scandskw error at startup

Following Heather's general advice, herewith, a little more detail :-

In the first instance, If you haven't got a 'good' WinMe Startup (floppy)
disk, you can download a WinMe Bootdisk making utility (select the 'Windows
Me OEM' option) from
http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm

**But be sure to read the instructions on how to actually create the
bootdisk** - which are essentially :-

Don't just copy the download to a floppy disk, download the file onto your
computer (any computer, with an A:drive) and then you MUST run the file for
it to actually create the Startup (floppy) disk. Just follow the screen
instructions.

As you can't run SR in Normal or Safe mode, then you *may* be in with a
chance by using scanreg :-

Boot using the (newly made) Windows Startup (floppy) Disk and choose 4)
Minimal Boot.
At the A:\> prompt, type "scanreg /restore" (no quotes and note the space
between the g and /) then press Enter.
Follow the screen prompts and when asked, select the last 'good' date prior
to your problems, continuing with the instructions.

Don't forget to remove the floppy disk BEFORE you tell the machine to
reboot.

If however the above doesn't improve things, (I am a little concerned that
there may be issues with your HDD beginning to fail) you may also wish to
try running scandisk in DOS mode. Type "scandisk c:" at the A:\> prompt
(again, no quotes and note the syntax - space between k and c followed by a
colon)

BUT!!! - as the HDD *MAY BE* beginning to fail, DO NOT allow scandisk to
perform a surface scan or fix errors UNTIL you have backed up your HDD (or
critical data at least) - You *may* potentially lose your Data. Just make a
note of any error reports scandisk produces and review your strategy before
continuing.

If your data isn't critical and you are prepared for possible loss of data,
re-run scandisk in DOS and this time allow a surface scan to continue - see
if that fixes things.

HTH and good luck

Mart



"Heather" <figgyd.RemoveThis@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
news:ORrM9oYTHHA.388@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> Mike Maltby is the one to ask and as he is in England, he is not
> available until about 5 am our time, assuming you are in the EST time
> slot.
>
> About the only thing I can suggest is that you go to www.bootdisk.com and
> download one from there. I hope you know whether this is an OEM or MS
> WinME installation because they are different startup discs.
>
> Another thought is to use System Restore to return it to a working state,
> assuming you have used it in the past week or two.
>
> But I do suggest that you wait for Mike to sort you out.
>
> Heather
> <tomred20.RemoveThis@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1171162431.261078.113600@k78g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>>I am looking for help with the following specific error that has
>> occurred. Here is the background.
>>
>> We use a Dell Dimension 8200 for running one type of experiment in our
>> lab. When attempting to access some files as normal, the computer
>> froze and was not responsive to either mouse or keyboard. I then
>> manually turned off the computer.
>>
>> When turning on the computer, the Dell screen loads properly, and the
>> Windows Me screen loads, but then the following error message appears:
>>
>> "scandskw has caused an error in KERNEL32.DLL scandskw will now close.
>> If you continue to experience problems, try restarting your computer."
>>
>> Unfortunately, the computer is still unresponsive to the mouse and
>> keyboard, and thus I cannot click the 'close' button or close out the
>> dialog box using the x button.
>>
>> I have restarted the computer over 20 times, and the same sequence
>> occurs. It also occurs when I start the computer in safe mode.
>>
>> I have looked through all of our lab's materials, and I cannot find a
>> Windows Me backup or startup disk. This is the only lab computer
>> running this version of Windows because of a specific software package
>> we use to run this specific type of experiment.
>>
>> I would appreciate any and all help, as I have scoured the internet
>> all day since this happened earlier this morning and have been unable
>> to figure out how to get past this problem. The various webpages
>> (including Microsoft) have extensive lists of kernel32.dll errors, but
>> nothing mentioning specifically the scandskw error I am having. I saw
>> a couple of posts from 2003 from users who also had this error, but no
>> resolution occurred as far as I could tell.
>>
>> There is obviously some data on there that I have not backed up yet
>> (about 10 participants), but the bigger issue is, like I mentioned,
>> this is the only computer that we have setup to run this specific
>> experiment given the software requirements of the external
>> application.
>>
>> I thank you in advance for your time.
>>
>> -Tom
>>
>
>

