Incomplete startup of Me

I had recently been forced to reinstall the newest version of my ISPs
dailer...People PC. It was up and running OK. The next day I was trying to
limit my exposure to unfriendly things that come with it with Spybot. I
powered down and could never get it to boot back up (see below). Another
clue may be that when I try a reguiar boot there is an error message that
comes up over the login box that says Validation Failed For
C:\windows\system\vsinit.dll Does this help diagnosis?
As you suggested, I tried the scanReg /restore and it ran, but the *.cab
files had dates a few years old. I know I have installed things like tax
software etc since those dates, so I did not try to use them. Within
scanReg, I did save a new .cab ...bit for now I'm still stuck and could use
some advice. Would the .cab of a few years ago would be OK? What about
upgrading to XP? I have the original OEM Me disk and an XP ungrade disk.
Also, when looking for the Me Startup floppy that I made when I first
installed it, I came across another Dell CD that looked like it had some
utilities on it....is anything there useful? And, while running the scanReg,
options 2 & 3 were to boot with a CD or boot without one. Would these
options look for good copies of the corrupted stuff? Thanks for you help so
far

"Mart" wrote:

> You don't say what you might have done to cause this - e.g. did it suddenly
> 'just happen' or were you doing some work to your computer immediately prior
> to the problem occurring? You *might* just be in with a chance of restoring,
> especially as you can't (completely) boot into either Normal or Safe modes.
> Do NOT try to over-install (re-install over itself) - this will very likely
> cause you far more problems than you already have.
>
> Boot using the Windows Startup (floppy) Disk and choose 4) Minimal Boot.
> At the A:\> prompt, type "scanreg /restore" (no quotes and note the space
> between the g and /) then press Enter.
> Follow the screen prompts and when asked, select the last 'good' date prior
> to your problems, continuing with the instructions.
>
> Don't forget to remove the floppy disk BEFORE you tell the machine to
> reboot.
>
> If that doesn't fix it then you may well have lost or damaged/corrupted
> critical files and be left with no other option but to completely "Clean
> Install". NB There are several possible solutions to recovering important
> (personal?) data or files BEFORE you attempt a fresh installation - assuming
> you have access to a second computer.
>
> Mart
>
>
> "JNB" <JNB.TakeThisOut@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:2CD6DAE3-10EF-448C-BB21-B6DFF3F1CED6@microsoft.com...
> > My computer running Me will not finish booting up. It paints the box
> > asking
> > for username and password, which I setup for different users, but does not
> > display the different valid usernames. When I close that box by clicking
> > the
> > X, the music plays but it stops right there with a plain blue screen.
> > I've
> > also tried booting in Safe Mode and it I get a grey screen with Safe Mode
> > in
> > each corner. I assume that a file or 2 have become corrupted. How do I
> > recover? I have original Me CD, would reinstalling wipe out other
> > stuff.....would I need to reinstall everything? would I lose data? I've
> > also got an XP Upgrade disk. Is this original OS dependent, I think it
> > was
> > used for 98 SE. Is there another solution that would keep me from having
> > to
> > reinstall everything and not loose data files?
>
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: Incomplete startup of Me 

> Validation Failed For C:\windows\system\vsinit.dll

This is part of the Zone Alarm firewall.

I'll let Mart continue trying to help but am somewhat concerned that when
using scanreg you weren't offered a recent date. What worries me is that
this suggests that you may have chosen to remove the startup entry that
backs up the registry each day and so may have also disabled system
restore otherwise I would have said use scanreg /restore regardless of the
date and then run system restore and choose a recent checkpoint that
predates your problems. However if SR is not going to be available then
using an old copy of the registry could generate further problems.
--
Mike Maltby
mike.maltby.TakeThisOut@gmail.com


JNB <JNB.TakeThisOut@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

> I had recently been forced to reinstall the newest version of my ISPs
> dailer...People PC. It was up and running OK. The next day I was
> trying to limit my exposure to unfriendly things that come with it
> with Spybot. I powered down and could never get it to boot back up
> (see below). Another clue may be that when I try a reguiar boot
> there is an error message that comes up over the login box that says
> Validation Failed For C:\windows\system\vsinit.dll Does this help
> diagnosis?
> As you suggested, I tried the scanReg /restore and it ran, but the
> *.cab files had dates a few years old. I know I have installed
> things like tax software etc since those dates, so I did not try to
> use them. Within scanReg, I did save a new .cab ...bit for now I'm
> still stuck and could use some advice. Would the .cab of a few years
> ago would be OK? What about upgrading to XP? I have the original
> OEM Me disk and an XP ungrade disk. Also, when looking for the Me
> Startup floppy that I made when I first installed it, I came across
> another Dell CD that looked like it had some utilities on it....is
> anything there useful? And, while running the scanReg, options 2 & 3
> were to boot with a CD or boot without one. Would these options look
> for good copies of the corrupted stuff? Thanks for you help so far
 >> Stay informed about: Incomplete startup of Me 

