System won't restore

[Bill Watt]

Notebook with XP Pro Ser. Pack 2. 80 GB HDD. FAT 32
It's the Hornet model from MidWest Micro. Been using their computers
for years.

System froze for no apparent reason. The last thing I did before the
freeze was to enlarge the fonts on the desktop. That worked and it
was sometime later that it froze when I was not doing anything.
Since then I can't get into Normal Mode. I can get into Safe Mode.

When I try to restore the message is "unable to restore". or words
to that effect. I went back a day at a time for seven days to find a
good restore point to no avail.

System has worked well since it was new in Jan.

I ordered it with FAT 32 for compatibility reasons. Maybe it would
help if I converted to NTFS? If I do is this the correct command
from a command prompt?
convert C: /fs:ntfs

I have current system backup on an external USB 80 GB HD drive. I
tried to Format the drive first then use MAX Blast 3, a drive copy
program I've been using but trying Format from a boot to command
prompt says something is using the disk and it can't be locked.
FAT32.

An option with the drive copy program is to zero the drive. The
program also runs in DOS (or command prompt) from a floppy. I have
an external USB floppy drive that the drive copy program will run
on.

A restore would be much easier, any ideas?

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

 

[Robert]

Notebook with XP Pro Ser. Pack 2. 80 GB HDD. FAT 32
It's the Hornet model from MidWest Micro. Been using their computers
for years.

System froze for no apparent reason. The last thing I did before the
freeze was to enlarge the fonts on the desktop. That worked and it
was sometime later that it froze when I was not doing anything.
Since then I can't get into Normal Mode. I can get into Safe Mode.

When I try to restore the message is "unable to restore". or words
to that effect. I went back a day at a time for seven days to find a
good restore point to no avail.

System has worked well since it was new in Jan.

I ordered it with FAT 32 for compatibility reasons. Maybe it would
help if I converted to NTFS? If I do is this the correct command
from a command prompt?
convert C: /fs:ntfs

I have current system backup on an external USB 80 GB HD drive. I
tried to Format the drive first then use MAX Blast 3, a drive copy
program I've been using but trying Format from a boot to command
prompt says something is using the disk and it can't be locked.
FAT32.

An option with the drive copy program is to zero the drive. The
program also runs in DOS (or command prompt) from a floppy. I have
an external USB floppy drive that the drive copy program will run
on.

A restore would be much easier, any ideas?

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

I had this same exact problem and the culprit ended up being that I
was using Norton. Once I got rid of Norton I was able to restore my
system and now use AVG, Spybot, A-Squared and Comodo instead and
haven't had an issue since.


Robert

 

[Gerry]

Bill

I was going to ask what anti-virus and anti-spyware arrangements. Norton
is not the only one that interferes with System Restore:
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/srfail.html

What error / warning messages appear in Event Viewer relating to the
freeze?

A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Run Event Viewer and double
click on the error you want to copy. In the window, which appears is a
button resembling two pages. Click the button and close Event
Viewer.Now start your message (email) and do a paste into the body of
the message. Make sure this is the first paste after exiting from
Event Viewer.

Try running HD Tune(freeware).

Download and run it and see what it turns up.
http://www.hdtune.com/

Select the Info tabs and place the cursor on the drive under Drive
letter and then double click the two page icon ( copy to Clipboard )
and copy into a further message.

Select the Health tab and then double click the two page icon ( copy
to Clipboard ) and copy into a further message. Also do a full surface
scan with HD Tune.


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[RalfG]

No sense converting to NTFS until after you fix the problem. If you can boot
into Safe Mode try using msconfig to troubleshoot the problem. Start by
disabling all the startup items and try to boot normally. Re-enable startup
items one at a time until the problem re-occurs.

