PC boots in Safe Mode, but no desktop icons

[Jackpine]

I am aksking for help on behalf of my friend whose PC is giving him big time
trouble. I don't know what he did, but when he tries to reboot normally, a
blue screen appears with the message Windows Protection Error. He can boot
into Safe Mode, but there are no desktop icons, not event the Start icon or
clock. Nothing except his wallpaper. Can he do a Windows ME repair
installation? What else can he try? Without the Start icon, he can't even
go into Run, msconfig.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
--
Not all those who wander are lost.

J. R. R. Tolkein

 

[Mart]

Let's hope he hasn't already tried "a Windows ME repair installation" yet!
If so, could make things a lot worse at this stage.

It is assumed that the pc has never booted properly since the problem first
started and if this is the case, try booting with the WinMe Startup (floppy)
disk and at the
A:\> prompt, type "scanreg /restore" (no quotes and note the space between
the g and /) Press Return and follow the screen prompts, selecting the last
"Good" date. Remember to remove the floppy BEFORE you tell the pc to
re-boot!

Mart



"Jackpine" <Jackpine@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:3C4F093A-F6AD-44BE-942D-3044FD4C6EAD@microsoft.com...
>I am aksking for help on behalf of my friend whose PC is giving him big
>time
> trouble. I don't know what he did, but when he tries to reboot normally,
> a
> blue screen appears with the message Windows Protection Error. He can
> boot
> into Safe Mode, but there are no desktop icons, not event the Start icon
> or
> clock. Nothing except his wallpaper. Can he do a Windows ME repair
> installation? What else can he try? Without the Start icon, he can't
> even
> go into Run, msconfig.
>
> Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
> --
> Not all those who wander are lost.
>
> J. R. R. Tolkein

 

[Jackpine]

No, he hasn't tried a Windows ME repair installation. I created a WinME
Startup disc. We will try to reboot this evening. Then we will try the
"scanreg /restore." I will report on results. Thanks for giving us a path
forward.
--
Not all those who wander are lost.

J. R. R. Tolkein


"Mart" wrote:

> Let's hope he hasn't already tried "a Windows ME repair installation" yet!
> If so, could make things a lot worse at this stage.
>
> It is assumed that the pc has never booted properly since the problem first
> started and if this is the case, try booting with the WinMe Startup (floppy)
> disk and at the
> A:\> prompt, type "scanreg /restore" (no quotes and note the space between
> the g and /) Press Return and follow the screen prompts, selecting the last
> "Good" date. Remember to remove the floppy BEFORE you tell the pc to
> re-boot!
>
> Mart
>
>
>
> "Jackpine" <Jackpine@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:3C4F093A-F6AD-44BE-942D-3044FD4C6EAD@microsoft.com...
> >I am aksking for help on behalf of my friend whose PC is giving him big
> >time
> > trouble. I don't know what he did, but when he tries to reboot normally,
> > a
> > blue screen appears with the message Windows Protection Error. He can
> > boot
> > into Safe Mode, but there are no desktop icons, not event the Start icon
> > or
> > clock. Nothing except his wallpaper. Can he do a Windows ME repair
> > installation? What else can he try? Without the Start icon, he can't
> > even
> > go into Run, msconfig.
> >
> > Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
> > --
> > Not all those who wander are lost.
> >
> > J. R. R. Tolkein
>
>
>

 

[Jackpine]

Well, the computer wouldn't reboot with the startup disc. We selected option
1 and got the blue screen and message Windows Protection Error. Restarty
computer. At one point, we were able to get to A:> drive. After typing in
the command startreg /restore, we hit Enter and got a message saying Bad
Command or File. Nothing works. Any other suggestions?
--
Not all those who wander are lost.

J. R. R. Tolkein


"Jackpine" wrote:

> No, he hasn't tried a Windows ME repair installation. I created a WinME
> Startup disc. We will try to reboot this evening. Then we will try the
> "scanreg /restore." I will report on results. Thanks for giving us a path
> forward.
> --
> Not all those who wander are lost.
>
> J. R. R. Tolkein
>
>
> "Mart" wrote:
>
> > Let's hope he hasn't already tried "a Windows ME repair installation" yet!
> > If so, could make things a lot worse at this stage.
> >
> > It is assumed that the pc has never booted properly since the problem first
> > started and if this is the case, try booting with the WinMe Startup (floppy)
> > disk and at the
> > A:\> prompt, type "scanreg /restore" (no quotes and note the space between
> > the g and /) Press Return and follow the screen prompts, selecting the last
> > "Good" date. Remember to remove the floppy BEFORE you tell the pc to
> > re-boot!
> >
> > Mart
> >
> >
> >
> > "Jackpine" <Jackpine@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> > news:3C4F093A-F6AD-44BE-942D-3044FD4C6EAD@microsoft.com...
> > >I am aksking for help on behalf of my friend whose PC is giving him big
> > >time
> > > trouble. I don't know what he did, but when he tries to reboot normally,
> > > a
> > > blue screen appears with the message Windows Protection Error. He can
> > > boot
> > > into Safe Mode, but there are no desktop icons, not event the Start icon
> > > or
> > > clock. Nothing except his wallpaper. Can he do a Windows ME repair
> > > installation? What else can he try? Without the Start icon, he can't
> > > even
> > > go into Run, msconfig.
> > >
> > > Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
> > > --
> > > Not all those who wander are lost.
> > >
> > > J. R. R. Tolkein
> >
> >
> >