What started all this was when I tried to add new phone numbers to the list
that the dailer was using. That did something and I was able to use System
Restore successfully then...probably about a week ago. And I'm sure that
I've used System Restore several other times since the date of the .cab
files. Anyway, the PC seemed to work fine except that the dailer was screwed
up so I contacted People PC and they told me to load the new one. I guess I
could try getting a new vsinint.dll.

"Mike M" wrote:

> > Validation Failed For C:\windows\system\vsinit.dll
>
> This is part of the Zone Alarm firewall.
>
> I'll let Mart continue trying to help but am somewhat concerned that when
> using scanreg you weren't offered a recent date. What worries me is that
> this suggests that you may have chosen to remove the startup entry that
> backs up the registry each day and so may have also disabled system
> restore otherwise I would have said use scanreg /restore regardless of the
> date and then run system restore and choose a recent checkpoint that
> predates your problems. However if SR is not going to be available then
> using an old copy of the registry could generate further problems.
> --
> Mike Maltby
> mike.maltby.TakeThisOut@gmail.com
>
>
> JNB <JNB.TakeThisOut@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>
> > I had recently been forced to reinstall the newest version of my ISPs
> > dailer...People PC. It was up and running OK. The next day I was
> > trying to limit my exposure to unfriendly things that come with it
> > with Spybot. I powered down and could never get it to boot back up
> > (see below). Another clue may be that when I try a reguiar boot
> > there is an error message that comes up over the login box that says
> > Validation Failed For C:\windows\system\vsinit.dll Does this help
> > diagnosis?
> > As you suggested, I tried the scanReg /restore and it ran, but the
> > *.cab files had dates a few years old. I know I have installed
> > things like tax software etc since those dates, so I did not try to
> > use them. Within scanReg, I did save a new .cab ...bit for now I'm
> > still stuck and could use some advice. Would the .cab of a few years
> > ago would be OK? What about upgrading to XP? I have the original
> > OEM Me disk and an XP ungrade disk. Also, when looking for the Me
> > Startup floppy that I made when I first installed it, I came across
> > another Dell CD that looked like it had some utilities on it....is
> > anything there useful? And, while running the scanReg, options 2 & 3
> > were to boot with a CD or boot without one. Would these options look
> > for good copies of the corrupted stuff? Thanks for you help so far
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: Incomplete startup of Me 

If you think system restore is OK then there is no real harm in restoring
an older copy of the registry using scanreg /restore and then running
system restore as SR will replace the old restored version of the registry
with a copy made at the time the system restore checkpoint was created.
--
Mike Maltby
mike.maltby.DeleteThis@gmail.com


JNB <JNB.DeleteThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

> What started all this was when I tried to add new phone numbers to
> the list that the dailer was using. That did something and I was
> able to use System Restore successfully then...probably about a week
> ago. And I'm sure that I've used System Restore several other times
> since the date of the .cab files. Anyway, the PC seemed to work fine
> except that the dailer was screwed up so I contacted People PC and
> they told me to load the new one. I guess I could try getting a new
> vsinint.dll.
 >> Stay informed about: Incomplete startup of Me 

I would still like to hear someone weight in on options 2 & 3 of scanReg.
What do they do?.....and on the concept of upgrading to XP. Thanks.

"Mike M" wrote:

> If you think system restore is OK then there is no real harm in restoring
> an older copy of the registry using scanreg /restore and then running
> system restore as SR will replace the old restored version of the registry
> with a copy made at the time the system restore checkpoint was created.
> --
> Mike Maltby
> mike.maltby.RemoveThis@gmail.com
>
>
> JNB <JNB.RemoveThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>
> > What started all this was when I tried to add new phone numbers to
> > the list that the dailer was using. That did something and I was
> > able to use System Restore successfully then...probably about a week
> > ago. And I'm sure that I've used System Restore several other times
> > since the date of the .cab files. Anyway, the PC seemed to work fine
> > except that the dailer was screwed up so I contacted People PC and
> > they told me to load the new one. I guess I could try getting a new
> > vsinint.dll.
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: Incomplete startup of Me 

To the best of memory (which isn't as good as it should be) Scanreg has no
options 2 or 3. Do you perhaps mean the options (four) presented when
booting to DOS using a Win Me boot floppy? If so with or without CD
support is I would have thought self explanatory, if you need to read from
a CD then choose the option for CD support, if not then ignore it.

