I set my nephews' computer up today down at their house. And I booted it up, and the Start Menu would let you press it, but it wouldn't respond.

When I went under My Computer, I didn't get a drive listing. All it said was %THISDRINAME%. Couldn't look up Program Files or Windows or anything. Even when I typed it in at the top of the query window, it just said that.

Tried to restore the system from the backup files, but that didn't change things. I don't know WHAT my nephews did to it, because they had a Start Menu when they bought it.

I plan to wipe it and reinstall, I was just curious if anyone had ever seen a computer do something like that before. And, they don't have a Windows disk. Can I install Win98SE from my own copy, or will the license number give me problems?

That's how I'd do it.

edit: Tried the windows key?

[ 07-26-2002: Message edited by: Taeldian ]

So no, it's not a screenshotted desktop.

And even if it were, I wouldn't be able to double click on the icons and get the %TRIDRIVNAME% under My Computer.

But does the windows key work?

Didn't get to try the Windows key. I had just gotten back from taking my sister to an appointment, and I dropped by to set their system up (See? They didn't even know how to connect the cables. How could they screenshot a desktop? :P) and see what I could do with it.

Sounds like the motherboard knows there's a drive there, but it's like the whole file allocation tree is deleted. Can you rename the drive at all? Something may have just messed with that. Or not.

I'm surprised you can even boot it up. I'd tell 'em that they're looking at losing everything. Wipe, reinstall.

and 98SE should install fine, I would think. You need to know your code to install it, though.

I've used it on my own computer. I wanted to make sure I could reuse it on theirs.

They have 98SE, only it was a computer they bought from Rent-A-Center, which didn't give them anything even relating to a restore disk. So it's basically just reinstalling what they have already.

But I still wonder at it. How the hell can you delete your entire file allocation tree...and have it still boot up Windows? And run games?? I mean, there are no files listed under My Computer. I can't access Windows Explorer to check things there. I could not believe something like that could happen.

But I sincerely doubt it's at all recoverable. I wouldn't know where to start trying.

They're going to have antivirus protection now, anyway. I'll install Norton from my disks for them.

Once they get a phone line, I told them they could use my emergency dial-up account I keep now in case the cable goes down. So they'll want it then.

Or at least Wesley. He's a smart cookie. Ronnie's not as good with electrical stuff.

I'm not pirating these, I just lose the codes

Don't worry. Big Brother MS isn't going to bang down your door and arrest you or send some signal through the phone lines that will disable your copy of windows if you reuse a code.

That wasn't my worry.

My worry was that it wouldn't accept the code if it's already been used once on my computer

Hey, kids like to experiment.

But yeah actually it would do similar damage. depending where on the drive it got close to.

And before that it was in the living room at the old house, IIRC.

Near a TV, but my computer is next to my TV, too, and I've never had that happen

I used to do that. I'd set up a new computer, use the same CD and key to install on the new computer as I'd used to install on the one I was replacing.

[OVERREACTING CONSPIRACY THEORIST]

OMG~ IT'S A SIGN!!! THE COMPUTER IS GOING TO BE USED FOR TERRORISM ONO!!~

[/OVERREACTING CONSPIRACY THEORIST]

Although they could have just run something that did that. I was deleting a lot of things off their desktop yesterday (the thing was FULL Of icons, sheesh) and they didn't realize you right clicked to delete.

Or how to get into something like My Computer or Windows Explorer.

Need to give those rugrats a crash course in using a computer.

quote:

---

Khyron wrote, obviously thinking too hard:
Your nephews are 9 and 11?

[OVERREACTING CONSPIRACY THEORIST]

OMG~ IT'S A SIGN!!! THE COMPUTER IS GOING TO BE USED FOR TERRORISM ONO!!~

[/OVERREACTING CONSPIRACY THEORIST]

---

ROFLMAO!

There was a corruption in a DLL file - don't remember which one off the top of my head - that was a big supporter of Explorer.exe. It cracked things badly.

Chances are, if you'd just done a quick reinstall, it would have fixed it. But it also could have done nothing.

Aren't DLL files FUN?!

So I'm assuming they must have gotten corrupted to. I don't believe they're going to be stuck with this machine for long. I think Aunt Candace is going to build them another, better one.