Windows Startup & Shutdowns Problems
When Windows shuts down it
performs many functions, including the following:
Completes all disk write functions
Flushes the disk cache
Runs the Close Window code to
close all currently running programs
Transitions all protected-mode
drivers to real mode.
Shutdown problems in Windows 98 SE
can be caused by any of the following:
A video card that is not assigned
an IRQ in real mode
A program that does not close
correctly
An incompatible, damaged or
conflicting device driver is loaded
A damaged Exit Windows sound file
Incorrectly configured or damaged
hardware
An incompatible (BIOS)
configuration setting
As a result of an Advanced Power
Management or Advanced Configuration and Power Interface setting
The Fast Shutdown registry key is
enabled.
Windows 98 SE includes the latest
updates for Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI), OnNow and
Advanced Power Management (APM). In addition, the Fast Shutdown code which was
implemented with the initial release of Windows 98 has been removed to support
these new features.
Although Windows 98 SE includes
many new drivers, not all third-party manufacturers have had a chance to
update their hardware drivers. Some existing computers or devices may require
an updated BIOS or device driver to fully support Windows 98 SE.
Check the programs that are
running. This includes any TSRs loading in real-mode and programs that start
from your Startup group. To check the programs that are running, run
Msconfig.exe and disable all options under Selective startup to clean-boot
Windows. If this resolves the issue, you can then disable the startup items
one at a time to determine the program that is the cause of the shutdown
problem.
Check the hardware configuration.
Disable or remove any hardware that may be responsible. To check the hardware
configuration on the computer, use Control Panel > System. On the Device
Manager tab, disable all devices under Display adapters, Floppy disk
controllers, Hard disk controllers, Keyboard, Network adapters, PCMCIA socket,
Ports, SCSI controllers, Sound, video, and game controllers and Mouse. You can
disable the items by selecting each item and clicking on Properties. On the
General tab, enable the ‘Disable In This Hardware Profile’ check box, and
then click OK. Note that your mouse will not work when you restart the
computer.
Now enable the devices one by one,
in the following order: COM ports, Hard disk controllers and Floppy disk
controllers. You can then enable the rest of the devices in any order, though
the last device to be enabled should be the display adapter. If the problem is
not solved, run the Automatic Skip Driver Agent (Asd.exe) tool to enable any
device that has been disabled.
The IRQ Steering option allows
several PCI devices to share the same interrupt request (IRQ). If the BIOS is
not fully compliant, this option may lead to machines not shutting down
properly, even if devices are not sharing an IRQ. To disable PCI bus IRQ
Steering, open Device Manager > System Devices > PCI Bus > Properties
and disable Use IRQ Steering on the IRQ Steering tab.
In some cases, the BIOS and
Windows may not be communicating properly with the computer hardware during
the shutdown process. It is possible to configure Windows 98 SE to ignore the
presence of a PnP BIOS and communicate directly with the hardware. This should
be done only for testing purposes, as leaving the PnP BIOS disabled may cause
some hardware to stop working. To do this, reboot to DOS and rename the
\Windows\System\Bios.vxd file to Bios.old. Restart your computer. If shutdown
is now successful, it is most likely an indication that the system BIOS is
contributing to the shutdown problems. Contact the motherboard manufacturer or
BIOS vendor for a possible update.
If you have an anti-virus program
that is configured to scan your floppy disk drive when you shut down, your
computer may stop responding.
Microsoft has released the Windows
98 SE Shutdown Supplement that addresses shutdown issues on computers with
specific hardware and software configurations. This can be downloaded from
www.microsoft.com/windows98/downloads/contents/WURecommended/S_WUFeatured/Win98SE/Default.asp
This happens if Windows is unable
to delete the Wnbootng.sts file in the Windows folder. This file is created
each time you start Windows and is deleted after Windows starts successfully.
Delete the Wnbootng.sts file in the Windows folder and restart your computer.
If
this does not work, rename the io.sys file in the root of the boot drive. Note
that you will have to first strip its attributes to be able to rename it from
DOS. Boot the system from a Windows Startup disk and type sys c:
to transfer system files to the hard disk. Remove the startup disk and restart
Windows.
This can occur if the Advapi32.dll
file is missing or damaged. To solve the problem, replace the file with a
fresh one from the original Windows installation disc.
To extract the file, switch to the
Windows installation folder on the CD at the command prompt and type the
following command for Windows 95:
extract /e /l c:\windows\system /a
win95_02.cab advapi32.dll
or the following command for
Windows 98:
extract /e /l c:\windows\system /a
win98_22.cab advapi32.dll
Restart Windows and the problem
should be solved.