 

[Mart]

Jackpine wrote :-

> Nothing works. Any other suggestions?

OK, let's take your reply one step at a time :-

> Well, the computer wouldn't reboot with the startup disc.

Do you mean "reboot" or do you really mean "boot" i.e. from a 'cold start'?
More details please, like - error reports? - what happened next? - etc.?

But then, ASS-U-ME ing the startup disc works on another pc (ie it isn't
faulty) then that suggests the 'boot order' needs resetting in the BIOS to
enable the floppy drive to be accessed first - before the C: drive.
However!! ....

> We selected option 1 and got the blue screen and
> message Windows Protection Error. Restart computer.

I ASS-U-ME you must have been pressing the F8 key (in an attempt to boot
into Safe Mode?) and are now alluding to the Menu screen where option 1 is
for "Normal". If so, you are still trying to boot into Normal Mode. Option 3
is Safe Mode.

> At one point, we were able to get to A:> drive.

More details of how you got there would be useful. Either your startup
floppy disk is faulty (or not a *WinMe* startup floppy disk) or you *appear*
to be suggesting that you somehow actually managed to get into Windows. If
that really was the case, were you in Normal or Safe Mode?

As a matter of interest, immediately before your friend's computer went
faulty, had it been working quite normally - or is there something he's not
telling you? I suspect that I can small a red herring swimming about
somewhere.

Until you are able to boot with your Startup disk, or give some more
meaningful error descriptions, reports of 'nothing works' are not helpful.

Mart



"Jackpine" <Jackpine@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:463E0701-E434-4A82-BBA5-3214E465CC35@microsoft.com...
> Well, the computer wouldn't reboot with the startup disc. We selected
> option
> 1 and got the blue screen and message Windows Protection Error. Restarty
> computer. At one point, we were able to get to A:> drive. After typing
> in
> the command startreg /restore, we hit Enter and got a message saying Bad
> Command or File. Nothing works. Any other suggestions?
> --
> Not all those who wander are lost.
>
> J. R. R. Tolkein
>
>
> "Jackpine" wrote:
>
>> No, he hasn't tried a Windows ME repair installation. I created a WinME
>> Startup disc. We will try to reboot this evening. Then we will try the
>> "scanreg /restore." I will report on results. Thanks for giving us a
>> path
>> forward.
>> --
>> Not all those who wander are lost.
>>
>> J. R. R. Tolkein
>>
>>
>> "Mart" wrote:
>>
>> > Let's hope he hasn't already tried "a Windows ME repair installation"
>> > yet!
>> > If so, could make things a lot worse at this stage.
>> >
>> > It is assumed that the pc has never booted properly since the problem
>> > first
>> > started and if this is the case, try booting with the WinMe Startup
>> > (floppy)
>> > disk and at the
>> > A:\> prompt, type "scanreg /restore" (no quotes and note the space
>> > between
>> > the g and /) Press Return and follow the screen prompts, selecting the
>> > last
>> > "Good" date. Remember to remove the floppy BEFORE you tell the pc to
>> > re-boot!
>> >
>> > Mart
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > "Jackpine" <Jackpine@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> > news:3C4F093A-F6AD-44BE-942D-3044FD4C6EAD@microsoft.com...
>> > >I am aksking for help on behalf of my friend whose PC is giving him
>> > >big
>> > >time
>> > > trouble. I don't know what he did, but when he tries to reboot
>> > > normally,
>> > > a
>> > > blue screen appears with the message Windows Protection Error. He
>> > > can
>> > > boot
>> > > into Safe Mode, but there are no desktop icons, not event the Start
>> > > icon
>> > > or
>> > > clock. Nothing except his wallpaper. Can he do a Windows ME repair
>> > > installation? What else can he try? Without the Start icon, he
>> > > can't
>> > > even
>> > > go into Run, msconfig.
>> > >
>> > > Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
>> > > --
>> > > Not all those who wander are lost.
>> > >
>> > > J. R. R. Tolkein
>> >
>> >
>> >

 

[webster72n]

"Jackpine" <Jackpine@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:463E0701-E434-4A82-BBA5-3214E465CC35@microsoft.com...
> Well, the computer wouldn't reboot with the startup disc. We selected
option
> 1 and got the blue screen and message Windows Protection Error. Restarty
> computer. At one point, we were able to get to A:> drive. After typing
in
> the command startreg /restore,

Isn't it 'scanreg /restore', instead of 'startreg /restore'? <H>.

