How to use Windows 98 HelpDesk

Windows Update Manager

The Windows Update Manager is a Web-based service that scans your system to determine what hardware and system software you have installed, and compares it to a back end database to determine whether there are updated drivers or system files available that you may wish to install. Any applicable updates will be listed with descriptions to aid you in determining whether or not to install them. Any updates installed with this service can be uninstalled.

To run the Windows Update Manager, start Helpdesk by clicking Start->Help. Under the "Contact a Support Engineer" section, click Windows Update Manager.

Note: The Windows Update Manager is implemented as an ActiveX control, requiring the use of a browser, such as Internet Explorer version 3.0 or higher, that supports ActiveX controls.

Web-based Bug Submission

A bug reporting tool has been provided for you in the Windows 98 Beta. This is a Win32 application that scans your computer and generates a profile of your hardware. This application is very aggressive about collecting system configuration files.

This is to give us the best chance to understand and reproduce the bugs you report. Your registry along with other configuration files are built into a compressed CAB file.

You can control which files are collected by clicking anywhere on the warning text in the main bug reporting form. The bug reporting tool automatically uploads the following files with each bug report you submit:

System.1st
Setuplog.*
Detlog.*
Bootlog.*
Asd.log (if it exists)
ios.log (if it exists)

This version is different than versions released previously in that it allows you to save your bugs on your local disk for submission later. There are two ways to access the bug reporting tool. Select Windows Update from the Windows start menu and select the Bug Report button. The other way is to select Run from the Windows Start menu, type bugrep32 and then click OK.

If you encounter problems such that you cannot bring up Windows, you may still be able to upload helpful information to Support. A DOS utility called Dosinet has been provided. It runs in DOS mode. It can be found in the Windows directory. This utility will only work if you have service through an ISP that supports PPP (e.g., it will not work with CompuServe). It only works with modems connected to the COM1 or COM2 ports.

Dr. Watson

Dr. Watson collects detailed information about the state of your system at the time of a fault. Dr. Watson intercepts the software faults, identifying the software that faulted and offering a detailed description of the cause. When enabled, this tool logs this information to disk (*.wlg), and can be used to display it on screen (click Details on the dialog box that is displayed when a fault occurs). This information can be used to assist product support personnel in determining the cause of the fault.

The snapshot generated by Dr. Watson presents a comprehensive picture of the software environment in its Advanced view. If it is capable, Dr. Watson will diagnose the issue and offer a suggested course of action. Additional tabs list software loading in real-mode, software loading at startup, 16-bit modules, 32-bit modules, User and Kernel drivers, running tasks, as well as detail the system itself.

Note: If you discover a reproducible error, please use Dr. Watson to record the state of your system. Comment the system snapshot with the steps to reproduce the error and save the log file with a descriptive name by choosing "Save As" from the File menu. Watson logs (*.wlg) are not uploaded with your bug report by default; manually attach the file to the report to aid our diagnosis of the issue.

Dr. Watson is not loaded by default. To launch Dr. Watson automatically, create a shortcut in your Startup group to \Windows\DrWatson.exe.

Registry Scan and Backup

Windows 98 automatically scans the system registry for corruption when booting; creating a backup of system files once daily. If registry corruption is detected, the utility will automatically restore a previous day’s backup (SCANREG /RESTORE). If no backup is available, the utility will attempt to repair it (SCANREG /FIX).

ScanRegW.exe is a protected-mode version of this utility that can both create a backup of the system files and scan the registry for corruption. If corruption is detected, it will refer to the real-mode utility, Scanreg.exe, for a resolution.

Windows 98’ Setup invokes Scanreg.exe to verify the integrity of the existing registry before upgrading an installation. If registry corruption is detected it will attempt to fix it automatically. Failing that, it will halt the upgrade. If you experience this, please save the corrupt System.dat and User.dat to a different file extension (*.old) and attach them to a bug report detailing your experience. In this event, your only recourse is to either install Windows 98 to a clean directory from the command prompt, or to manually remove the corrupted files before launching setup.

The Registry Scan and Backup tool can be configured with the Scanreg.ini file. Configurable settings include enabling/disabling the utility, the number of backups maintained, the location of the backup directory, as well as settings to add files to the backup set.

