Only wallpaper shows up!

[jmhcs]

I am working on a noname (ULTRA) Pentium II 200 mhz computer that had been work great until - Another game was installed! The games specs fell well within the capabilities of this computer.

Symtoms: After booting (Windows 98 Plus) McAffee anti-virus is launched. During this launch, the message "Program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down" is displayed. At this time I click close program to bypass and this seems to get by this operation. However, what is left is a screen with wallpaper only, no Icons, and a mouse that works.

When I reboot using "Safe Mode" I get a HIMEM.SYS missing although it is there, actually in both the WINDOWS folder and the C: root directory.

Any suggestions??? :confused: :confused:

[BipolarBill]

Try restoring the Registry. Restart the PC and press F8 repeatedly until you have a menu. Choose Command Prompt Only. At the prompt, type SCANREG /RESTORE. Select a backed up registry that predates the game installation. Restart and check it out.

[Fatal_Exception]

if the restore fails, boot to safe mode and disable mcafee and other junk in msconfig, remove all monitors in device manager, then reboot into normal mode... once you can boot properly then you can reinable your startup files in msconfig

[jmhcs]

This looked to be a good suggestion but did not work. Still stopes at McAffee. I thought perhaps this computer was low on disk as I have seen similar problems on others when booting. However, theri is 1,708 MB available.

[Fatal_Exception]

does you computer normally boot straight into windows or do you have it boot to dos and then run win.com?

either way, rename autoexec.bat to autoexec.326 and config.sys to config.326 and reboot to safe mode

[jmhcs]

To Fatal Exception:

Cannot boot to "Safe mode". Any way to do this using a startup Windows 98 Startup Disk???

However, you may have pointed me into the correct direction. When booting to "Safe Mode" I get the message "HIMEM.SYS has detected unreliable XMS Memory at address 03E06F70, XMS driver not installed.

Will new memory correct this??

[Fatal_Exception]

i don't think the problem is not your memory, it is mcafee wanting to run some its virus scan prior to starting windows

you could have a virus like the chernobyl virus that likes to inhabit extended memory

you could have some bad memory, and it doesn't hurt to remove some and see if that resolves your problem

[BipolarBill]

While it is possible that your memory has suddenly gone bad, it's highly unlikely. I agree with F_E. We have to figure out a way to stop McAfee AV from running.

Try shutting the PC down for a few minutes and letting it cool off. Attempt Safe Mode access again and use MSCONFIG to stop Virus Scan from loading.

It's a shame, but you may have to reinstall Windows.

[jmhcs]

To both F_E and Bipolar:

Is there a way to disable McAffee using a Windows 98 Startup Disk (Boot from 31/2 inch floppy)? I cannot boot to safe mode using normal methods.

I, too, suspect the only solution is to reload but thought ther may be one last possibility.

[BipolarBill]

Is there a way to disable McAffee using a Windows 98 Startup Disk (Boot from 31/2 inch floppy)? I don't think so. I believe that McAfee starts thanks to a Registry entry. If there is a shortcut in your Startup group, you can delete it.

C:\Windows\Start~1\Progra~1\Startup\XXXX.LNK (XXXX being VIRUSS~1.LNK or similar)

I doubt it's there. :(

[jmhcs]

To F_E and Bipolar:

I thank you both for your help. I am running a Norton Anti-virus 2002 CD I was able to boot to, just in case there is a virus that could cause this problem. It only has definitions to a certain date of which I don't know what it is.

Again, thank you and if I find anything different, I will let you know. However, as of now, my plans are to reload.

JMHCS :(

[Fatal_Exception]

you can edit the registry in dos, but it is not a job for the faint of heart.... edit msdos.sys and add the line BOOTSAFE=1 to the OPTIONS section to see if you can force it to boot to safe mode (assuming you have already renamed autoexec and config)

[shark_megabyte]

There is another way you could attack this problem. It would probably take several tries, but crack your knuckles and warm up your three "saluting" fingers.

If you cntrl-alt-del at exactly the right time, you might be able to catch McAfee before it gets far enough along in loading to cause the error. You just want to get the Close Program dialog up, late enough that it has McAfee in it. If you can do that, you should be able to stop it before it has a chance to give Windows fits. Then just go into MSConfig and disable whatever it's using to load itself.

I stopped a trojan from loading this way once and was able to remove it completely, all without the help of an antivirus (a friend gave it to me as a joke, and I executed it because I trusted him).

[jmhcs]

To all that helped. The final solution:

By loading a Windows 95 Upgrade over Windows 95 PLUS!, the process seemed to reset the registry and I was able to save 99% of what was there. I did not expect this but it worked.

[dave-harper]

it may be bad memory and the best way to check is
make sure you're on slow boot up ( post ) not quick - that way it checks the memory better

create a simple do boot disk that runs himem with the testmem:on switch - it can pick up stuff even better

there may actual mem checkers but i check on those