Ok, this is going to take a while to explain, but
basically my dad deleted windows.
Using MS-DOS he ran the 'del *.*' command (or something
similar) accidentaly in the C:\WINDOWS directory.
Obviously not everything was deleted as some file are
protected I think. After a while the computer began to
hang and eventually it crashed.
OK. When we tried booting up normally, we got a message
saying something like 'Cannot find SYSTEM.INI. Bott with
Emergengy Boot Disk and type SCANREG /RESTORE'.
In safe mode we would get a message about a file
called 'IFSHLP.SYS' missing.
Next I created a boot disk (downloaded from the internet
through my 98SE) for WinME, and used this to do
the 'SCANREG /RESTORE'
This did not affect the way safe mode failed but when the
computer booted up normally we would get a message not
only complaining about IFSHLP.SYS but also DISPLAY.SYS.
Using the boot disk again I copied the IFSHLP.SYS from my
Win98SE to the ME as a guess. This worked! The computer
would now boot up in safe mode and in normal mode (but in
normal mode it would still complain about DISPLAY.SYS).
I did try copying DISPLAY.SYS from the 98, but the ME
didnt like this. (something about an old version of ms-
dos i think)
But there are more problems, some big, some small. Our
sound no longer works, the mouse drivers don't work,
important stuff like RUNDLL32.EXE is missing (and to my
sister's dispair their is no minesweeper). There are many
files like RUNDLL32.EXE that I would think of as
important, but obviously not protected. There is no way I
can copy all of these files (from the 98) and hope that
they work.
We do not have a Windows ME CD apparently to reinstall
windows, all we have is a 'Recovery Disk' (floppy disk)
(this works as a boot disk, wipes hard drive clean and
reinstalls windows to factory settings from a hidden
partion on the HD)
The good thing is our wireless network is working so we
can back thing up to our other PC, but as I wasnt the one
who set up the network I dont think I can repeat it when
we reset the pc using the recovery disk.
One thing I did think of, but I'm not so sure about is
System Restore. Just before my dad messed up i installed
WMP9Series which said it was creating a system restore
point. I'm not quite sure how it works but i don't think
it will recover the lost files. What I did think was that
maybe because it recovers the settings of your PC (im not
sure about this) maybe I can backup the system restore
point, do a Recovery, reinstall software, and then use the
System Restore to reconfigure the network.
As I said I'm not sure how that works, so anyone who can
help with a way of reinstalling WinME without a CD and
without wiping HD clean using a recovery is appreciated.
Or anyways to backup my network settings before wiping
hardrive clean and then recovering these settings (I have
a CD/RW drive if it is big to back up). Also maybe you
know how to just re-extract the stuff from the CAB files
in C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS but this might not fix
everything (esp. cos the only way I can get my sound
drivers is from the recovery disk). Or maybe you know
something else that will help.
Any help is greatly appreciated.