> we hit Enter and got a message saying Bad
> Command or File. Nothing works. Any other suggestions?
> --
> Not all those who wander are lost.
>
> J. R. R. Tolkein
>
>
> "Jackpine" wrote:
>
> > No, he hasn't tried a Windows ME repair installation. I created a WinME
> > Startup disc. We will try to reboot this evening. Then we will try the
> > "scanreg /restore." I will report on results. Thanks for giving us a
path
> > forward.
> > --
> > Not all those who wander are lost.
> >
> > J. R. R. Tolkein
> >
> >
> > "Mart" wrote:
> >
> > > Let's hope he hasn't already tried "a Windows ME repair installation"
yet!
> > > If so, could make things a lot worse at this stage.
> > >
> > > It is assumed that the pc has never booted properly since the problem
first
> > > started and if this is the case, try booting with the WinMe Startup
(floppy)
> > > disk and at the
> > > A:\> prompt, type "scanreg /restore" (no quotes and note the space
between
> > > the g and /) Press Return and follow the screen prompts, selecting the
last
> > > "Good" date. Remember to remove the floppy BEFORE you tell the pc to
> > > re-boot!
> > >
> > > Mart
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > "Jackpine" <Jackpine@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> > > news:3C4F093A-F6AD-44BE-942D-3044FD4C6EAD@microsoft.com...
> > > >I am aksking for help on behalf of my friend whose PC is giving him
big
> > > >time
> > > > trouble. I don't know what he did, but when he tries to reboot
normally,
> > > > a
> > > > blue screen appears with the message Windows Protection Error. He
can
> > > > boot
> > > > into Safe Mode, but there are no desktop icons, not event the Start
icon
> > > > or
> > > > clock. Nothing except his wallpaper. Can he do a Windows ME repair
> > > > installation? What else can he try? Without the Start icon, he
can't
> > > > even
> > > > go into Run, msconfig.
> > > >
> > > > Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
> > > > --
> > > > Not all those who wander are lost.
> > > >
> > > > J. R. R. Tolkein
> > >
> > >
> > >

 

[Mart]

> Isn't it 'scanreg /restore', instead of 'startreg /restore'? <H>.

Well spotted, Harry. I missed that myself in Jackpine's later post. He got
it right the first time around <g>. But it would certainly explain the "Bad
Command or File" report.

We'll have to wait for Jp's response.

Mart



"webster72n" <webster72n@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:uHk5fngiIHA.1204@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>
> "Jackpine" <Jackpine@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:463E0701-E434-4A82-BBA5-3214E465CC35@microsoft.com...
>> Well, the computer wouldn't reboot with the startup disc. We selected
> option
>> 1 and got the blue screen and message Windows Protection Error. Restarty
>> computer. At one point, we were able to get to A:> drive. After typing
> in
>> the command startreg /restore,
>
> Isn't it 'scanreg /restore', instead of 'startreg /restore'? <H>.
>
>> we hit Enter and got a message saying Bad
>> Command or File. Nothing works. Any other suggestions?
>> --
>> Not all those who wander are lost.
>>
>> J. R. R. Tolkein
>>
>>
>> "Jackpine" wrote:
>>
>> > No, he hasn't tried a Windows ME repair installation. I created a
>> > WinME
>> > Startup disc. We will try to reboot this evening. Then we will try
>> > the
>> > "scanreg /restore." I will report on results. Thanks for giving us a
> path
>> > forward.
>> > --
>> > Not all those who wander are lost.
>> >
>> > J. R. R. Tolkein
>> >
>> >
>> > "Mart" wrote:
>> >
>> > > Let's hope he hasn't already tried "a Windows ME repair installation"
> yet!
>> > > If so, could make things a lot worse at this stage.
>> > >
>> > > It is assumed that the pc has never booted properly since the problem
> first
>> > > started and if this is the case, try booting with the WinMe Startup
> (floppy)
>> > > disk and at the
>> > > A:\> prompt, type "scanreg /restore" (no quotes and note the space
> between
>> > > the g and /) Press Return and follow the screen prompts, selecting
>> > > the
> last
>> > > "Good" date. Remember to remove the floppy BEFORE you tell the pc to
>> > > re-boot!
>> > >
>> > > Mart
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > "Jackpine" <Jackpine@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> > > news:3C4F093A-F6AD-44BE-942D-3044FD4C6EAD@microsoft.com...
>> > > >I am aksking for help on behalf of my friend whose PC is giving him
> big
>> > > >time
>> > > > trouble. I don't know what he did, but when he tries to reboot
> normally,
>> > > > a
>> > > > blue screen appears with the message Windows Protection Error. He
> can
>> > > > boot
>> > > > into Safe Mode, but there are no desktop icons, not event the Start
> icon
>> > > > or
>> > > > clock. Nothing except his wallpaper. Can he do a Windows ME
>> > > > repair
>> > > > installation? What else can he try? Without the Start icon, he
> can't
>> > > > even
>> > > > go into Run, msconfig.
>> > > >
>> > > > Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
>> > > > --
>> > > > Not all those who wander are lost.
>> > > >
>> > > > J. R. R. Tolkein
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>
>

