Are my troubles as bad as i think?

[ninho_bomba]

Hello. I am trying to fix a problem with a computer working under windows 98.
It starts booting normally but after the screen with the windows 98 logo it goes back to DOS prompt and displays a message saying that cpqidecd.sys is damaged and there is an error in line 7 of config.sys file.... after that it displays another message saying that vmm32.vxd is needed to load windows.. that if it isnt on PATH i will have to re install windows.

Ive been looking around on the internet and i found out cpqidecd.sys seems to be some kind of driver for the cdrom. i actually downloaded it (its pretty small 15k). I wonder if i simply put it on the windows/system folder my problems will be fixed...
on the other hand.. the vmm32.vxd file seems to be missing. Some pages say it means i need to reinstall windows... if i do that.. can i save the files from the hard drive or are they lost forever? it would be very sad to lose them as they belong to some communitary acueduct system and years of worl would be lost.

Please.. anybody help me out!
thanx

[jmtjet]

A little more info please; who is the manufacturer of the computer in question, do you have a standard Microsoft Win 98 disk or the manufacturer's install disk? Does the computer finally finish booting or does it stop when you see the error messages?

Oh yes, welcome to the VDR forums.

[ninho_bomba]

The manufacturer of the pc is compaq. The cd i have is the compaq recovery cd. it never ends booting. He says he needs that vmm32.vxd thing.
Thank you for your welcome.....
please help me.

[BIG JOHN]

Hi, you can try & boot into safemode by tapping on the f8 key during boot up, then once you are in go to start, run & type in sfc, click ok. Put your recovery cd in the drive & point sfc to the cd drive & click start, this will go thru the system & find & replace any corrupted files. Not positive this will work with a recovery cd but couldn't hurt to try, good luck. BJ

[ninho_bomba]

I tried your advice about booting safe mode.. but it will still stop because of that same file.. he keeps saying its needed to start windows. I can't even see the safe mode.
Im beginning to be very worried.

[BIG JOHN]

So what exactly happens when you boot the pc with the recovery cd in the drive? BJ

[ninho_bomba]

it starts some compaq quick restore application but it immediately warns me if i go on i will delete the contents of the hard drive... how crazy would it be to try to transfer the hard disk to another computer and backup its files from there?

[BIG JOHN]

If that hard drive wont boot in that pc, it's doubtful it will in another. This is why we always stress the fact of backing up your files when the machine is running well, under the circumstances I dont think you have any other choice but to do a full restore. It will restore the pc to the way it was when it came from the factory. If this is what you choose to do, here are the instructions for doing a full restore, good luck. BJ

To complete a Factory Restore on your computer, perform the following steps:

Insert your Compaq Recovery CD into your CD-ROM, CD-RW, or DVD-ROM drive.

Turn off the computer.

Turn on your computer by pressing the Power button on the front of your computer. The system reboots and the Compaq Recovery CD Menu is displayed.

NOTE: If menu option number 4 says No Factory Image found, you must use QuickRestore CDs to perform this function.

CAUTION: If you have not copied or backed up your personal files, software, or other data onto diskettes to be recopied onto your hard drive, they will be lost after you press Enter.

You are prompted that continuing this procedure will delete the data on your hard drive. Press Enter if you wish to continue. The Factory Restore process takes several minutes.

The CD tray opens automatically, and you are prompted to remove the Compaq Recovery CD. Remove the CD from the CD-ROM, CD-RW, or DVD-ROM drive.

Press Enter to continue.

Once the Factory Restore is complete, you may be prompted to provide the startup information again to reinstall Windows.

Follow the prompts to restore your computer to its original factory condition.

Exiting the Compaq Recovery CD

After loading the Recovery CD, if you choose not to complete any of the options, it will be necessary to restart your computer. Perform the following steps to exit the Recovery CD.

From the Compaq Recovery CD Menu, select 5 (Exit) by pressing the number 5 key on your keyboard.

The CD tray opens automatically, and you are prompted to remove the Compaq Recovery CD. Remove the CD from the CD-ROM, CD-RW, or DVD-ROM drive.

Press Enter to restart your computer.

[ninho_bomba]

i dont mean using it to boot on other pc.. but only to access the documents so i can copy them to avoid losing these people's work. is it even worth trying it?

[Nix]

Follow these steps:

1. Start with PC off
2. Start Tapping F8
3. Press power button to start boot of pc
4. Menu should appear
5. Press Shift+F8 so that Step By Step Confirmation = Y (at bottom of screen)
6. Select Normal Boot
7. Press enter

Now the computer will start to boot and each step of the boot process will be displayed for you to either Accept (Press enter or Y then Enter) or decline (Press N then enter).

So for each line presented, just press enter until you reach the line that tries to load cpqidecd.sys and answer N

Keep going answering Y to everything else and see if windows loads ok.

If you get other errors, write down what the line presented was before you got the error, ie the one you just replied Y to and post them back here.

If you still don't get into windows try this:

1. Start with PC off
2. Start Tapping F8
3. Press power button to start boot of pc
4. Menu should appear
5. Select Command Prompt Only
6. Press enter

You should be at the C:\> prompt (if not type C: and press enter then cd\ and press enter)

Now type ren autoexec.bat autoexec.vdr and press enter
then ren config.sys config.vdr and press enter

Now try booting and see what happens.

[Nix]

If you get into windows then you need to post back the contents of C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT and C:\CONFIG.SYS or attach the files in this post - although if you followed the second set of instructions they will both have .VDR suffix.

[ninho_bomba]

nix thanx for your attention.. here is what happenned:
i did the step by step confirmation thing and it got to a point where it asked about loading all of windows drivers.. affirmetive answer to this question brought back the "vmm32.vxd is necessary to load windows... if it is not in PATH then reinstall windows"...
the second method looks alright until rebooting. It then asks immediately for the vmm32.vxd file. It doesnt worry for cpqidecd.sys anymore.

[Nix]

Ok now get back to the menu by tapping F8 from bootup and this time select Safe Mode which bypasses your drivers (including hopefully vmm32.vxd).

Once in safe mode (hopefully) do a search for vmm32.vxd and see if it can be found

If not, go Start > Run > type sfc and press enter

[Nix]

And see this MSKB article http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;194679 and let us know if you need assistance.

[ninho_bomba]

it still doesnt enter safe mode. It once again asks for vmm32.vxd.