Troubleshooting Start-up problems
Troubleshooting Start-up problems
Got a problem with Windows starting!? maybe one of those dam 'Missing system files' error, or just general freezing? Hopefully this guide will help you make your machine boot up smoothly and quickly. I only assume your using another machine if your system is truly dead so try not to make changes on the working one!
The evil bit: Sorry, but this guide is only for Windows 95, 98 and maybe ME.
Safe Mode
Before we go on, I'd just like to let you know about Safe Mode. Safe mode is an option your given on boot up. It loads Windows with a difference, by setting all your device drivers to defaults. It does not change and vital settings on your machine (that's what you'll be doing!) it only provides a way of getting into Windows in case your system cant boot. Enabling you to get data of or fix the problem.
To get to safe mode, boot the machine and wait will it says 'Starting Windows 9x'. When it does this, press F5 or F8 and hold depending on which OS your using (usually F8 for Windows 98 and F5 for Windows 95).
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I have put together a list of the most common problems when starting Windows:
The following System file: 'xxxx.xxx' could not be found. Press any key to continue
Any others
Creating a Windows Boot Disk
If you do not see your problem here, try clicking the 'Any others' for a generic solution. Please let me know if these problems help or not.
This problem is caused when your computer does not know what to boot. It usually indicates that Windows has been destroyed but not not panic!!!! this is most likely not the case. First, check the obvious thing. Remove any disks from the CD and floppy disk drives, as well as any other devices you have. Also unplugging the network cable in case you use a network boot. Re-boot the system and see what happens, if it boots, well done! if not, read on...
This will fix about 70% of the problems. But, there are other things. First we can try looking at the boot sequence in the BIOS. Depending on what machine you have, it can be easy or impossible to get to it. Turn your machine off and then on again. when you get the very first screen, (usually when it counts through the memory and detects the hard disks), look for some text saying 'Press xx to enter setup\BIOS\configuration'. Its different on every machine, on IBM PC's its usually F1. On Microstar motherboards it's usually DEL. But its almost always one of the following:
DEL
F1
F2
F3
F5
F8
ENTER
SPACE
CTRL
S
The best method is to usually smack all those keys when you switch your machine on. Hopefully you will be taken to the Setup Configuration Utility or something with that name. Its usually a blue screen with loads of options, again it varies on machines.
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Ok, then, what we are looking for is Start up options or Advanced options. Enter that menu and look for Boot sequence. This should be set to something similar:A or
Floppy drive
C or Master Disk Drive
CD or CDROM
(anything here dosn't really matter)
The only important ones here are the first two, make sure that the first option is the Floppy drive and the second is C Drive.
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This error is a little miss-leading, is usually means one of three things:
The first one is usually the most common. If you have been changing anything inside your machine, such as adding new hardware or anything similar, make sure you haven't disconnected the hard disk. It should also be connected to the Primary Master channel.
If this is not the case it usually means there are bigger problems. The MBR is a small space on the hard disk (1024 cylinders) located at the front of the disk. It stores information about the different partitions. If this is damaged, the system thinks there is nothing on the disk. To check this, you need a Windows boot disk.
Once you have created on of them, insert it into the machine, and boot it. Depending on which one you used you will be presented with different options. Windows 95 boot disks will give you a command prompt ('A:\>'). Windows 98 and ME will give you a menu. Simply press SHIFT-F5 to get the same thing.
When you are at the prompt, type
fdisk
this will give you tonnes of text on the screen push 'Y' or 'N' depending what is already in the box. Then when you get to the options, press 4 then return to 'Display Partition information'. This will give you a table with all the partitions on a disk. If this table is empty then we are in trouble, the data has been lost. If there is an entry there, like:
C 1: A PRI DOS MASTER 6158 FAT32 50%
This will show you that your system has found your operating system so good news! your data is still there!! To get at this data, exit from FDISK, by pressing ESC until you are back at the prompt. Then type:
fdisk /mbr
This will seem like its going nothing, then it will just give you a prompt again. Re-boot the machine and see what happens
This error is quite simple to fix. It means that the file Win.com has been gutted. All you need is another machine and a floppy disk. Go to the other machine and search for the fie Win.com (usually in the Windows folder). Copy it to disk and and then boot up your machine (without the disk in). When you get the Win.com error, there will be a DOS prompt under it, ('C:\>'). Put this disk in when you see this and type:
copy a:/win.co c:\Windows
It may ask you to overwrite the existing file. Type 'Y' to confirm. Take the disk out, re-boot and see what happens
The following System file: 'xxxx.xxx' could not be found. Press any key to continue
This error a real bitch! the x's are there to replace any filename given.
This is caused when Windows is trying to load a device driver or application that has been installed. Try un-installing any applications that you installed before this happened or remove any new drivers that you updated.
Usually Windows try's to help by telling you that it was called the the system.ini of the registry, however both of these are huge and shouldn't be messed around with. You can write down the filename and look for it on another machine. If you find it, copy it to your and place it in the major folders like Windows and System.
Windows protection errors are caused by Windows intentionally to stop you from loosing data or damaging hardware. They only usually happen after a major change, like the processor or memory. They very rarely happen on their own. Anyway, they come in two forms. The general one which just says the text above and the more helpful ones which will have a short description of why it happened. Usually something like:
While initialising device IOS: Windows Protection Error
This can give us a hint on what's happening. First of all, the most common cause of this problem is with AMD processors and Windows 95. They don't mix. Anything over and AMD K6-2 will cause this error, it's simply because the processor is to fast for Windows 95! 98 and ME will be fine.
If however, you are not using any of that, then you can try this. It gets a bit tricky so I'll do my best to make is simple. First, make sure you can boot into safe mode. Follow the instructions at the top of this page on how to do that. If you can get into safe mode then well done! if, however, the Windows protection error occurs before then, you may have to reinstall Windows. Click here for help on this.
When in Safe Mode. Do the following processes: (please make sure you have read the disclaimer before continuing)
Right-Click on My Computer --> Select Properties. Click the Performance tab, then the File System button. Click the Troubleshooting tab.
You will be presented with loads of check boxes. Check the last 2 boxes as well as the 'Disable protected-mode hard disk interrupt handling'.
Finally click the OK button, then you will be back to the previous window. Click the Device Manager tab and remove everything. You will have to do each one on its own but it should solve your problem. Re-boot the machine after that and then you should get into normal Windows.
This is where its looks scary. When your back in Windows, un-check the boxes you just did and then run the Add New Hardware Wizard in the Control Panel to restore the devices.
If you machine suddenly stops and the above text appears on your screen alone, then we may have problems. This is caused by a missing Windows system file. The problem is, Windows is not very helpful in this case, because it doesn't tell us what is missing.
There is only one way that I know to solve this problem. Re-install Windows. It might sound a bit extreme and you may think you might loose data but this is not the case. What we will need to do is install Windows over your current Windows. You wont loose data, but restore the original system files that come with Windows.
In order to do this you need the Windows 9x CD and a boot disk. If your machine is capable of booting of off the CD drive then there's no need for the disk. Simply select 'Start Windows 9x Setup from CD ROM' and follow the instructions.
Any Others
If your problem is none of the above, please email me, and my friends and I will try to help you, you should receive an answer within 24 hours.
NOTE:
You have to be careful what you touch in BIOS. Most of the options can
cause your machine to do strange things and degrade performance.
The boot sequence is a matter or personal opinion. I have only
recommended this one because it is failsafe