Startup problem i've never seen b4

Hi, i've just Reghosted my PC (restored a Backup of My Win98 C Drive), its a backup i've used b4 with no problems....

when it completed restore upon booting after post screen, it came up with an error and stoped loading windows....

Windows XMS Driver v3.95
Extended Memory Specification (XMS) v3.0

ERROR: Unable to control A20 Line!
XMS Driver not installed....

.....does the mode con codepage stuff etc ok i think......

then it says: HIMEM.SYS is missing.
Make sure the file is in your Windows Directory.

all above errors are on the 1 screen and at the bottom is the C: prompt....if i CTRL+ALT+DEL it restarts and windows loads normally the next time as if nothings happened.....

i guess HIMEM.SYS error is because of XMS error...

HUH????? wierd, can any1 explain this strangeness, i am quite worried about it. TIA https://discussions.virtualdr.com/

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HP Pavilion 8730uk: Athlon850, 512mbRAM, TNT2 Pro, SB Live1024, DualBoot-Win98FE/2000Pro & Cable Modem
LG CED-8083b CD-RW, Samsung SD-612 DVD-ROM, Quantum lct15-30 30gb & Western Digital WD450AA 45gb

The problem may not repeat, but if it does try following the instructions in this Symantec link:
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT...98091615025007

It's been known to start out of blue before, some configurations are more prone to it. It is caused by a problem himem.sys has in correctly identifying the computer type.

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What the Dormouse said

did you add\remove or change any hardware???

also it could have been just a bad restore job, try it again, is the copy you are trying to restore with on a harddrive partition or on a CD-R???

it could be lots of different things...

kenlinzee: i havent added\removed or changed any hardware since backing up...i have tried it 2 times with this backup and once with a slightly older 1, both backups are on another HDD and were known to be working and have been use many times b4...

Rog: i'll check out your link and see if i can work out what causes this, as i cant really apply a fix until i next backup as after ctrl+alt+del it boots up normal anyway.

BTW: i have Win2k on Drive D:

I had an idea...this time i Restored 98 and booted straight to 2000, that booted OK, then i restarted so it could boot to Win98, and guess what Win98 Booted OK too....damn strange init. i tryed it twice and still works ok if i boot to Win 2000 B4 Win98...maybe this will seem logical to someone?

i'm now gunna backup Win98 again, then restore it and c if i get same results!

ill let u know...any insight into this will be appreciated https://discussions.virtualdr.com/

I have seen this A20 line error twice
before, both times it was a defective
motherboard. However Windows would
never start in both cases. I would try
a clean install to see if it is a problem
with your backup or a posible hardware
problem.

dont sound good, i'm in the middle of backingup now to see what happens when i restore it....

if it restores normal then i guess its sumut to do with Win2000 being on drive D:...

also if it restores normal then i'll go and restore both Win98 with my last backup again and Win2000 Partition with backup created at the same time, i've done this b4 and didn't get any probs upon reboot.....fingers crossed, i'm hoping for a good result, i cant see y not!

anymore ideas on why this happened?

Hi, i made a new backup...still get errors on Boot...

I also Restored Both Win98 and Win2000 Partitions....still get errors on Boot....

But as i said if i boot to Win2000 b4 i boot to Win98 all is OK.....i am more confused now than i was B4......can any1 explain y booting to Win2000 1st fixes it or wats up with my PC? Thx all https://discussions.virtualdr.com/

i still have 1 more idea to try tho!

from my last test some new light on the subject....if i boot to DOS after restoring Win98 then i CTRL-ALT-DEL it loads Win98 OK again so i dont have to load Win2k, this gets even more weirder by the minute...

i've now noticed that when restore is finished if i select continue and exit ghost then ctrl+alt+del it also boots fine.....normally when restore is finnished i select Restert Option, this makes the PC do a RAM count etc, but other than that i don't really know what restart feature does that upsets my PC.....

....i have recently upgraded to a Ghost 7.0, i am thinking that this might have sumut to do with it...

