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BOOT CAMP 124 –
STARTUP & SHUTDOWN
PART 2
A PC that refuses to boot is one of life’s more stressful
experiences; when it happens to you – and it will -- stay calm and take comfort
from the fact that you are not alone, 99% of Windows PC users have, or will at
some stage suffer the same fate. You may also be relieved to know that most
start-up problems can be resolved fairly easily but please note that physical
violence and abusive language definitely does not help…
As we showed last week a lot of things have to happen before
the Windows 95/98 desktop appears on the screen and although the boot-up
sequence is a complex business it can be broken down into two sections, before
and after the first Windows splash screen appears. If an error message appears or
the machine freezes before Windows begins loading then the fault is most likely
to be concerned with the BIOS (basic input output system) program or the
hardware (motherboard, memory, disc drives etc.). Problems during the second
half are almost always software related.
The first indication of trouble is more than one beep coming
from your PC’s internal speaker, a few seconds after switch on. The beeps are
error codes relating to the Power On Self Test (POST) diagnostic routine that
checks the PC’s hardware. One beep usually signifies that everything is okay,
multiple beeps can have a number of meanings, according to the make and version
of the BIOS program used by your PC’s motherboard. A list of beep codes for the
most common AMI, IBM and Phoenix BIOS’s can be found at: www.pchell.com/hardware/beepcodes.shtml
One of the scariest error messages is ‘cannot read from hard
disc C:’ or something similar. In fact total hard disc failure is comparatively
rare nowadays and the most likely cause is a loose or wayward cable. The first
thing to do is switch off at the socket (but leave the plug in), and remove the
lid. Check the power and data cables going into the back of the disc drive and
on to the motherboard. A somewhat rarer condition, sometimes brought about by a
long period of inactivity, is hard disc ‘stiction’ where the disc drive
mechanism becomes stuck. If you can’t hear motor whine or chattering coming
from the drive it’s sometimes possible to get things moving again by lightly
tapping the side of the hard drive case with the handle of a screwdriver. Take
any kind of mechanical problems with your PC’s disc drives – including strange
noises – as a warning, and replace it before it fails completely.
An error message to the effect that your PC cannot boot from
disc drive C: often indicates problems with the start-up files on the hard disc
drive. This is where your Emergency Start-up Disc comes in. Switch off and pop
it into the floppy drive and switch on again. Windows 95 PCs should now boot to
the A: prompt in DOS mode from where you should be able to start Windows, by
typing ‘win’ or if that doesn’t work, change the drive letter and directory to
C:\Windows type ‘win’ and press Enter. The start-up disc also contains a number
of diagnostic utilities and repair tools, including Scandisk (to look for and
repair errors on the hard disc), and Regedit (an advanced tool for accessing
the Windows Registry), plus, if all else fails, the Fdisk and Format utilities
to partition and wipe the disc, so you can start over. The Windows 98 start-up
disc is a lot more helpful and includes a half-decent set of instructions plus
a facility to get help from the Windows 98 CD-ROM installation disc.
If the problem looks as though it is going to take a while
to fix – a full Windows re-installation for example -- and there are files on
the hard disc that you need to retrieve in a hurry, you can do this from DOS
mode.
When a PC ‘hangs’ or freezes after the first Windows screen
appears you should attempt to start Windows in ‘Safe Mode’. This is a minimum
configuration, bypassing a lot of the start-up files and drivers, where trouble
often occurs. Safe mode is enabled by pressing the Ctrl key or F8 after the
memory test (see last week’s Boot Camp). Select menu option 3, ‘Safe Mode’,
when Windows has finished loading right-click My Computer then Properties and
the Device Manager tab. Errant hardware or drivers may be flagged up with a
yellow exclamation mark. By clicking on the offending item you can choose to
disable the device or update the driver. If that doesn’t resolve the problem try
option 5 on the Safe Mode menu, ‘Step by Step Confirmation’, which loads
start-up files and drivers one at a time, so you can identify the point at
which the problem occurs. We looked at this technique in more detail in the
Boot Camp on Crash Recovery on June 22nd last year. Failure to start in Safe
Mode can be the work of a virus, a hardware conflict or a problem with the
Registry. Windows 98 has a handy Registry checking utility, which can be run
from the DOS prompt by typing ‘scanreg’. For really serious problems with the
operating system it’s usually worth re-installing Windows, this will not affect
your existing settings and software but it may well replace or overwrite
corrupt or missing Windows files and drivers.
Windows 98 users have some additional utilities than can
help troubleshoot problems if Windows will only load in Safe Mode. Go to Run on
the Start menu and type ‘msconfig’. This displays all of the main start-up
files, with the option to disable individual entries, there’s also a Selective
Startup mode on the General tab that allows you to bypass specified files
completely. You should be able to isolate the offending file or file entry by a
simple process of trial and error.
Error messages during boot up concerning missing files or
drivers can often be traced to an incomplete uninstallation, especially if you
tried to remove a program by deleting it from within Windows Explorer. The name
of the missing file should give you a clue to the application, if so re-install
the software and then use the program’s
own uninstaller or Add/Remove programs in Control panel to do the job
properly.
Next week – solving shutdown problems
JARGON FILTER
DOS/MS-DOS
Microsoft Disc Operating System -- core control program that
functions alongside Windows, uses text-based 'command lines' to carry out
instructions
REGISTRY
A large, constantly changing file in Windows 95 and 98
containing details of how your PC is set up and configuration information for
all the programs stored on the hard disc
SPLASH SCREEN
An image or logo that appears on a PC screen whilst a program
is loading
TOP TIP
The toolbar in Outlook Express (versions 4 and 5) takes up
quite a bit of room; you can easily reduce it to around half its default size
and reclaim some screen space; it can make quite a difference, especially on
cramped laptop displays. Aim the mouse pointer at the bottom edge of the
toolbar and it will change to a double-headed arrow, click, hold and drag the
pointer towards the top of the screen and it automatically re-sizes.
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