> and on the concept of upgrading to XP

For which there are a multitude of XP newsgroups. The decision whether to
upgrade or not depends on a multitude of factors most especially your
hardware and to a lesser extent the software you use. There is an XP
Upgrade Adviser that used to be available for download from Microsoft (it
may have been withdrawn with the release of Vista but is included on all
XP CDs) that should be able to help you determine whether you have any
hardware or software that is unsupported in XP and if upgrading, rather
than clean installing, that will need to be uninstalled before starting.
This will include all AV applications, firewalls and CD/DVD mastering
applications. You can reinstall them afterwards although some will need
to be updated.
--
Mike Maltby
mike.maltby DeleteThis @gmail.com


JNB <JNB DeleteThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

> I would still like to hear someone weight in on options 2 & 3 of
> scanReg. What do they do?.....and on the concept of upgrading to XP.
> Thanks.
 >> Stay informed about: Incomplete startup of Me 

There's not much else offer other than what Mike and I have already posted.
You are running out of options regarding getting your current WinMe system
to restore and at least run again (albeit requiring further work), with
scanreg /restore being the last tool in the box.

Regarding options 2 & 3 of scanreg (probably not much use in this case) see
:-
"Changes to the Registry Checker Tool (Scanreg.exe) in Windows Me"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/273889/en-us

And for Scanreg in general, see :-
"Description of the Windows Registry Checker Tool (Scanreg.exe)"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/183887/en-us

As for upgrading to XP, you should address that issue to one of the XP
groups. Personally, I would be inclined to concentrate on WinMe until you've
got a good working system (re-install if necessary) - even if that only
means that you proved the rest of your PC (hardware) is functioning
properly, in readiness for a potential XP upgrade. For all we know at this
time, you might well have a virus or malware, or worse still you *might*
even have a failing HDD.

Mart


"JNB" <JNB.DeleteThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:2EB4702A-9A7B-4154-8207-17FB063C4EBD@microsoft.com...
>I would still like to hear someone weight in on options 2 & 3 of scanReg.
> What do they do?.....and on the concept of upgrading to XP. Thanks.
>
> "Mike M" wrote:
>
>> If you think system restore is OK then there is no real harm in restoring
>> an older copy of the registry using scanreg /restore and then running
>> system restore as SR will replace the old restored version of the
>> registry
>> with a copy made at the time the system restore checkpoint was created.
>> --
>> Mike Maltby
>> mike.maltby.DeleteThis@gmail.com
>>
>>
>> JNB <JNB.DeleteThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>>
>> > What started all this was when I tried to add new phone numbers to
>> > the list that the dailer was using. That did something and I was
>> > able to use System Restore successfully then...probably about a week
>> > ago. And I'm sure that I've used System Restore several other times
>> > since the date of the .cab files. Anyway, the PC seemed to work fine
>> > except that the dailer was screwed up so I contacted People PC and
>> > they told me to load the new one. I guess I could try getting a new
>> > vsinint.dll.
>>
>>
 >> Stay informed about: Incomplete startup of Me 

Thanks guys for the suggestions....so I guess my approach will be to use the
scanreg /restore to get back to a very old registry, assuming Me boots then
I'll use Sytem Restore and hopefully there is a much more recent checkpoint
available. Before this though, will it be possible to backup my data files
and other downloaded executables (esp updates) to CD? How? And then if this
doesn't work, I'll use scanreg /restore to get back to where I was just
yesterday and try the XP upgrade. Please comment one last time.

