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Windows Forum / Windows Me / General Topics / December 2005VMM32.VXD problem
S.O.S.: Out of the blue sky this message appears upon startup: "The following file is missing or corrupted: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\VMM32.VXD. Type the name of the windows loader (e.g., C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\VMM32.VXD) C:_"( _ is blinking). I did a scanreg /fix and restore with no success and am unable to boot into Safe Mode. What is the proper command for C:_, if possible? If not, what other options do I have? I did not do anything *wrong*, but my screensaver wound up frozen with bizarre items showing, before this mishap on my main machine. Right now I am working with my backup. Harry. Harry, this is the only article on the KB which refers *directly* to VMM32.VXD missing/corrupted and points to a Umax/Genius scanner. Error Message: VMM32.VXD: Missing/Unable to Load http://support.microsoft.com/kb/191874/en-us If you don't have either of these two items, it would infer that you *may* have a hardware conflict/issue so it could well be worth looking at the system.ini file for anything untoward. It might also be worth removing all but essential hardware (monitor, keyboard and (possibly) mouse), then try a scanreg /restore (in Real Mode DOS - i.e using your Startup floppy etc.) and see if you can revive your pc. Mart > S.O.S.: > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > Harry. Harry!! - Ooops > but essential hardware (monitor, keyboard and (possibly) mouse), SHOULD READ > but essential hardware (monitor, keyboard and (possibly) mouse > EXCEPTED!!). Mart > Harry, this is the only article on the KB which refers *directly* to > VMM32.VXD missing/corrupted and points to a Umax/Genius scanner. [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] >> >> Harry. Mart: Thanks for the speedy reply. I have neither of those two, meaning I'm in hot water.. I looked at my system.ini file and the only vxd file present is in connection with my mouse. How can I tell something is wrong and how do I edit that? The next step seems to be quite troublesome, but would be the only thing left for me to do, except if the monitor is disabled, how can I see anything? Hoping for the best, Harry. > Harry!! - Ooops > [quoted text clipped - 40 lines] > >> > >> Harry. Harry, I was suggesting that you throw all hardware off EXCEPT the monitor, keyboard and mouse <g> BTW - Can I take it that scanreg /restore was not successful? However, I suspect that Shane's prophecy (elsewhere in the thread) may be the sad fact of life - BUT!!! you still just *might* have one 'get-out-of-jail' card left :- "How to Start the System Restore Tool from a Command Prompt" http://support.microsoft.com/kb/279736/en-us Read and apply carefully - and let's just hope that your scandisk escapade hasn't made things any worse. Good luck Mart > Mart: > Thanks for the speedy reply. [quoted text clipped - 60 lines] >> >> >> >> Harry. Harry, I was going to wait until morning before replying - I'm nodding off here - but I'm disappointed in either you or me. Don't you know about adding vmm32.vxd to scanreg.ini so that it's backed up every day along with the registry and you have at least five copies? If I haven't told you to do this, I'm sorry. If you've seen the instructions (posted here twice by me in the last month-and-a-half) but not done it, then you should be sorry. vmm32.vxd gets corrupted from time to time and, if no backup is available, re-installation of Windows is almost certainly required. I'd call vmm32.vxd the main weak point of Windows ME. Remember, if you re-install Windows you have to remove IE6.0 versions first (not so easy to do if you can't boot Windows). I'm not sure if the WMP9 issue applies anymore, but it is easy to fix (renaming C:\Windows\System\wmploc.dll to something else, eg wmploc.old, before running the re-installation). Hopefully you have a backup recent enough that you won't lose stuff. If you stand to lose important files, you need to boot with the EBD and copy them elsewhere. This is one of those times it helps to have multiple partitions/HDDs - and multiple OSes, too, as it's easier to copy from Windows - with the right apps - than from DOS. If this does apply we'd want more information, eg what size files, what type etc, in order to advise on a course of action. Otherwise, best to follow Koldbear's advice at http://www.btinternet.com/~winnoel/reinME.htm Merry Christmas anyway, Harry. Shane  SignatureThe Sugitive Chapter One: http://tinyurl.com/bcevp Chapter Two: http://tinyurl.com/ag92o Chapter Three: Coming to an URL near you soon! > S.O.S.: > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > Harry. Thank you, Shane. Didn't know anything about that condition and don't read every post here. What in h... is that all about, for me to miss it all the while? Can this *vmm32.vxd* still be added and, if so how, or is it too late? Should I loose everything, I am not going back to WinME. Everything was working so nice, darned. One more thing: I did the scandisk in dos mode and it fixed something, but wound up with long filenames, which it couldn't fix. Can something be done about that? I'll wait for your answer til tomorrow. Harry. > Harry, > [quoted text clipped - 57 lines] > > > > Harry. Here's some reading for you courtesy of MikeM Joan VMM32.VXD is a composite file that is built from thirty or more other files when Win