On Feb 11, 6:01 am, "Mart" <mart(NoSpam)@nospam.nospam> wrote:
> Following Heather's general advice, herewith, a little more detail :-
>
> In the first instance, If you haven't got a 'good' WinMe Startup (floppy)
> disk, you can download a WinMe Bootdisk making utility (select the 'Windows
> Me OEM' option) fromhttp://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm
>
> **But be sure to read the instructions on how to actually create the
> bootdisk** - which are essentially :-
>
> Don't just copy the download to a floppy disk, download the file onto your
> computer (any computer, with an A:drive) and then you MUST run the file for
> it to actually create the Startup (floppy) disk. Just follow the screen
> instructions.
>
> As you can't run SR in Normal or Safe mode, then you *may* be in with a
> chance by using scanreg :-
>
> Boot using the (newly made) Windows Startup (floppy) Disk and choose 4)
> Minimal Boot.
> At the A:\> prompt, type "scanreg /restore" (no quotes and note the space
> between the g and /) then press Enter.
> Follow the screen prompts and when asked, select the last 'good' date prior
> to your problems, continuing with the instructions.
>
> Don't forget to remove the floppy disk BEFORE you tell the machine to
> reboot.
>
> If however the above doesn't improve things, (I am a little concerned that
> there may be issues with your HDD beginning to fail) you may also wish to
> try running scandisk in DOS mode. Type "scandisk c:" at the A:\> prompt
> (again, no quotes and note the syntax - space between k and c followed by a
> colon)
>
> BUT!!! - as the HDD *MAY BE* beginning to fail, DO NOT allow scandisk to
> perform a surface scan or fix errors UNTIL you have backed up your HDD (or
> critical data at least) - You *may* potentially lose your Data. Just make a
> note of any error reports scandisk produces and review your strategy before
> continuing.
>
> If your data isn't critical and you are prepared for possible loss of data,
> re-run scandisk in DOS and this time allow a surface scan to continue - see
> if that fixes things.
>
> HTH and good luck
>
> Mart
>
> "Heather" <fig... RemoveThis @nospam.invalid> wrote in message
>
> news:ORrM9oYTHHA.388@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>
> > Mike Maltby is the one to ask and as he is in England, he is not
> > available until about 5 am our time, assuming you are in the EST time
> > slot.
>
> > About the only thing I can suggest is that you go towww.bootdisk.comand
> > download one from there. I hope you know whether this is an OEM or MS
> > WinME installation because they are different startup discs.
>
> > Another thought is to use System Restore to return it to a working state,
> > assuming you have used it in the past week or two.
>
> > But I do suggest that you wait for Mike to sort you out.
>
> > Heather
> > <tomre... RemoveThis @gmail.com> wrote in message
> >news:1171162431.261078.113600@k78g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> >>I am looking for help with the following specific error that has
> >> occurred. Here is the background.
>
> >> We use a Dell Dimension 8200 for running one type of experiment in our
> >> lab. When attempting to access some files as normal, the computer
> >> froze and was not responsive to either mouse or keyboard. I then
> >> manually turned off the computer.
>
> >> When turning on the computer, the Dell screen loads properly, and the
> >> Windows Me screen loads, but then the following error message appears:
>
> >> "scandskw has caused an error in KERNEL32.DLL scandskw will now close.
> >> If you continue to experience problems, try restarting your computer."
>
> >> Unfortunately, the computer is still unresponsive to the mouse and
> >> keyboard, and thus I cannot click the 'close' button or close out the
> >> dialog box using the x button.
>
> >> I have restarted the computer over 20 times, and the same sequence
> >> occurs. It also occurs when I start the computer in safe mode.
>
> >> I have looked through all of our lab's materials, and I cannot find a
> >> Windows Me backup or startup disk. This is the only lab computer
> >> running this version of Windows because of a specific software package
> >> we use to run this specific type of experiment.
>
> >> I would appreciate any and all help, as I have scoured the internet
> >> all day since this happened earlier this morning and have been unable
> >> to figure out how to get past this problem. The various webpages
> >> (including Microsoft) have extensive lists of kernel32.dll errors, but
> >> nothing mentioning specifically the scandskw error I am having. I saw
> >> a couple of posts from 2003 from users who also had this error, but no
> >> resolution occurred as far as I could tell.
>
> >> There is obviously some data on there that I have not backed up yet
> >> (about 10 participants), but the bigger issue is, like I mentioned,
> >> this is the only computer that we have setup to run this specific
> >> experiment given the software requirements of the external
> >> application.
>
> >> I thank you in advance for your time.
>
> >> -Tom



Thanks Heather and Mart, I appreciate your willingness to help a
stranger with little to no computer skills.

Here is the update on the issue I am having.

Using the webpage you both suggested, I created a Windows Me bootdisk
and was able to boot to the a: prompt.
I tried the scanreg /restore function, and chose a date that was
before the crash.
When I rebooted the computer (wihout the bootdisk), the same scandskw
error occurred.
I then went to plan b, which was the scandisk c: suggested by Mart.
Here is what came up on the screen:

"ScanDisk found a problem with drive C that might cause some programs
to work improperly."

I clicked on the More Info button, which displayed:

"The FAT media byte is missing.

The FAT media byte is a code located at the beginning of the file
allocation table (FAT). It indicates that the drive is properly
formatted for use with MS-DOS or Windows. ScanDisk can easily replace
the missing FAT media byte.

However, if this drive is currently formatted for use with another
file system, such as HPFS or NTFS, fixing the problem will damage the
drive, and you might lose data."

As Mart suggested, I did not fix the error, only wrote it down to
report back to here.
Any ideas about what to do next? Should I go ahead and tell ScanDisk
to fix it?
Thanks again for your time.

-Tom

Tom,

The previous URL didn't really describe the USB - IDE Adapter.

Perhaps this will help - and it's cheaper!!
http://insidecomputer.stores.yahoo.net/usb20235hadr.html

Mart

<snipped>