Unfinished Business

Q: I have a Dell computer with Windows Millenium. A couple ofdays ago, my son removed some virus software from the computer. When my son finished, I decided to restart the computer. Instead of restarting, the system went to a safe screen and shown the following message "WINDOWS DID NOT FINISH LOADING ON THE PREVIOUS ATTEMPT, CHOSE SAFE MODE TO START WINDOWS." The system then went to the Dell Help & Support screen where numerous options were offered. I wasn't sure what to do. Then based on some previous advise from you, I decided to use the system restore option. I followed all the instructions and and initiated the restore. The first restore failed. I used a different date and again the restore failed. So now I have no idea what to do.
Randy
A: The restore feature works for most situations, but not all situations, and this is one of the situations in which it is not ideal. What you are experiencing happens sometimes when Windows 98/Millenium are started but the computer is powered off before the operating system has had a chance to complete the loading process. There is a temporary file named Wnbootng.sts that helps the operating system startup. This temporary file is deleted by the operating system after the operating system has loaded. When your operating system doesn’t load correctly, Wnbootng.sts is not deleted from computer, and it will not allow your operating system to function properly. Your computer asks you to start in safe mode because safe mode has the basic items needed to run your computer. From safe mode, you can make adjustments that will allow you to resume normal use of your computer in normal mode. Now, on to ways to fix your problem.
There are a couple of ways to resolve your problem. The first is to start your computer in safe mode. Next, double click on the My Computer icon, then double click on the drive where your operating system is stored. This normally the “C:” drive. In the C: drive, you want to find the file named Wnbootng.sts. Once you have found it, delete the file and restart your computer.
If we strike out, then we will try a different approach. For this option you will need the Emergency Startup Disk that comes with the operating system. The first thing that you will need to do is to start your computer in safe mode. Next, you need to click the Start button in the lower left of the screen and click Run. You should see a little window or box appear. Type attrib -s -h –r c:\io.sys c:\io.old in the box and click the OK button. Now you need to place the Emergency Startup Disk in the A: drive. Open another Run box and type a:\sys c: in the box. This should copy the sytem files for your operating system from the disk to your computers’ hard drive. Pop out the disk from the drive and restart your computer.