Troubleshooting Windows 98 Startup Problems and Error Messages

• Microsoft Windows 98
• Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition

SUMMARY

This article lists troubleshooting steps you can use if your computer stops responding (hangs), or you receive an error message, such as a fatal exception error message or an invalid VxD error message.

This article describes troubleshooting steps using the System Information Utility (Msconfig.exe). After restarting your computer several times, this tool can help isolate a specific file or registry entry that is causing the problem. Once the specific entry that is causing the problem is determined, you should edit the appropriate file or registry key to remove the entry and then return the System Configuration Utility to Normal Startup mode.

For information about clean booting Windows 98 using the System Configuration Utility, please see the "Narrowing the Focus" section in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

ARTICLE - ID: Q192926
TITLE : How to Perform Clean-Boot Troubleshooting for Windows 98

MORE INFORMATION

Start Windows 98 in Safe Mode

Windows 98 Does Not Start in Safe Mode

• Your computer is infected with a virus. For additional information about computer viruses, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  ARTICLE-ID: Q129972
  TITLE : Description of Computer Viruses




• Your computer's CMOS settings are not correct. Check your computer's CMOS settings to make sure they are correct. Note that you may need to contact the computer manufacturer to verify these settings.

• There is a hardware conflict. These conflicts can include, but are not limited to, PCI BIOS settings, IRQ conflicts, redundant COM ports (for example, two COM1 ports, or an internal modem set to the same COM port as an existing serial port), and defective RAM chips.



• A setting in the Msdos.sys file needs to be changed (for example, the Logo setting should be set to zero). For additional information about the Msdos.sys file, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  ARTICLE-ID: Q118579
  TITLE : Contents of the Windows Msdos.sys File




• You have a compressed drive that is unable to mount a compressed volume (CVF) file. For more information about how to troubleshoot DriveSpace issues, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  ARTICLE-ID: Q130018
  TITLE : Computer Caught in Reboot Loop After Using DriveSpace

  
  

  ARTICLE-ID: Q133175
  TITLE : Troubleshooting DriveSpace in Windows 95

ARTICLE-ID: Q183887
TITLE : Description of the Windows Registry Checker Tool (Scanreg.exe)

Windows 98 Starts in Safe Mode

1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig in the Open box, and then click OK.



2. Click Selective Startup.



3. Try different boot options. The following table lists several startup options. The options are labeled Boot A, Boot B, Boot C. To use a boot option, click the appropriate check boxes to select or clear them. Follow the instructions below the table to determine the cause of your problem.

   
                                             Boot A   Boot B   Boot C
         ------------------------------------------------------------
         Process Config.sys file             Yes      No       Yes
         Process Autoexec.bat file           Yes      No       Yes
         Process Winstart.bat (if available) Yes      Yes      No
         Process System.ini file             No       Yes      Yes
         Process Win.ini file                No       Yes      Yes
         Load Startup Group items            Yes      Yes      No
     

   NOTE: The Msconfig tool cannot disable a file that has the read-only attribute, although it behaves as though it can. To determine if the Msconfig tool has replaced the file you are attempting to disable with a copy of the file, text similar to the following text should appear at the beginning of the file:
   

   
         rem
         rem   *** DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE! ***
         rem
         rem   This file was created by the System Configuration Utility as
         rem   a placeholder for your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Your actual
         rem   AUTOEXEC.BAT file has been saved under the name AUTOEXEC.TSH.
         rem
     

   NOTE: If Windows 98 does not start normally under any of the following scenarios, see the "Troubleshooting Protected-Mode Driver Problems" section later in this article.
   
   First, try the Boot A option. If Windows 98 does not start normally under these conditions, try the Boot B option. If Windows 98 does start normally using the Boot A option, there is a problem in the System.ini or Win.ini file. To find which line in the System.ini or Win.ini file is causing the problem, follow these steps:
   
   
   1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig in the Open box type, and then click OK.
   
   
   
   2. Click the Win.ini tab.
   
   
   
   3. Double-click the Windows folder.
   
   
   
   4. Click the load= and run= check boxes to remove the check marks.
   
   
   
   5. Click OK.
   
   
   
   6. When you are prompted to restart your computer, click Yes.
   
   
   
   If Windows 98 starts normally using the Boot B option, there is a problem with a driver or terminate-and-stay-resident (TSR) program being loaded from the Config.sys or Autoexec.bat file. See the "Troubleshooting TSR Problems" section later in this article.
   
