i did a reboot on my computer yesterday only to find that windows did not boot at all...

i did a step-by-step boot and nothing happened...it just went into DOS and said that my C:\himem.sys file was missing. i checked my C:\ drive for the himem.sys file and it was there...so i replaced it with a copy from my friends computer.

i checked my C:\ drive and found that my config.sys file was not there, and i found that my C:\windows\command\ebd directory was also missing. i went up to my buds place again and copied some of the files and directories and finally got windows to boot up.

now when i reboot, windows does not boot. it gives an error message saying that my essaudio.sys file is missing or corrupt.

the only way i can get windows to boot is if i type C:\windows\win. when i bootup, my system seems kinda unstable. another wierd thing happens when i open up winamp. after right-clicking on an mp3 file and clicking on "enqueue in winamp," some files appear in the direcory of the mp3 file that i opened. one file is a .gif advertising "mjuice.com" and an other is some kind of .tmp file. also a new folder is created that contains all the .bmp files for the winamp skin that i am using...really strange.

i downloaded an updated .dat file for my virus checker and did a scan of my system. it found no infected files.

i don't know...either my system is really fucked up or i have some sort of unknown virus...can anyone please help !!!

if anyone has a rescue disk containing up to date virus definitions, please e-mail it to me...my virus checker doesn't seem to be working properly.

It depends how in depth you go in your file scan. If you just did exe or com files, the virus might be in a .doc file or anywhere else for that matter. Perhaps you should do a scan on EVERY file just to make sure, if you haven't done so already.

yep... and try a good virus scanner.... I use AVP
and this one is really good.

ever tought of using a firewall in the future?

___________________
If it ain't Dutch, it ain't much

As a final touch, God created the Dutch

i have tried scanning all of the files on my drive paul...and, sandman, i don't know how to set up a firewall...i don't know a whole lot about computers.

Ok
i would suggest Conseal Pc Firewall & BlackIce for windows.

Norton Antivirus if very good to if you update it every week/every ... days ...

hey cyberdude...BlackIce is hard to set up...I'd say ZoneAlarm (www.zonelabs.com)

the 'essaudio.sys' is a file you need to make your soundcard (ESS688 chip) work...the file could be delteted so you should install the drivers and software of your soundcard again...

quote:

Originally posted by AndiH the 'essaudio.sys' is a file you need to make your soundcard (ESS688 chip) work...the file could be delteted so you should install the drivers and software of your soundcard again...

i was not having any problems with my sound card...after my computer said that i was missing this file, my sound card worked perfectly...

...i just recently did a reboot and it no longer says anything about the essaudio.sys file...strange...

...one other thing that i found out while trying to edit my boot option (using a program called startpro), was that i am missing my msdos.sys file...so i did a search for the file and i found in my root directory...why isn't this file being recognized ?

i don't really know what msdos.sys file does, but i think it must have something to do with windows bootup cause the only way i can boot windows is to type C:\windows\win...

how can i make windows boot automatically like it did before?

edit you msdos.sys...it should look like this:

[Paths]
WinDir=C:\WINDOWS
WinBootDir=C:\WINDOWS <- Windows won't boot without that
HostWinBootDrv=C

[Options]
{not important}

lots of ;XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

if it doesn't look like this, you got a problem...

quote:

Originally posted by AndiH edit you msdos.sys...it should look like this: [Paths] WinDir=C:\WINDOWS WinBootDir=C:\WINDOWS <- Windows won't boot without that HostWinBootDrv=C [Options] {not important} lots of ;XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX if it doesn't look like this, you got a problem...

i don't even have an msdos.sys file anymore....help !!!