Err Msg: Error Loading GDI.EXE. You Must Reinstall Windows

ID: Q188094

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows 98

SYMPTOMS

When you start Windows 98, you may receive the following error message:

Error loading GDI.EXE. You must reinstall windows.

After you receive this error message, the computer may stop responding (hang) or restart. This behavior may also occur when you start Windows 98 in Safe Mode.

CAUSE

This behavior can occur if you are using a VGA video adapter driver and one or more of the following files are missing or damaged:

Vgasys.fon
Vgaoem.fon
Vga850.fon

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, rename the Vgasys.fon, Vgaoem.fon, and Vga850.fon files (if they exists) in the Windows\Fonts folder, and then extract new copies of the Vgasys.fon, Vgaoem.fon, and Vga850.fon files from your original Windows 98 CD-ROM to the Windows\Fonts folder.

For information about how to rename a file, click Start, click Help, click the Index tab, type renaming, and then double-click the "Renaming files" topic.

For information about how to extract a file, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

ARTICLE-ID: Q129605
TITLE : How to Extract Original Compressed Windows Files

Additional query words: 98 hangs plus98

Keywords : kberrmsg win98
Version : WINDOWS:
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbprb