boxes that say c:\WINNT\Syustem32\command.com. After dozens open within about 45 seconds, I get an Program Error dialog box that says "explorer.exe has generated errors and will be closed by Windows. You need to restart the program." Hitting Cancel closes this box, but I'm left with original dozens of boxes. If I use Task Manager to try to close them, I eventually can (after about 5 minutes), but then I'm left with a blank, blue screen. No desktop icons and nothing along the bottom (Start, clock, quick launch, etc.). If I then press the Reset switch, after getting to a normal desktop the screen goes blank, as above. I don't know why all those command.com boxes don't open again. If I try starting in the Safe Mode, I'll get to a point where the screen is black, with the words Safe Mode in the four corners, and in the middle is a box that says "Please wait, windows is starting up..." That message remains for about four minutes, then disappears and just the black, blank screen remains. (No start button or desktop icons.) If I wait long enough the icons and task bar appear, along with a message that windows is in the safe mode. If I do nothing the message disappears and I'm back to the black screen with nothing along the bottom. Task Manager show that explorer.exe is not running. If I go to File/New Task (run) and type explorer.exe in the box, the desktop icon reappear for 8 seconds, then I get a Desktop dialog box saying that Windows is in the Safe Mode. If I click on OK, I see the desktop icons for 8 seconds until the Desktop dialog box reappears. This 8-second cycling back and forth will continue as long as I keep clicking on OK. If I don't, explorer.exe shuts down on its own and I'm again left with the blank screen. I've probably aggrevated the condition by first trying to repair W2k with the original installation disc. When that failed, out of desperation I tried a fresh reinstall; obviously without success. I'm about ready to take the drastic step of replacing the hard drive, because the problems seem so overwhelming. I discuss my plan in the post following this one. Thanks for any help you provide that will save me the replacement effort. Ray
Guest Dave Patrick Posted February 29, 2008 Posted February 29, 2008 Re: Major Startup Problems The disk doesn't need to be replaced. To do a clean install, either boot the Windows 2000 install CD-Rom or setup disks. The set of four install disks can be created from your Windows 2000 CD-Rom; change to the \bootdisk directory on the CD-Rom and execute makeboot.exe (from dos) or makebt32.exe (from 32 bit) and follow the prompts. (Note: If your drive controller is not natively supported then you'll want to boot the Windows 2000 install CD-Rom. Then *F6* very early and very important (at setup is inspecting your system) in the setup to prevent drive controller detection, and select S to specify additional drivers. Then later you'll be prompted to insert the manufacturer supplied Windows 2000 driver for your drive controller in drive "A") Setup inspects your computer's hardware configuration and then begins to install the Setup and driver files. When the Windows 2000 Professional screen appears, press ENTER to set up Windows 2000 Professional. Read the license agreement, and then press the F8 key to accept the terms of the license agreement and continue the installation. When the Windows 2000 Professional Setup screen appears, all the existing partitions and the unpartitioned spaces are listed for each physical hard disk. Use the ARROW keys to select the partitions Press D to delete an existing partition, If you press D to delete an existing partition, you must then press L (or press ENTER, and then press L if it is the System partition) to confirm that you want to delete the partition. Repeat this step for each of the existing partitions When all the partitions are deleted press F3 to exit setup, (to avoid unexpected drive letter assignments with your new install) then restart the pc then when you get to this point in setup again select the unpartitioned space, and then press C to create a new partition and specify the size (if required). Windows will by default use all available space. Be sure to apply SP4 and these two below to your new install before connecting to any network. Internet included. (sasser, msblast) http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/6/A/E6A04295-D2A8-40D0-A0C5-241BFECD095E/W2KSP4_EN.EXE http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-043.mspx http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-049.mspx Then Rollup 1 for Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?amp;displaylang=en&familyid=B54730CF-8850-4531-B52B-BF28B324C662&displaylang=en -- Regards, Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup. Microsoft Certified Professional Microsoft MVP [Windows] http://www.microsoft.com/protect "Ray K" wrote: > Probably due to the win32.agent.cmn virus that got me earlier today, > despite > using several programs to remove it, including SpyBot, I can't boot > properly, Once I get past the splash screen, I see the desktop and all > the > icons. But once all the startup items are loaded, I see a series of newly > opening dialog boxes that say c:\WINNT\Syustem32\command.com. After dozens > open within about 45 seconds, I get an Program Error dialog box that says > "explorer.exe has generated errors and will be closed by Windows. You need > to restart the program." Hitting Cancel closes this box, but I'm left with > original dozens of boxes. > > If I use Task Manager to try to close them, I eventually can (after about > 5 > minutes), but then I'm left with a blank, blue screen. No desktop icons > and > nothing along the bottom (Start, clock, quick launch, etc.). > > If I then press the Reset switch, after getting to a normal desktop the > screen goes blank, as above. I don't know why all those command.com boxes > don't open again. > > If I try starting in the Safe Mode, I'll get to a point where the screen > is > black, with the words Safe Mode in the four corners, and in the middle is > a > box that says "Please wait, windows is starting up..." That message > remains > for about four minutes, then disappears and just the black, blank screen > remains. (No start button or desktop icons.) If I wait long enough the > icons > and task bar appear, along with a message that windows is in the safe > mode. > If I do nothing the message disappears and I'm back to the black screen > with > nothing along the bottom. > > Task Manager show that explorer.exe is not running. If I go to File/New > Task > (run) and type explorer.exe in the box, the desktop icon reappear for 8 > seconds, then I get a Desktop dialog box saying that Windows is in the > Safe > Mode. If I click on OK, I see the desktop icons for 8 seconds until the > Desktop dialog box reappears. This 8-second cycling back and forth will > continue as long as I keep clicking on OK. If I don't, explorer.exe shuts > down on its own and I'm again left with the blank screen. > > I've probably aggrevated the condition by first trying to repair W2k with > the original installation disc. When that failed, out of desperation I > tried > a fresh reinstall; obviously without success. > > I'm about ready to take the drastic step of replacing the hard drive, > because the problems seem so overwhelming. I discuss my plan in the post > following this one. Thanks for any help you provide that will save me the > replacement effort. > > Ray > > > > > > >
Guest Ray K Posted February 29, 2008 Posted February 29, 2008 Re: Major Startup Problems Dave, Thanks so much for the guidance. Things are becoming a comedy of errors. When I stick the first of four setup disks (made two years ago) into the problem computer, I get a Disk I/O error message. (No other words like reinsert the disk and try again.) So I can't make a new set on that computer because I can't boot properly. So I figured I'd make a new set of setup disks using an old laptop (the one I'm.using for these messages). Problem is, even though it has a floppy drive, its CD-ROM doesn't work. No problem, I have two newer laptops. Needless to say, neither has a floppy drive. vWith the W2K Pro disk in one of the newer laptops, I can see makebt.32.exe and four img files. Is there a way for me to use a USB flash drive by copying the four files to it? The bios in the problem computer does allow me to boot from USB-HDD. While waiting for your reply, I'm investigating something called Ultimate Boot Disk. Again, many thanks. Ray "Dave Patrick" <DSPatrick@nospam.gmail.com> wrote in message news:667A593A-8570-46BF-9A65-3D36C26EEBAA@microsoft.com... > The disk doesn't need to be replaced. > > To do a clean install, either boot the Windows 2000 install CD-Rom or setup > disks. The set of four install disks can be created from your Windows 2000 > CD-Rom; change to the \bootdisk directory on the CD-Rom and execute > makeboot.exe (from dos) or makebt32.exe (from 32 bit) and follow the > prompts. > > (Note: If your drive controller is not natively supported then you'll want > to boot the Windows 2000 install CD-Rom. Then *F6* very early and very > important (at setup is inspecting your system) in the setup to prevent drive > controller