Hi I`m a newbe here hoping to get help with my old HP PC.
I have windows 98. My problem is that about 2 years ago I messed up my pc when installing Netzero. I remember getting a message that it may be corrupt. I got into dos mode to use extract. (I had gotten help before using this after a virus problem. Thought it might work) When on rebooting my computer, everything seemed to be loading up ok. Except now I have an old Windows wallpaper showing, there i s NO Start button, NO toolbar on the bottom, NO shortcut icons showing on the screen,, JUST the wallpaper. I have an Emergency Recovery CD Disk that came with computer. When my cd drive worked i put this disk in, got a menu saying something to the effect of Restore ..... and Install Windows 98 w/o programs preinstalled on pc.....and Install Windows 98 w/all program. When choosing to reinstall win 98 a warning of "May lose files...etc".
How can I reinstall Win98 with out losing the many files and programs I have saved? Also my CD-rom drive is not responding. (So if I need to use Recovery CD). Recently I thought i would try to figure if I could fix this. I have done a Hard drive scan that I was prompted to do....no probs with harddrive. Do I have to reinstall win98 or can this be fixed without reinstalling?

Your help would be so much appreciated, MysticN

Hello and welcome to PCHelpForum.

I have marked your thread as "Open" in readyness for the Tech Team and helpfull members to help you resolve this issue.

JB.

Hi Mystic, welcome to PCHF, sorry for the delay.

It's been a long long time since working with Windows 98, so bear with me. Are you able to enter safe mode ok? I'm suspecting that you probably won't be able to. It's possible we can repair it. Do you know where your files are saved to? If they are small enough, can they fit on a floppy disk? Another alternative would be to remove the HDD, install it as a second HDD, and take all the data you need from it that way.

You mentioned, your CD-ROM is not responding, what did you mean exactly? No matter where we go from here, re-install or if we attempt to manually restore the files we need, we'll need the CD-ROM for this task.

First of all, thanks for the replies and sorry for the delay. I have been using the computer @ library off and on.
Now have new laptop.a X-Mas gift.
I am kinda dumb when it comes to accronyms, what is HDD you referred to mean? Do you mean Hard Drive?
Yes I can get into safe mode in dos. In dos i can find files on my hard drive. I have located all Windows files. My cd-drive is not responding by 1) the button to open drive wont work (have opened with paperclip in a small hole under door flap for emergency eject). 2) Also when i got it opened, put a disk in (i tried a music cd) it wouldnt read or respond automatically when disk was inserted. i do have a Recovery CD.
Question?? How can I save files that are on my hard drive to a floppy disk when they can be only accessed in dos?

That's right Mystic, Hard Drive, sorry, we rely quite a lot on what users list themselves under "PC Experience".

Safe Mode isn't DOS Mystic, DOS and Safe Mode a completely separate entities. DOS is command driven, whilst Safe Mode gives you a cut down version of Windows / gives you the basic's. You can access safe mode by tapping the F8 key during startup, which will give you a startup menu. Safe Mode will be one of those items listed here.

As for your CD-ROM, it may require replacing. The drive door doesn't open, and doesn't read CD's, then it's pretty much a paper weight. Does the CD-ROM light even flash when you insert a CD?

Can you confirm how you found these files in DOS Mystic? or did you mean Safe Mode?

Hi there MysticN, do you still require help with this issue?

Regards,
Smokeycheech