My PC has been displaying an error message on startup for the last couple of months now. Something like "Missing Link ********* and system32.DLL missing" or something like that.
I'm running windows 98 which I intend to continue with as i dont get on with anything like 2000 or XP.

I've copied all important files onto a CD.
I have drivers on a CD too. Whats the best way to tackle this as I am thinking of re-formatting? Someone mentioned FDisk. Whats all that about?

Advise please


Nick

I am sure there are better qualified people on here than me but as you had no replies as yet I'll give you a few bits to get on with.

Firstly create yourself a win98 startup disk. That will contain everything you need to reboot, format and Fdisk if you wish. Fdisk is used for creating partitions on your Hard drive (Splitting it up to look like several drives) so if you have say an 80gb drive you may wish to allow 10 - 15gb for your installation and then the remainder as a storage drive. The handy thing about that is that you can store data on the storage partition and next time you want to reformat you only need to reformat your C drive, the one you installed your OS on.

Try this http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/clean1.html I've not read it but it may help you out.

i had similar probs its bad sectors on your hard drive got to maufacturer of the drive and download there software to fix the drive then reinstall windows, that should solve ya prob

sort out as much of the prelim stuff as you can; there are usually a couple of IT bods around.
Give us more Q's as you go along, tooooo much info at once tends to confuse. So keep us up to date on your next stumbling block and what you have already done.
Cheers
Glenn

ok thanks all. Although if it all goes pear-shaped then I won't be able to tell you easily - no PC, no internet!!

I'm going to have a crack at it today.

Nick

One other thing, I use AOL for internet, if I re-install everything will I loose all my email addresses, buddy list etc? I'm not sure whether this information is on my hard disk or on an AOL server somewhere.

Nick

hope this helps...

(make sure you got the windows 98 cdrom to re-install the OS and modem drivers so that you can connect to the internet and download all the latest drivers for your other components)

1. do all your backup on floppy or CDRW if you got one.
2. create a windows 98 startup floppy.
3. boot up with the windows 98 startup floppy.
4. you can delete or create partition if you want. to do that, type fdisk at the DOS prompt.
5. after fdisk, give your PC a reboot with the windows 98 startup floppy inside.
6. at the DOS prompt, type format c:/s and format c: drive.
7. when format finish, insert windows 98 into cdrom drive.
8. goto cdrom drive and install windows 98 (will be something like setup.exe)
9. after windows 98 finish, install all your apps and AOL.
10. good luck!

don't try the drastic route first... just try re-installing windows 98 over the top of your existing one. You may find it cures your problem without losing all your files, settings etc. if it's an upgrade version you have you should be ok if it's a full version you may have to rename the win.com file in the c:\windows directory to get it to re-install but you shuld try this first.

I have done what fizz has just said , its not "clean", but it does work.
For saving cookies and favs, open IE then go file\import n export\next\choose export favs, point it to another partition/or hard drive to save in; failing that, the A drive if you have a spare floppy.
Do the same with cookies, contain your snet login etc.
File\import n export\export cookies\ etc etc.
If you use Outlook express, you need to start it up to find the location where all your mail and address book is stored.
After starting it, go to :
Tools\Options and select the maintenance tab.
Click on the button called "store folder"; you will see the location where all you files for OE are stored. They consist of your address book and could be several dbx files, eg drafts.dbx, inbox.dbx
Yor best bet is to copy all of these files in this folder to a safe location.
Do a search of your system drive, for *.xls *.doc ; this will give a list of all your excel & word docs (just in case)

Your AOL buddy list is probably server based , but i'm not sure.
(i dont use it)

Suba's instructions look ok, but unless your 98 cd is bootable, you will require your floppy boot disk to have cd-rom drivers on it. Otherwise you cant see the CD when system boots in Dos.
I would make you Dos boot disk with CD drivers, b4 you start
fdisking. Then test boot it to make sure it loads the cdrom, and you can read from it, at the command prompt.
ie in dos screen (if cdrom is the D drive;
type D: <return>
then DIR <return>

If you cant do this (dont forget to put the cd in) then, obviously it aint right yet.
Is that enough to be going on with ??

Cheers
glenn

Too late, see new topic..