Dan,
I have been following some of your advice to get my old pc running. I am using windows 98 -not sure if 98se or fe, but I used a 98se disk to boot up the computer and everthing seems to be O.K. I am at the C command prompt, but unsure what to do next. I ran scandisk and it fixed everthing. When I try to start the computer, it goes to the C prompt. Can you tell this rookie what to do next? No matter what I do, I arrive at the C prompt. Thanks in advance, what a great site you have here. Tdog

Sorry for the delayed response.

Try: WIN.SYS and let us know what happens.

Originally Posted by jephree

Sorry for the delayed response.

Try: WIN.SYS and let us know what happens.

I tried WIN.SYS, result was bad command or file name. I ran a command earlier( can not recall what it was now), and a message appeared that said I had no extended memory driver. I also dont have a HIMEM.SYS. I beleive I need to reinstall win 98 , but I have no system cd. Thanks for your reply jephree.

I have never used 98 but am just trying to cover all posts tonight...

See if anything here helps:

http://www.mcse.ms/archive272-2005-8-1819595.html

Sorry, I've been absent for a couple of weeks. (And special Thanks to jephree for covering things.)

Need some info... So there is a 98 O/S installed, but it refuses to start in windows?

To determine if you have 98FE or 98SE;
The date/time stamp on the majority of system files will be;

98FE = 11/24/1998 8:02 AM

98SE = 4/23/1999 10:22 PM

(c:\command.com and c:\io.sys being two of these files.... At the C:\> prompt type in dir/a/o/p and check the date and time stamps on these two files.)

Do you know just "what" scandisk fixed?

Is it a desktop or laptop system? (It can matter for some of the steps taken to repair.)

Did the machine just all of a sudden stop booting into windows, delivering you to the C:\> prompt?

Had you installed any new software or drivers just before this problem occured?

Thanks for the reply Dan.
I checked the date code and determined it is 98SE. I dont know what scandisk fixed, but it was a lot.
It is a desktop. I was originally having trouble with missing files upon startup, it would eventually start up after a long time, 4-5 minutes. The original error said a dmlltok file was missing. To complicate things further (this is when I really messed it up ), I was looking at windows explorer, when I put a cd in the drive. The cd had dmlltok on it, and some other files. I went to delete some files from the cd but accidently deleted files from explorer. I had deleted 4-6 files before realizing my horrific mistake. Now the computer is in the current state as a result.

If the machine starts and just goes to the C:\> prompt, with no errors displayed, type in win and hit Enter. List any errors or responses as accurately as possible.

If this doesn't start windows try c:\windows\win and hit Enter. Same as above. If any files are listed as missing, post the filenames.

Please signify the results of each of the above commands.

At the C:\> prompt type in dir/a/o/p. If you get a listing, put a blank formatted floppy in the A:\ drive and then type in dir/a/o> a:\dirlist.txt. Bring this floppy to the machine you're posting on and copy the contents of this file and paste it into your next post.

I will try that and post the results. It actually goes to the A prompt, then I type in C:\ to get to the C prompt.

Dan,
I ran win at the c prompt and got bad command or file name, I ranwindows\win and got;" VFAT device failed" followed by : A device or resource required by VFAT is not present or is unavailable. VFAT cannot continue loading. System halted".
Here is the results of the dir/a/o> a:\dirlist.txt ;
Volume in drive C is MASTER
Volume Serial Number is 1268-15F9
Directory of C:\

