pc diagnostics

[anton muzic]

Hi all,
has anyone ever had success running tufftest- lite or any other tufftest
http://www.tufftest.com/
i cannot seem to run it...i've created the diskette in safe mode then booted up with the disk and when the dialogue window says loading it BLEEPS and says failed

i need a dos based utility to tell me which parts of system are not working.
( when i feel tooooo lazy to read Sylvander's flowchart...or complement it!) Anyone else use others...that are perhaps free?
using win98se.

cheers
anton :p

[Whyzman]

Anything you're trying to specifically target in the diagnostics?

You can check your memory with Memtest86...

You Harddrive can be tested through downloading the diagnostics on the manufacturer's web site...

[Sylvander]

I found producing the [free] "Tufftest Lite" floppy was rather tricky, but once made it works just great.
I just boot with it in the FDD and the program runs and begins testing.
No input is necessary from the user, although things can be speeded up by hitting "Enter" at appropriate moments to give the go-ahead for individual tests.
The files on this bootable floppy cannot be viewed from within Windows [I've never been able to view them by any means available to me].
They aren't DOS files; it uses machine code [whatever that is].

I suggest you try making the disk once again taking even greater care to do it just right.

The free version of Tufftest [because the tests are reduced] isn't the best diagnostic program I've used, but it's pretty good for a free program.
I'm now using a Hewlett Packard, and they supplied a good free diagnostic program.
My 1st PC came supplied with the very good "Eurosoft PC-Check" at http://www.eurosoft-uk.com/pc_check.htm, which was very thorough.
It used 2 methods to cover all the bases:
1. Self Boot [no interference from memory managers & device drivers]
2. Command Line [run at an MS-DOS prompt; allows testing of devices that require drivers].

[anton muzic]

thanx lads...
Anything you're trying to specifically target in the diagnostics?

yep...my first ever given, pc that does not work!
It is a pent 3
550 Mhz
with win98 on a 20Mb drive.

The mb is a GA-6vxe
http://www.baber.com/baber/411/gigaga6vxe.htm
never seen a raised cpu,(slot 1 i believe) and at one stage i thought it was part of the onboard graphics and actually tried to pull it off....intricate setting proved difficult..thankfully! The fan makes some noise!

Anyway, on powering up, i got till startup menu
selected step by step
and confirmed Y all the way till i got a blue screen where
new dialogue box confirmed i had a 15 inch monitor (i attached an old but good monitor to the high tower) then....
MSGSRV32...program has perf an illegal op
and it does not do anything.

so, i am trying to resolve what is not working.
I got into dos and there seems to be a windows on the HDD.
The system has a sound card
a graphics card (gforce 2mx) with its own fan (sleave bearing) which rotates.

So, how should i begin....

cheers
anton (never been this excited over a half-dead pc!!)
:D

[Sylvander]

C:\Windows\System\Msgsrv32.exe is obviously a Windows system file, so you seem to have a problem as Windows is loading [a software problem with the OS].

Try a Windows "repair" reinstallation.
[If you had backups of your C: partition it would be easier and quicker to restore a good one of those.]

a little story:
Just recently [as an experiment] I used "Killdisk" from www.killdisk.com/downloadfree.htm to write zeros to the C: partition, tried booting, got "No Operating System Found", restored a backup and booted just fine. Easy-peasy! :D

If you had or made a "Knoppix" bootable CD [free from www.knoppix.org/ ] you would see whether that was loading as per normal and using the hardware just fine.
I also have an "Ultimate Boot CD" from www.ultimatebootcd.com that includes various diagnostic prog's and benchmark testers.

Knoppix, and also EBCD [free from http://ebcd.pcministry.com/ ] will all display the files on your HDD and delete one etc.
Killdisk will show how your hdd is partitioned, the files on it and the individual 1's & 0's in all the clusters. I think you can get it to overwrite an individual files location with zeros.
If the above file was corrupted you could delete it and then re-run the Windows repair reinstallation.

[anton muzic]

thanx for that,

will keep updated as to my progressss!

anton :)

[anton muzic]

Hello!!,
I tried to see if a scanreg /restore would help but no.
So, I had documented a few ways of doing a repair install so i chose...

started off from the command line,
find which directory (had both windows and win98 had the cab files...went into that directory (in this case win98) and
typed setup
and am pleased to say i have a 98se op system getting on well with its
hardware.

In this early days...is it too late to partition my 10Gb drive so as to place the windows and prog files in a diff partition?