Backups made to a file can now be restored in real-mode. Simply specify the full path to the backup file as the parameter for ‘RESTORE’ (i.e. RESTORE C:\MyBackup.QIC). Note that you must make sure that the device you backed up to can be seen when you boot from the ER disk. There may be special drivers that you need to load in order to see the device in real-mode.

Known Issues:

If your registry contains an entry referencing a file, such as a VxD, that no longer exists, it will not be ‘fixed’ by ScanReg. Such errors are not damaging; manually removing the entry will alleviate the symptoms.

The amount of conventional memory required by ScanReg is determined by the size of your registry. Upwards of 580k of free conventional memory may be required to complete the repair process. If you encounter an "out of memory" error message, optimize your memory by commenting out TSRs and loading device drivers into the upper memory area (UMA). For more information concerning the optimization of your real-mode configuration, see Microsoft Knowledgebase Article Q134399, "How to Increase Conventional Memory for MS-DOS-Based Programs"
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q134/3/99.asp

Making an ER disk with a SCSI drive doesn’t copy the ASPI driver to the disk.

When making an ER disk for a SCSI drive, you must copy the ASPI driver (ASPI8DOS.SYS for example) to the first disk manually. You don not need to edit the CONFIG.SYS, just copy the file to the disk and the drive should show up when you boot to the ER disk.

Some SCSI and IDE drives may no longer show up in Backup.

Some SCSI and IDE drives may no longer show up in Backup even though they do show up in the Device Manager. This can be fixed by replacing the PCONFIG.DCF file in the \Accessories\Backup\System directory with an updated one, or the one from the Beta 1 release. This issue will be resolved in Beta 3. These are the known drives currently affected: ARCHIVE Python SCSI; Exabyte EXB-8900 SCSI; and Exabyte Eagle TR-4 IDE.

Microsoft System Information Utility 4.1

Windows 98 now contains a centralized system information utility that gathers system configuration information for technical support. This tool is comprised of a collection of ActiveX controls, each responsible for collecting and displaying a certain category of system information in the right frame of MSInfo. A Support Engineer can guide the user experiencing an issue to MSInfo to facilitate the information gathering process. MSInfo includes viewers for the following file formats:

MSInfo files (*.nfo)

The information collected by MSInfo can be saved to file (*.nfo) and viewed using another machine.

Cabinet files (*.cab)

Cabinet files uploaded by the Web-based Bug Reporting tool can be opened to access the files therein.

HWInfo files (hwinfo.dat)

HWInfo files detail device configuration information, including resources.

Dr. Watson logs (*.wlg)

Dr. Watson is invoked by MSInfo to view Watson logs.

Text files (*.txt)

The hierarchy displayed in the left pane of the MSInfo container is dependent upon the controls that are installed on the system and registered with MSInfo. This hierarchy may change based on the means used to launch the utility; applications that call it may optimize the layout for support issues concerning it. Windows 98 support tools are made available from the Tools menu.

System File Checker

System File Checker (SFC) verifies the integrity of your operating system files and offers to restore missing, corrupted, or replaced files. SFC can be configured to backup/not backup the existing file before restoring the original. A log file (SFCLog.txt) is generated by default. Additional options include the ability to customize search criteria based on folder and/or file extension, choose a different verification data file, create a new verification file, or restore the default verification data file (DEFAULT.SFC).

Known Issues:

When running System File Checker for the first time it may report that a number of files have changed. This is because the default file checksums are not up-to-date for the current build of Windows 98. If System File Checker reports that a file has changed, select "Update verification information for all changed files", and click OK.

System Troubleshooter

System Troubleshooter (Tshoot.exe) automates the routine troubleshooting steps used by Microsoft Technical Support Engineers when diagnosing issues with the Windows configuration.

Modifying system configuration files has been an inherently dangerous task, as the only tools available were basic text editors such as Notepad and System Configuration Editor (SysEdit.exe). Tshoot permits the user to modify the system configuration with checkboxes, disabling/enabling items without a risk of spelling errors. This tool significantly reduces the reliance on a user's technical knowledge to troubleshoot issues with the system. Resolving issues with the Windows configuration has largely been reduced to a process of elimination using checkboxes.

