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PW,
Thanks, again, for your very generous efforts to help me with my "Re-start in MS DOS mode" problem. I did the "System File Checker" thing you suggested, got the following results:
Folders Examined: 65
Files Examined: 1594
Files added to Verification data File : 698
Files Removed from Verification Data File: 0
Files Updated in Verification Data File: 83
Files Restored: 0
File Changes Ignored: 0
I don't know what any of that means, but perhaps it tells you something. I also tried to do the Configuration Utility thing you suggested, looked at all the tabs, decided not to do anything at all beyond that point because I didn't know what I was doing and it looked like the kind of place where I could really screw myself up bigtime, if you know-what-I-mean. :-}
I believe I may have reached my limits here with this problem. I know enough to know when I am beyond my own limitations. From this point, I would be more likely to worsen my situation than to improve it, imho. I think I should leave well enough alone at this point. My problem isn't serious (yet). I can still open a DOS window, I just cannot reboot in MSDOS mode. Until that causes me a major problem, I'm just lucky and glad to still be running.
Another reason I am afraid to venture much further is that, yesterday, trying to figure out how to change the order of programs in my Start-Programs menu and Start Menu, I created another potentially serious problem. You and Wily told me how to do it, and I did it successfully. However, before hearing from you I was messing around on my on and really messed things up. I was working in Win-Explorer trying to "fix" the Windows\Start Menu\Programs folder, trying to figure out how to re-order the programs listed there to put them all in alphabetical order. I created additional Programs folders, moved some around, deleted some, renamed some, and so forth. Later, either you or someone else trying to help me showed me how to get into the System Registry to look at this stuff, which I did. When there, I noticed several folders called "Programs" appearing to be the others I had created. So, being an idiot, I deleted all the what I believed to be the original Programs folder. I think this may have messed me up.
Now I have on my Start Button list two folders named "Programs." One is in the correct, usual place. The other is just above it, above the line that separates the Start Menu at the top. Each folder has all the program shortcuts and they all seem to work. However, they are obviously different. The folders in the original/normal location are yellow square folder icons, whereas the folder icons in the second Programs folder (above, in the wrong place) are as I think they are supposed to be, yellow squares with some colored dots in them. I don't know what this signifies, but I bet the folders in Programs are special, different.
The problem is that the Programs Folders that don't look right do not change when I make changes to this folder in Windows Explorer. I don't think I am able to change those folders, don't know where they really come from. In Win Explorer I am, however, able to make changes in the Programs directory that appear in the Programs menu on the Start Menu (wrong one). I seem to now have two Programs folders, one in the right place that doesn't work correctly, and one in the wrong place that does seem to work correctly. Neither, by the way, seem to correspond exactly with what's listed in the System Registry. In Registry, I notice lots of programs that have already been uninstalled. I don't know why they appear there.
With all this, however, all my applications still seem to be working. But I know some things are wrong, and I fear that I'll have some real problems in the future because of it. For example, when I install or uninstall programs, I don't know if those changes will even be reflected in any of my Programs folders, or which one. You can probably imagine my frustration. Yesterday, I only had a single minor little DOS problem, nothing really major at all. Now I am in deep doggy-do, as they say, potentially VERY deep doggy-do.
I'm afraid I'll soon (or eventually) have to completely clear the hard-drive and reinstall everything, which would put me down for a long time, maybe to never recover to the point where I was yesterday. What a shame. What a waste. I went too far.
I'm wondering whether I should just reinstall Win 98 over what I have without reformatting the hard-drive. Maybe that would help me, maybe that would put me totally down. As it is right now, though, I'm up and running and can trade stocks tomorrow. But I have some things wrong and will eventually be stuck. I think.
What do YOU think?
Bill |
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