detection, and select S to specify additional drivers. Then later > you'll be prompted to insert the manufacturer supplied Windows 2000 driver > for your drive controller in drive "A") > > Setup inspects your computer's hardware configuration and then begins to > install the Setup and driver files. When the Windows 2000 Professional > screen appears, press ENTER to set up Windows 2000 Professional. > > Read the license agreement, and then press the F8 key to accept the terms of > the license agreement and continue the installation. > > When the Windows 2000 Professional Setup screen appears, all the existing > partitions and the unpartitioned spaces are listed for each physical hard > disk. Use the ARROW keys to select the partitions Press D to delete an > existing partition, If you press D to delete an existing partition, you must > then press L (or press ENTER, and then press L if it is the System > partition) to confirm that you want to delete the partition. Repeat this > step for each of the existing partitions When all the partitions are deleted > press F3 to exit setup, (to avoid unexpected drive letter assignments with > your new install) then restart the pc then when you get to this point in > setup again select the unpartitioned space, and then press C to create a new > partition and specify the size (if required). Windows will by default use > all available space. > > Be sure to apply SP4 and these two below to your new install before > connecting to any network. Internet included. (sasser, msblast) > http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/6/A/E6A04295-D2A8-40D0-A0C5-241BFEC D095E/W2KSP4_EN.EXE > http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-043.mspx > http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-049.mspx > > Then > > Rollup 1 for Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 > http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?amp;displaylang=en&familyid= B54730CF-8850-4531-B52B-BF28B324C662&displaylang=en > > > > -- > > Regards, > > Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup. > Microsoft Certified Professional > Microsoft MVP [Windows] > http://www.microsoft.com/protect >
Guest Ray K Posted February 29, 2008 Posted February 29, 2008 Re: Major Startup Problems Dave, Since the previous post, I've struck out on everything I could think of. I tried making a new set of setup diskettes using my only laptop with a floppy drive. No luck since that computer uses ME, which makebd32.exe refuses to work with. Makebe32 appears like it will run under XP - I at least get to the point where it asks me to insert a floppy - but that laptop doesn't have a floppy drive. A second older laptop, over my girlfriend's house, uses XP and may have a floppy. I'll see her this afternoon. Maybe I should buy an external USB floppy. But even if I could make a set of diskettes, once I boot I'm still faced with the problem of losing data as I reinstall W2K even though I'm spared the expense of a replacement drive. (For the record, I have four laptops, which I use for deejaying: 2 running XP with working CD burners, but no floppy drives; one retired older one running ME -I'm using it now - with a floppy drive, but a bad CD-ROM; another older retired one running XP, CD burner OK, unknown if it has a floppy drive. My workhorse W2K computer with the problems is a home made desktop.) I tried making a bootable CD from a downloaded ISO file (http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/download.html). It's a collection of diagnostic programs. My two physical drives pass. As I reread your post of 2/28, 10:40PM, at one point you mention that I will have to delete partition(s). That means losing everything in that partition, including unbacked up data, doesn't it? If so, then I'm forced to a new C drive. Or maybe I could do something like this. 1. Remove the second drive, so the primary master's partitions will be assigned C, D and E. 2. Create a new partition on that drive, and designate it as C. Now this drive has four partitions, with the old C becoming D, D becoming E and E bcoming F. All the data of importance that once was on C is now preserved on D. 3. Do a fresh install of W2K, SP4 and the programs. Even with four partitions, this 80 GB drive has plenty of unused space to do this. 4. Copy the important data from D back into C. 5. Delete the D partition, so the drive once again is back to three partitions. 