Boot loops{Resolved}

[Dillinger4]

Just picked up this old systemmax comp from a garage sale that was in mint condition. For cheap. Well my dad picked it up so it's free for me. Anyway the win98 screen comes up and the bios starts listing stuff but all that it gets to is the cpu brand and speed then it is interrupted by a prog called Go Back. There is a dialog on the screen with a progress bar loading backwards and a message that says if there is pc problems hit space bar. If i hit the spacebar or not the same thing happens. One big loop.

[RobDog888]

Sounds like the previous owner had installed or done something without taking a system snapshot. GoBack will restore the system
back to a previous system state but if that state is bad then you may have no other choice other then to reformat or checkout GoBack's
website for any tips or info.

Why dont you want to format it anyways? It probably has stuff on it that you dont want/need.

[Dillinger4]

I wanted to see what was on it before i reformatted because he said he had games on it. If i can't get it to run thats fine. Ill just reload the os, but how do i do that if the dam thing keeps looping.

[RobDog888]

Try booting into safe mode. If there is any possiblity of a clean boot, that would be the way. If you get in maybe you can archive the
games off and on to other media or a secondary hard drive.

Ps, dont forget to get the dependant system files for each game.

[Dillinger4]

Hummmm not sure if i can even boot up in safe mode. Unless im doing it wrong.

[Dillinger4]

The only way i found to get around "go back" is too pull out the mouse plug during boot up. Then i would get a messge with a dialog saying that the system could not detect a mouse. Then i would hit ok and the comp would run scan disk. Then try and reboot. I did this a couple of times and then on the third time i hit ok and i got into the desktop. Now i have a doalog on the desktop saying "could not find ctl3d.dll. windows need this file to run C:\oplimit\ocraware.exe

[Dillinger4]

Finally got in!

[RobDog888]

How? Added the file or something else?

[Dillinger4]

No i just hit ok. I don't know what the file was for though. Now im trying to reformat the hd.

[RobDog888]

Oh, ok, but did you find anything worth saving (doubtful)?

[Dillinger4]

I didn't find anything worth keeping.

Id like to just reformat the hd but for some reason dos dosen't recognize the format command. I disabled Go Back from running but now when the computer boots i can't stop scan disk from running but the key board does work though. After scan disk runs the win 98 boot screen comes up then the bios screen starts to list some hardware then its like something stops it from booting all the way cause another bios screen flashes up then goes away in a split second then another screen comes up saying that the os didnt get too fully load and it lists 1.) normal mode 2.) 3.) safe mode but i cant pick anything but safe mode. After that the safe mode screen appears with a dialog box saying windows couldnt detect a mouse. The only way i can get to the desktop in safe mode is if i unplug the mouse and hit enter. Then the dialog goes away and i am in safe mode.

Any ideas on how i can just reformat the hd? I only know of one way and its not working. Thanks.

[RobDog888]

You need a floppy boot disk for windows 98. When you get ready to reboot or startup you place the boot disk in the floppy drive
and it will take you into DOS with limited dos commands support. You can then be on A drive and do a FDisk and delete the partition and
create a new one. Then your ready to Format the drive.

I'll be back after dinner but if you need a boot disk image I can make one for you an upload it. ;

[Dillinger4]

Thanks RD. It seems the mouse that came with the comp was bad. I kept wondering why it wasen't being recognized so i plugged in my wireless from my other comp. That did the trick. Ill just cleaned off most of the unwanted progs and defraged. It's only a 600Mhz Amd but it should be good enough for my dad.