I have a Dell Dimension T500 machine; 500 mhz; Windows 98; 384 M RAM.

Machine was left on for over 24 hours; the clock started running slow (which I understand can sometimes happen).

I switched the machine off. When I restarted I was met with a message "Windows Protection Error; You need to restart your computer".

This happens everytime I try to restart (on one attempt to restart there was a message saying "Himem.sys not found", but restoring this one file from backup seemed to have no effect)

Now I find I can only restart in Safe Mode with no web connection or access to USB ports.

I have tried restoring a previous copy of the Registry but the process fails before completion.

I even tried re-installing Windows 98 over the existing installation but .............the Windows 98 Protection Error still remains.

Sooooo.........I have now been advised by a technician that what needs to happen is that I need to reformat the C: and then install Windows 98 afresh.

This was always a horrible solution to me because I have several programmes installed on C: for which I do not necessarily still have the installation CDs. (Programs collected from old employers etc, with their permission of course, at least at the time).

Also, I have several email accounts in Outlook Express which would need to be reconfigured with relevant email settings again and then downloaded emails replaced back in their relevant folders etc.

Reformatting C: sounds like a buggers muddle to me.

Is there something else I could try that I haven't thought of ?