OS malfunctions in win98

I’ve been referred here from the spyware forum in the hope of resolving some OS problems which came to light or occurred there. The problems are (at least)


Occasional problems shutting down - error messages occurring 'Frm Hidden' requiring return to windows before closing, or sometimes hangng of the system requiring shutdown via the on button - reboot with scan of drive C.

Attempting to use DOS and “fsc /scannow” produced a bad file name result but the scanner works in normal mode

In normal mode it identifies only one file FPATCL.dll in C:\Program Files\FSI\F-Prot as corrupt.

Using Start>find>by date appears not to work in safe mode (but does in normal)

Running smitREM in safe mode but finding nothing seems to have altered desktop colour in normal mode to royal blue (but remaining default bluegreen in safe). And/or caused by:

In safe mode control panel display button shows only 4 tabs but 6 tabs in normal. And/or caused by:

In safe mode under View>folder options changing to web interface



Some of these things I may have done by accident after running sfc in normal and being overwhelmed by altered/deleted files – I followed windows logic for a few and perhaps shouldn't have. Some things may have happened as a result of spyware removal.


http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showpost.php?p=705076&postcount=35

has a Scandisk/log attached, which seems to show consistent errors with free space being reported inaccurately, and more recently, large numbers of lost clusters.

Drive C is mostly drivers; D mostly programs; E only data/files.

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showpost.php?p=703515&postcount=3

has a link to my system details. Please ask if any more is needed.


I am also hoping to discover if Spytech Software is on my system - it was revealed as being so a few weeks ago by Spyware Doctor, but the files have so far remained elusive. Are you also able to help with this? I am the owner and only user (in theory) of my computer. Unfortunately I do know someone who would want to snoop for their own manipulative purposes - any other bodies including govt agencies wouldn't worry me, I have nothing to hide.

Hope you can help me sort out the problems.

Thanks in advance.

 

As long as you have no spyware or other malignancies this is what I used in the days whenI had 98 SE
Quote
Fixingw98 without reinstall

"Got problems and don't want to reinstall... Don't wanna lose any of your
settings or software? There's a command line option that'll get you back on
your feet in no time. Boot up your PC with a Windows 98 boot disk, pop in your
Windows 98 CD, and once you're at the command prompt, type your CD-ROM drive
letter immediately followed by a colon. So, if your CD was set to "D" you'd
enter D: and then hit ENTER. At this point, type the following command: SETUP
/pf. This switch will restore all of Windows critical files to their factory
state, and in 99% of situations doing this will fix whatever problems you were
having in Windows 98." - From the free Tips download at http://www.x9000.net/.

You can download bootdisks for all versions of Windows here -
http://www.bootdisk.com/.

Eric,

PC Buyer Beware!

http://www.legge40.freeserve.co.uk/BuyerBeware.htm
Unquote

 

Thanks, have followed those instructions, though possibly windows completely re-installed.

I still have the blue desktop even though the display setting is on default, which at one stage changed itself to the win98 desktop (a darker blue and bottom of the display list).

One time (before reinstall) the screensaver changed itself.

sfc /scannow in DOS still doesn't work.

I ran it in normal and it picked up a faulty SYSTEM/setupx.dll file and I reinstalled via the CD.

Before that I ran scandisk a few times. It repeatedly started itself again saying another programme was writing to disk. Presumably this isn't an av programme or others that sit in the background?

I have updated Win98 criticals.

Might it make a difference that my win98 CD is an update not a full version?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

 

I have posted back to the spyware forum because have found ongoing problems and spyware previously not known to be there.

You could probably close this thread now?

Thanks again and happy holidays.