Win98SE
I cannot start the computer. At startup the Dell banner window appears for a full minute or so. The Window 98 banner page then appears briefly. Instead of then opening Windows a black page appears with the following message.
Cannot find SYSTEM.INI.
You need to run Windows Setup again to install this file.
Press any key to continue..._
When I press any key ,except the Ctrl key, the computer instantly shuts off. When Ctrl is pushed nothing happens. If I dont try any key the computer shuts off after about 15 seconds.
I can gain access to the Version A06 Bios using the delete key during startup. I tried the Crtl or F8 key's with no result in an attempmt to access the command prompt.
On the page thats shows as the bios is loading a keyboard error will occasionally appear. Viewing the event log in the bios reveals 3 pre-boot keyboard errors followed by 4 pre-boot CMOS Configuration errors and 2 more of the keyboard errors follow that.
I have tried booting with the startup floppy in and the 98SE cd in.
This occured after IE was affected with homepage redirection to "directsearch.com" (if i remember correctly) and then page after page loading quickly until IE freezes up overloaded.
I dont know what to try from here...Thank you in advance if you can help.