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Beginners Guide : Stopping startup errors and unwanted programsOct 01 '00 Write an essay on this topic.Would you like to know what to do whenever an error appears each time you start your computer? What if some annoying window pops up each time? . . . . . . . . . Troubleshooting startup problems is a good skill to develop for anyone, beginners and intermediates alike. Do you have to call Microsoft, Dell, Compaq or beg a techie friend of yours to help? No! NOTE: Following these steps will not cause any permanent problem or damage, all steps can be undone easily! Feel free to experiment! When to use these steps: * Whenever you have an error message of any type that occurs each time you start the computer. * When an unwanted program or message appears each time you start the computer. NOTE: These steps apply only to Windows '98, Windows '98 Second Edition and Windows Millennium Edition. If you have Windows '95, troubleshooting startup error messages is much more involved - look for this ePinion from me in the future. MSConfig.exe - System Configuration Utility NOTE: Feel free to follow along with these steps on your system so you can see what I am talking about. The steps may sound confusing if you are not looking at the Utility program! 1. Click on Start and select Run. 2. Type in MSCONFIG and then click Ok. The System Configuration Utility should start. In order to troubleshoot a startup problem, you have to narrow down exactly where the problem is. Is the problem in the Startup Group Items? Is the problem in the Win.ini? 3. Choose the Selective Startup option and uncheck the last item, Load Startup Group Items. What exactly did that do? Lets take a look. Click over to the Startup tab up at the top and you will see that it just unchecked a bunch of items there - one of those could be causing the problem! 4. At that point, You would click Ok and restart the computer and see if the problem is still there. If it is, You would go back to MSConfig and then uncheck the next one from the bottom and keep going with this process until the problem goes away. Eventually, You will have the problem narrowed down to one of the groups. 5. Once you have narrowed it down to one group, click over to the respective tab. For example, If you narrowed it down to "Load Startup Group items", click over to the Startup tab. If you narrowed it down to "Process System.ini" then click over to the System.ini tab. 6. Check half of the items in the list and leave the other half unchecked. Restart and see if the problem is still there. If the problem isn't there, then you know it must be one of the half of the items left. If the problem is back, then you know it must be in half of the items you just checked! 7. Now it is just a matter of narrowing down on it. Keep eliminating the list by 50% until you find out the one line that is causing the problem! Other Information In my ePinion, Mastering the built in utilities in Windows effectively is one of the big things that separates "Beginners" and "Intermediate" levels. Whenever you see a problem on startup, You aren't intimidated because you know how to go about finding out what it is and how to stop it from happening. A beginner just clicks close on the error - Intermediate finds out what it is! :) The System Configuration Utility (MSConfig) can be used to troubleshoot a wide variety of problems, not just limited to startup errors. If you get an error reliably when doing something, like clicking on "Back" in Internet Explorer, MSConfig can be used to potentially find a conflicting program. Things that load in MSConfig cause about 75% of all errors and can be limited down upon with this process! Do I have to worry about messing anything up? Have a little adventure! - Seriously though, ALL changes that you do can be undone by simply going back to MSConfig and then selecting "Normal Startup" again and you are back to .... Normal ...Master this utility and people will be calling you for help.  |
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