Windows ME. Need Help!

Ok I'm new to Computer Help Forums, I joined specifically to ask for help about the craziness going on with our Windows ME.

Obviously the OS is Windows Me, I dont know what info you will want or need so I'll just give whatever I've got it's an HP Pavilion with an intel celeron processor, can't say how many MHz because I don't know.
It has MAJOR issues, I'll start yesterday, we unpacked it and hooked it up, we had it packed for about a year and it started up fine but with a bunch of messages like "WININET.DLL file is linked to missing export SHLWAPI.DLL:SHRegGetValueW." and when you try to open most programs it would give the path and say "A device attached to the system is not functioning." Additionally it's Floppy Drive does not work, hasn't since it was bought second hand, the pop-up problem is not new but the biggest problem is when we hooked it up and put a disk in the CD-Rom Drive the light flickered a little bit and went out and it didn't do anything, nothing, so there is something wrong with the CD-Rom Drive, that's entirely new because when we packed it, it worked.
Well my father took it apart yesterday to clean the dust out and see if the IDE Cable/Ribbon came loose, which it didn't, but a Jumper fell out and nobody knows where it goes, he tried it in a few spots and none of them worked, he couldn't figure out what was wrong or fix the CD-Rom Drive and I have a jumper sitting on my table with no home. Even worse when he put it back together the computer refused to start in anything other than Safe Mode, when you select normal it goes to a blank black screen with a white flashing dash in the top left corner and stays that way until you get sick of it and shut it down. So I'm stuck only using Safe Mode, obviously this computer has virus/adware/spyware issues, pretty sure it has a worm, but during a move we lost the OS Disks so we can't wipe it clean and reinstall, even if we had the disks we couldn't because the CD-Rom and Floppy Drive do not work. The computer doesn't even say it has any other drives, it just lists A and C so I dont know what's going on. I'd like to attempt to remove the spyware/adware programs but none are listed in the Add/Remove Menu and I'm a little scared to attempt REGEDIT, any help would be so nice and appreciated, if you have any questions about how it's behaving or if you need more info, just ask.

Can anyone tell me:
Is there a way to make it start normally?
What can I do in Safe Mode to start fixing this?
Is there any way to unhide hidden folders without using Tools/Folder Options/View/Advanced Settings, because the Advanced settings are gone.
What is wrong with the CD-Rom Drive?
How can I fix the device not funtioning thing?
Why is WININET.DLL linked to missing export?
How do I do this?
What do I do?

It's currently off-line to avoid spyware/adware activity.
Thank you SO much!
Any help is appreciated.
Thursday

When you boot the machine up, does the CD-Drive light flicker? and does it whirl up?

One of the other guys here might be able to help with REG settings, but iff all else fails, replace the floppy drive, and use a startup disk?

If you know the filepath of the hidden folder you want to access, just type it in the explorer bar eg C:/My Documents/hidden folder


Maybe somethings happened to the hardware while its been packed away

__________________
My Blog
www.filmsbynick.com
http://www.youtube.com/filmsbynick
For my comp specs, check out my profile

Since you are having problems with your CD drive, and you have a homeless jumper, check to see if the CD drive still has its jumper on it. The jumper problem with the CD drive could also cause the hardware error.

If the jumper is on the CD drive check the hard drive. That jumper is the key to your sudden hardware failure. You'll need to find where that jumper goes.

As for the DLL files, I'm about to go to bed and wouldn't be able to effectively research them. If someone else hasn't answered by this afternoon I'll search around a bit. It will give me something to do at work.

__________________
A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer. ~Bruce Lee

So OMG....Nick you rock for the hidden file thingy, that's so cool...
UPDATE: Homeless jumper now = Missing Jumper, sadly my homeless jumper is no where to be found now, I suspect my cat has something to do with it.
Also want to let you know that a startup disk was never created and if it came with one it got lost with the OS disks, which is also sad.
The CD-Rom Drive like I said...light flashes but as for disk in or out, don't matter, I get no whirring. I thought I had some whirring yesterday from a CD but now I can't remember if it really happened or if I only thought it did.
Also gonna put the machine online today, see if I can't get some virus programs to help me out, any suggestions?
BTW: I have a plan for if this Windows ME is just shot, We'll buy Windows XP upgrade and stick it on there, my dad is certain it would fix all hardware issues. Another update for the Jumper, I looked up my harddrive last night before bed and got a positioning map for my model, even though the sticker on my HD says J50 (Master)... it wont start-up unless it's on J48 (Cable Select) And the only other place for the missing jumper is in the storeage position, my CD-Rom Drive currently has it's and since it is the only CD-Rom drive it is master. Just don't understand why it only goes into safe mode!!!
Will a computer connect to the net in safe mode? I have zip for safe mode experience.
Thanks again.
Thursday

Quick question....
What are you supposed to do when you go to start Windows ME in normal mode and all it does is go to black screen with a flashing white dash in the top left corner? can I do anything there to make it start normally...or is it just not gonna do it?
Thursday

OK, I'm going to respond to this in pieces to make it easier to keep up with.

