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Win98 registry and other problems.

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by reverendzero 1 view

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I apologize in advance because this will be a lengthy question. This has been driving me insane.

Hardware:
Soyo 71WM/L v1.0 with 466mhz Celeron
64MB Generic PC100
4GB Seagate from old IBM PC330 master on IDE1
44x CD-ROM master on IDE2
Linksys LNE100TX NIC
Integrated Audio
Audio, COM 1/2, LPT1, USB are disabled.
DMA is enabled on all drives.

Win98 4.10.2222 from OEM disk.

I can install the OS okay, but it gives me a number of errors, especially whenever I try to install ANYTHING. It always says that the ".EXE is corrupted, try another file." Problem is, it happens on ALL EXEs, even ones I've tested on my other computers. I get illegal operations whenever I try to run Windows Update, install Directx 7.0a and 8, the Soyo VGA drivers even though it let's me install everything else the motherboard needs. The CONFIG.SYS file is also incomplete; I have to repair it myself.

Thoe most worrisome error I get is the registry being corrupted! The rare ocassion when I DO install a program, it fails when I try to run it and gives me a "corrupt registry" problem. It backs it up, and all my work has disappeared off the face of Windows. I can't fix anything because Windows keeps restoring itself to its original setup, which has an inherent problem! I've tried two different 98 disks, one 95 disk, and even NT server. ALL fail. NT Server won't even load; it fails on install. I've even tried to different CD drives.

I think it's a hardware problem, but I don't know where to start. You think it's a HDD problem? This is the same HDD that wouldn't load the OS on the old IBM PC; that's why I bought the SOYO and Celeron. But whenever I put it on a computer at work, it loaded NT Server fine. I could even update it and install software. What is it!?

I hope you can help. I don't mind buying more parts, but I'd like to buy the right one.

Thank you,
Ram

13 replies

by ojmj

A couple of things that you didn't mention:

Have you run an antivirus program on the hard drive? It is very possible that a virus is corrupting your Operating System every time you reinstall. Cold boot to a virus checking disk (write-protected)in the A: drive.

If that is not the problem, you also need to run scandisk on the hard drive to check if there are physical defects on the disk.

Good luck!

O.J.

by dmiles

It does not seem to be a hardware problem that is causing this to happen.
Click on Start,click programs in cascading menu,select Acessories and choose System Tools,select tools from the menu and you should be able to choose an option that will helpyou extract and configure the right files from the cd-rom,more or less try running the operating system from the cd-rom.

by reverendzero

I actually tried a roundabout way of doing this to install SystemWorks and the Intel VGA driver, and I got the same "corrupt executable" error message.

Here's a clarification on that particular error message: "There is not enough disk space or the executable file is corrupted..."

This is why I thought it was a hardware problem. DMA is selected for both drives, I've tried different settings for my page file, and I took out the 64MB stick and replaced it with a Wintec 128MB stick. Thanks,though...

by spn

A very bizzar problem , I personal dont like seagate drives.Now you say that the HDD loads the os on another system?? have you used the seagate diagnostic tool for testing and formating?

Thats all I can think of off hand but I'll ask around and see if anyone has any ideas.

by reverendzero

I never liked them much, either. But I gotta use it 'cause I'm broke ;)

I didn't use Seagate's tool, but I used scandisk, chkdsk, and NDD on my main computer. Thanks, though...

by richard lane

Definitely sounds hardware related. You suggest in the other copy of this message that it may be the mobo. Unlikely unless you kept the same board out of the IBM. The HDD seems to be the right area to look, yet the only glitch there is that it works fine when connecting it up to other machines at work, so it may not be the drive itself.
When you moved it from the IBM to the Soyo, did you use the same cable? id you use the same cable when conecting it to the machines at work? It the answerto the first is yes, and the second no, then thaere is probably where the problem lies. Try getting a brand new cable and using that (or even pinch one from work ;->).

Hope this helps.

Richard

by reverendzero

I think you're on the right path here, but I am using a different IDE cable. In fact, I've already tried three! Two ATA66 cables (one new one that came with the Soyo), one ATA33 cable. I never tested them on another system, though.

But I really do think it's hardware related. I'm going to install the OS here at work and test the crap out of it. If it works here, I'm exchanging the motherboard.

I appreciate everyone's help. I hate to reject your answers since they're all helpful in one way or another.

by gshollingsworth

Is the BIOS configuration correct? Are you relying on autoconfiguration to set the HDD parameters in the BIOS? Verify that the machine at work and yours are seeing the drive the same way. Specifically the number of cylinders, heads, sectors, and thevarious modes. If the two machines do see them differently, copy the parameters from the one that works and set them manually in the on that is giving you trouble. Check the drive manual or Seagate's web site for the specs on what you drive supports. If this gets it working for you, then delete and recreate all partitions before proceding with the OS install. Hope this helps.

by jesselou

recently, i encountered such problem in one of my client having piii 800/133 machine. i spent several hours to figure out the problem
and even inspected the hdd,floppy, cdrom jumpers.what i do is cleared the cmos with the belief to clearout any hardware unnecessary configuration. then restarted the machine and accessed the bios settings and selected the failsafe default settings of the award bios then save and exit. i reformatted the drive c 4 gig of the 35 gig
then copied the windows me in to the drive c:
i installed the operating system without any errors although during the ie configuration i encountered some illegal operation it was corrected by applying the ie 5.5 updates and to my amazement the device manager presents a good hardware configurations. the machine becomes fully operational and the client happy.

by reverendzero

I tried this as well; even the dreaded cable select.

Failsafe did seem to get a bit farther, though. But sure enough, it failed after a little bit. IE5.5 and DX8 were my priorites, but it wouldn't let me load them.

Anyway...
The problem is now fixed! Here's a case study in impatience and how NOT to troubleshoot:I pigeon-holed myself into thinking it was the HDD, I beat that avenue to death without changing the memory, even though I suspected it. The one part that would've taken me 5 minutes to replace.

It's working like a champ now with a stick of 128MB PC133. I'm running to the Fry's tonight and get some memory for it since the 128 stick is from my other PC. Thank you all for your help. Here's a lesson I won't forget.

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