Me is installed and differs from system to system depending upon the hardware in use. If you boot to DOS using a floppy can you see if you have the file vmm32.vxd in your C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM folder? If not then you may well have to reinstall Win Me. One way you can check whether vmm32.vxd is missing or not is by typing the following at the A:\> prompt: A:\> DIR C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\VMM32.VXD If present you should see something like: VMM32 VXD 1,032,968 15/08/00 14:34 VMM32.VXD (Don't worry about the details, your date and size will most likely be different) but if absent you will see: File Not Found If the file is still present, and I hope it is, see MS KB258471 - "Error Message: The Following File Is Missing or Corrupted: C:\Windows\Ifshlp.sys" (http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=258471) which explains how to proceed to hopefully fix the problem. Once you've fixed your system you might then want to amend the default settings for the Registry Checker so that it backs up a copy of vmm32.vxd each time that it backs up the registry which might save a lot of anguish in future. Do this by looking for the file scanreg.ini in your Windows folder and adding the line Files=11,vmm32.vxd beneath the last line of the file. The Registry Checker will then create a daily backup copy of vmm32.vxd as well as the registry and the backups are stored in the rb00?.cab files in the windows\SysBckup folder. For more details see MS KB 183603 - "How to Customize Registry Checker Tool Settings" (http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=183603). [Ack. to Jack Martinelli MVP for this last suggestion] -- Mike Maltby MS-MVP mcmaltby@hotmail.com > Thank you, Shane. > Didn't know anything about that condition and don't read every post [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Harry. There is a way to rebuild the VMM32.VXD file manually. I have done it for a Win98SE system once. WinME may be recoverable the same way. But it requires "extracting" the unique file names in the Registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\VMM32Files ..and recreating the .VXD file with that info. > Here's some reading for you courtesy of MikeM > Joan [quoted text clipped - 61 lines] > > > > Harry. On Mon, 26 Dec 2005 15:37:42 -0500, "Ogg" >There is a way to rebuild the VMM32.VXD file manually. I have done it for a >Win98SE system once. WinME may be recoverable the same way. But it >requires "extracting" the unique file names in the Registry: >HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\VMM32Files >..and recreating the .VXD file with that info. I'd love to know more about this! So far, I've always rebuilt the file as a side-effect of the OS installation process, in one of two ways... 1) Parallel "organ donor" installation Backup C:\MSDOS.SYS and "C:\Program Files" oruse other HD Install OS but to a different location, if using same HD Harvest desired files, e.g. Vmm32.vxd, and copy to "real" installation Unto side-effects on C:\MSDOS.SYS and "C:\Program Files" 2) Over-old "repair" installation Copy OS install file set from CD to HD Revert any problematic subsystem upgrades, e.g. WMP, DirectX Ensure thatDOS mode access works; go there Rename away damaged Vmm32.vxd Install OS over same location Undo side-effects such as lost patches, reverted IE version, etc. Whether I do (1) or (2) depends on to what extent the installation was upgraded/updated beyond the original OS, and whether I suspect damage to the rest of the code base. Pain lies in both directions, hence my interest in your cleaner method of rebuilding the file! >---------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - - Don't pay malware vendors - boycott Sony >---------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - - Hello, cquirke! You wrote on Wed, 28 Dec 2005 11:31:46 +0200: ??>> There is a way to rebuild the VMM32.VXD file manually... ??>> But it requires "extracting" the unique file names in the Registry: ??>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\VMM32Files ??>> ..and recreating the .VXD file with that info. cMW> I'd love to know more about this! Start by looking at the following sites. The procedure they describe is not so ominus as it looks. http://www.helpwithwindows.com/techfiles/vmm32.html http://www.easydesksoftware.com/news/news10.htm Hope this helps! On Wed, 28 Dec 2005 10:58:26 -0500, "Ogg" >Hello, cquirke! Hi! >Start by looking at the following sites. The procedure they describe is not >so ominus as it looks. >http://www.helpwithwindows.com/techfiles/vmm32.html >http://www.easydesksoftware.com/news/news10.htm Brilliant links, that have boosted my understanding of this stuff... I wasn't aware there was a ready source of the parts needed to build a new Vmm32.vxd or that a built-in mechanism existed to do this :-) Thanks! >------------ ----- ---- --- -- - - - - The most accurate diagnostic instrument in medicine is the Retrospectoscope >------------ ----- ---- --- -- - - - - Hello, cquirke! You wrote on Thu, 29 Dec 2005 19:10:14 +0200: ??>> Start by looking at the following sites. The procedure they describe ??>> is not so ominus as it looks. ??>> http://www.helpwithwindows.com/techfiles/vmm32.html ??