Yes, Nick rocks. That's why we keep him around. You should also check out his video editing skills (the other reason we keep him around).

Nice try. Throwing away the jumper does not make the problem go away.



OK, now to get serious.



Go here and download the boot disk.


Do you have a 2nd computer handy that you could put that drive into to test and see if it works? Sounds to me like your drive may be shot. Also take the drive out of the other computer and put it in that one and boot it up to see what happens.

I'm still trying to narrow down the hardware problem. I think it is probably the main issue here.

If you go to THQ Tools at the top of the page and click on the Handy Tools section, there is a list of free spyware and anti-virus programs for your choosing.

Two things:
1) Don't buy the upgrade, buy the full version of XP. The existing issues could cause the upgrade to not work properly.

2) Changing to XP will probably fix the issues as long as they don't end up being bad hardware. If it is bad hardware, the install will tell you what is bad.

Either way, changing to XP would not be a bad thing.

Is the hard drive and cd-rom on 2 different cables?

Also, sometimes the cable has the functionality to set devices to master and slave. It sounds like the hard drive is attached to one of those cables. With that kind of cable, you have to set the jumper to cable select to work correctly (you can also determine which device the cable is going to set to master and slave, and set the jumpers accordingly but it's easier just to set them to cable select and let the cable do the work).


There are different options when you boot in safe mode. If you boot in plain safe mode, then no you can't. You should get another option that allows to boot safe mode with networking. Then you can get online.

Since I've already wrote a book here, I will leave you with another chapter. Everything below here is not neccessary to fix your problem but is more information on safe mode that I found helpful enough to save the last time I searched on what exactly safe mode is.


There are several things that happen when Windows boots in Safe Mode that differ from a standard boot:

• Safe Mode does not run the autoexec.bat or config.sys files.
• Most device drivers are not loaded. A device driver is the software that Windows uses to interact with a piece of hardware, such as a printer or scanner.
• Instead of the normal graphics device driver, Safe Mode uses standard VGA graphics mode. This mode is supported by all Windows-compatible video cards.
• Himem.sys, which is normally loaded as part of the config.sys script, is loaded with the /testmemn switch. This switch tells the computer to test the extended memory before continuing.
• Safe Mode checks the msdos.sys file for information on where to find the rest of the Windows files. If it finds the files, it proceeds to load Windows in Safe Mode with the command win /d:m. If it does not find the Windows files, it will run command.com to bring up a C: prompt.
• Windows boots using a batch file called system.cb instead of the standard system.ini file. This file loads the Virtual Device Drivers (VxDs) that Windows uses to communicate with the standard parts of the computer.
• Windows now loads the regular system.ini file plus win.ini and Registry settings. It skips the [Boot] (except for the shell and device lines) and [386Enh] sections of system.ini and does not load or run any programs listed in win.ini.
• The Windows desktop loads up in 16 colors and at a resolution of 640 x 480 with the words "Safe Mode" in each corner.

__________________
A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer. ~Bruce Lee

Any number of things will cause this. You'll have to boot in safe mode to find and fix the problem.

There is a nice little read in the post above this one about safe mode .

__________________
A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer. ~Bruce Lee

UPDATE:
Found the homeless/missing jumper, now it's not missing, just still homeless.
I dont know what you mean by safe mode with networking...how do I make it start like that? Cause I would really like to get some anti-virus/spyware/adware programs on there, because this computer is plagued. I already have a list of websites handy so I will keep online time to a minimum and try to limit spyware/adware activity. I use DSL and the Windows ME uses a DLink to get online, which sadly requires drivers and a this and that, so if safe mode doesn't load those things, then I guess that would be why online was a no go for me yesterday, just couldn't do it.
Again please be a bit more detailed how can I get it online?
Thanks again.
Thursday

Darn! I forgot....
Uhm...my Floppy disk drive doesn't work on the ME will a bootdisk still work? I dont see how it can....but I guess that would depend on why the floppy drive don't work....
Thursday

Update:
Tried the bootdisk thingy and it wouldn't work, guess the floppy drive is just too messed up, but it was worth a shot...any other ideas?
Oh I did get one interesting thing, I got a message that said something like "Updating windows files, please wait while windows loads." Or something like that, can't remember exact words, but it was plain white text up against blank black screen. Again I can't get over how weird that blank black screen with the white flashing dash everytime I start the computer, it stays briefly while I go into safe mode but it stays the whole time when I try to go into normal mode, it just sits on that screen and as far as I know never moves.
I'm open for suggestions.
Thanks again,
Thursday.