Help!! My computer is a bastard!

[Nelson]

Okay, I know a fair amount of people here are in the business of tech, or technically minded, so I thought I might as well ask. In the past few days, I found that I haven\'t been able to access netscape, any word processing program, or photoshop. When I attempted to open the program, it would say \"Initcom com blah blah blah\" This was annoying, as I couldn\'t type anything up or photoshop, but not fatally so. Just yesterday though, I was using it, and then shut it down. when I went to start it up again later, it loaded part way, and then said \"While initializing the device IOS: Error: An I/O subsystem driver failed to load. Either a file in the .iosubsys subdirectory is corrupt, or the system is low on memory.\"

Now, I have no idea what to do. I\'m helpless with computers, and nobody I know is any less helpless. I can\'t even get on to my computer to see what the hell the .iosubsys is. Our computer is divided in half, so I can access my mom\'s side, and it works perfectly, but all of my programs are on my side. My AVG boot up scanner doesn\'t pick up any viruses. Any help? I don\'t know what to do!

 

[LavronYor]

ideas

Hmm, it depends on which version of Windows that you are using. A restore point will be useful if it is Windows ME or newer. If not, then you will most likely have to boot up in safe mode. Try the library for books on computer repair as this should have pictures to help. Without more info, I am just throwing darts in the dark.

If fire starts coming out like my avatar, don\'t throw water on it.

 

[Nelson]

It\'s window 98, and it won\'t start up in any mode...this just arbitrarily started happening last last night.

 

[DennisMech]

I\'m holding myself back from saying the answer I always tell you, so here\'s some real advice. I\'d spend the money to get a new OS. Running a pirated copy of Windows 98 is pretty likely to get serious problems sooner or later.

 

[Nelson]

Arrghh, it is the answer you usually tell me!! Any other comments, please? Instant gratification preferred. The basic deal is, my computer is fine, as mom\'s side runs perfectly smoothly. No problems. Ever. Well, \"ever is a loose term, especially for windows, but still...

My side is the problem, and I don\'t know how to fix it....I\'m thinkin\' it\'s a virus, but I\'m not sure.

 

[Hieronymus]

After some Googlification of the error message, I found a bunch of sites with directions on how to rectify the situation. This one seemed to be the most straightforward:

https://www.smartcomputing.com/techsupport/detail.aspx?guid=c58352e1803648e190a5227cad78e7d0&ErrorID=22350

This says that if its Win95, it\'s an incorrect memory setting. If it\'s Win98, the OS needs to be reinstalled. That seems to be two really different solutions for the same error message. I\'m not any kind of expert, so for a second opinion, you could do more searches and also find a forum that does tech support stuff.

 

[gohkm]

Suggest you upgrade to WinXP. Safer in general.

 

[Nelson]

Hmmm.....crap. That link sure didn\'t cheer me up. One thing I\'m not sure of...to be able to do what that step by step shows, don\'t I have to be able to get onto my computer in the first place? The error message pops up when it\'s still loading, and stops me from going any further..Oh well, thanks, I guess I\'ll do the same and try to google it.

 

[Warworks]

Things usually don\'t happen without reason with computers...what have you installed in the last week, and have you upgraded the system at all? It could be that Win 98 simply won\'t work with newer progs, especially the more home-brewed apps, and that caused a crash.

As much as I\'m sure you don\'t want to hear it, DennisMech\'s comment s bang-on. I would suggest upgrading the entire box (both sides) to Win 2000 if you need to run windows programs, or Linux if you\'re brave and want to REALLY know how everything on your computer works. Win 2000 has multiple logons and networks really easy. Linux is better at this, is quite a bit more stable, but does not always play nice with windows apps.

98 had some problems with memory management that they fixed in 2000, and the NTFS file system is nice. Good luck.

 

[Avelorn]

Well.. my computer just recently was a bastard.. now it\'s more of an annoying aunt.

 

[frenchkid]

Well I\'m helpless with windows so here\'s the only advice i can give you : Get a Mac, much better

 

[Trevor]

Sometimes you just need to start again and do a complete reinstall, then apply all the security updates and patches.
98 was pretty shit, 2000 or XP are much better.

 

[DennisMech]

Originally posted by frenchkid
Well I\'m helpless with windows so here\'s the only advice i can give you : Get a Mac, much better

lol That\'s the bit of advice I held myself back from saying!

 

[ipaintminis]

if i were you, i\'d go over to your moms side of the computer, go into my computer, click all users, and save everything to disk. then uninstall win98 and reinstall win98 then upload all your saved material and reinstall all your extra programs.

did you screw it up in some way that made it happen? when did you notice it?

it does sound like a very bleak situation

 

[dauber22]

Originally posted by Nelson
One thing I\'m not sure of...to be able to do what that step by step shows, don\'t I have to be able to get onto my computer in the first place? The error message pops up when it\'s still loading, and stops me from going any further.

Have you tried booting it from a floppy? That will avoid any problems with your PC and should at least boot it into DOS. I don\'t know what the \"step-by-steps\" are, but I assume they work from DOS.

Next question: do you have a bootable floppy? If not, I assume your mom\'s side is also running Windows, hopefully also 98? Go into her side, go to Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, If I remember right, there\'s a tab there that will let you make a bootable floppy.. Yup. I just went and checked. The third tab should say something about a bootable floppy. Hoefully that will let you in to do what needs to be done.

 

[LavronYor]

when to enter safe mode

when you turn on the computer and it starts doing it\'s memory count (that little number that starts counting to probably 128k, in the upper left corner) at the bottom of the screen it will say to enter safe mode do such and such. Well do such and such. Really, if you don\'t want to spend money, get a repair book from the library.
Hope this helps

 

[Nelson]

Originally posted by dauber22
Next question: do you have a bootable floppy? If not, I assume your mom\'s side is also running Windows, hopefully also 98? Go into her side, go to Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, If I remember right, there\'s a tab there that will let you make a bootable floppy.. Yup. I just went and checked. The third tab should say something about a bootable floppy. Hoefully that will let you in to do what needs to be done.

Okay, if this helps, we share the same hard drive. All of my programs, games, files, drivers, etc can be seen from her side, it\'s just that they aren\'t actually installed on hers. EDIT: Except for our main C drives...those are seperate.

Mmm, I know there are important ramifications to this, but I don\'t really know what...heheh. Help pwease?

And thanks everybody for helping me through this troubling time.....Do you know how long it\'s been since I\'ve seen a drop of internet porn? I\'m parched, I tells ya, parched. And no, I don\'t think the porn was the problem.

Ermm...I made a boot-up disk....what do I do now? Sorry....

 

[Nelson]

Ermm...I made a boot-up disk....what do I do now? Sorry....

EDIT: Wait, if the problem is the .iosubsys directory, or whatever, and my moms side works fine, is there any way I can save her \".iosubsys\" to a floppy and then...um...do something with it? I\'d really just like to avoid reinstalling 98 on my side.

 

[Trevor]

I never was much good with software.
If you want some expert help head over to arstechnica.com and go to the open forum and the software section, they should be able to help you out. Or if you like send me complete details of the problem and error messages and I\'ll go ask.