You must go to the C: prompt. Unless you do that there's no solution possible, other 
than reinstalling Windows.

But there's no point reinstalling Windows. In my experience it's always a waste of 
time and never solves anything. Better that you start up in DOS mode, and use DOS 
programs to cure the problem that's affecting Windows.


Firstly, get a DOS boot disk for Windows ME from http://www.bootdisk.com.


Secondly, start your system with it, and boot to the A: prompt. While booting, 
use your PAUSE/BREAK key to pause at the initial information screen. Is the system 
recognising the presence of the hard disk?

If the hard disk is not recognised, press DEL (repeatedly, once a second) during 
the powering-up phase, to enter the BIOS program. That program will usually include 
a function to reset the computer to factory defaults, so look for that function, 
and enable it (by following the on-screen instructions).

The BIOS program might also have a function to auto-detect the correct settings for 
the hard disk. Again, look for it, and enable it.

Then *save* the new settings. Then exit the BIOS program. Restart the computer, with 
the floppy disk in the A: drive as before.


Thirdly, once you are at the A: prompt, try to switch to your C: drive by 
typing this DOS command (and then pressing the ENTER key) -

C:

Possibly the drive letters have somehow been altered, so try every drive letter from 
D to Z to see whether your drive is still recognised. This is the style of the command 
to use, for each drive letter from D to Z -

DIR D:

Notice the space before the "D:" part of this command.


Fourthly, if you find your C drive (whatever its letter now is), switch to 
it. At the command prompt, type this command -

SCANREG /RESTORE

Notice the space before the forward slash in this command.

Then restore a previous backup of the Windows registry (there will be five to choose 
from). And when you see a "Your registry has been successfully restored" type of 
message, try restarting the computer normally.


Fifthly, if the SCANREG program doesn't run, type this command instead (to 
see whether you get a directory listing of the files in the disk's root directory)-

DIR

If this command fails at a command prompt, something very bad is wrong. You should 
at least get a message that no files were found, even if you don't get a listing 
of actual files.


Sixthly, if the SCANREG program DOES run, but the computer still won't start 
normally (perhaps you may have no viable registry backups), then try fixing the existing 
Windows registry instead, by typing this command -

SCANREG /FIX 

Notice the space before the forward slash in this command.


Seventhly, to start Windows from the command prompt type this command -

C:\WINDOWS\WIN.EXE

If your C: drive has somehow become (for example) your Z drive, then you would replace 
the "C:" with Z: in this command.

But follow the instructions posted elsewhere in this thread to use the SYS command 
to install DOS on your hard disk before you try this step.


Sadly, it sounds as though the registry cleaner program you used may have been infected 
with a virus. This sort of extensive damage is more likely to be caused by a malicious 
virus program than by a simple clean up of your Windows registry.

If you are lucky enough to get Windows running again, the FIRST thing you *must* 
do is scan the hard disk with an Anti-Virus program.


Ed







On Thursday, April 19, 2007 at 7:21 am, Linda wrote:

>I used a registry cleaner program and I must have totally wiped out my OS. I get 
nothing but a black screen and occasionally the "A" or "R" drive letter.

>Is there any help available?

>Also, if I have the hard drive replaced, will this give me a new OS?

>Thank you in advance.