Is there a way to transfer all the win updates i have on my other pc (also 98se) to the fixed one?

thanks for your help
anton ;)

[Sylvander]

"is it too late to partition my 10Gb drive so as to place the windows and prog files in a diff partition?"
A partition other than C:?
Why would you want to do that?
If you made an image backup of the C: partition, and saved it somewhere you could access, you could repartition and reformat the drive and restore the backup to any partition you like. But you'd need to make sure that the PC could and did boot from that partition. It would need to be a primary partition and marked as active.

"Is there a way to transfer all the win updates i have on my other pc (also 98se) to the fixed one?"
Again, why wouldn't you just do the updates?
I suppose you could make a backup image of the other PC's C: partition, then restore it onto this PC's C: partition, then before you boot, run a repair reinstallation to match Windows to the hardware.
Not something I would risk.

[Fruss Tray Ted]

1: If you did not format the drive prior to typing setup, you likely have installed Windows atop the corrupt install already there. This very likely leads to problems down the road and is NEVER advised as a solution. You should have done a repair instell, not setup which is a complete install.

2: Partition Magic could make a new partition of the unused areas on the disk to relocate My Documents etc, but moving Windows to another partition would confuse the registry and is not advisable if doable at all.

3: Transferring the updates from one to the other = No.

If you have a Windows cd, reformat the drive and reinstall. It would be your safest bet. Partition, if desired, prior to formatting.

[anton muzic]

Fruss.
1: If you did not format the drive prior to typing setup, you likely have installed Windows atop the corrupt install already there. This very likely leads to problems down the road and is NEVER advised as a solution. You should have done a repair instell, not setup which is a complete install.

i thought what i did was a repair install! Could u please advise how to do a proper repair install?

cheers
anton :rolleyes:

[Sylvander]

I don't do this frequently myself so don't have a thorough knowledge of the routine, but...
My understanding is that if you run Setup.exe and it discovers that it's version of Windows is already there, then it reports that to the user and asks if you wish to "confirm" the installation.
If you give it the go-ahead it checks that everything is as it should be, and if it isn't, makes it as it should be ["repairs" it].
That means it would check what hardware you have in place, make sure the correct settings are in the registry, make sure the correct drivers are in place, install any missing files etc.
I guess one thing it doesn't do is check whether any files have been corrupted, but then again perhaps it does.
You should have a working installation of Windows after this is completed.

Starting with a blank partition may eliminate any possibility of having a less than perfect installation. Like if Windows was infected it might eliminate that, but you could always scan for infection using an ant-virus prog on a bootable floppy or CD.

[Fruss Tray Ted]

Sylvander is correct.

Did you install from the hardrive? Or do you have a 98 disk?

If it is working now, cross your fingers and deal with it later if problems arise. Look for duplicate files such as 2 Windows or 2 My Documents etc.. If you find any, this may suggest you have a stack of 2 installs and is prone to problems.


If the above is true AND you have another 98(SE) cd:
Save the key code for this pc or retrieve it with Belarc Advisor or Everest home Edition and then reformat and install with another 98 cd and use the original key.

This will be much more stable than a double install. You could partition this way too, if desired.

[anton muzic]

Hi guys,

Fruss,
Did you install from the hardrive? Or do you have a 98 disk?

If it is working now, cross your fingers and deal with it later if problems arise. Look for duplicate files such as 2 Windows or 2 My Documents etc.. If you find any, this may suggest you have a stack of 2 installs and is prone to problems

yes, this was a pc the lady could not use...so i delved into the command prompt dos and found 2 windows directory (WINDOWS and WIN98) and i installed from the win98 on the hardrive. AM i correct that it is better only to have ONE loaded for stability reasons? (in general)


If the above is true AND you have another 98(SE) cd:
Save the key code for this pc or retrieve it with Belarc Advisor or Everest home Edition and then reformat and install with another 98 cd and use the original key.

seems it is true and yes i have a 98se cd. Good advice...will do.
But, if i did not have CD and i had problem getting OS to load (and Sylvander's suggestion could always scan for infection using an ant-virus prog on a bootable floppy or CD. found nothing ...what is your steps in doing a repair install?

cheers
anton

[anton muzic]

Hi,
Ok...i've found that a repair install sometimes goes by the name of verification reinstall
http://www.ecsis.net/pub/netuser/validinstal.html

and it's necessary to have the windows 9x disk (if the OS is likewise on HD) as this is like a little pit stop for any problems you encounter with Win$.

cheers
anton

[Sylvander]

Must bookmark that one. :)

Don't think it would be ESSENTIAL to specify a verification right at the beginning though; if you run an ordinary Windows setup the program would detect that Windows was already installed and ask what you wanted to do - verify or what?