>> http://www.easydesksoftware.com/news/news10.htm cMW> Brilliant links, that have boosted my understanding of this stuff... I cMW> wasn't aware there was a ready source of the parts needed to build a cMW> new Vmm32.vxd or that a built-in mechanism existed to do this :-) cMW> Thanks! You're welcome. Glad it helped! I discovered this info by necessity. However, I learned about it on my own - but after much exploring different support sites. I had a fine Win98se system all working fine and dandy.. then one day I decided that I wanted to enable USB support. However, the driver was not the proper match for the system. Suddenly, at next boot-up, the system complained about a whole bunch of "missing DLL" 's and I couldn't get it to boot to DOS. I had a spare old Win98se and copied the missing .DLLs over. Still wouldn't boot. The last thing the system complained about was "bad vmm32.vxd". That is when I learned that each system's vmm32.vxd is hardware dependant and unique. But I didn't have the original Win98se disks anymore. I had a crisis. But then I learned about rebuilding vmm32.vxd from scratch. Once I did that, the system came back to life. Crisis was averted. Since then, I recommend to my Win98se and WinME user-friends that they atleast save a copy of vmm32.vxd. Harry, You've seen Joan's post of Mike's take on it, and Ogg's contribution. Okay, I don't need to include the scanreg.ini edit as Joan's contains it - though if you wanted I could send you a batch file that does it with a d-click. E-mail me if you want that. They both make interesting points and I'd like to try Ogg's sometime - I guess I could back the system up then do it and see. But it is a lot of complex work and often it is easier to do the re-installation. I mean, I figure if you don't feel up to it yourself, it's too small an issue - if the right precautions are made (ie backing up what must be saved, removing IE6.0 and poss. wmp9, and having necessary drivers to hand) - not to fix it by re-installing. There are valid objections to 'fixing' everything by re-installing Windows, but this situation is not one of them. About Scandisk - it depends on a no. of factors. It should give you info about what file(s) need repair and you need to supply at least a hint of that info. Is there something that happened shortly before the vmm32.vxd message? A crash? Interrupted partition work? Interrupted defragging? Shane SignatureThe Sugitive Chapter One: http://tinyurl.com/bcevp Chapter Two: http://tinyurl.com/ag92o Chapter Three: Coming to an URL near you soon! > Thank you, Shane. > Didn't know anything about that condition and don't read every post here. [quoted text clipped - 81 lines] >> > >> > Harry. Vmm32.vxd seems to be the key for a successful boot-up. I'd recommend that everyone altreast make a backup copy of it. Mine is about 1meg on my WinME pc. One can google for "rebuilding vmm32.vxd" and find some discussion and help. The sites that I have used are: http://www.helpwithwindows.com/techfiles/vmm32.html http://www.easydesksoftware.com/news/news10.htm "Shane" <shanebeatson@gmail.com> wrote in message ... > Harry, > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > guess I could back the system up then do it and see. But it is a lot of > complex work and often it is easier to do the re-installation. Thank you, Ogg. Only wish I had this info before, but I certainly appreciate it and will use it for future reference. Best wishes for the New Year. Harry. > Vmm32.vxd seems to be the key for a successful boot-up. I'd recommend that > everyone altreast make a backup copy of it. Mine is about 1meg on my WinME [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > guess I could back the system up then do it and see. But it is a lot of > > complex work and often it is easier to do the re-installation. "webster72n" wrote in message... > Thank you, Ogg. > Only wish I had this info before, but I certainly appreciate it and will use > it for future reference. G'day Harry. When I hit the "bad/missing vmm32.vxd" problem, I was devistated since I didn't have the OS system CD at all. I was mearly installing a USB driver. The driver install failed. But there was no clue that vmm32.vxd was a problem until the NEXT boot-up! I was really disapointed that a simple file such as the vmm32.vxd could bring down an entire computer. May the new year provide all the WinXX answers to you in a timely manner! Shane: As you can see, I'm back here, but not without some new problem(s). Sorry for the delay, I had to be away for a while and then do some work to get here. My impatience was rewarded handsomely. Instead of waiting for the proper responses, I went ahead and installed Windows 98 on my second partition 'D' in the hope to be able to access 'C', which I couldn't do otherwise. The trouble was that WinME was overwritten in this process, forcing me to format drive 'C' and reinstalling WinME. All went fine, until near the end, when the following were either corrupted or not installed: D:\PROGRA~l\OUTLOO~l\oeimport.dll " " \COMMON\SYSTEM\wab32.dll " " \OUTLOO~l\msoe.dll. In addition I get an "Invalid Syntax Error" when trying to open my usual or any webpage with IE6. That seems to be my main problem right now, not being able to access the internet, even though everything else is in place and working. I suspect this might be a consequence of not having removed IE6 (unable to), but installing it did not present any problems at all. I am open for suggestions. And my deepest apologies to all, who came to my help, but too late for my impatience, most regretfully. Thank you so very much. Harry. > Harry, > [quoted text clipped - 116 lines] > >> > > >> > Harry. I