   If Windows 98 does not start normally with the Boot A or Boot B options, try the Boot C option. If Windows 98 starts normally using the Boot C option, there is a problem with a program that is run during startup. See the "Troubleshooting StartUp Folder Problems" section later in this article.
   
   If you are still unable to start Windows 98 normally, use the System File Checker tool to check for damaged or replaced system files. To start System File Checker, click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, click System Information, and then click System File Checker on the Tools menu.
   
   For information about how to use System File Checker to extract a file, please see the "System File Checker Tool" section of the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

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

   For more information about System File Checker, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q185836
   TITLE : Description of the System File Checker Tool (Sfc.exe)

1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig in the Open box, and then click OK.



2. Click the Startup tab, and then click each check box to clear it.



3. Click OK, and then restart your computer when you are prompted to do so.

1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig in the Open box, and then click OK.



2. On the Startup tab, click the first check box in the list to select it.



3. Click OK. and then restart your computer when you are prompted to do so.

1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig in the Open box, and then click OK.



2. Click Selective Startup, and then click the Process Autoexec.bat File check box to clear it.



3. Click OK, and then restart your computer when you are prompted to do so.

1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig in the Open box, and then click OK.



2. Click the Autoexec.bat or Config.sys tab, and then click the check boxes for all non-essential drivers and programs to clear them.



3. Click OK, and then restart your computer when you are prompted to do so.

1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig in the Open box, and then click OK.



2. On the Autoexec.bat or Config.sys tab, click the first check box in the list to select it.



3. Click OK, and then restart your computer when you are prompted to do so.

1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig in the Open box, and then click OK.



2. On the General Tab, click Advanced.



3. Under Settings, click a check box to select it.



4. Click OK, click OK again, and then restart your computer.

ARTICLE-ID: Q181966
TITLE : System Configuration Utility Advanced Troubleshooting Settings

ARTICLE-ID: Q182628
TITLE : How to Disable PCI Bus IRQ Steering in Windows

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.



2. Double-click System.



3. On the Device Manager tab, disable all devices under the following branches:
   
   
   • Display adapters
   
   
   
   • Hard disk controllers
   
   
   
   • Mouse
   
   
   
   • PCMCIA socket
   
   
   
   • SCSI controllers
   
   
   
   • Floppy disk controllers
   
   
   
   • Keyboard
   
   
   
   • Network adapters
   
   
   
   • Ports
   
   
   
   • Sound, video, and game controllers
   
   
   
   To disable a device in Device Manager, follow these steps:
   
   
   1. Double-click the branch containing the device you want, click the device, and then click Properties.
   
   
   
   2. On the General tab, click the Disable In This Hardware Profile check box to select it, and then click OK.
   
   
   
   3. Restart your computer.
   
   
   



4. If the problem is resolved, enable the devices you disabled in step 3, and then verify that no devices are conflicting.
   
   NOTE: Enable devices in the following order:
   
   
   • COM ports
   
   
   
   • Hard disk controllers
   
   
   
   • Floppy disk controllers
   
   
   
   • Other devices
   
   
   
   To enable a device and check for possible conflicts, follow these steps:
   
   
   1. Double-click the branch containing the device you want, click the device, and then click Properties.
   
   
   
   2. On the General tab, click the Disable In This Hardware Profile check box to clear it.
   
   
   
   3. Click the Resources tab and verify that there are no conflicts listed under Conflicting Device List. Note that the Resources tab does not appear for each device.
   
   
   
   4. Click OK, and then restart your computer.
   
   
   

ARTICLE-ID : Q186588
TITLE : Description of the Automatic Skip Driver Agent (Asd.exe) Tool

1. Restart your computer, press and hold down the CTRL key until the Windows 98 Startup menu appears, and then choose Step-By-Step Confirmation.



2. Press Y at each prompt up to and including the "Load all Windows drivers?" prompt, and then press N to everything else. Note that you should make a list of all the items trying to load after this point. This prevents VxDs from loading and VxDs in the Windows\System\Vmm32 folder from overriding Windows internal VxDs (VxDs built into the Vmm32.vxd file).

Additional Notes

ARTICLE-ID: Q127970
TITLE : Load Failures Listed in the Bootlog.txt File

Additional query words: 98 first boot fail hang setup noboot no-boot start up

Keywords          : kberrmsg kbtshoot winboot win98 win98se 
Version           : WINDOWS:
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbprb 

Last Reviewed: August 3, 1999