Answer Line: What Do You Do When Windows Doesn't Boot?

I've tried everything I can think of, but I can't get Windows Me to boot. Is there anything I can do?

Aric Michael Warden, via the Internet

Here's the solution to recalcitrant PCs running Windows 98 and Me. First, boot your computer into Safe mode: Turn on your computer, then immediately press and hold down the Ctrl key. When the start-up options appear, release the Ctrl key and use the arrow keys to select Safe mode, then press Enter.

This brings you to a limited version of Windows. Now you can access your data and change back whatever caused the problem. For instance, you might uninstall a program or device you installed just prior to the snafu's first occurrence.

You can also repair or restore the Windows Registry. If you use Windows Me, select Start, Run, type scanregw /fix (note the w and the space that follows it), and press Enter to repair the Registry. To restore an earlier version of the Registry (Windows backs it up at regular intervals), select Start, Run, type scanregw /restore, and press Enter to get a list of your available backups (see FIGURE 1).

If your computer uses Windows 98, you must fix or restore the Registry from outside Windows. Once again, hold down Ctrl as you start your machine, but this time, select Command prompt only from the resulting start-up menu. At the C> prompt, type scanreg /fix (no w this time) or scanreg /restore and press Enter.

In either Windows 98 or Me, if you can't get to Safe mode, the command prompt, or the Startup menu, it's time to break out your Startup floppy. If you don't have one, find a PC running Windows 98 or Me, select Start, Settings, Control Panel, double-click Add/Remove Programs, choose the Startup Disk tab, click the Create Disk button, and follow the instructions. You'll need a blank, formatted floppy.

Put the Startup floppy into your A: drive and reboot your troubled system. You'll see another start-up menu. Select Start computer without CD-ROM support and press Enter. Starting the computer with CD-ROM support takes longer and is useful only if you need to reinstall Windows.

At the A> prompt, type dir c: and press Enter. If you see a list of files and folders, you can relax; your hard drive is readable and you probably haven't lost your data. If your drive isn't readable, and you don't have backups, contact a company such as Ontrack to see if it can restore your data.

Here are some other useful commands: scandisk c: checks your hard drive for errors; sys c: restores some primary files needed for booting from the hard drive; and fdisk /mbr restores your drive's master boot record, which, if it's corrupted, just might be the cause of your problems.

Go to "Create a Start-Up Floppy for Windows 2000 and XP" to learn how to jump-start ailing systems that are using Windows 2000 and XP.