didn't intend to make you feel guilty in any way, shape or form, Ogg. You definitely aren't at fault here, it was me, if I only had waited a little longer. But patience isn't one of my better suits. At any rate I am prepared now for possible future disaster, thanks to you. You deserve a special New Year's present. Harry. > Shane: > As you can see, I'm back here, but not without some new problem(s). Sorry [quoted text clipped - 157 lines] > > >> > > > >> > Harry. Harry, Seems like you have all required info? And I see there's no need to suggest less haste <vbg> Presumably you're now aware you can't install 98 (or ME) to a D: drive as the System files must be on C: and so that's where they'll be put. Not sure quite how you managed to install 98 boot files over ME's, but that's irrelevent. Remember, if you make a second partition for booting from, it should be hidden from the Active partition (C:). Then, whichever partition is booted, will become C: (you need a boot manager to select this). Here's hoping you have a Happy New Year, Harry. Shane SignatureThe Sugitive Chapter One: http://tinyurl.com/bcevp Chapter Two: http://tinyurl.com/ag92o Chapter Three: Coming to an URL near you soon! > Shane: > As you can see, I'm back here, but not without some new problem(s). Sorry [quoted text clipped - 165 lines] >> >> > >> >> > Harry. Thought you'ld never make it back, Shane, but 'am glad you did. Every time my system breaks down, I learn some more, but then I also forget so much more. I will have to look into the details of the booting process, be it single or dual and the things connected with it. Thanks, also for the new year's wishes with many happy returns. Harry. P.S.: the 'vmm32.vxd' is a virtual device driver file and I keep a copy of it on hand from now on. What I need to find out is, how to 'implant' it. > Harry, > [quoted text clipped - 183 lines] > >> >> > > >> >> > Harry. On Sun, 25 Dec 2005 20:43:22 -0500, "webster72n" <Zero@None.org> >Out of the blue sky this message appears upon startup: >"The following file is missing or corrupted: >C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\VMM32.VXD. I'll "embrace and extend" here ;-) As has been noted, VMM32.VXD is an installation-specific composite driver file that is built at install time based on the hardware the OS was installed on. It is almost never altered after this installation process, except by another OS installation process after the original VMM32.VXD is renamed away - the generic approach to replacing it. It's effects can be overridden by loose files added to the VMM32 directory, but this doesn't always work properly, which is one reason why changing motherboard under an existing Win9x so often ends in tears. Presumably this is because the incompatible codewithin VMM32.VXD may crash the system before the overrides are loaded? What flows out of this, are the following: - you should keep a backup copy of VMM32.VXD... - ...but because it doesn't change, one baseline copy is enough - because it doesn't change, rarely should it get corrupted - so problems with it should be rare unless hardware changes In addition to the expected issues that arise when the OS subtree is corrupted (e.g. %WinDir% truncated as a "fix" by Scandisk, losing the entire System directory and thus Vmm32.vxd, etc.), there are some spurious issues that cause this error even though the file is in perfect condition. Top of this list is the UMAX scanner issue - just how a scanner's drivers are capable of botching the whole OS is a mystery to me, and no-one's telling how/why they screwed up. However, the addition of UMAX drivers should, like corruption of the file, be a "sticky" problem - i.e. first no problems, then the crisis arises, then always problems. But in practice, I often see an intermittent issue where some boots are OK and others are not. This may be due to a race condition or other variable timing issue, which in turn could apply to UMAX. I mentioned that Vmm32.vxd is "almost never altered after (OS) installation". The one exception I know of is when USBSupp.exe is added to Win95 SR2 in order to add support for USB and AGP. This process drops and runs sevetral developer tools that get deleted when the job is done, and across the reboots, the Vmm32.vxd is indeed rebuilt to include the new core code. This applies only to Win95 SR2.x OSs. Earlier versions of Win9x cannot use USBSupp, and Win98 and later do not need to, because that functionality is built into the OS's core code already. >---------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - - Don't pay malware vendors - boycott Sony >---------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - - cquirke and Ogg: Very explicit and comprehensive instructions, but I'm afraid, a little too complicated for me as of the moment. I formatted drive C and reinstalled WinME on D and while installing my HP printer, I found that one out of two available drivers had the exact VMM32.VXD file in it. Windows refused it and I used the other one. Is it possible, this was the cause of my problem? The printer is an HP LaserJet 1100. I shall save your instructions for later. Thank you very much with best wishes for the season. Harry. > On Sun, 25 Dec 2005 20:43:22 -0500, "webster72n" <Zero@None.org> > [quoted text clipped - 52 lines] > Don't pay malware vendors - boycott Sony > >---------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - - |
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