6. Reinstall the primary slave drive. What a nightmare. Ray "Ray K" <raykosXXX@optonline.net> wrote in message news:47c7f954$0$29435$607ed4bc@cv.net... > Dave, > > Thanks so much for the guidance. Things are becoming a comedy of errors. > When I stick the first of four setup disks (made two years ago) into the > problem computer, I get a Disk I/O error message. (No other words like > reinsert the disk and try again.) So I can't make a new set on that computer > because I can't boot properly. > > So I figured I'd make a new set of setup disks using an old laptop (the one > I'm.using for these messages). Problem is, even though it has a floppy > drive, its CD-ROM doesn't work. No problem, I have two newer laptops. > Needless to say, neither has a floppy drive. > > vWith the W2K Pro disk in one of the newer laptops, I can see makebt.32.exe > and four img files. Is there a way for me to use a USB flash drive by > copying the four files to it? The bios in the problem computer does allow me > to boot from USB-HDD. > > While waiting for your reply, I'm investigating something called Ultimate > Boot Disk. > > Again, many thanks. > > Ray
Guest Dave Patrick Posted March 1, 2008 Posted March 1, 2008 Re: Major Startup Problems Best to just boot the CD-Rom. No real need for the floppies. -- Regards, Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup. Microsoft Certified Professional Microsoft MVP [Windows] http://www.microsoft.com/protect "Ray K" wrote: > Dave, > > Thanks so much for the guidance. Things are becoming a comedy of errors. > When I stick the first of four setup disks (made two years ago) into the > problem computer, I get a Disk I/O error message. (No other words like > reinsert the disk and try again.) So I can't make a new set on that > computer > because I can't boot properly. > > So I figured I'd make a new set of setup disks using an old laptop (the > one > I'm.using for these messages). Problem is, even though it has a floppy > drive, its CD-ROM doesn't work. No problem, I have two newer laptops. > Needless to say, neither has a floppy drive. > > vWith the W2K Pro disk in one of the newer laptops, I can see > makebt.32.exe > and four img files. Is there a way for me to use a USB flash drive by > copying the four files to it? The bios in the problem computer does allow > me > to boot from USB-HDD. > > While waiting for your reply, I'm investigating something called Ultimate > Boot Disk. > > Again, many thanks. > > Ray
Guest Dave Patrick Posted March 1, 2008 Posted March 1, 2008 Re: Major Startup Problems Recover your data from a parallel install just prior to reinstalling the operating system. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/266465 -- Regards, Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup. Microsoft Certified Professional Microsoft MVP [Windows] http://www.microsoft.com/protect "Ray K" wrote: > Dave, > > Since the previous post, I've struck out on everything I could think of. I > tried making a new set of setup diskettes using my only laptop with a > floppy > drive. No luck since that computer uses ME, which makebd32.exe refuses to > work with. Makebe32 appears like it will run under XP - I at least get to > the point where it asks me to insert a floppy - but that laptop doesn't > have > a floppy drive. A second older laptop, over my girlfriend's house, uses XP > and may have a floppy. I'll see her this afternoon. Maybe I should buy an > external USB floppy. But even if I could make a set of diskettes, once I > boot I'm still faced with the problem of losing data as I reinstall W2K > even > though I'm spared the expense of a replacement drive. > > (For the record, I have four laptops, which I use for deejaying: 2 running > XP with working CD burners, but no floppy drives; one retired older one > running ME -I'm using it now - with a floppy drive, but a bad CD-ROM; > another older retired one running XP, CD burner OK, unknown if it has a > floppy drive. My workhorse W2K computer with the problems is a home made > desktop.) > > I tried making a bootable CD from a downloaded ISO file > (http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/download.html). It's a collection of > diagnostic programs. My two physical drives pass. > > As I reread your post of 2/28, 10:40PM, at one point you mention that I > will > have to delete partition(s). That means losing everything in that > partition, > including unbacked up data, doesn't it? If so, then I'm forced to a new C > drive. Or maybe I could do something like this. > > 1. Remove the second drive, so the primary master's partitions will be > assigned C, D and E. > 2. Create a new partition on that drive, and designate it as C. Now this > drive has four partitions, with the old C becoming D, D becoming E and E > bcoming F. All the data of