Windows Protection Error??? Help!!!

[Playmaker]

I just installed win98se on an older computer that had win98fe on it before. Everything was running fine until I installed the drivers for my Logitech QuickCam USB. The drivers were the latest ones available on their site. I installed them then restarted when prompted to. Now whenever I restart I get a message during boot up that says "Windows protection error.....Windows must restart, Press Any Key" I press any key and the computer shuts down. I can start into safe mode, but I still get this error every time I try to start normal. What should I do to fix this? The computer is a Celeron 433, Abit BX6rev2, 128mb PC100 SDRAM, Voodoo3 2k AGP, Diamond Monster MX300 Sound Card. Please Help. Thanks.

 

[Electric Amish]

Try going into safe mode and removing the Quickcam and see if that fixes it.

amish

 

[bdcrisp]

Did you repartition and format your HD before reinstalling windows98?

 

[MJT2k]

You are going to need to remove the drives from safe mode, like amish said.

Then try booting into normal mode. If that doesn't work the Registry is corrupt and you will need to do one of three things export the registry, restore the registry, or reinstall.

To restore the registry: -- quickest option

boot to a command promt (not a boot floppy)
scanreg /restore

It will run the scanreg program and will allow you to pick a registry to go back to.
Pick the one of the day you installed the Quickcam and reboot.

If that doesn't work try the registry from the day before you install the quickcam.

-------------

To export the regestry: -- slowest option but usually very efftive.

boot to a command promt (not a boot floppy)
cd\windows
attrib -r -s -h *.dat
md backup
copy *.dat backup
regedit /e reg.txt

Once the export is complete you will need to recreate the registry:
(do not reboot)

regedit /c reg.txt
reboot and try to boot to normal mode

**Note this process can take up to 24 hours to do.
-----------

Reinstall Windows 98se - easiest option.


Hope this helps.

 

[Zagloba]

MJT2k is right. I would just reinstall windows. Coincidentally, I had the same error two days ago when i put in the new mobo, installed everything else then I installed SB Live drivers only. Everything was ok, until i decided to install some of the software that came with SB. Apparently, the custom option will install software and drivers as well. So, in other words I had installed SB drivers twice, when the system rebooted I got "windows protection error". I didn't even bother to do anything else, fix registry, reboot in normal mode, but I just reinstalled the OS. Took about 30-45 minutes. Now if the error appears every time you install your drivers then I would go either with a different version, or you may be experiencing hardware conflict in windows. Hopefully after the reinstall things will run smoothly..best of luck.

 

[bacillus]

maybe something in here might help!

 

[corkyg]

A year or so ago I had the same problem . . . frequent WPE's. I posted it here, tried the suggestion and have never seen it since.

The suggestion was, upgrade the power supply!

 

[Playmaker]

Uninstalled the drivers worked fine. I'll reinstall an older version that I know works. Reinstalling windows would take too long. I have to copy the Cabs and run the install off the HD because the CD-ROM drive is messed up. Takes me a few hours to get the CD-ROM to copy the Cabs over alone lol. Well, thanks for the help.