Error message:  Program too big to fit in memory

I have a HDD that gives the above error message when I boot to a command prompt
and type in scanreg /restore.  It gives the above error message no
matter what command is entered in (EDIT SCANREG).  I pulled the HDD
and installed it in another machine (WIN98SE with XP 1800MHz Chip) and
get the same error message.  I don't want to format/fdisk this drive. 
Does anyone have a solution to this problem.
PS The data is intact on the drive.

Microsoft's Knowledge Base has an article on this very problem.

"Out of Memory" Error Running Scanreg.exe with /Fix or /Restore
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;q187680&

Briefly, they recommend restarting the computer in "Command Prompt
Only" mode by holding down the F8 key while your machine is rebooting.
Selecting "Command Prompt Only" will free up conventional memory for
SCANREG. (It requires at least 340k) They have other suggestions for
more effective means of freeing up conventional memory, but they are
progressively more difficult. (And I can't imagine that running in
"Command Prompt Only" mode won't free up at LEAST 340k.)

Alternatively, your scanreg.exe may be corrupted. Checking my Win98
box (with all the latest patches,) I see that
C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\SCANREG.EXE is 165,502 bytes, and has a
modification date of 5/6/98 8:01:06

Windows 98 has a built-in file checker. Running it will check all your
system files, and reinstall any of them that are corrupt. go to Start
> Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Information. From the
System Information menu, select Tools > System File Checker. You can
have it scan your whole system for corrupted files, or simply use it
to reinstall scanreg.exe (All of this can be done from "Safe Mode" if
necessary.)

http://www.microsoft.com/Windows98/usingwindows/maintaining/tips/beginner/sysfilecheck.asp

Hopefully, this will resolve your problem. However, it is in the
nature of these kinds of problems that the first solution may not
always work. Please, do not hesitate to ask for clarifications if
these suggestions do not solve your original problem.


Search Strategy:

scanreg error
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=scanreg+error

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Request for Answer Clarification by bob_new_orleans-ga on 23 Jul 2002 15:58 PDT

Sir,
Everything that you recommended, I had already done.  I researched the
problem and found all of the MicrSoft articles.  I went further and
modified the config.sys in an effort to get additional conventional
memory and that failed.  Do you have any additional suggestions.  I
really believe that this can be solved without formating the HDD.  I
can boot to an A prompt and read the drive.

Thank You
Bob

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Clarification of Answer by googlebrain-ga on 23 Jul 2002 16:25 PDT

I am working on a few more ideas, but I have a question. What, if
anything, was the result when you reinstalled scanreg.exe from the
Windows 98 disc?

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Clarification of Answer by googlebrain-ga on 23 Jul 2002 17:14 PDT

Well, this is much trickier, but you sound familiar with Windows, so I
think you can manage it easily enough.

This should accomplish the same thing as running scanreg /restore

First, we need to identify the backup files you need. The directory
c:\WINDOWS\SYSBCKUP\ is normally set to be Hidden, so you either need
to look for it in DOS, or set Windows Explorer to show Hidden files.
In this directory, you should see files named RB001.CAB - RB004.CAB
(or possibly RB005.CAB)

Determine which of these has the most recent date. This will be the
one you want. You can open this CAB file from Windows Explorer or you
can get a directory of it's contents from DOS using this command.

c:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\EXTRACT /D RB00?.cab (Replace ? with proper number)

Either way, it should contain these four files.

SYSTEM.DAT
SYSTEM.INI
USER.DAT
WIN.INI

Instead of overwriting these files in C:\WINDOWS you may wish to
rename them temporarily, just incase restoring the registry doesn't
solve your problem.

You must be in DOS (Not a DOS window) to do this. To extract these
files in DOS, you can use this command:

c:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\EXTRACT /E /L C:\WINDOWS RB00?.cab (Replace ? with
proper number)

This command will extract all four files to their proper location. It
will prompt you before overwriting.

Please let me know if this helps.

googlebrain-ga