The error messages may occur if
the registry is damaged. Try any of the following steps to restore a damaged
registry. Use the Registry Editor in DOS mode to export, and then import, the
registry file. Restart the computer in DOS and type the following command to
export the registry:
regedit /l:c:\windows\system.dat
/e c:\system.txt
Next, rename the current registry
file to another name with the following command:
attrib -s -h -r system.dat
ren system.dat system.old
Type the following line to import
the System portion of the registry
regedit /l:c:\windows\system.dat
/c c:\system.txt
Restart Windows and see if the
problem is solved. If the error continues to occur, restart the computer in
DOS and carry out the above steps for the User portion of the registry,
replacing all references to the System.dat with User.dat. These are the
commands you would use:
regedit /r:c:\windows\user.dat /e
c:\user.txt
cd\windows
attrib -s -h -r user.dat
ren user.dat user.old
regedit /r:c:\windows\user.dat /c
c:\user.txt
Restart Windows normally and check
again. If the error continues to occur, try restoring the registry to its
state when you last successfully started Windows. Restart the computer in DOS
and type the following commands:
cd \windows
attrib -s -h -r system.dat
ren system.dat system.bad
Restart your computer. Windows 95
uses the System.da0 file when it cannot find the System.dat file. If this file
works, Windows 95 renames it to System.dat. If the error continues to occur,
repeat the above steps for the User.da0 file.
If this too fails, restore the
registry to its state when you first started Windows 95 successfully. Again
boot to DOS and type the following commands:
cd \windows
attrib -s -h -r system.dat
ren system.dat system.xxx
cd \
attrib -s -h -r system.1st
copy system.1st c:\windows\system.dat
attrib +s +h +r system.1st
attrib +s +h +r c:\windows\system.dat
Restart your computer.
If the error continues, you will
have to reinstall Windows. First, remove all user profiles using the following
command in DOS:
ren c:\windows\profiles
c:\windows\oldprofs
Next, rename the existing registry
files:
cd \windows
attrib -s -h -r system.dat
ren system.dat system.xxx
attrib -s -h -r user.dat
ren user.dat user.xxx
attrib -s -h -r system.da0
ren system.da0 system.yyy
attrib -s -h -r user.da0
ren user.da0 user.yyy
cd \
attrib -s -h -r system.1st
ren system.1st system.zzz
Run Windows Setup again
This problem can occur if you
install a Network Adapter, Dial-Up Networking, Dial-Up Adapter, or Virtual
Private Networking and cancel Setup while the Copying Files dialog box is
displayed. The Dial-Up Networking files are not copied to the hard disk but
the file names are added to the Windows registry. When the computer is
restarted, the files are requested and cannot be found. To solve the problem,
simply reinstall all network components and uninstall the unnecessary
components.
Start
your computer in Safe mode. Open Start > Settings > Control Panel >
System > Device Manager. Expand the Sound Video and Game controllers list
and remove your soundcard. Restart your PC. Windows should now detect your
soundcard as a new hardware and will ask for the drivers. Provide it with
drivers from the manufacturer’s disk or the Windows drivers.
If you dual boot between Windows
NT 4.0 and Windows 95, you should create an Emergency Repair Disk before you
install Windows 95. You can do this using Rdisk.exe in the \Winnt\System32
folder. Once you create this, you can install Windows 95 after booting to DOS.
To solve your problem, boot from
the Windows NT setup boot disk and insert Setup Disk 2 when prompted. When the
setup options appear, press R for Repair. On the next screen, four options
appear and all are selected by default. Clear all selections except Inspect
Boot Sector. Ensure that Inspect Boot Sector is the only option that has an X
in front of it. Select Continue and press Enter. You can skip the mass storage
device detection from the next screen, unless you have changed or added hard
disks to the computer.
Insert Setup Disk 3 when prompted.
If you have the Emergency Repair Disk, press Enter, insert the disk, and press
Enter again. If you do not have the Emergency Repair Disk, press Esc to allow
setup to locate Windows NT and the repair information. Remove the diskette
from the floppy disk drive and press Enter to restart your computer.
Now the Windows NT Flex Boot
Loader should appear and the dual boot ability would have been
restored.
To
remove LiLo, boot from a Windows Startup disk. At the command prompt, type
fdisk /mbr and press enter. Remove the disk and restart the computer.
The system has been infected by
the KAK worm. To remove it, use any current anti-virus package. Also, search
the entire hard disk for files with ‘kak’ anywhere in the name (ensure
that you can view hidden and system files) and delete them. Locate the
registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft Windows/Current
Version/Run/cAgou and delete it. You can prevent further infections by
upgrading to Internet Explorer 5.5 or installing the security patch provided
by Microsoft. This patch can be downloaded from
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms99-032.asp.
If
you have already deleted all the users, open Control Panel > Network.
Delete the Microsoft Family Logon item if it exists. Also, change the Primary
Network Logon to Windows Logon. Restart Windows for the changes to take
effect. If you are still asked for a password at startup, delete all .PWL
files from the \Windows folder. Upon restarting, when asked for a Windows
password, leave the password field blank. The next time you restart, Windows
will not ask for a password.