 

[Jackpine]

We did try scanreg /restore, not startreg /restore as incorrectly typed in my
last post. Sorry. I am going to my friend's place after work today to do
some more testing. I will take careful notes of what we do and of the
results.
--
Not all those who wander are lost.

J. R. R. Tolkein


"Mart" wrote:

> > Isn't it 'scanreg /restore', instead of 'startreg /restore'? <H>.
>
> Well spotted, Harry. I missed that myself in Jackpine's later post. He got
> it right the first time around <g>. But it would certainly explain the "Bad
> Command or File" report.
>
> We'll have to wait for Jp's response.
>
> Mart
>
>
>
> "webster72n" <webster72n@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:uHk5fngiIHA.1204@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> >
> > "Jackpine" <Jackpine@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> > news:463E0701-E434-4A82-BBA5-3214E465CC35@microsoft.com...
> >> Well, the computer wouldn't reboot with the startup disc. We selected
> > option
> >> 1 and got the blue screen and message Windows Protection Error. Restarty
> >> computer. At one point, we were able to get to A:> drive. After typing
> > in
> >> the command startreg /restore,
> >
> > Isn't it 'scanreg /restore', instead of 'startreg /restore'? <H>.
> >
> >> we hit Enter and got a message saying Bad
> >> Command or File. Nothing works. Any other suggestions?
> >> --
> >> Not all those who wander are lost.
> >>
> >> J. R. R. Tolkein
> >>
> >>
> >> "Jackpine" wrote:
> >>
> >> > No, he hasn't tried a Windows ME repair installation. I created a
> >> > WinME
> >> > Startup disc. We will try to reboot this evening. Then we will try
> >> > the
> >> > "scanreg /restore." I will report on results. Thanks for giving us a
> > path
> >> > forward.
> >> > --
> >> > Not all those who wander are lost.
> >> >
> >> > J. R. R. Tolkein
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > "Mart" wrote:
> >> >
> >> > > Let's hope he hasn't already tried "a Windows ME repair installation"
> > yet!
> >> > > If so, could make things a lot worse at this stage.
> >> > >
> >> > > It is assumed that the pc has never booted properly since the problem
> > first
> >> > > started and if this is the case, try booting with the WinMe Startup
> > (floppy)
> >> > > disk and at the
> >> > > A:\> prompt, type "scanreg /restore" (no quotes and note the space
> > between
> >> > > the g and /) Press Return and follow the screen prompts, selecting
> >> > > the
> > last
> >> > > "Good" date. Remember to remove the floppy BEFORE you tell the pc to
> >> > > re-boot!
> >> > >
> >> > > Mart
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > > "Jackpine" <Jackpine@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> > > news:3C4F093A-F6AD-44BE-942D-3044FD4C6EAD@microsoft.com...
> >> > > >I am aksking for help on behalf of my friend whose PC is giving him
> > big
> >> > > >time
> >> > > > trouble. I don't know what he did, but when he tries to reboot
> > normally,
> >> > > > a
> >> > > > blue screen appears with the message Windows Protection Error. He
> > can
> >> > > > boot
> >> > > > into Safe Mode, but there are no desktop icons, not event the Start
> > icon
> >> > > > or
> >> > > > clock. Nothing except his wallpaper. Can he do a Windows ME
> >> > > > repair
> >> > > > installation? What else can he try? Without the Start icon, he
> > can't
> >> > > > even
> >> > > > go into Run, msconfig.
> >> > > >
> >> > > > Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
> >> > > > --
> >> > > > Not all those who wander are lost.
> >> > > >
> >> > > > J. R. R. Tolkein
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >
> >
>
>
>