Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Restoring a crashed Win98SE PC

Mar 1, 2004 11:32AM PST

my friend was cleaning her son's PC and discovered and deleted several viruses etc using a current AV.

unfortunately she seems to have deleted some executables as well as she cannot open the browser and/ or email.

I used to use Win98SE and know that there is a Microsoft Knowledge base article that talks about booting to DOS and then using the C:\windows\restore/ repair function that is available going back to the last good snapshot.

can someone please help me with a link to the Microsoft Article in question or, in the alternative provide the command required to either repair the OS or restore it to a prior configuration?
thank you.
the OS is Win98SE.
david williams

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Re:Restoring a crashed Win98SE PC
Mar 1, 2004 1:05PM PST

Hi David,

Reboot the computer into the MS-DOS mode one of two ways:.
A. If you're in Windows, you can click on Start, Shutdown, then Restart in MS-DOS mode.
B. If you're starting the computer after it has been turned off, start tapping the 'F8' key as the computer starts up or hold down the left CTRL key.
1. This should give you a Windows 98 Startup menu.
2. At the Startup menu, use the arrow keys on your keyboard to select option number 5, Command Prompt, and press 'enter'.
3. This should get you to a MS-DOS prompt.
C. At the DOS prompt, type in 'scanreg /restore' and press the enter key.
D. This should give you a blue and grey menu screen.
E. On the menu there will be listings of the registry for different dates.
F. Use the arrow keys and highlight the oldest copy, then press enter..
G. The current registry will be backed up and Windows will try to restore the copy you selected.

Good Luck !

- Collapse -
Restoring a crashed Win98SE PC. Thank You Marianne. Passed on to my friend.
Mar 1, 2004 2:16PM PST

will post back with results.
david williams

- Collapse -
Re:Restoring a crashed Win98SE PC
Mar 1, 2004 5:33PM PST

I'm afraid Marianna's recipe only covers the registry files, not the executables tragically deleted without backup.

The best thing to try: Config Panel, Add/Remove Software, then 'repair IE'. This might repair Internet Explorer and Outlook Express.
Otherwise, reinstall these programs again from a CD, if you have one.
If you don't have such a CD, find someone with both a cable or adsl connection and a CD-burner, go to browsers.evolt.org, download the browser of your choice (around 80 Mb), burn it to CD, and install it on the Windows 98 PC.

Afterwards, try Start/Run SFC, and let it search for missing files only. And let it get only them from the Windows 98 CD.

Good luck,


Kees