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computer stuck in safe mode

I have a windows 95 computer and was trying to install a new game on it and the computer was saying something about the serial number and cd rom. So I went to the add new hardware section and was checking some things over and after that the computer went in a safe mode and I can't get it off. It won't recongize the A driver and I can't connect to the net. I had a friend to take a quick look at it and he ran som test on it and it wasn't showing anything wrong. But there is something wrong cause I can't get it off the Safe Mode. He told me to create a new start up disc and when I try that it doen't even acknowledge that it has a floppy disc in it.He also told me to get reinstall the windows 95 but i'm not sure what to do now? Please help. I'm ready to throw the computer out the window. Thanks,
Kim

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rayt333

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wildangel1263

ASKER

What if I don't have the cd to reinstall windows 95? Can I get on the net and buy one and will this work okay in my computer? Thanks for all your help.
Kim

rayt333

Check out e-bay for an old Win95 disk with license fo course, or call a few of the local shops and see if they have an old copy for sale or even to borrow as long as you have your license number.

wildangel1263

ASKER

Don't mean to sound stupid butwhat if I don't have my license number? Can I get it off the computer somewhere?I bought this computer a year ago from someone and they didn't bother to get me everything. Guess it's kind of my fault too. When I start my computer up this is the message it says "While initializing device ios: window protection error. You need to restart your computer. I try to start it in normal mode but it won't let me. Advice you can give me I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks so much for all your help.
wildangel1263

rayt333

As long as you can still get into "safe mode" then you can get your registration number.
It would be a good idea to write it down so you will have it in case of complete crash.

Go to RUN and type REGEDIT and hit OK, then click the plus signs until you get to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

Then scroll down until you see ProductID in the left pane and highlight it and note the number in the right pane. Write this down and keep in a safe place.

wildangel1263

ASKER

Thanks a million.
Wild Angel1263

wildangel1263

ASKER

I did everything that you told me to do to get the liscense number but when I scrolled down to product id it wasn't there. I open every folder and file to see if maybe it was somewhere else.I couldn't find it anywhere. Any other suggestions to do? Right now I'm game to try anything. I also ran a complete scan on the computer just to see if anything would show up. Nothing showed up. What should I do next besides throw it out the window.
Wild Angel1263

rayt333

If you lost the paper sleeve or jewel box your Microsoft Windows CD came in, chances are the sticker with the CD key necessary to reinstall the software is missing as well. If the software is currently installed on your PC, here's how to find it again.
1. Start the Registry Editor
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion
3. Look at ProductID. Here's your CD key. Now write it down and put it in a safe place

Your Windows 95 CD-Key is also displayed on the General tab on System Properties (Control Panel > System). Or right click on "my computer" and select properties. Or if you have a keyboard with the "windows" key then press it and the "pause/break" key at the same time.

wildangel1263

ASKER

Thanks for all your help. I finally got the license number and now I'm working on reinstalling windows 95. I couldn't of done this without your help. Your a lifesaver. Thanks again.
Wild Angel

rayt333

Any problems just post here and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

jackmierz

Hi rayt333:

I have a similar problem, except that my OS is Win98SE, and the problem occurred while I was uninstalling a program. The computer crashed, and now Windows siezes up while loading the drivers. I have been wrestling with msconfig to solve the problem, but to no avail, so I can only run in safe mode.

I too have come to the conclusion that reloading Windows would be the easiest solution, but of course in safe mode, the CD-ROM isn't recognized. How do I overcome this ultimate Catch-22?

I tried a solution I found on the net (modifying autoexec.bat and config.sys), and it worked - but in safe mode the disks gave read errors.

How do I get around this?

I have a new Windows XP disk - the cleanup that caused the original crash was the house keeping prior to upgrading to XP - but I would prefer to sort out my problem with Win98 before tackling an entirely new OS.

Any help would be most appreciated.

jackmierz

Panic over - I found the problem. I had flashed my BIOS before this problem occurred, and although initial bootup went OK (leading me to think that the flashing was unrelated to my problem), the computer later crashed with the results I mentioned above.

The problem was that the flashing had turned my on-board sound chip (i.e on the motherboard), and was causing a conflict at boot-up with my soundcard. I spotted a solution that rayt333 had posted elsewhere on this site which involved removing all unecessary PCI cards, which I did, and thus diagnosed the problem.