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smee

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233MMX crashing after desktop loads

I have a 233MMX with Win95. I installed Mcafee Virus Scan V3.04 and now if I boot up and leave it, it will crash-just shut down and restart with error messages.  If I remove Vshield it will be fine, but I would like to know how to run this program effectively with all its options and no problems.  Screen scan is disabled but I would like to use Vshield.
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kmrussell

Try uninstalling Mcafee Virus Scan and see if that was the problem.
I just ran into a problem the other day with a virus program being corrupt and
causing system problems.

If that was the problem try reinstalling Mcafee and see if it is okay now
If that did not answer the question then tell me what the error messages were and when exactly they appear
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ASKER

I guess I should have mentioned that I un-installed it and no problems were evident.  It is only this program.  I downloaded the latest version and installed that and the problem re-occurs.  If I remove Vshield from the start up menu the problem goes away.  Is this any more help?  I have battled this problem since I bought my computer in early Feb.  The motherboard has even been replaced and Win95 re-installed.  The error messages were " windows was not shut down correctly, one or more of your drives may have errors, press space bar to run scan disk on your drives now" .
smee,
Please post your autoexec.bat & config.sys files here.
Maybe we can find something that causes this problem.
Regards,
Ralph

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ASKER

c:\MCAFEE\SCANPM.EXE C:\
@IF ERRORLEVEL 1 PAUSE


SET SOUND=C:\PROGRA~1\CREATIVE\CTSND
SET MIDI=SYNTH:1 MAP:E MODE:0
@ECHO OFF
PROMPT $P$G
SET TEMP=C:\WINDOWS\TEMP
PATH C:\;C:\WINDOWS\;C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\;E:\ACRODOS
SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H5 P330 E620 T6
LH C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\MSCDEX.EXE /D:DATACOMP

and Config.sys=
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE RAM
DOS=HIGH,UMB
LASTDRIVE=M
FILES=20
DEVICEHIGH=C:\CDROM\AOATAPI.SYS /D:DATACOMP

There are a few versions of autoexec.  001,002,dos,winand bak.
hope this helps.smee
Try renaming config.sys to config.xxx (so it won't load at bootup)
Then edit autoexec.bat by putting REM and a space at beginning of MSCDEX line.
Reboot and let me know if any change.
Ralph


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ASKER

And put the Vshield back in at start up?  Won't this totally defeat the purpose if there is no config.sys?
Windows doesn't really need either of those files!
Ralph

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ASKER

OK, I'll give it a go.  Stand by
Do you have any "special" hardware (graphics tablets, etc.).. I know that I was having problems with Vshield and my Graphics tablet, and I got new drivers to fix the problem. I figured this out by extensive research of the blue screens upon startup. if you could post the "error messages" you're getting, we could further assist you.

Well for all its worth..I had the same problem and was never able to fixit but what I did was to remove this line from the autoexec and config c:\MCAFEE\SCANPM.EXE C:\  
and then I could use the mcafee but it wouldnt do the scan on boot up.
Not an answer to the problem!
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ASKER

The whole idea of having a virus scanner installed is to check for virus'.  The most horrible ones sit in your master boot record which is what I want protected.  I don't have any special graphic tablets(JLOVE1).  I am at the moment evaluating rmarotta answer but it might take a few days as it will only usually crash on first cold boot of the day.  I have cold booted in sequence 20 times and it would only do it the next day when I turned it on.
smee,
Tell me some more about this computer...
How much RAM, number & type of hard drives, CDROMs, BIOS MBR protection? Running OSR2?
Ralph

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ASKER

It is a 233MMX with 32M SDRAM.  One 3.5g HDD partitioned into 4. Main c=500M, d,e,f all around 1G.  A 24x cd rom.  BIOS MBR protection is turned off in CMOS and what is OSR2?
OSR2 is windows 95B (which comes with Internet Explorer). If you have Wang Imaging installed with Win95 in your accessories group, you have OSR2.

It has all the standard bug fixes for the original Windows 95 included in it.
smee,
It also reads as Windows95 4.00.950B on Control Panel's System Properties sheet.
I thought you might have OSR2 (Win95B) when I saw the error message about scandisk running at startup, after a bad shutdown.
If you had known about it, maybe you would have partitioned differently?
FYI:  FAT32, which is available with OSR2, lets you partition the whole drive as one.
Have you tried enabling the BIOS MBR protection?
Did the problem go away yet?
If so, try restoring those files, but remove the RAM switch on the EMM386 statement in config.sys file.
If not, that cold startup business has me thinking in the direction of hardware though.   Does it happen every time you cold, cold-boot?
Possibly a RAM chip or power supply issue.....
To test, you might try running one DIMM today, and then the other tomorrow. (if you have two)
Let me know,
Ralph
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ASKER

I have Win95b ver 4.oo.1111. Now this morning it crashed so i will now restore my config and autoexec back to normal, I only have 1 DIMM so I can't do that but i agree it could be hardware except for the fact that it is only when Vshield is loaded at startup that it crashes.  I will remove the RAM switch for a try.  This is stil an open question.  Points will increase as I recieve them.
Hang on, I think we are encountering a software confilict here..

