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Windows 98 Startup Problems

To resolve a Windows Protection error on your Windows computer at system startup, perform the following steps:

  1. Start your Windows 98 or Windows 98 SE computer in Safe Mode.
    1. Restart your computer.
    2. Press the CTRL key and hold it down until the Windows 98 Startup menu is displayed.
    3. Select the Safe Mode option.

  2. If you do not receive an error when starting the computer in Safe Mode, perform the following tasks to troubleshoot Windows 98 startup problems:

    1. Open Start menu, select Run , type msconfig , and then press Enter to open the System Configuration Utility dialog box.
    2. Select the Selective Startup option.
    3. Next, try the following three boot options by selecting or clearing the required check boxes.
      • Boot Option A
        • SelectProcess Config.sys file , Process Autoexec.bat file , Process Winstart.bat (if available) and Load Startup Group items check boxes
        • Clear Process System.ini file and Process Win.ini file
      • Boot Option B
        • SelectProcess Winstart.bat (if available), Process System.ini file , Process Win.ini file , and Load Startup Group items
        • Clear Process Config.sys file andProcess Autoexec.bat file
      • Boot Option C
        • SelectProcess Config.sys file ,Process Autoexec.bat , file , Process System.ini file , and Process Win.ini file .
        • Clear Process Winstart.bat (if available) andLoad Startup Group items.
Boot Option A

If Windows 98 does starts normally with Boot Option A, it indicates that there is a problem with System.ini or Win.ini .

To find out which line in the System.ini or Win.ini is causing the problem, do the following:

  1. Open the System Configuration Utility by running the msconfig command.
  2. On the Win.ini tab, clear the load= and run= check boxes.
  3. Select OK and then when prompted, select Yes to restart your computer.
Boot B Option

If your Windows 98 computer starts normally with the Boot B configuration, it indicates problems with a device driver or a terminate-and-stay-resident (TSR) program that occurs when either the Config.sys file or the Autoexec.bat file is loading.

Troubleshooting Device Driver or TSR Problems

To troubleshoot Device Driver or TSR Problems, perform the following steps, to resolve the issue:

  1. In the System Configuration Utility dialog box (msconfig ), select the Selective Startup option.
  2. Next, clear the Process Autoexec.bat File check box and then select OK .
  3. When prompted select Yes to restart the system.
If the problem is resolved, the problem driver or TSR is being loaded from the Autoexec.bat file. If the problem is not resolved, the Config.sys file is loading the problem driver or TSR.

To determine which line in the two files is causing the problem do the following:

  1. In the System Configuration Utility, clear all check boxes of theAutoexec.bat or the Config.sys tab.
  2. Restart your system.
  3. Open the System Configuration Utility again and then select one check box on theAutoexec.bat or the Config.sys tab.
  4. Select OK and then Yes to restart.
  5. If the error displays, then the option selected last is causing the error. If no error is displayed, repeat steps 3 and 4 until you identify the option that is causing the error.
  6. After, you identify the driver or TSR causing the problem, contact its manufacturer to assist you with further resolution of the concerned problem.
Note : If the Process Winstart.bat check box is available, then an option in this file may also cause the problem. The Winstart.bat file can be usually found in the Windows folder, because it is used to load TSRs of only Windows-based software programs. In order to check if any option in the Winstart.bat is causing the problem, clear all checkboxes on this tab, and then select them one-by-one to identify the problem TSR.

Boot Option C

If Windows 98 fails to start normally with Boot Option A and Boot Option B, try Boot Option C. If your computer starts normally, it indicates that there is a problem with a startup program. To resolve this issue, you need to resolve Startup folder problems.

Troubleshooting Problems with StartUp Folder

To troubleshoot problems due to startup programs, perform the following steps, to resolve the issue:

  1. In the System Configuration Utility, clear all check boxes on theStartup tab.
  2. Restart your system.

    If the error disappears, proceed further.

  3. Open the System Configuration Utility again and then select one check box on theStartup tab.
  4. Select OK and then Yes to restart.
  5. If the error displays, then the option selected is causing the error. If no error is displayed, repeat steps 3 and 4 until you identify the option that is causing the error.
  6. After , you identify the program that is causing the problem, contact its manufacturer to assist you with further resolution of the concerned problem.

Troubleshooting Problems with Protected-Mode Driver

You may also receive Windows Protection errors if there is a problem with the Windows 98 protected-mode driver. To see if this is so, perform the following steps:

  1. Open the System Configuration Utility again and then on the General tab, click on theAdvanced button.
  2. Select a check box in the Settings section.
  3. Click OK twice and then restart your system.
  4. If the problem still persists, repeat the steps for the next check box.
If the problem is resolved, then the last check box you selected is the reason behind the problem.

Disable Devices in Device Manager

If the problem persists, troubleshoot by disabling devices in the Device Manager.

  1. Open Control Panel , double-click System , and then open the Device Manager tab.
  2. On the Device Manager tab, disable all devices under the Display adapters, Floppy disk controllers, Hard disk controllers, Keyboard, Mouse, Network adapters, Ports, PCMCIA socket, SCSI controllers, and Sound, video, and game controllers branches by doing the following:

    • Double-click the branch of the device you want to disable, select the device, and then select Properties .
    • On the General tab, select the Disable In This Hardware Profile check box to select it, and then select OK .
    • Restart your system.
  3. If disabling the devices resolves the problem, enable the devices one-by-one. You must enable in the following sequence to prevent conflicts:
    • COM ports
    • Hard disk controllers
    • Floppy disk controllers
    • Other devices
  4. To enable and check devices for conflicts, do the following:
    • Double-click the branch of the device you want to enable, select the device, and then select Properties .
    • On the General tab, clear the Disable In This Hardware Profile check box to select it, and then select OK .
    • On the Resources tab and ensure that there are no conflicts mentioned in the Conflicting Device List.

      Note : TheResources tab is not available for all devices.
    • Restart your system.

Automatic Skip Driver Agent Tool

You can also run the Automatic Skip Driver Agent tool to enable disabled devices. To run this tool, on the Start menu, point to Programs , point to Accessories , point to System Tools , select System Information, and then select theAutomatic Skip Driver Agent command on the Tools menu.

Check for a Damaged Static VxD

To check if a damaged static virtual device driver (VxD) is causing the problems, do the following:

  1. Restart your Windows 98 computer.
  2. Press and hold down the CTRL key when the system is starting up until the Windows 98 Startup menu is displayed.
  3. Select the Step-By-Step Confirmation option.
  4. Keep pressing Y at each prompt until the Load all Windows drivers? prompt.
  5. After pressing Y for this option, select N for all prompts that are displayed after the Load all Windows drivers? prompt.
Note down all items that are displayed after this option. Doing this helps you prevents:
  • VxDs from loading
  • VxDs contained in the Windows\System\Vmm32 folder from overriding Windows internal VxDs

Registry Checker Tool

If the problem is not resolved, run the Windows Registry Checker as there may be a problem with the system registry. To start Windows Registry Checker, perform the following steps:

  1. Open Start menu and point to Programs.
  2. Point to Accessories , point to System Tools , and then select click System Information.
  3. Finally , on the Tools menu, select Registry Checker .

Reinstall Windows 98

On a Plug and Play computer, you may try to resolve the problem by reinstalling Windows by running the following command at Command Prompt:

setup /p I

Install Microsoft Client for Novell Networks

If problem is due to the Novell Client 32 software then you must uninstall it, and then install Microsoft Client for Novell Networks.


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