Microsoft → Help: Windows Protection Error. Need to restart..

Please help.

All of a sudden my computer is in an endless reboot loop, with the message: "Windows protection error. You need to restart your computer."

When I first reset my computer (using the computer's reset button), it does it's normal boot, got the Windows 98 screen, and when into windows. Then it automatically rebooted.

After that, I get the screen prompting which mode to load (ie Normal, Safe Mode, etc).

I've tried every option, including the "Step by step confirmation" which prompts every line in autoexec.bat, config.sys. The only selection that works is the Command Prompt.

Other than that, I get that error message. Windows will not load up. Not even if I enter WIN at the command prompt.

Win 98 (1st ed) w/ all patches
P2-450 from Gateway
384 MB RAM

Please help!

Do you have a 3com NIC?

Also, look at Q149962 - How to Troubleshoot Windows Protection Error Messages
[text was edited by author 2002-09-16 15:20:10]

No, I have a LinkSys EtherFast NIC, LinkSys DSL/Cable 4-port router, Westell Ethernet modem (connected to the router).

Take a look at my edit (40 secs before your post). It is a good starting point.

Ok, thanks. I'll give that reference a try.

You might also try and restore a good registry incase something got corrupted in there:

On the startup menu choose #4 command prompt...
At the prompt type:
scanreg/restore
Then hit enter
After the scan you will be given an option (with dates and times) of some prior restorable registries ... (unfortunately if you have rebooted several times before attempting this you may be bumped out of a useful restorable range because the registry tends to get backed up with each reboot and Windows I think defaults between 3-5 restorable registries)
You can Edit Scanreg.ini and change the MaxBackupCopies=5 to 15 or whatever you want.
Anyhoo...
If all else is in your favor...
You should be able to potentially choose a restorable registry from a date/time prior to whatever is the recent conflict...
Highlight and choose restore... after receiving confirmation of a successful registry restore...reboot

I tried restoring my registry from up to 2 days back. Upon reboot, I got the message Invalid Vxd blah blah blah and then my computer shut down (DC power). I can't remember the rest of the VXD error because of the shut down.

Now I am in process of SCANREG /FIX.

Will keep up to date with what's happening...

Sorry for my late response. I had to get some sleep before I go to work (I'm at work now).

Scanreg results:
The /restore did not work. I tried up to 3 different backups (1-3 days old).
The /fix did not work. I got the message that the registry was successfully repaired though. But the problem persists.

I checked my win.com and command.com date, and it's dated '98, so I assume it wasn't modified lately.

I went through the windows site and followed the instructions, but nothing worked. I tried to create a Bootlog.txt so I could monitor what the last thing is being loaded, but nothing is being created (I checked all drives using the (driveletter):\DIR BOOTLOG.TXT /S command, and came up empty).

did you try the windows vxd fix?

Here's a link:

»freepctech.com/pc/002/fi ··· 07.shtml
[text was edited by author 2002-09-17 04:51:30]

And, there's Another way of dealing with Win '98 installations where some vxd files in your system directory don't get installed.

To resolve 20 to 50% of the system errors in any Win98 build, extract these vxd files manually from cabs 47 and 48 of your Windows 98 CD into c:\windows\system and c:\windows\system\vmm32.
Here they are:

vcomm.vxd
vdmad.vxd
configmg.vxd
vdd.vxd
vmouse.vxd
ntkern.vxd
vflatd.vxd

Extract these files to both directories and reboot. Note: In Windows 98SE, the files are located in cabs 53 and 54.
Does this fix anything? Well I have quite a few reports that say that since this fix, their systems have become a little more stable. Try it. It can't hurt a thing.

VMM32.VXD is a generic, slower MS driver, build at Windows installation. Some of the drivers needed on your system, including these vxd's are supposed to be part of VMM32. As it turns out, however, it generates quite a few problems with many systems. Extracting the vxd's to the System and Vmm32 directories provides for loading the drivers separately.
Fixes include lockups, error messages at start-up, VMM errors, erratic/slow mouse movement and many others...

If you want to check if you need the vxd's yourself, look in the Driver File Details tabs for each of your devices in your Device Manager (Control Panel > System > Device Manager). If you find entries containing 'vmm32', there's a good chance you need to extract these manually.
[text was edited by author 2002-09-17 03:21:48]

have you tried to boot up in safe mode i had once this error and it worked in safe mode while it still not booted up in normal mode

I can't load windows at all, not even in Safe Mode. I can only boot into DOS command prompt environment.

I'll give your suggestion a try when I get home in the morning.

Thanks

Since I can't load windows at all (including safe mode), how else can I run the VXD fix?

Try this nifty command line tool called extract. It's in your Windows\Command directory. Here are the switches:
C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND>extract /?
Microsoft (R) Cabinet Extraction Tool - Version (16) 1.00.603.0 (08/14/97)
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corp 1994-1997. All rights reserved.

EXTRACT [/Y] [/A] [/D | /E] [/L dir] cabinet [filename ...]
EXTRACT [/Y] source [newname]
EXTRACT [/Y] /C source destination

cabinet - Cabinet file (contains two or more files).
filename - Name of the file to extract from the cabinet.
Wild cards and multiple filenames (separated by
blanks) may be used.

source - Compressed file (a cabinet with only one file).
newname - New filename to give the extracted file.
If not supplied, the original name is used.

/A Process ALL cabinets. Follows cabinet chain
starting in first cabinet mentioned.
/C Copy source file to destination (to copy from DMF disks).
/D Display cabinet directory (use with filename to avoid extract).
/E Extract (use instead of *.* to extract all files).
/L dir Location to place extracted files (default is current directory).
/Y Do not prompt before overwriting an existing file.

Well, nothing suggested worked. No matter what I did, I still can't get into Safe Mode, and I kept getting the Windows Protection Error message.

So, I ended up re-installing (clean install) Win98.

Thanks for everyone's help and suggestions.

BTW, I ran NAV 2002 and Trojan Hunter 2.54 (with the latest definitions) and found nothing. So I guess it was just corrupted windows files somewhere. Because of this incident, I am highly contemplating to upgrade to XP Pro... but that'll be in another thread.

After re-installing Win98, I ran the VXD fix as you suggested. Now I am in BSOD hell (Fatal Exception 0E). One by one my programs are "not responding" or shutting down in my taskbar (AnalogX Proxy, Trojan Hunter 2.54, MS ActiveSync for my PDA, UD Monitor for cancer research, AVG Anti Virus, etc). NAV, Norton Smart/Internet sweep, and and ZA Pro still stays put.

I can't access my LAN without getting the "not responding" error. But I can access this machine from another computer with no problems.

Is there any way to remove this fix? (yes, I did reboot after installing the fix)

I've been rebooting every 1-5 minutes now.

said by ChrisJT:

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After re-installing Win98, I ran the VXD fix as you suggested. Now I am in BSOD hell (Fatal Exception 0E).

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If this is giving you a problem, just reverse what you did, remove these files:

vcomm.vxd
vdmad.vxd
configmg.vxd
vdd.vxd
vmouse.vxd
ntkern.vxd
vflatd.vxd

from your c:\windows\system and c:\windows\system\vmm32
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if you ran the executable to rebuild your VMM32.DLL then you will need to run sfc (system file checker).

I ran the VXD executable.

How do I go about running SFC?

(sorry for my late response... I've been busy re-booting)

said by ChrisJT:

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One by one my programs are "not responding" or shutting down in my taskbar (AnalogX Proxy, Trojan Hunter 2.54, MS ActiveSync for my PDA, UD Monitor for cancer research, AVG Anti Virus, etc). NAV, Norton Smart/Internet sweep, and and ZA Pro still stays put.

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Notice you have two antivirus programs running at the same time (AVG Anti Virus & NAV) - this can definately cause a conflict - particularly after a operating system re-install. Have you tried uninstalling one of them?

said by ChrisJT:

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How do I go about running SFC?

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Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Information

Click on tools > system file checker...

or use find sfc.exe

and btw, what Justin Case posted about two antiviruses running is definitely true, big time! Didn't notice that part in your earlier post myself but I would make sure only one is memory-resident (set to run on start-up), uninstall if you have to. I would do that first and re-evaluate if your system is still having problems then.

said by Justin Case:

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said by ChrisJT:

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One by one my programs are "not responding" or shutting down in my taskbar (AnalogX Proxy, Trojan Hunter 2.54, MS ActiveSync for my PDA, UD Monitor for cancer research, AVG Anti Virus, etc). NAV, Norton Smart/Internet sweep, and and ZA Pro still stays put.