"Mart" wrote:

> There's not much else offer other than what Mike and I have already posted.
> You are running out of options regarding getting your current WinMe system
> to restore and at least run again (albeit requiring further work), with
> scanreg /restore being the last tool in the box.
>
> Regarding options 2 & 3 of scanreg (probably not much use in this case) see
> :-
> "Changes to the Registry Checker Tool (Scanreg.exe) in Windows Me"
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/273889/en-us
>
> And for Scanreg in general, see :-
> "Description of the Windows Registry Checker Tool (Scanreg.exe)"
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/183887/en-us
>
> As for upgrading to XP, you should address that issue to one of the XP
> groups. Personally, I would be inclined to concentrate on WinMe until you've
> got a good working system (re-install if necessary) - even if that only
> means that you proved the rest of your PC (hardware) is functioning
> properly, in readiness for a potential XP upgrade. For all we know at this
> time, you might well have a virus or malware, or worse still you *might*
> even have a failing HDD.
>
> Mart
>
>
> "JNB" <JNB.DeleteThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:2EB4702A-9A7B-4154-8207-17FB063C4EBD@microsoft.com...
> >I would still like to hear someone weight in on options 2 & 3 of scanReg.
> > What do they do?.....and on the concept of upgrading to XP. Thanks.
> >
> > "Mike M" wrote:
> >
> >> If you think system restore is OK then there is no real harm in restoring
> >> an older copy of the registry using scanreg /restore and then running
> >> system restore as SR will replace the old restored version of the
> >> registry
> >> with a copy made at the time the system restore checkpoint was created.
> >> --
> >> Mike Maltby
> >> mike.maltby.DeleteThis@gmail.com
> >>
> >>
> >> JNB <JNB.DeleteThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> > What started all this was when I tried to add new phone numbers to
> >> > the list that the dailer was using. That did something and I was
> >> > able to use System Restore successfully then...probably about a week
> >> > ago. And I'm sure that I've used System Restore several other times
> >> > since the date of the .cab files. Anyway, the PC seemed to work fine
> >> > except that the dailer was screwed up so I contacted People PC and
> >> > they told me to load the new one. I guess I could try getting a new
> >> > vsinint.dll.
> >>
> >>
>
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: Incomplete startup of Me 

Forget about the XP upgrade PERIOD
If your system isn't booting this is the last thing you should be doing.
Once you've corrected the booting problem and you've run the XP Upgrade
Advisor then perhaps you should consider upgrading to XP but not before.

> And then if this doesn't work, I'll use
> scanreg /restore to get back to where I was just yesterday

Scanreg offers no such escape route OR are you saying that when running
scanreg /restore you can see a backed up copy of the registry from
yesterday and then no others except for four (a total of five should be
visible) from "years ago"? If so that is indeed very strange and begs the
question as to why the registry started being backed up yesterday having
not been so for a year or more.

Data backup. If you can only boot to DOS using a boot floppy then this is
probably easiest done using an external USB drive which should I think be
available provided you enable USB Legacy Support in the PC's bios.
--
Mike Maltby
mike.maltby.RemoveThis@gmail.com



JNB <JNB.RemoveThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

> Thanks guys for the suggestions....so I guess my approach will be to
> use the scanreg /restore to get back to a very old registry, assuming
> Me boots then I'll use Sytem Restore and hopefully there is a much
> more recent checkpoint available. Before this though, will it be
> possible to backup my data files and other downloaded executables
> (esp updates) to CD? How? And then if this doesn't work, I'll use
> scanreg /restore to get back to where I was just yesterday and try
> the XP upgrade. Please comment one last time.
 >> Stay informed about: Incomplete startup of Me 

OK....will a memory stick in a USB port work? Also, I have a ZIP drive on
the computer. Please guide me, I speak some the language but as you can tell
I really am a novice.

"Mike M" wrote:

> Forget about the XP upgrade PERIOD
> If your system isn't booting this is the last thing you should be doing.
> Once you've corrected the booting problem and you've run the XP Upgrade
> Advisor then perhaps you should consider upgrading to XP but not before.
>
> > And then if this doesn't work, I'll use
> > scanreg /restore to get back to where I was just yesterday
>
> Scanreg offers no such escape route OR are you saying that when running
> scanreg /restore you can see a backed up copy of the registry from
> yesterday and then no others except for four (a total of five should be
> visible) from "years ago"? If so that is indeed very strange and begs the
> question as to why the registry started being backed up yesterday having
> not been so for a year or more.
>
> Data backup. If you can only boot to DOS using a boot floppy then this is
> probably easiest done using an external USB drive which should I think be
> available provided you enable USB Legacy Support in the PC's bios.
> --
> Mike Maltby
> mike.maltby.DeleteThis@gmail.com
>
>
>
> JNB <JNB.DeleteThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>
> > Thanks guys for the suggestions....so I guess my approach will be to
> > use the scanreg /restore to get back to a very old registry, assuming
> > Me boots then I'll use Sytem Restore and hopefully there is a much
> > more recent checkpoint available. Before this though, will it be
> > possible to backup my data files and other downloaded executables
> > (esp updates) to CD? How? And then if this doesn't work, I'll use
> > scanreg /restore to get back to where I was just yesterday and try
> > the XP upgrade. Please comment one last time.
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: Incomplete startup of Me 

