Computer May Not Start Properly After You Use a System Restore Point (267698)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
This article was previously published under Q267698

SYMPTOMS

After you use the System Restore utility, your computer may not start properly or it may boot to the screen that says, "It is now safe to turn off your computer." When you restart the computer, the Windows Millennium (Me) Startup menu may appear, but selecting any of the menu commands may result in your computer's shutting down or in your receiving the following error message:
You must reinstall Windows

CAUSE

This problem can occur if you install SurfWatch, create a System Restore point, remove SurfWatch, and then restore your computer back to the System Restore point that you created while SurfWatch was installed.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, restart your computer by using an Emergency Boot Disk, rename the Sfn00001.dll file to Net.drv, and then restart your computer:
  1. Use an Emergency Boot Disk to restart the computer in MS-DOS mode.
  2. Type C:, and then press ENTER.
  3. Type cd\windows\system, and then press ENTER.
  4. Type ren sfn00001.dll net.drv, and then press ENTER.
  5. Restart your computer.

    You should be able to make a selection on the Windows Millennium (Me) Startup menu and start your computer normally. Contact SurfWatch to reset your password.
If you need to create an Emergency Boot Disk for an upgrade to Windows Me, refer to the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

271823 How to Create a Windows Me Startup Disk Manually

If you need to create a Emergency Boot Disk for a new installation of Windows Me, refer to the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

267287 How to Create a Startup Disk in Windows Me

MORE INFORMATION

The SurfWatch installation renames the System.drv file on your computer to Net.drv and then installs its own version of the System.drv file. When you remove SurfWatch, the SurfWatch version of the System.drv file is deleted and the Net.drv file is renamed to System.drv.

When you restore to a point that you established before you removed SurfWatch, System Restore should rename the System.drv file to Net.drv. Instead, the System.drv file is renamed Sfn00001.dll, and the SurfWatch System.drv is retrieved from the data store. After you restart the computer, the Sfn0001.dll file is renamed to Net.dll. At startup, the SurfWatch version of the System.drv file cannot locate the Net.drv file, which results in the startup symptoms.

Replacing the System.drv file on the computer with the original version from the Windows Me source media may not resolve this behavior.

A password may be required to disable SurfWatch, start SurfWatch Manager, or remove SurfWatch from your computer. If you do not know the current SurfWatch password, ask SurfWatch technical support to remove the password.

The third-party products that are discussed in this article are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.

For information about how to contact SurfWatch, click the appropriate article number in the following list to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

65416 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, A-K

60781 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, L-P

60782 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, Q-Z

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:9/28/2004
Keywords:kb3rdparty kberrmsg kbnofix kbprb kbsetup KB267698
©2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.