corrupted command interepreter. where can i download another one

[bookworm]

hello. i got a doozy here.

okay. i found a boot virus on my computer named arethree right. it eats systems files i discovered. well, just as i was going through the process of getting rid of it, it puked into my command.com file. Meaning, it made it bigger thus corrupting it and so i get the error

Command interpreter missing or corrupt please type the path to command intrepreter. (ie. C:\>windows\command.com)

C>

but the command file is bad.

so i got into windows sneakily without loading my autoexec files. so now i cant use my cd drive and my display is messed up. no cd rom means i cant get the file off my cd. and my boot disk got messed up so i cant use it. so i was wondering where i would go to download the proper file or if there is some tool in windows 98 that can recreate a command.com file.

for those who wonder.

im running a pentium 2 MMX 200MHz
128 mb of ram
4 gigs of harddrive space
windows 98 SE

if anyone knows of any other way to fix this problem help is cool.

[Basscyst]

Normally I wouldn't suggest this, but based on your system specs, I'm leaning towards a hammer and a wallet as the preferred tools for rectification. ;)

Basscyst

[oracleguy]

Do you have another computer you can use? Use it to copy the file from the CD to a floppy or whatever removable media you have available.

[bcarl314]

Normally I wouldn't suggest this, but based on your system specs, I'm leaning towards a hammer and a wallet as the preferred tools for rectification. ;)

Basscyst

I'm not sure about the hammer / wallet method, but you may want to consider a clean install of the OS at this point. If command.com is hosed, most likely other files are as well and tracking down what's wrong will prove more difficult than simply starting from scratch.

[scroots]

make a boot floppy disk, and write protect it (flick the catch).

Then boot using the disk to start your OS, or repair what is needed.

scroots

[Basscyst]

Yes, all good advice. Your system is definetly salvagable. My joke post was really implying you may want to just consider upgrading, it seems about that time. Something else you may do, if you have another hard drive laying around - just install your OS on that, then set the old drive as slave and you can retrieve any needed files prior to re-formatting.

Basscyst

[bookworm]

yah. upgrading is not an option as i dont have the money. ive saved this peice of crap many times. this time i keep running into walls.

okay. i dont have a second harddrive. and my a: drive is tricky. sometimes it will read and sometimes it wont. and it also likes to screw up disks sometimes. lol.

so reinstallation of OS definitively sounds like a good idea. however im not perfectly sur of how to do that. could you explain how or direct me to a site that explains how. thanks.

[Basscyst]

You can get the files for the boot disk here (http://www.answersthatwork.com/Downright_pages/downrights_bootdisks.htm). Just follow the instructions for creating the disk. Then once you have the floppy made, ensure your PC is set to boot from floppy, check this in BIOS. Now you should be able to boot up. Once you are in command line, run fdisk to reformat the drive. Once it's been reformatted and your cd rom drivers installed from the boot disk, pop your windows disk in and run setup. That last step differs depending on the version of 98 you have, (upgrade or full). Been a good 5 years since I did a 98 install so hopefully I got that right. :)

Hope that helps,
Basscyst

[bookworm]

finally. a break through. my computer nerdish brother came today and he worked on it for a bit. didnt fix it. couldnt. but he did find on my computer where my boot disk that i had that broke had put a folder with a good copy of command.com. and he also discovered my config.sys file was messed. and my autoexec.bat file. so we fixed those and restarted and they all were corrupted again. so its either corrupting on shut down, or start up. so ive downloaded another virus scanner that scans the bootup area from windows. and im gonna rid the virus and then im gonna try the boot disk thing after backing up some files on disk. i can save to a: drive in safe mode without errors. its kinda funny. and then im gonna reinstall from scratch and right away ill put in protective measures against viruses instead of waiting forever. ill post back in a couple days if this works. feel free to post comments cause i can check this thread at school as well. thanks for the help.