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Notice you have two antivirus programs running at the same time (AVG Anti Virus & NAV) - this can definately cause a conflict - particularly after a operating system re-install. Have you tried uninstalling one of them?

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Just a thought. If i had to reboot as often as you are, I would definately disable all start-up items in MsConfig.
Start>run>msconfig.
Then reboot. If all is well add 1 startup item at a time untill BSOD. theres the culprit or combination of them.

said by dpierc03:

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said by ChrisJT:

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How do I go about running SFC?

---

Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Information

Click on tools > system file checker...

or use find sfc.exe

and btw, what Justin Case posted about two antiviruses running is definitely true, big time! Didn't notice that part in your earlier post myself but I would make sure only one is memory-resident (set to run on start-up), uninstall if you have to. I would do that first and re-evaluate if your system is still having problems then.

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So how did you go?

I haven't had the chance to do anything to the 'puter yet. Been busy with work and too tired to fix my computer.

I did manage to get as far as disabling everything except NAV, ZAP and Trojan Hunter which I feel are the bare necessities. Haven't deleted the VXD files yet.

I still get BSOD'ed.

I rebooted using the Win98 Start-up diskette, re-installed Win98 (not a clean install). BSOD.

I can't figure out how to do a clean install (format the HD and clean install Win98 using the Start-up diskette). The Win98 install process doesn't ask if I want to upgrade or perform a clean install as what I would expect. It just re-installs itself, using the current setup and registries already found on the HD.

So, I'm thinking of just reformatting the HD manually and reinstalling Win98. (Still searching the forums on how to correctly perform this function without messing up)

BTW, I've been running the two AV progs for quite some time without any problems.

said by ChrisJT:

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BTW, I've been running the two AV progs for quite some time without any problems.

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I would NOT do that in the future. There is no reason to do so.
[Duh! message edited to include NOT]

[text was edited by author 2002-09-20 12:25:53]

Uninstall one and your problem will become moot. Suggest AVG as you have other independiecies with Norton.

Come on get off your bum - we are awaiting a positive outcome.

said by Justin Case:

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Come on get off your bum - we are awaiting a positive outcome.

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:) ok ok!
I guess 2-5 hours of sleep every day for 7 days/week is for sissies.

I'll get to it right away as soon as I get home in about 3-5 hours.

BTW, I really appreciate everyone's input in this.

said by ChrisJT:

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...

I did manage to get as far as disabling everything except NAV, ZAP and Trojan Hunter which I feel are the bare necessities. Haven't deleted the VXD files yet.

.....

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Since you already have issues. disable ALL startups (disconnect from network if your woried about ZAP or trojan communications.
Did you remove any network components? ZAP will throw a blue screen with vxd error if it is still enabled and there is no network configuration. (learned the hard way) The last time i tried reinstalling all network compononts ie.. tcp, netbeu, i had to remove ZA to reboot or it would throw a vsdata.vxd BSOD.

said by ChrisJT:

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So, I'm thinking of just reformatting the HD manually and reinstalling Win98. (Still searching the forums on how to correctly perform this function without messing up)

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Boot up with your start-up disk. From the A: prompt, type:
"Format C: /s" without the quotes. That will prepare your hard drive to install the Operating System. After that is complete, reboot with your startup disk in the floppy drive again. Choose the first option, with cd-rom support.
Place your installation cd-rom in the drive and type in the drive letter followed by the colon sign for whichever drive the the screen reports the cd drivers were loaded for. then type setup and follow the onscreen prompts.

said by ChrisJT:

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BTW, I've been running the two AV progs for quite some time without any problems.

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Definitely NOT recommended, I have two also, but only one is memory resident. I will use the other one to perform an
alternate system scan if I'm worried about Norton missing something (which is rare anyway)

Should you run more than one antivirus program at the same time?

Symantec strongly recommends that you run only one antivirus program at a time. Having more than one antivirus program active in memory uses additional resources and can result in program conflicts and false virus alerts.

»service2.symantec.com/SU ··· %20HREF=
[text was edited by author 2002-09-20 12:46:19]

Ok, I'm at home now (and barely awake).

I'm going to do the format c: /s now and do the win setup as you stated.

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The reason I began running 2 AV programs is because I had a virus that NAV (with the latest definitions) didn't catch.

Anyway, wish me luck with the format... and here I go...