 

[=?iso-8859-1?Q?_db_=B4=AF`=B7.._=3E=3C=29=29=29=BA]

what you might try
is to reboot and tap
on the f8 key to get
the boot menu.

immediately after
selecting and clicking
normal mode,"hold" down
the shift key until you begin
to see the icons load on
the desktop. be patient and
don't release the key before then.

this method will cancel
out the loading of third
party software, simulating
a clean boot.

if it helps, then obviously
the method suggests it is
a third party software problem.

if it does not help, then
the problem suggests
a problem with the o.s.

as RaltG suggest, do not
attempt to do anykind of
system overhaul until it
is "perfectly functional"
and fault free.

otherwise, if you attempt
something like the ntfs conversion,
you may / will crash your file
system big time, "BIG TIME"

ps: did i mention BIG TIME?
--

<)))º>·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·.. ><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º>

..

 

[Bill Watt]

Reply at end of message.

Bill

I was going to ask what anti-virus and anti-spyware arrangements. Norton
is not the only one that interferes with System Restore:
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/srfail.html

What error / warning messages appear in Event Viewer relating to the
freeze?

A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Run Event Viewer and double
click on the error you want to copy. In the window, which appears is a
button resembling two pages. Click the button and close Event
Viewer.Now start your message (email) and do a paste into the body of
the message. Make sure this is the first paste after exiting from
Event Viewer.

Try running HD Tune(freeware).

Download and run it and see what it turns up.
http://www.hdtune.com/

Select the Info tabs and place the cursor on the drive under Drive
letter and then double click the two page icon ( copy to Clipboard )
and copy into a further message.

Select the Health tab and then double click the two page icon ( copy
to Clipboard ) and copy into a further message. Also do a full surface
scan with HD Tune.

_____________________________________________________________

I found two events in the Event Viewer relating to System Restore.
There were many more for other errors. Could not pin one down for
the freeze. I'll go thru them again, there are at least 100 events
in the last 4 days alone. Some are just to let you know something
loaded. So far it looks like a bad shutdown caused all this.

Here are the 2 SR errors if that helps.
Thanks for your reply, I'll try the other things you and the others
have suggested. I should probably not waste the current system
backup I have but I need to know if there could be problems doing
it.
===========================================
Event Type: Information
Event Source: SRService
Event Category: None
Event ID: 112
Date: 10/31/2007
Time: 8:34:47 PM
User: N/A
Computer: WA
Description:
A restoration to "System Checkpoint" restore point was incomplete
due to an improper shutdown.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.


Event Type: Information
Event Source: SRService
Event Category: None
Event ID: 111
Date: 10/31/2007
Time: 8:59:16 PM
User: N/A
Computer: WA
Description:
A restoration to "System Checkpoint" restore point failed. No
changes have been made to the system.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

================================================

I also tried all the settings in Msconfig but no help.

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

 

[Bill Watt]

I had this same exact problem and the culprit ended up being that I
was using Norton. Once I got rid of Norton I was able to restore my
system and now use AVG, Spybot, A-Squared and Comodo instead and
haven't had an issue since.


Robert

An earlier error message related to Avast that it couldn't load.
While I was able to I un-installed it. I'll put it back when I get
this fixed. It didn't help.

Thanks, good thought.

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

 

[Bill Watt]

Good idea. I'll stay with FAT32 for now.
I tried all the settings in MSconfig but no help. Forgot about
MSconfig, didn't know XP had it.

Thanks.

Bill Watt
_______________________________________________________

 

[Gerry]

Bill

You are only interested in Error and Warning Reports from Event Viewer.
Disregard Information Reports. You are also only interested in reports
since the latest boot, which are repeats of a report which has appeared
before the latest boot. Restarting the computer can cure many computer
ills, which is why spending time investigating the meaning of a report
from a single boot is usually a waste of time and effort. The sequence
is also relevant as one problem can lead to another so the earliest
error after the start of the boot is where you begin.

