OK, so your emergency disk alone didn't do the trick; your system is trashed. Maybe you need to purge Windows and reinstall it. Start by uninstalling Windows. Always disable (or even better, remove) all antivirus programs before un- and re-installing Windows.
Method #1 (Win 95 only): If you can get into Windows 95, AND if you installed Win 95 over Windows 3.1, go through Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel, and on the Install/Uninstall tab, click Windows 95 and then click Add/Remove. Click Yes. Click Yes to remove long filename support and check the hard disk. Click OK to shut down Windows and continue. Remove all CD's and floppies from their drives, and press Enter.
Method #2 (Windows 95, 98, and ME): Restart your computer using your emergency boot disk and then run UNINSTAL.EXE.
Method #3 (Win 95 and 98): From the DOS command prompt, run UNINSTAL.EXE.
Method #4 (Windows 95, 98, and ME): If you can get Windows up and running, from the Start/Run box, type UNINSTAL.EXE from the Open box. But what if your system's so corrupted you can't even run the Uninstal program from the DOS prompt? Try this (not in ME): Restart your computer and hit F8 when you see the line "Starting Windows" appear. (If you can't even get this far, use an emergency boot disk). Choose the option "Previous Version of MS-DOS." You'll use the DELTREE command to systematically purge Windows from your computer, but first you need to get DELTREE on your drive. At the C: prompt, type

COPY WINDOWS\COMMAND\DELTREE.EXE C:\

Then type the fearsome command: DELTREE WINDOWS and shudder as all your valuable files, modifications, etc. get zapped in a few microseconds. After you've finished dealing with the trauma of this command, make things worse on yourself by typing:

DELTREE AUTOEXEC.BAT
DELTREE CONFIG.SYS
DELTREE PROGRA~1
DELTREE RECYCLED
DELTREE WGP0000
DELTREE WINBOOT.*
DELTREE SUHDLOG.DAT
DELTREE SYSTEM.1ST
DELTREE *.W40
DELTREE SETUPLOG.*
DELTREE BOOTLOG.*
DELTREE DETLOG.*
DELTREE IO.SYS
DELTREE MSDOS.SYS
DELTREE D??SPACE.BIN
DELTREE COMMAND.COM

You have just gutted your operating system. Now, to begin the process of reanimation, insert your emergency boot disk and restart your computer. At the C: prompt, type:

SYS C

Restart the computer. Assuming you made your boot disk properly, you can now insert your Windows CD or floppy, and type C: SETUP to begin installation. (If you have the Upgrade version of Win95, it will ask you to insert Disk A of Windows 3.x to let it know that you're legitimately upgrading.) Follow the command prompts.

A few hints to help you reduce the trauma of reinstallation: 1) Before reinstalling Windows, at the C: prompt, type MSD and press Enter. From the File menu, select Print Report. Select Report All, then OK. Use this printout to answer questions that may pop up during the installation process. 2) Make sure you have your Windows registration number handy. (See Part 1 above.) 3) Using your ERU disk as opposed to a plain old emergency boot disk will make it easier to reinstall, as well as resetting your computer with the latest information from your setup and not the factory defaults. Remember, ERU doesn't work on the newer flavors of Windows. 4) Instead of using the Typical install default, which lets Windows decide what does and does not go on your computer, try the Custom install. You get to decide instead of the program. 5) If you have a program such as Nuts&Bolts, Norton Utilities, Outside/In, Norton Desktop, or any other shell extension or substitute desktop, remove it before reinstalling Windows. 6) Back up your old system files when reinstalling, if you're given the option.

Digital storage isn't everything. Copy your e-mail addresses, passwords, favorite Web sites and their URL's, etc, on paper. You'll be glad you did.

One of these days, you may want to purge and reinstall yourself, without even crashing. It's been shown that Windows actually does run more efficiently if occasionally given a brainwipe - cleans the deadwood and old glitches out most effectively. (Much of the following is explained farther on.)

• Hopefully you've been keeping a record of all hardware modifications, new installs, and so forth that you've performed. If not, it wouldn't hurt to sit down and reconstruct when you installed what.

• Make a boot disk and verify that it will run all of the drives.

• Back up your data files, app modifications, plug-ins, Net downloads, whatever. Partition and reformat your hard drive.

• Create an extended partition with a separate logical drive for storing data files, so you can fight it out later with Windows without debris being thrown into the data. If you have enough room, partition off about 200MB in a separate logical drive for storing setup files, drivers, and other critical files. (This is easily done with one of the partitioning apps mentioned elsewhere.)

