whats in that file?

@ECHO OFF
REM Added by SetBlaster on Sat Jan 01 23:24:03 2000 [[My BIOS settings and clock reset every time I disconnect the power -- I've replaced the CMOS battery and re-seated it several times but it never saves if I have to unplug it]]

SET BLASTER=A240 I5 D0 H5 P330 E640 T6
SOUND=C:\DOSAWE
C:\DOSAWE\CTCM.EXE
C:\DOSAWE\DIAGNOSE /S
C:\DOSAWE\MIXERSET /P
C:\DOSAWE\AWEUTIL /S
SET BLASTER=A220 I7 D1 T4

GoTo %config%
:EMC
:XMC
:CMC
LH C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\MSCDEX.EXE /D OPTICAL
:EM
:XM
:CM
LH C:\DRIVERS\CTMOUSE.EXE /R2
:E
😦
:C
IF EXIST C:\WINDOWS\DOSSTART.BAT CALL C:\WINDOWS\DOSSTART.BAT
REM
REM The following lines have been created by Windows. Do not modify them.
REM
C:
CD C:\
CALL C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND.COM
C:\WINDOWS\WIN.COM \WX

If you put REM before the IF EXIST line and before the CALL line, that ought to get you back int to Windows.

In fact, I did a Google search for "win.com /wx" (no quotes) and this was the first hit:
https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000140.htm

D:

First I tried remarking just those two lines and it still booted into DOS... when I remarked all of the lines from the link you sent me it yielded the above error.

Also interesting is that if I select SHIFT+F5 to go to straight command prompt and type WIN from there I am told that HIMEM.SYS is missing -- however when I look in C:\WINDOWS it is in there.

I decided to take a look in HIMEM.SYS and much of the beginning of it was just a bunch of nonsensical characters. When I scrolled down I saw the following:

Shadow RAM is disabled.$<

WARNING: Shadow RAM disable not supported on this system.$7
WARNING: Shadow RAM is in use and can't be disabled.$3
ERROR: HIMEM.SYS requires MS-DOS 3.00 or higher.$:
ERROR: An Extended Memory Manager is already installed.
ERROR: HIMEM.SYS requires an 80x86-based machine.$1
ERROR: No available extended memory was found.$%
ERROR: Unable to control A20 line!$3
ERROR: VDISK memory allocator already installed.$(
XMS Driver not installed.

infiniteclouds wrote:

Also interesting is that if I select SHIFT+F5 to go to straight command prompt and type WIN from there I am told that HIMEM.SYS is missing -- however when I look in C:\WINDOWS it is in there.

I don't think it means that HIMEM.SYS is "missing"; it probably means tht HIMEM.SYS isn't loaded. Normally it is loaded by CONFIG.SYS (as in DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS); it is not supposed to be a file that you are supposed to edit, ever. (The only .SYS files you are normally supposed to read are CONFIG.SYS and MSDOS.SYS.)

Do you still have a CONFIG.SYS? That is just as important as autoexec.bat; if you restored autoexec.bat but not config.sys, that would be a problem.

I do have a CONFIG.SYS.

I did try editing the HIMEM file but I just broke things further -- despite restoring a back up of it. I can't select any Extended or Expanded memory load-outs now or the system hangs. I think my method of backing up/restoring my Autoexec is what screwed things up to begin with. Basically I had I just opened it with EDIT, Saved AS a .TXT file, then later on opened the .TXT and saved it as a .BAT.

My CONFIG.SYS:

DOS=SINGLE
[COMMON[
DOS=HIGH,UMB,NOAUTO
FILES=40
BUFFERS-40
LASTDRIVE=H

[menu]
menuitem=EMC, Expanded Memory + Mouse + CD -ROM
------ the rest here is just a list of memory load-outs from Phil's PIF.

[EMC]
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS /TESTMEM:OFF
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE RAM
DEVICEHIGH=C:\DRIVERS\VIDECDD.SYS /D:OPTICAL

[XMC]
DEVICEHIGH=C:\DRIVERS\VIDECDD.SYS /D:OPTICAL

[CMC]
DEVICEHIGH=C:\DRIVERS\VIDECDD.SYS /D:OPTICAL

[EM]
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS /TESTMEM:OFF
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE RAM

[XM]
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS /TESTMEM:OFF

[CM]

[E]
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS /TESTMEM:OFF
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE RAM

[X]
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS /TESTMEM:OFF

[C]

I copied over and replaced the entire WINDOWS folder from a back-up I made on my main computer. That fixed the hanging and issues with Expanded/Extended memory load-outs, but I still can't get out of DOS.

At this point I feel like I can only guess what you've done to your system. You should probably go back to basics and use a straightforward autoexec.bat and config.sys without any of these memory options. I don't even know why you'd want options without extended memory (that is, with no HIMEM.SYS); it's very unlikely you'd ever find a program requiring such a configuration.

infiniteclouds wrote:

I think my method of backing up/restoring my Autoexec is what screwed things up to begin with. Basically I had I just opened it with EDIT, Saved AS a .TXT file, then later on opened the .TXT and saved it as a .BAT.

I don't know why that would make a difference as long as the filename is correct. Why not just just rename it from the command line, as in "ren autoexec.txt autoexec.bat" ?

[COMMON[
BUFFERS-40

I assume these are typos.

but I still can't get out of DOS.

You probably need to make those edits to your autoexec.bat again.

Yes, those are typos. Also, I remarked out those lines of the Autoexec.bat again and it makes no difference - there's still no escape. I'm going to just reformat and reinstall Win98. I was just hoping to figure out what happened for learning purposes.

As discussed in that page I linked to, you can also try changing the BootGUI line in MSDOS.SYS if necessary.

Indeed - BOOTGUI was already = 1, however.

Thanks for all of the suggestions though, I do appreciate it.

Try to add "DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\IFSHLP.SYS" in config.sys, afaik it sometimes solves VFAT init error BSOD (there also is msdos.sys switch which does the same but I can't remember it)