DOCUME~1 <DIR> 06-26-03 12:12a
DRAWDLUX <DIR> 08-02-01 11:18a
ESM2 <DIR> 08-02-01 12:01p
GAMESP~1 <DIR> 02-09-03 3:46p
JBUILD~1 <DIR> 11-14-01 10:34p
KPCMS <DIR> 10-30-01 8:09p
MYDOCU~1 <DIR> 07-30-01 3:20p
NCDTREE <DIR> 07-30-01 7:49p
PROGRA~1 <DIR> 07-30-01 2:59p
PSFONTS <DIR> 10-30-01 8:10p
RECYCLED <DIR> 07-30-01 3:38p
SBPCI <DIR> 07-30-01 3:25p
SPANISH <DIR> 11-23-03 8:40p
UNZIPPED <DIR> 01-01-02 12:28a
WHEELDLX <DIR> 11-01-01 5:38p
WIN98 <DIR> 07-30-01 3:33p
WINDOWS <DIR> 07-30-01 2:58p
WINMAG <DIR> 02-12-06 2:54a
WUTEMP <DIR> 06-07-03 1:28a
XMLPARSE <DIR> 10-05-03 1:34p
~MSSETUP T <DIR> 12-15-02 12:39p
AUTOEXEC BAT 57 03-12-06 1:22p
BOOTLOG PRV 36,608 04-11-06 11:27a
BOOTLOG TXT 24 04-11-06 11:31a
COMMAND COM 93,890 04-23-99 10:22p
CONFIG SYS 59 07-31-01 2:43p
CPTIME LOG 4,169 01-07-03 9:30p
DRVSPACE BIN 68,871 04-23-99 10:22p
FILE0001 CHK 33,800,192 03-23-06 2:34a
FRUNLOG TXT 1,010 07-30-01 3:11p
IO SYS 222,390 04-23-99 10:22p
MSDOS --- 22 07-30-01 2:58p
MSDOS SYS 6 03-22-06 10:59p
SCANDISK LOG 507 03-11-06 11:36p
SETUPLOG TXT 139,783 07-30-01 3:17p
SUHDLOG DAT 5,166 07-30-01 3:09p
SYSTEM 1ST 622,624 07-30-01 3:09p
16 file(s) 34,995,378 bytes
21 dir(s) 26,819.81 MB free

Windows will not start when the system is booted with a floppy bootdisk. That's why I said; "If the machine starts and just goes to the C:\> prompt, ..."

What errors are currently displayed when you try to boot the machine from the hard disk? (No bootdisk.)

Post the contents of these files; (Given that their size permits you to get them to the machine you're currently posting with. They should.)

AUTOEXEC BAT 57 03-12-06 1:22p
CONFIG SYS 59 07-31-01 2:43p
CPTIME LOG 4,169 01-07-03 9:30p
FRUNLOG TXT 1,010 07-30-01 3:11p
SCANDISK LOG 507 03-11-06 11:36p

FILE0001 CHK 33,800,192 03-23-06 2:34a <-- 33 MB file produced by scandisk, Hmmm. It's probably useless now, but wait to delete it for now. Did you happen to save the pending scandisk changes to a floppy when prompted, or did you skip the save?

WINDOWS <DIR> 07-30-01 2:58p <-- O/S directory, there should be approximately 200 : 250 files in this.

WIN98 <DIR> 07-30-01 3:33p <-- This appears to be (possibly) a windows setup directory.
Is this a proprietary system (factory loaded with 98SE)? (ie; Compaq, Gateway, IBM, Dell, HP, etc)

WUTEMP <DIR> 06-07-03 1:28a <-- Windows Update Temporary directory. Don't delete this (yet), maybe later....

XMLPARSE <DIR> 10-05-03 1:34p <-- Does this directory have something to do with some kind of third party memory management tool?

~MSSETUP T <DIR> 12-15-02 12:39p <-- Appears to be (possibly) a MicroSoft Setup directory for?????? The tilde ( ~ ) "usually" indicates a file (or directory) which has not saved properly, or, is in use or open. This latter shouldn't be though as you've booted with a floppy. See if you can get into the directory and see what is there. From the C:\> prompt, type in cd ~msset~1 and hit Enter. The prompt should change indicating you're in. To get back to C:\>, type in cd\

MSDOS --- 22 07-30-01 2:58p <-- Previous msdos.sys (system startup file) from original O/S load. (Note the date.)
MSDOS SYS 6 03-22-06 10:59p <-- Current msdos.sys, these are generally around 2KB in size. Save these two files to a floppy, and open them with notepad and post the contents of these as well.

SYSTEM 1ST 622,624 07-30-01 3:09p <-- Original (first) system.dat file from original O/S load. (Note the date.) C:\WINDOWS\system.dat is one of two files which make up the windows registry. The other is C:\WINDOWS\user.dat. When windows is loaded successfully for the very first time, a copy of system.dat is placed in the root of the primary drive and renamed with the .1st filename extension.

Answer the questions, and post the above mentioned file contents and we'll take it from there.