• Copy the Windows folders from the Windows CD to your hard drive, preferably to the smaller drive you just created using the appropriate DOS command. If your system requires custom hardware drivers, create a subfolder for each one and copy the drivers to their folders. While you've got the installation CD out, find the product key and keep it close by. (Lost the product key? The Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder from www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml can find it for you, and the program is free.)

• Boot to a DOS prompt and install the thing by running Setup from the \WIN95 or \WIN98 folder on your local drive. After setup is completed, create a text file on the Windows desktop and keep a running list of configuration notes.

• Install and configure your hardware, including custom drivers for mouse, video, sound, network cards, SCSI adapters, or others, and configure your network connection if necessary. Select your printer.

• Go through Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs, and look over the setup under the Windows Setup tab. Add whatever components you think useful, particularly the Multimedia Volume Control and Backup applets.

• Install whatever patches and updates your version of Windows requires.

• If you want Internet Explorer, now's the time to install and configure it. If you're running IE4x, configure the Active Desktop or deselect it.

• In Windows Explorer, choose View/Options and adjust your folder options. Set the Recycle Bin options by right-clicking on the icon. Open Control Panel and Display, and configure the video options, adjust your system colors, change your wallpaper, and make other visual changes. Remove the Online Services and MSN icons from your desktop. If you want TweakUI, now's the time to install and configure it.

• Set up Dial Up Networking and configure your modem. Set up and test your connections to the outer world. To make Windows remember your username and password, log on at least once to each connection.

• Install system utilities, a virus scanner, an unzipping program, viewers such as RealVideo, Quick Time, ACDSee, etc.

• Install your major applications. Set program options such as custom toolbars and proper data paths. (MS Office users, now's the time to decide whether or not you want everything going to My Documents.)

• Restart Windows and verify that everything works properly. Use a disk imaging utility such as Drive Image or Ghost to make a copy of your new, clean configuration. Store it somewhere like a Zip/Jaz cartridge or a CD-R. Keep the backup somewhere safe.

• The next time you feel (or require) the need to purge and reinstall your PC's mental works, restore this image and be done with it. Easy.

A terrific site for more information is located at www.windowsreinstall.com/.

If you're installing Windows 98 for the first time, you may get a Windows Protection Error when you try to fire it up. Simple fix: take the Windows CD out of the drive and restart the computer. Would that all the fixes were so easy.

The new policy of Microsoft, as implemented with Windows Millennium, is not to issue full-fledged OS CDs, but instead to provide attenuated "system restore" disks. These "restore" disks contain an image of the system's settings as it came out of the box. If you're forced to use the disk, your machine reverts to its original state, sans all customizations, improvements, and data files. In other words, Win ME and XP users ought to make damn sure that all of their important data and application files are stored somewhere else in case disaster strikes and they're forced to restore the machine to its original state. The good news is that if you have a little knowledge about the ins and outs of Windows functions, you may be able to restore your machine from the files stored in the WINDOWS \ OPTIONS \ CABS folder: find the Setup file in this folder and use it to run a reinstall. The reinstall should take place without scragging all the other info on your hard disk, and should retain most of the configurations and customizations that you've put into place. More adventurous, and experienced, users can partition their hard drive disks to create a new logical drive and import the WINDOWS \ OPTIONS \ CABS material into the newly partitioned drive. Both of these methods have their drawbacks, but if you're faced between trying one of these and using the System Restore disk to start from scratch, which would you rather do first?

Here's a twist on the usual reinstall procedure, contributed by a LangaList reader and said to work on all flavors of Windows. First, identify all the hardware on your system and copy the .INF files for each piece of hardware to a floppy disk. While many bits are generic Windows supported, many others have their own unique setups. The idea is to collect all the actual setup files, either from the .INF folder itself, the WINDOWS \ INF \ OTHER folder, or locate them on the floppy or CD from the manufacturer. If you are not certain which ones to copy from the floppy of CD, copy them all to a properly formatted floppy disk. Next, do your format and reinstall with this little twist. When you get to the "Setup needs to restart. Remove all Floppies" step, leave the boot disk in and restart. When you get to the DOS prompt switch to the A:\ prompt and type COPY *.* C:\WINDOWS\INF where C is the letter of the drive you installed Windows. Remove the floppy and restart so that setup will resume. The twist is that now Windows has the setup files for the actual hardware installed on that system, and when it looks for the hardware can identify it all and use the manufacturer's setup. You may be asked for the CD's with drivers on it and you get a really solid and trouble free install with this method. Even better, you do not get countless entries in the Registry for hardware installs that were not correct. For a new system that you may have built or rebuilt you can use the same technique, you just need access to the original setup disks for the "newest" hardware that you have installed. This works especially well on a new system with the latest and greatest hardware and saves literally hours of hardware troubleshooting.