Topic: windows protection error - WME

[shellyo1o]

Hi guys, hope you can help.

My neighbours pc, running windows ME, all of a sudden won't boot up properley.
It keeps coming up with 'windows protection error. System Halted'

She has not installed anything new, or changed any settings.
It won't boot in safe mode and she doesn't have a boot disk, just the original install cd.
There is a possibility that she could have a virus, as she didn't have any decent protection installed :-[

Any ideas/help would be very much appreciated. - Sorry I don't know anything about her system spec.

Thanks

Michele
 

[Sandra]

Hi Michele, it could be a virus possibly.
You can download a boot disk for her from here :

www.bootdisk.com

Then see if it will boot into safe mode.
Maybe then she can get into System Restore and get it to restore back to an earlier date when it was ok  

[foot loose]

is the original install cd bootable.  if it is the reinstall the os..

[shellyo1o]

Thanks Sandra, that website is very useful,
I got into the system but there all all sorts of files and drivers missing, I tried to run windows update but it wouldn't run, tried the windows help, but it didn't help!

She has the original ME disk.
Does anyone know how to blank the hard drive so we can do a clean install?
I think that's the best way to go now.

[Sandra]

If you can get it to run in windows now can you not try a restore to an earlier date ?
If not :
Using the boot disk, let it boot into dos by selecting Start PC without CD rom support and at at the A prompt type format C: /s
Press Y and then hit the enter key when warned that this will delete all information on this drive.
This will take a little time and will wipe everything off the drive assuming that it only has the C partition.
Reboot with the boot disc in again and select the option without CD rom support again.
Place the ME cd in the cd drive and this time at the A prompt type E:\setup
This is where the cd drive would normally be D as it moves the letters up one as it creates a virtual drive D to temporarily store the files needed to run dos.
If you have more hard drives/partitions then the letter in place of E will be one higher than what your cd drive normally is.
Then just let it do its stuff and put your serial number and details in as it asks for them