What version of McAffee AV are you using?
Try re-installing the AV software in Safe mode.

If that doesn't help, I'll need to check some settings, we'll start off pretty simple.

What I would like to do is check a few of your settings...

Click START|Run and type in SYSEDIT
That will open a window that has you system configuration files.

Go to your WIN.INI, and see if there are there any devices being loaded in your load= or run= lines?
If there is anything posted after either of these lines, I would like you to place a semi-colon (;) in front of the line.

Have Fun
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ASKER

There is nothing after load= or run=, my Mcafee ver is 3.04.  Next step?
smee,
Removing the RAM switch won't matter if you already disabled the config.sys file.  I would rem the mscdex statement in your autoexec.bat file though, as windows doesn't want it with the real-mode CD driver when it loads.
I'm getting convinced that you have a hardware problem, as it seems that the error cannot be repeated under any circumstances except temperature.
Excepting the fact that some setting might change after a long period of run-time, causing the problem, which won't appear otherwise.
I see you have replaced the motherboard, Windows, and McAfee.
Would it be possible for you to substitute the power supply?
Lacking any substitute RAM, I would now suggest slowing the RAM timings by entering CMOS setup and saving BIOS default settings.
Make a note of the present settings so you can return to them later.  Let it cool down and try again.
Are we having fun yet?   :)
Regards,
Ralph

Load bios defaults and put PNP OS on YES in the PNP/PCI menu in the bios.  Also reservate all the interrupts which are used for ISA-card for ISA in this section!!!
Try this because I really think it's a bios or a hardware problem!
MarkAerts,
Comments are welcome.  When you use the answer button, you're supposed to have the answer.
When you're guessing, or "think" you know the answer, please use the comment button.
It cuts down on the amount of traffic here when the questioner does not have to respond with a reason for not accepting a proposed answer.  This thread is already pretty long.
Thanks,
Ralph

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ASKER

Mr rmarotta, no I am not having much fun.  with a 3 year on site warrenty and them having it back 3 times in 2 months and not being able to find any fault it is a pain.  That is why I am trying to fix it myself with all the help I can get.  Mind you my patiance is wearing a bit thin and getting my money back is a serious option.  But enough of that, I cannot substitute the power supply but i can and will reset my BIOS to default settings, and remove mscdex.  I will now try that part and then mark aerts option if that doesn't work.  I hope these points are worth it as it is all I have.
Smee,
You didn't say if this was a downloaded version of McAfee, but if it is, you might try downloading  and re-installing.
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ASKER

I bought ver3.0 and then registered on line and downloaded ver3.04 and installed it.  This was on Mcafee support directions.  They are trying to help but are very slow in responding.
rmarotte: OK, tnx for the info
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ASKER

It worked today but sometimes it does. I did not change BIOS B4 I switched off so I have done that now.
Keep your fingers crossed, smee!
Ralph

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ASKER

Froze on desktop startup this morning.  I have now returned the BIOS to what it was.  
smee,
I think that a borderline RAM chip would have run okay at the reduced speed when cold.  The only other suggestion will be to double-check the jumper settings for your CPU.  For both voltage & frequency.  The last thing to try would be to slow the clock speed (frequency) down to run the CPU a little slower.
If you need help with those jumpers, I will need the motherboard model number or the BIOS revision number, to get the info.
After that, I think you're going to need a substitute power supply to troubleshoot that gremlin any further.  
Let me know.
Regards,
Ralph

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ASKER

Well I myself have no intention of going that far.  If the problem lies in that area then I will get the supplier to check these items out. Not because I am not interested but as I mentioned earlier I have 3 years on site warrenty which I don't want to void.  Of course when I do that it might mean the box gets taken away so if there are comments added after Tuesday night this week and I don't respond you will know the reason.  The points will then be awarded depending on what they find out.  This may take a bit of time as I will tell them not to return it until it is fixed, so what is the process from here with regards to all your help?  
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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rmarotta

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ASKER

At this point I will be going off line.  I have graded the above answer but I might have to change that when I get my pute back from the shop.  Thanks for the help, I'll be back.

Smee.
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ASKER

Well I am back.  I have had this box back a week after having the power supply replaced and it has not crashed once.  Well done Ralph, I accept your answer.  I would like to regrade you and close this question down but I don't know how.  That is why I am commenting in this space.
smee, isn't there a list to select from for grading the question near the comment box?
Just choose the grade and submit.
I'm glad you got the problem fixed.  Those intermittent problems are always the most difficult to solve.
Regards,
Ralph

Oops...
My mistake!  I just noticed that you have already graded this question.  (It's in the PAQ or Previously Asked Questions database)  So, there is no longer an option to grade it.
However, comments can still be added to it.
Ralph

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ASKER

No comment.  I would have changed your grade to an A but I can't find any link here to Email the dudes that run this show.  All that happens is I end up at the FAQ page.

Anyway thanks once again, SMEE.
When you click on the "home" link at the top of the page, check out the customer service and the lounge topic areas.
Regards,
Ralph