importance that once was on C is now preserved > on > D. > 3. Do a fresh install of W2K, SP4 and the programs. Even with four > partitions, this 80 GB drive has plenty of unused space to do this. > 4. Copy the important data from D back into C. > 5. Delete the D partition, so the drive once again is back to three > partitions. > 6. Reinstall the primary slave drive. > > What a nightmare. > > Ray > > > "Ray K" <raykosXXX@optonline.net> wrote in message > news:47c7f954$0$29435$607ed4bc@cv.net... >> Dave, >> >> Thanks so much for the guidance. Things are becoming a comedy of errors. >> When I stick the first of four setup disks (made two years ago) into the >> problem computer, I get a Disk I/O error message. (No other words like >> reinsert the disk and try again.) So I can't make a new set on that > computer >> because I can't boot properly. >> >> So I figured I'd make a new set of setup disks using an old laptop (the > one >> I'm.using for these messages). Problem is, even though it has a floppy >> drive, its CD-ROM doesn't work. No problem, I have two newer laptops. >> Needless to say, neither has a floppy drive. >> >> vWith the W2K Pro disk in one of the newer laptops, I can see > makebt.32.exe >> and four img files. Is there a way for me to use a USB flash drive by >> copying the four files to it? The bios in the problem computer does allow > me >> to boot from USB-HDD. >> >> While waiting for your reply, I'm investigating something called Ultimate >> Boot Disk. >> >> Again, many thanks. >> >> Ray > > >
Guest Frank Booth Snr Posted March 1, 2008 Posted March 1, 2008 Re: Major Startup Problems Ray K wrote: > Probably due to the win32.agent.cmn virus that got me earlier today, despite > using several programs to remove it, including SpyBot, I can't boot > properly, Once I get past the splash screen, I see the desktop and all the > icons. But once all the startup items are loaded, I see a series of newly > opening dialog boxes that say c:\WINNT\Syustem32\command.com. After dozens > open within about 45 seconds, I get an Program Error dialog box that says > "explorer.exe has generated errors and will be closed by Windows. You need > to restart the program." Hitting Cancel closes this box, but I'm left with > original dozens of boxes. > > If I use Task Manager to try to close them, I eventually can (after about 5 > minutes), but then I'm left with a blank, blue screen. No desktop icons and > nothing along the bottom (Start, clock, quick launch, etc.). > > If I then press the Reset switch, after getting to a normal desktop the > screen goes blank, as above. I don't know why all those command.com boxes > don't open again. > > If I try starting in the Safe Mode, I'll get to a point where the screen is > black, with the words Safe Mode in the four corners, and in the middle is a > box that says "Please wait, windows is starting up..." That message remains > for about four minutes, then disappears and just the black, blank screen > remains. (No start button or desktop icons.) If I wait long enough the icons > and task bar appear, along with a message that windows is in the safe mode. > If I do nothing the message disappears and I'm back to the black screen with > nothing along the bottom. > > Task Manager show that explorer.exe is not running. If I go to File/New Task > (run) and type explorer.exe in the box, the desktop icon reappear for 8 > seconds, then I get a Desktop dialog box saying that Windows is in the Safe > Mode. If I click on OK, I see the desktop icons for 8 seconds until the > Desktop dialog box reappears. This 8-second cycling back and forth will > continue as long as I keep clicking on OK. If I don't, explorer.exe shuts > down on its own and I'm again left with the blank screen. > > I've probably aggrevated the condition by first trying to repair W2k with > the original installation disc. When that failed, out of desperation I tried > a fresh reinstall; obviously without success. > > I'm about ready to take the drastic step of replacing the hard drive, > because the problems seem so overwhelming. I discuss my plan in the post > following this one. Thanks for any help you provide that will save me the > replacement effort. > Have you backed up all of your documents and personal files? If you have done so, reformat your drive and start again with a fresh install. That is the quickest means of getting yourself out of this mess. Before you start make sure you have all the necessary drivers for your hardware, particularly any chipset, graphics and audio drivers as well las your Win2k system disk.
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