The two reports regarding System Restore do not add anything to what we
already know. My suspicion is Norton.
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/symantecdoc1.html

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Bill Watt]

Bill

You are only interested in Error and Warning Reports from Event Viewer.
Disregard Information Reports. You are also only interested in reports
since the latest boot, which are repeats of a report which has appeared
before the latest boot. Restarting the computer can cure many computer
ills, which is why spending time investigating the meaning of a report
from a single boot is usually a waste of time and effort. The sequence
is also relevant as one problem can lead to another so the earliest
error after the start of the boot is where you begin.

The two reports regarding System Restore do not add anything to what we
already know. My suspicion is Norton.
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/symantecdoc1.html

Gerry,

In looking thru the folders I found 7 that contain *.chk files. The
largest is 830 MB. Another is 430 MB. The others are small. These
are probably from when I ran Scandisk from DOS. I now can run Chkdsk
from Safe mode and it goes thru with no errors. At least it ran thru
then closed with no information.

With all those *.chk files I doubt that all my programs will work
ok.

I'm about ready to use Maxblast 3, zero the drive then copy my
backup over from the external USB drive.
The Maxblast diskette will boot from the external USB floppy and I
can run it from there. It also runs from XP on the C: drive but I'm
zeroing that so I think I am better off running it from the floppy.

What do you think?

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

 

[Gerry]

Bill

That's not an approach I would try at this stage. It's too early. Doing
that you may be you still have the same problems. However, you should do
what you are comfortable doing.

The existence of chk fragments suggests you should be examining your
hard drive. A failing hard drive could cause "freezes".

Try running HD Tune(freeware). I suggested this earlier.

Download and run it and see what it turns up.
http://www.hdtune.com/

Select the Info tabs and place the cursor on the drive under Drive
letter and then double click the two page icon ( copy to Clipboard )
and copy into a further message.

Select the Health tab and then double click the two page icon ( copy
to Clipboard ) and copy into a further message. Also do a full surface
scan with HD Tune.


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Bill Watt]

Reply at end

Bill

That's not an approach I would try at this stage. It's too early. Doing
that you may be you still have the same problems. However, you should do
what you are comfortable doing.

The existence of chk fragments suggests you should be examining your
hard drive. A failing hard drive could cause "freezes".

Try running HD Tune(freeware). I suggested this earlier.

Download and run it and see what it turns up.
http://www.hdtune.com/

Select the Info tabs and place the cursor on the drive under Drive
letter and then double click the two page icon ( copy to Clipboard )
and copy into a further message.

Select the Health tab and then double click the two page icon ( copy
to Clipboard ) and copy into a further message. Also do a full surface
scan with HD Tune.

Gerry,

I ran a quick scan and all ok. I started a full scan but it will
take more than 6 hours. It went 20 minutes with no errors.
Here are the Hdtune results. I posted in a fixed font, hope you read
it that way.
----------------------------------------------
HD Tune: FUJITSU MHV2080BH Information

Firmware version : 00000028
Serial number : NW01T6828WSG
Capacity : 74.5 GB (~80.0 GB)
Buffer size : 8192 KB
Standard : ATA/ATAPI-0 - SATA I
Supported mode : UDMA Mode 5 (Ultra ATA/100)
Current mode : UDMA Mode 5 (Ultra ATA/100)

S.M.A.R.T : yes
48-bit Address : yes
Read Look-Ahead : yes
Write Cache : yes
Host Protected Area : yes
Device Configuration Overlay : yes
Automatic Acoustic Management: yes
Power Management : yes
Advanced Power Management : yes
Power-up in Standby : no
Security Mode : yes
Firmware Upgradable : yes

Partition : 1
Drive letter : C:\
Label :
Capacity : 76316 MB
Usage : 11.96%
Type : FAT32
Bootable : Yes
====================================

