Symptoms

If you are running Windows 98, and your computer will only boot into safe mode.

Cause

Windows is incapable of detecting and recovering from registry errors automatically.

Resolution

Windows makes and stores a backup of the registry when you start your computer successfully each day. By default, five previous copies or the registry are stored. To restore one of these previous copies:

1. Start your computer, press and hold CTRL, and then choose Safe Mode Command Prompt Only from the Windows 98 Startup menu.
2. At the MS-DOS prompt, type cd\windows\command, and then press ENTER. Where windows is the name of the folder in which Windows is installed.
3. At the C: prompt, type scanreg /restore, and then press ENTER.
4. Select the previous registry you want to restore, and then press ENTER.
   NOTE: A properly working registry has the word ‘Started’ next to the date.
5. When you receive notification that you restored a properly working registry, press ENTER to restart your computer.