..any1 got any more info?

i hve narrowed this down to Norton Ghost 7.0....if i Use 5.1 or 6.5(2001) then it doesn't have any problems at all....i guess on the occations where i restored it b4 with 7.0 i must have booted to Win2k 1st anyway and not noticed this problem until now...

Thanx all for your help, but i guess this must be an issue with Ghost 7.0 only... thas the only thing i can think of....

what do u think? https://discussions.virtualdr.com/

Msdos.sys in use and the windir= stuff in it can't be changing until the reboot?? If you get it again and get dumped to a dos prompt while trying to start win98 use

type msdos.sys

to see the contents for a lark.

IMM is that a cryptic clue, hehe, i couldn't work it out...i booted to DOS with a Floppy to see if i could work out what u mean but when i type msdos.sys it says Bad command or file name. wierd, but thx anyway...

i alway get problems no1 has heard of b4, i get used to it by now, i should be a M$ Beta Tester. lol b https://discussions.virtualdr.com/

BTW i can reproduce the error every time on my Athlon with Ghost 7.0 but on my other PC a Celeron it works Normal....

still confused as to y tho, and especially only 1 of my PC's? HHUUHH????

No - it's not real cryptic - type is a built in command just like dir is.
you have to type 'type'

C:\>type msdos.sys

It should scroll the file down the screen.
If you want it a page at a time it's
"type msdos.sys | c:\windows\command\more"

thx m8, i'm just get bad command or file name when i type msdos.sys at the c: prompt, i guess i should see simular as i would if i opened the file in windowz......i have win98 first edition maybe thas y it dont work?

EDIT: ignore this 1 as i was having a thick Spell, i didn't realise i had to type "TYPE" 1st

[This message has been edited by LotusAstra (edited 08-30-2001).]

Perhaps msdos.sys is not present at that point with whatever boot management system you're using?
The 'type' command works in any dos environment including 98fe - and dos 3.3 for that matter. To prove it to yourself try something like
"type autoexec.bat" (w/o the quotes)
(assuming you know autoexec.bat is present or use a file you know is there - if you use it on an executable it will probably beep and do all sorts of funny things for you)

Hi LotusAstra.

This is a rather upsetting problem that is fairly easy to fix.
(Even happened to me once)

(I assume you have already found an HIMEM.SYS file in your Windows Directory)

You will need to edit your config.sys file (located in the c:\ (root) directory.

Find the line that looks like this:

DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS

And add the following to it so that it looks like this:

DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS /CPULOCK:ON /V /M:1

Then reboot.
That should get you going again.

Please note the /M:1 on the end.
The number 1 may need to be changed to another single number designation.
If one does not work, try the following numbers in this order:

11, 12, 13, 8, 2-10, 14-16.

More information

.




[This message has been edited by rmbox (edited 08-24-2001).]

The reason I'm wondering about msdos.sys is that this is where the winbootdir spec is (and windir etc.) and probably why himem isn't found.

i'm back, Thx all, sorry for the late response but i've been (and still am) very buzy doing some other non PC stuff and installing Win2k on my Celeron after non success on the Athlon.

rog & rmbox: no disrespect meant, would u or any1 else agree that those fixes would be more relevent for an UNbackedup PC which is failing to reboot completly after having a bender? just thought i'd get more opinions on those fixes b'cuz......afterall my backup was taken when my PC booted fine...

IMM: i now feel stupid as reading back through this post, i just realised that i actually have to type the word "TYPE" b4 "MSDOS.SYS"....dduuhhh!!! it worked OK as it should, i also tryed it after boot failure and it still listed the file OK, i guess i would expect an error if its in use..... as i didn't get any errors then do u think i should just put it down to a Buggy version of Ghost7.0 that is not liking my Athlon PC or sumut?

......i 'm happy to settle for using Ghost 6.5 as they are basically the same anyway and i don't get the problem with this or any older versions of it......unless u guys come up with any other ideas...

Regards https://discussions.virtualdr.com/ most appreciated for the help!

[This message has been edited by LotusAstra (edited 08-31-2001).]