Tried to restore now Missing device files messages at bootup. (Urgent)
I have an old dell latitude cp with WIN98 on it. I went to the system restore function, and did the restore, so the laptop would be restore back the the settings from 1999.
When i did this the computer restarted and this is what it says. Please help me i have no clue what to do. I have tried to re-install the O/S but nothing seems to work.
Cannot find a device file that may be needed to run windows or a windows application
The windows registry or SYSTEM.INI file refers to this device file, but the device file no longer exists.
If you deleted this file on purpose, try uninstalling the associated application using its uninstall or setup program.
If you still want to use the application associated with this device file, try reinstalling that application to replace the missing file.
C:WINDOWS\system\VMM32\BIOS.VXD
Now I can't get the desktop to show. Im really lost.
When i copied the .vxd file and rebooted, it got to the desktop screen (didn't load start bar or anything, just green screen) and it says i need to re-install windows.
Then the "Comctl32.dll The Comctl32.dll file cannot start." message comes up and freezes the computer. So i click ctrl+alt+dlt twice and restart. Thats as far as i have got.
You have a DELL product recovery CD or floppy-disk - right? Sounds like your problem is too bad to simply restore a few files. When the recovery program starts you probably get an option to do a full re-install or to do a repair (like I get with my Toshiba laptop recovery CD). Anyway, you should choose 'Full Re-install'. Is that what you did? Tell me a bit more about what recovery media you have (CD or floppy) to do recovery with and I'll try help you some more. Also check your PM inbox on this site.
Well all the original software I can find are the following
1) Dell startup floppy that was made when Win95 was on it.
2)A floppy that says "DellWare" the instructions on it say "To install type a:\setup".
(But i have tried this and it doesnt do anything, and i dont even see anyting in the
DIR for it.)
3) I have a new dell startup disk that i just made for win98.
4) I made a WIN98 bootup disk.
And that's all the SW i have for it.
I tried putting Pcrestor from win98 on a floppy which is the system recovery prg for win98, and ran it on the laptop but it had an error.
The only thing me and my dad can think of is to re-format the HD which will erase all software as you know.
And i really appreciate you taking all this time to help me
Blimey - I'm surprised I've never heard of this before. For anyone else that didn't know, PCRESTOR is a batch file in the Tools directory on the Windows 98 CD. It creates a C:\Restore folder and then runs MSBATCH.INF - the "answer file" for an unattended Windows 98 install / re-install.
It then, apparently, gives you the option to specify a full backup image that was previously created with the Backup utility (which I've never heard of anyone using in Windows 98 - I didn't even realise you could do this).
I would suggest that your backup image is probably incomplete / corrupted. My advice would be to try the same process again - ask us if you are prompted for any options that you are unsure about.
If it still doesn't work, then it looks like a re-format might be the only answer as you've already suggested - but, if you've only got a load of boot disks, there's no way of getting any software back onto the PC
So how did you get a working operating system on the laptop in the first place (before you had the problems)? Do any of the dell disks say 'RECOVERY' on it? Have you tried booting with the 'dellware' floppy? I've been to the dell.com website where your laptop model (lattitude cp) is listed under 're-install guide'. See here:
For 'select a component category' select 'operating system'.
For 'Select Operating System' select the version of Windows you want help with. Then click 'GO'.
From what I've seen on the dell website, it seems the lattitude CP was supplied with Windows 95 as standard. To upgrade it to Win 98 you have to buy an upgrade CD from DELL. This upgrade CD I guess has been specially custom-made to include all the necessary device drivers for the components in the laptop. That would explain why using a non-dell upgrade CD will not work. It's also worth noting that an upgrade to 98 requires a BIOS upgrade as a first step according to the dell instructions. So yet another reason why you could be having problems. As it stands your laptop can only run Windows 95 until you upgrade the BIOS and get a DELL 98-upgrade CD. You could at a pinch install an ordinary Microsoft Win98 CD provided you have drivers for such things as the sound, modem, etc. I imagine. have a look at the dell support page I printed above, and see what you think.
Looks like we were writing our responses at the same time - I think Chris17house had a separate backup image of his C: drive already created and he restored from that ..... maybe.
Windows 95 came with the laptop, but i installed a normal "non dell" win98 upgrade like 2 years ago and it ran fine. I just hadn't used the laptop in a while, and i sold it on ebay to someone, but they said they wanted it restored, so i did that, and thats where everything went wrong.
Ive tried booting up with the dellware disk but it says something like invalid boot or startup disk, please replace and press a key.
The way i got pcrestor to work is i searched the cd on my other "working" laptop, then copied it to a floppy and ran it on my broken laptop. And yes it did say something about being corrupted or something along those lines.
Ill play around with it some more tonight if i have time. it has frustrated me and i think i need to give it a rest for a day. But again I appreciate both of your feedbacks.