HD Tune: FUJITSU MHV2080BH Health

ID Current Worst Threshold Data Status
(01) Raw Read Error Rate 100 100 46 63193 Ok
(02) Throughput Performance 100 100 30 24444928 Ok
(03) Spin Up Time 100 100 25 0 Ok
(04) Start/Stop Count 99 99 0 707 Ok
(05) Reallocated Sector Count 100 100 24 0 Ok
(07) Seek Error Rate 100 100 47 2695 Ok
(08) Seek Time Performance 100 100 19 0 Ok
(09) Power On Hours Count 99 99 0 2362289 Ok
(0A) Spin Retry Count 100 100 20 0 Ok
(0C) Power Cycle Count 100 100 0 682 Ok
(C0) Power Off Retract Count 100 100 0 13 Ok
(C1) Load Cycle Count 99 99 0 24773 Ok
(C2) Temperature 100 100 0 1310763 Ok
(C3) Hardware ECC Recovered 100 100 0 2 Ok
(C4) Reallocated Event Count 100 100 0 454819840 Ok
(C5) Current Pending Sector 100 100 0 0 Ok
(C6) Offline Uncorrectable 100 100 0 0 Ok
(C7)Ultra DMA CRC Error Count 200 200 0 0 Ok
(C8) Write Error Rate 100 100 60 11721 Ok
(CB) Run Out Cancel 100 100 0 -226621054 Ok
(F0) Head Flying Hours 200 200 0 0 Ok

Power On Time : 2362289
Health Status : Ok
------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks,

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

 

[Bill Watt]

what you might try
is to reboot and tap
on the f8 key to get
the boot menu.

immediately after
selecting and clicking
normal mode,"hold" down
the shift key until you begin
to see the icons load on
the desktop. be patient and
don't release the key before then.

this method will cancel
out the loading of third
party software, simulating
a clean boot.

if it helps, then obviously
the method suggests it is
a third party software problem.

if it does not help, then
the problem suggests
a problem with the o.s.

as RaltG suggest, do not
attempt to do anykind of
system overhaul until it
is "perfectly functional"
and fault free.

otherwise, if you attempt
something like the ntfs conversion,
you may / will crash your file
system big time, "BIG TIME"

ps: did i mention BIG TIME?

I think you did mention it, not sure though.

I tried it and no help. I also tried every setting in MSconfig, no
help either.

Thanks,

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

 

[Bill Watt]

Bill

You are only interested in Error and Warning Reports from Event Viewer.
Disregard Information Reports. You are also only interested in reports
since the latest boot, which are repeats of a report which has appeared
before the latest boot. Restarting the computer can cure many computer
ills, which is why spending time investigating the meaning of a report
from a single boot is usually a waste of time and effort. The sequence
is also relevant as one problem can lead to another so the earliest
error after the start of the boot is where you begin.

The two reports regarding System Restore do not add anything to what we
already know. My suspicion is Norton.
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/symantecdoc1.html

Gerry,

I gave up Norton products several years ago. Been using AVG then
Avast. I was able to un-install Avast after it was mentioned in an
error. I would like to run an AV scan and can install Avast but the
update files are something else. I can't go online with the Notebook
in Safe Mode so I'm copying and pasting and transferring the info by
floppy to my Win98 SE machine.

Here are the Event Viewer errors from before the freeze to after it.
=====================BEGIN==================
Event Type: Error
Event Source: Windows Update Agent
Event Category: Software Sync
Event ID: 16
Date: 10/29/2007
Time: 12:36:59 AM
Description:
Unable to Connect: Windows is unable to connect to the automatic
updates service and therefore cannot download and install updates
according to the set schedule. Windows will continue to try to
establish a connection.
------------------------------------------------------
Event Type: Error
Event Source: Dhcp
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1002
Date: 10/29/2007
Time: 1:03:11 AM
Description:
The IP address lease 192.168.2.3 for the Network Card with network
address 0018DE2130C7 has been denied by the DHCP server 192.168.2.1
(The DHCP Server sent a DHCPNACK message).
-------------------------------------------------------------
Event Type: Error
Event Source: Dhcp
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1002
Date: 10/30/2007
Time: 9:12:34 PM
Description:
The IP address lease 192.168.2.2 for the Network Card with network
address 0018DE2130C7 has been denied by the DHCP server 192.168.2.1
(The DHCP Server sent a DHCPNACK message).
---------------------------------------------------------------
Event Type: Error
Event Source: Service Control Manager
Event Category: None
Event ID: 7022
Date: 10/31/2007
Time: 12:07:32 AM