A USB stick should work provided USB Legacy Mode is enabled in the bios.
This may or may not be an option and depends on your motherboard.

A Zip drive may or may not be usable depending on whether DOS drivers are
required and if so whether they are available. It does rather depend on
how the Zip is connected. If internal it may need no special drivers.
--
Mike Maltby
mike.maltby.RemoveThis@gmail.com


JNB <JNB.RemoveThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

> OK....will a memory stick in a USB port work? Also, I have a ZIP
> drive on the computer. Please guide me, I speak some the language
> but as you can tell I really am a novice.
 >> Stay informed about: Incomplete startup of Me 

I totally concur with your conclusions Mike (thanks for chipping in mike),
however there was a niggling point which I overlooked from JNB's original
post and consequently I (we?) made an ASSumption.

JNB, you wrote :-
> .... tried booting in Safe Mode and it I get a grey screen
> with Safe Mode in each corner.

But you didn't say whether you could progress beyond that point - i.e. have
you tried to access System Restore in Safe Mode? Can you do anything in Safe
Mode?

If Safe Mode just 'hangs' with the "grey screen with Safe Mode in each
corner", how do you close down? And what happens when you re-boot? Does
WinMe attempt a Scandisk? And if so, what - if anything - does it report?

Regarding rescuing your data, if Mikes plan doesn't work due to the driver
issues discussed, you may have to remove your HDD and connect it to your
'other' PC (a couple of options available), but don't expect to transfer
*INSTALLED* downloaded executables, only the pre-installed files. Updates -
as in WinMe updates - are all still currently available from MS - I think!!

Mart


"Mike M" <No_Spam DeleteThis @Corned_Beef.Only> wrote in message
news:%23ioC57O7HHA.5796@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>A USB stick should work provided USB Legacy Mode is enabled in the bios.
>This may or may not be an option and depends on your motherboard.
>
> A Zip drive may or may not be usable depending on whether DOS drivers are
> required and if so whether they are available. It does rather depend on
> how the Zip is connected. If internal it may need no special drivers.
> --
> Mike Maltby
> mike.maltby DeleteThis @gmail.com
>
>
> JNB <JNB DeleteThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>
>> OK....will a memory stick in a USB port work? Also, I have a ZIP
>> drive on the computer. Please guide me, I speak some the language
>> but as you can tell I really am a novice.
>
 >> Stay informed about: Incomplete startup of Me 

Mart,

I had thought along much the same lines as yourself, that is, that Safe
Mode had "hung" at around the point the desktop is usually displayed.
Whenever that has happened to me the problem has always been cleared by
scandisk running automatically following a reboot.
--
Mike Maltby
mike.maltby.DeleteThis@gmail.com


Mart <mart(NoSpam)@nospam.nospam> wrote:

> I totally concur with your conclusions Mike (thanks for chipping in
> mike), however there was a niggling point which I overlooked from
> JNB's original post and consequently I (we?) made an ASSumption.
>
> JNB, you wrote :-
>> .... tried booting in Safe Mode and it I get a grey screen
>> with Safe Mode in each corner.
>
> But you didn't say whether you could progress beyond that point -
> i.e. have you tried to access System Restore in Safe Mode? Can you do
> anything in Safe Mode?
>
> If Safe Mode just 'hangs' with the "grey screen with Safe Mode in each
> corner", how do you close down? And what happens when you re-boot?
> Does WinMe attempt a Scandisk? And if so, what - if anything - does
> it report?
> Regarding rescuing your data, if Mikes plan doesn't work due to the
> driver issues discussed, you may have to remove your HDD and connect
> it to your 'other' PC (a couple of options available), but don't
> expect to transfer *INSTALLED* downloaded executables, only the
> pre-installed files. Updates - as in WinMe updates - are all still
> currently available from MS - I think!!
 >> Stay informed about: Incomplete startup of Me