System Troubleshooter can help you resolve issues that occur when you start Windows 9x normally. These issues include (but are not limited to):

Symptoms are not reproducible when launching in Safe mode
Error messages
Hanging
Loss of functionality

Note: The goal of the Beta process is to eliminate errors that would lead someone to use this tool. Please submit a bug report detailing any issue you encounter testing Windows 98, regardless of your ability to resolve it using System Troubleshooter.

Troubleshooting

To launch System Troubleshooter, click the Start button, choose Run, type "tshoot" (without quotation marks) in the Open box, and then click OK.

Before the troubleshooting session begins, backup your current system configuration files with Tshoot. To do so, click the Backup button located on the General tab. Establishing a baseline configuration ensures the modifications made during this session are reversible.

1. Select Diagnostic startup to create a clean software environment

The following steps create a clean environment for troubleshooting. This action determines if the issue can be isolated using Tshoot.

1. Click the Diagnostic startup option, click OK, and restart the computer as prompted.

2. The Windows 98 Startup menu will be automatically enabled. Select Step-by-Step from the menu options, choosing to process all but the Config.sys and Autoexec.bat files. If the system hangs bypassing these files, restart the computer and step through them line by line, choosing to load all drive overlay and compression software required to access your boot disk.

3. Determine if the symptoms are alleviated in this environment.

If the symptoms are alleviated, isolate the source of the issue using the selective startup options.

If the symptoms are reproducible with the Normal startup disabled, investigate the following:

Advanced troubleshooting options (detailed in the following section)

Protected-mode device driver configuration

For information detailing the troubleshooting steps, refer to the "Protected-Mode Device Drivers" section in article Q156126, "Troubleshooting Windows 95 Using Safe Mode.
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q156/1/26.asp

A file is missing, corrupt, or has been replaced (refer to the System File Checker)

Registry corruption (refer to the Registry Scan and Backup Utility)

Virus

Faulty hardware/Hardware settings (CMOS)

Unsuccessful upgrade of previous Windows configuration

2. Isolate the issue using the Selective startup options

Select the Selective startup option to isolate the source of the issue. Using a process of elimination, strategically enable options until the symptoms are reproducible. Once the problem reappears, isolate the issue by narrowing the suspect options down to one source.

To determine the source of the problem:

1. Identify issues with the real-mode configuration by disabling all but the Config.sys and Autoexec.bat files and restarting.

2. Enable the System.ini and Win.ini and restart as prompted to determine if the problem lies in the Windows configuration files.

3. Test the software loading at startup by enabling the Winstart.bat and Startup options and restarting the system.

3. Identify the problem using the appropriate tab(s)

The CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT tabs intelligently identifies settings and minimizes the risks inherent in editing configuration files using the following conventions:

Disabled checkboxes indicate lines commented out by the tool

Settings used when the file’s Selective startup option is disabled are identified with a Windows logo

Previously commented lines are listed without a checkbox

Lines edited from within the tool are identified by a yellow pencil

The System.ini and Win.ini tabs follow the aforementioned conventions as well as identify sections with a yellow folder. Entire sections can by commented out by disabling the checkbox for the section.

The Startup Tab lists items loading at startup from the Startup group, Win.ini load= and run=, and the Registry.

Advanced Options

The Advanced Options tab may be used to further narrow the scope of an issue with Windows 95. The options invoke many of the diagnostic switches for Windows (equivalent to WIN.COM /D:<switch>). Options include the ability to disable 32-bit disk access and force the display to VGA. In addition, use the advanced options to limit the memory used by Windows (commonly used to identify issues with physical memory), enable the Startup menu, disable ScanDisk after bad shutdowns, and enable/disable SCSI double-buffering (this option is grayed out if the system requires Dblbuff.sys to access the drive).

Automatic Skip Driver Agent

Automatic Skip Driver Agent (ASD.exe) will identify potentially dangerous failures that are known to have hung Windows 95 systems and mark them to be bypassed on subsequent boots. ASD performs as follows:

Identifies specific device(s) that fail to enumerate as expected

Reports that it has detected a failure that may cause a system hang

Offers to bypass this action on subsequent boots

If an error to this effect is ever displayed, the Hardware Troubleshooting Agent can be invoked by running ASD.EXE. All devices that have failed enumeration are listed by the HTA. The user can enable any device previously disabled by ASD and Windows will attempt to enumerate it on the next boot. Choosing