Description:
The avast! Antivirus service hung on starting.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Event Type: Error
Event Source: Service Control Manager
Event Category: None
Event ID: 7034
Date: 10/31/2007
Time: 12:08:15 AM
Description:
The avast! Antivirus service terminated unexpectedly. It has done
this 1 time(s).
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Event Type: Error
Event Source: System Error
Event Category: (102)
Event ID: 1003
Date: 10/31/2007
Time: 12:27:51 AM
Description:
Error code 000000c2, parameter1 00000040, parameter2 00e10000,
parameter3 80000000, parameter4 00000000.
-----------------------------------------------------
Event Type: Error
Event Source: Service Control Manager
Event Category: None
Event ID: 7023
Date: 10/31/2007
Time: 1:19:30 AM
Description:
The IPSEC Services service terminated with the following error:
Provider DLL failed to initialize correctly.
--------------------------------------------------------

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Service Control Manager
Event Category: None
Event ID: 7000
Date: 10/31/2007
Time: 1:19:30 AM
Description:
The Intel(R) PROSet/Wireless Registry Service service failed to
start due to the following error:
The service did not respond to the start or control request in a
timely fashion.
-------------------------------------------------------
Event Type: Error
Event Source: System Error
Event Category: (102)
Event ID: 1003
Date: 10/31/2007
Time: 1:19:42 AM
Description:
Error code 100000d1, parameter1 80e150b8, parameter2 0000001c,
parameter3 00000008, parameter4 80e150b8.
======================END=============

BTW, Restore won't go back to 10/30 only to 11/1. So that's not an
option any longer unless I can go back to the 30th somehow.

Hope this helps. Thanks for your efforts.

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

 

[Gerry]

Bill

Event ID: 1003
The IP address lease 192.168.2.3 for the Network Card with network
address 0018DE2130C7 has been denied by the DHCP server 192.168.2.1
(The DHCP Server sent a DHCPNACK message).
http://www.eventid.net/display.asp?eventid=1002&eventno=1778&source=Dhcp&phase=1

Event ID: 1003
Error code 000000c2
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms796120.aspx

A BSOD has occured and the computer would have rebooted on the System
Failure. Running Driver Verifier I would suggest is to be avoided.

Event ID: 1003
Error code 100000d1
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms795930.aspx

A BSOD has occured and the computer would have rebooted on the System
Failure.

Thoughts. Virus or malware damage? Try another Network Card? Update
drivers for network card?

Are there any yellow question marks in Device Manager? Right click on
the My Computer icon on your Desktop and select Properties,
Hardware,Device Manager. If yes what is the Device Error code?

Try Start, Run, type "sigverif.exe" without quotes and hit OK. What
drivers are listed as unsigned? Disregard those which are not checked.

What is your Windows XP CD as it is described on the face of the CD?


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Bill Watt]

Bill

Event ID: 1003
The IP address lease 192.168.2.3 for the Network Card with network
address 0018DE2130C7 has been denied by the DHCP server 192.168.2.1
(The DHCP Server sent a DHCPNACK message).
http://www.eventid.net/display.asp?eventid=1002&eventno=1778&source=Dhcp&phase=1

Event ID: 1003
Error code 000000c2
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms796120.aspx

A BSOD has occured and the computer would have rebooted on the System
Failure. Running Driver Verifier I would suggest is to be avoided.

Event ID: 1003
Error code 100000d1
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms795930.aspx

A BSOD has occured and the computer would have rebooted on the System
Failure.

Thoughts. Virus or malware damage? Try another Network Card? Update
drivers for network card?

