Computer problem... suggestions?

[eradtke]

Hi guys,

I'm hoping someone can help me out here. My new computer, which has been surprisingly error-free since I got it this summer (with an occassional blue screen of death of course ), ran into its first major screw up two days ago after a reboot. It goes through the initial boot process until it's right about to load into Windows 98 (SE), and then it stops abruptly with one of two errors, depending on whether it was started in normal mode or safe mode. The errors are given below:

Normal mode:
While initializing device VKD:
Windows protection error. Please restart your computer

Safe mode:
While initializing device VK
An internal stack overflow has caused this session to be halted
Change the STACKS setting in your CON SYV file, and then try again

I don't really have a clue what this VKD/VK thing is, or what exactly is causing the error and how I would go about correcting it, if there is a way to do so. The computer was running fine prior to the problem, and I can't trace the problem back to anything immediately before that might have caused it.

Anyway, if someone has had a similar incident or just knows how to fix it, short of transferring my files from the new hard drive to the old one and starting off with a clean install, I'd really appreciate your suggestions. Thanks a bunch.

[KeithMcL]

Eric,

Here you go : http://support.microsoft.com/support...-US&SD=gn&FR=0

CAUSE:
This error may occur if the keyboard you have attached to the computer is not functioning properly. Failure to function properly prevents successful device initialization for the keyboard.

RESOLUTION:
Contact your original equipment manufacturer for either a replacement keyboard, or service and warranty options.

I know it's not much help, but that's MS for you

[eradtke]

Thanks for the response and link, Keith.

Microsoft was way off on this one (what a surprise ), but I found how to fix it at http://www.computing.net/windows95/w...forum/248.html.

Ran a scandisk/surface at the c:/ prompt, then a scanreg/restore, and everything was back to normal.

[jamesglewisf]

Glad everything worked out.

Seems like the General Chat is kind of turning into a hardware/software troubleshooting forum. It is nice to see everybody helping each other out.

[eradtke]

LOL... well, SitePoint doesn't have a general computing/hardware forum, but where else better to find an answer to your question than right here?

Anyway, while the majority of SitePoint users don't benefit from posts like this, you can always hope it will come in handy down the line for someone who runs into a similar problem.