windows protection error

I have not been able to find a cure for the infamous Windows protection error in Windows 98, and I have seen a few cases.

In some cases, if the hard drive was still usable, an in-place install from within Windows or a complete re-install fixed the situation.

If you have the operating system CD, I'd try an in-place install.

However, you may still have to address the original cause of the problem, possibly faulty RAM or a CPU or motherboard with an intermittent failure.

Can you give a bit more info on the hardware that you have in your system - in particular, the MB and CPU. I have seen cases with an ASUS MB and an older AMD CPU having the windows protection fault. The issue actually was the CPU and AMD posted a fix/patch for it. Maybe this will help point you in the right direction.

JEPott

Hi

Another point to bear in mind is that the restore disk is likely to reformat your drive before reinstalling the OS.

Boot from a Win98 Boot Floppy Disk first (go to www.bootdisk.com for the files you will need), and copy any important files off your computer before trying the restore disk again.

Or, insert the drive in another computer and copy the files off that way.

Have you had the computer from when it was new? If so, and you are sure you have the original restore disk, visit the HP/Compaq support centre or give them a call.

Also, as above, if you post more information about your system (model number, RAM, CPU etc), and also the exact error message, we can help you more.

Good luck

i bet you don't have to 'restore'. btw you should be able to get what you need from compaq. did you check out their website?
*is* the exact , complete error?
i would start by ruling out the causes below.
here is a snippet from the first article to get you going and links to others to help you see why/what kind of info we need..

CAUSE
This behavior can occur when a when your computer loads or unloads a virtual device driver (VxD). In many cases, the VxD that did not load or unload is mentioned in the error message. In other cases, you may not be able to determine which VxD caused the behavior.

Windows Protection error messages can occur under any of the following conditions:
? If a real-mode driver and a protected-mode driver are in conflict.
? If the registry is damaged.
? If either the Win.com file or the Command.com file are infected with a virus, or if either of the files are damaged.
? If a protected-mode driver is loaded from the System.ini file and the driver is already initialized.
? If there is a physical input/output (I/O) address conflict or a random access memory (RAM) address conflict.
? If there are incorrect complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) settings for a built-in peripheral device (such as cache settings, CPU timing, hard disks, and so on).
? If the Plug and Play feature of the computer's basic input/output system (BIOS) is not working correctly.
? If the computer contains a malfunctioning cache or malfunctioning memory.
? If the computer's motherboard is not working properly.
? If you installed Microsoft Office 97 and you are using the Novell Client 32 software.

How to Troubleshoot Windows Protection Error Messages
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;149962
Windows Protection Error in NDIS with a CPU That Is Faster Than 2.1 GHz
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;312108

If this problem isn't too old there is another way to reset the registry to an earlier version. Since you can boot to safe mode, you can shut down to dos mode. Once in dos mode you can run the scanreg /restore command, pick a reg date earlier than the day this began, hit enter to restore a known good registry. This usually is limited by default to 5 known registry backups that are available for restoring. Scanreg will notify you if it was seccessful at updating the registry, if not just run it again and pick another dated registry bavkup to try. This is a lot quicker than doing a reformat and install.

If this problem isn't too old there is another way to reset the registry to an earlier version. Since you can boot to safe mode, you can shut down to dos mode. Once in dos mode you can run the scanreg /restore command, pick a reg date earlier than the day this began, hit enter to restore a known good registry. This usually is limited by default to 5 known registry backups that are available for restoring. Scanreg will notify you if it was seccessful at updating the registry, if not just run it again and pick another dated registry backup to try. This is a lot quicker than doing a reformat and install.

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