Un-installed Avast as it was mentioned in an earlier error. Can
install but wont be able to get updates. Don't think it's a virus
but you never know. Network Card is internal on Notebook. Network
Card update searches for better driver but never finishes, it
doesn't hang just doesn't finish.

Are there any yellow question marks in Device Manager? Right click on
the My Computer icon on your Desktop and select Properties,
Hardware,Device Manager. If yes what is the Device Error code?

No yellow question marks.

Try Start, Run, type "sigverif.exe" without quotes and hit OK. What
drivers are listed as unsigned? Disregard those which are not checked.

Sigverif.exe encounters an error and won't run.

What is your Windows XP CD as it is described on the face of the CD?

It's a recovery CD. It's also installed on the HDD.

Thanks,

Bill Watt

 

[Gerry]

Bill

Replies inline.

Un-installed Avast as it was mentioned in an earlier error. Can
install but wont be able to get updates. Don't think it's a virus
but you never know. Network Card is internal on Notebook. Network
Card update searches for better driver but never finishes, it
doesn't hang just doesn't finish.

You need to get the relevant third party driver not try to search
through Device Manager.

What is your computer make and model?

What is your motherboard make and model?

This freeware programme is excellent for getting information about
your computer:
Everest Home Edition (freeware)
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

Tip: To copy select Report, Quick Report, Plain Text, highlight
required text, right click and select copy. However, whilst this is
fine for posting small amounts of information into newsgroup messages
longer reports will irritate other newsgroup subscribers.

How old is the computer?

Sigverif.exe encounters an error and won't run.

What does the error message say?

It's a recovery CD. It's also installed on the HDD.

Thanks,

Bill Watt

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Bill Watt]

Reply inline


SNIP

What is your computer make and model?

Systemax Hornet Notebook. 1.6 Ghz 1 GB mem. 80 GB drive.

What is your motherboard make and model?

ID is North Bridge Intel Calistoga BIOS is AMI date 10/18/06 - Name
unknown. Used Everest ver 2.20.

SNIP

How old is the computer?

Made according to my specs 1/23/07. From Systemax. I've been getting
computers from them for many years. No problems until now. My PC is
a Systemax from 6/01 and never a problem. Win98 SE.

It ran this time, one unsigned file. ohci1394. sys . Modified
8/4/04. In the Windows\System32\drivers folder.

SNIP

BTW I looked over the backup I made to the USB drive. The were no
*.exe or *.ini files transferred except some downloaded *.exe
install files in my download folder. I've used the drive copy
program many times with no problems and have restored from the copy
several times. I ran it from XP, I guess that's the problem. I have
formatted the backup drive and will use the copy program's DOS boot
disk and backup what's there, such as it is. Here I thought I had a
good backup from 10/30. What a mess.

Thanks,

Bill Watt

 

[Gerry]

Bill

I have encountered some problems researching your motherboard. You need
to check for updated drivers somewhere like here:
http://mysearch.intel.com/support/d...cal-browsebyproduct-searchsupport-submit.y=12

ohci1394. sys came with SP2.

Have you tried this approach?
How to configure Windows XP to start in a "clean boot" state
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310353/en-us


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Bill Watt]

reply inline

Bill

I have encountered some problems researching your motherboard. You need
to check for updated drivers somewhere like here:
http://mysearch.intel.com/support/d...cal-browsebyproduct-searchsupport-submit.y=12

I don't see anything there. I tried to run Belarc Advisor but it had
a problem and would not install.

ohci1394. sys came with SP2.

Have you tried this approach?
How to configure Windows XP to start in a "clean boot" state
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310353/en-us

Yes, No help.

I think some critical files have been damaged because of all the
*.chk files. I have successfully backed the machine up , such as it
is, on the USB drive.

It's been a week so I'm ready to use the Restore CD then install my
programs. I have all the downloaded files and cd's so it's a matter
of installing them then copying the data over. Then setting
preferences. :-(

If you think of something else please let me know. I've tied you up
on this too long.

Thanks for all your help and patience.

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/