Microsoft Registry Checker Error

[Dangermouse]

Hello everybody...

I'm having some computer problems.

I have a Gateway GP computer. It has a Celeron processor, 7 gig hard drive, 250MB zip drive and 255 megs of ram.

I recently wiped the hard drive (deleted the partition, created one, formatted hd) and installed Windows 98 Second Edition. I set up all the drivers (sound, modem, video) and everything was working fine.

Then I installed IomegaWare for the zip drive. After the IomegaWare installer finished I restarted. After that restart an error came up that went something like this:

"Registry Checker
Windows Registry Checker has detected an error in your registry. Windows will restart and automatically repair the registry for you."

And then all you can do is click on restart. It restarts and the computer is reverted back to the point just after I finished installing Win98SE. It reverts back to a very old backup of the registry. All the work that I did setting up the sound, modem, video drivers, etc is gone.

Everything was messed up so I decided just to wipe it and do it all over again. So I go through the whole process again. Wiping the drive, installing Win98SE, setting up all the drivers.

Everything is going fine. I *don't* install IomegaWare this time. Then I install Office 2000 Professional. Disc 1 of the install goes fine. Then I install Disc 2. After restarting once Disc 2 is finished that same "Registry Checker" error comes up. It reverted back AGAIN!

How do I get the registry to behave?

Could this be a virus? I have Norton Anti-Virus 4.0 installed on it (with the latest virus definitions).

[BipolarBill]

I vote for a bad stick of memory.

[shiva_42]

I agree with BiPolarBill, this really sounds like a memory corruption and the most likely cause is the memory stick itself. Good catch! ;)

[Apemantus]

What type of memory are you using?

PC100 CAS3? CAS2? mixed?

If your memory is mixed (CAS2 & CAS3) then your bios CAS Latency time needs to be set to the higher value.

Search the internet for a program called "c't speed". It will diagnose any features and symptoms of your memory chips, and give you a comprehensive rundown of your memory capabilities.

If you run CAS3 memory at a BIOS setting of CAS2, much memory corruption will occur, esp. on memory intensive operations like drive copying or large file transfer.

If it indeed turns out to be a bad chip, you may get unreadable characters displayed in some boxes of the above utility.

If you have two identical sticks, try removing each one in turn and see if the problem dissapears.

Lastly, install one driver at a **** time! ;) if you install multiple drivers, then software on top, without restarting, registry settings can overwrite one another, or not get applied at all.

Basically put, when it prompts you to restart, do so! It may take longer to install everything, but prevents such problems as you are experiencing now.

Good Luck.

Regards,

Ape.

[Commandos]

If you have two sticks ,remove one and and try then switch the stick to discover which one is bad.