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Utilities and Tools for Windows 98; Part 2 |
In certain situations, such as a computer with compressed drives, Windows 98 may repeatedly warn you that a host drive is low on disk space. You may receive this message multiple times every day. For example, if drive C was compressed in place, you may receive messages stating that drive H (the host drive) is running low on disk space.
Or, as a reader asked:
Do you have any idea how to stop the irritating disk clean-up warning
message popping up whenevr you get down to 5% of your drive ? - its fine
when you've only got small drives but on a 10 gig drive, the message comes
up when you get down to 500 meg - annoying as hell!
OK:
To disable low disk space notification for a specific drive:
1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System
Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup.
2. In the Drives box, click the drive for which you want to disable
low disk space notification, and then click OK.
3. Click the Settings tab.
4. Click to clear the "If this drive runs low on disk space, automatically
run Disk Cleanup" check box, and then click OK.
5. When you are prompted "Are you sure you want to delete files," click
No.
For information about using the Disk Cleanup tool, see the following
article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Description
of the Disk Cleanup Tool in Windows 98
To find out where applications are being Started from:
1. Start Button
2. Programs
3. Accessories
4. System Tools
5. System Information.
6. Expand "Software Environment" click on "Startup
Programs".
You can save the results by highlighting all on the right side, then click the "COPY" button.
First, to see all this wonderful stuff below, you Start "System Information" then click Help.
System Information collects your system configuration information and provides a menu for displaying the associated system topics. Support technicians require specific information about your computer when they are troubleshooting your configuration. You can use System Information to quickly find the data they need to resolve your system problem.
System Information displays a comprehensive view of your hardware, system components, and software environment. The information is organized into three categories: Resources, Components, and Software Environment.
The Resources view displays hardware-specific settings, namely DMA, IRQs, I/O addresses, and memory addresses. The Conflicts/Sharing view identifies devices that are sharing resources or are in conflict. This can help identify problems with a device.
The Components view displays information about your Windows configuration. This category is used to determine the status of your device drivers, networking, and multimedia software. In addition, there is a comprehensive driver history, which shows changes made to your components over time.
The Software Environment view displays a snapshot of the software loaded in computer memory. This information can be used to see if a process is still running or to check version information.
Depending on the individual topic, you may be presented with a choice of basic, advanced, or historical system data.
Click the plus signs in the left pane to expand the System Information categories, and then click the item you want information about.
When data retrieval takes longer than you expect, you can cancel the retrieval process. On the View menu, click Cancel Update.
You can update the information displayed in the right pane when a setting on your system has changed. On the View menu, click Refresh.
To
save system data to a System Information file
1. On the File menu, click Save.
2. In Save in, enter the file location.
3. In File name, enter the file name.
4. In Save as type, enter MSInfo Files (*.nfo).
5. Click Save.
You can view the .nfo file only by opening it in System Information.
To save system data
to a text file
1. On the File menu, click Export.
2. In Save in, enter the file location.
3. In File name, enter the file name.
4. In Save as type, enter Text Files (*.TXT).
5. Click Save.
You can open the .txt file with any text editor. You can use this option to get a snapshot of your system information, which you can send to others through e-mail or by fax.
To open a System
Information file
On the File menu, click Open.
In Look in, enter the file location.
In File name, enter the file name.
In Files of type, enter MSInfo Files (*.NFO).
Click Open.
If you have problems using Windows and would like to send a diagnostic report to technical support engineers, use the Windows Report Tool. After you describe the problem, the tool automatically copies pertinent information from your computer and system files. Technical support engineers can then look at your system information and work with you to resolve the problem.
You can also start the Windows Report Tool by clicking Start, pointing to Programs, pointing to Accessories, pointing to System Tools, and then clicking System Information. After System Information opens, click Tools, and then click Windows Report Tool.
For more information about using the Windows Report Tool, click the Help menu in Windows Report Tool.
You may have used Windows Update to install an updated version of a patch, driver, or system tool. If you then decide to uninstall the new version, and cannot reestablish your Internet connection, use the Update Wizard Uninstall to revert to the earlier version.
Update Wizard Uninstall displays the updates that have been installed on your computer. Previous versions of patches, drivers, and system tools are saved in a backup folder on your hard drive. When you choose an item to uninstall, the newer version is copied to the backup folder and the older version is reinstalled.
You'll See a "Click Here" to start Update Wizard Uninstall."
Notes
You can also start Update Wizard Uninstall by clicking Start, pointing to Programs, pointing to Accessories, pointing to System Tools, and then clicking System Information. In System Information, click Tools, and then click Update Wizard Uninstall.
There's a program on every Windows 98 computer called System File Checker that can help, though I warn you it's a bit tricky to use. Here are the basic steps you should follow:
1. Insert your Windows 98 CD in your CD drive. If the Windows 98 CD pops open, close it by clicking the X box in the upper right corner.
2. Launch System File Checker (SFC) by clicking Start, selecting Run, typing "sfc" in the Open field (no quotes) and pressing Enter.
3. Click the second radio button, "Extract one file from installation disk."
4. Type the exact name of the system file you want to recopy from the original Win98 CD (such as MFC42.DLL, for example).
5. Click OK. When the Extract File dialog pops open, click the Browse button to the right of the "Restore from" field. Use the Browse navigator to select the folder on your CD or hard drive that actually contains your .CAB files. On the Win98 CD, that should be {CD drive letter}:\Win98. On your hard drive it's usually C:\Windows\Options\Win98, C:\Windows\Options\CABs, or C:\Windows\Options. Click OK. Note that you may need to know where to save the file to. Be sure you're saving it to the folder where Windows expects to find it. Usually that will be C:\Windows\System, but not always. Click OK again.
6. Click OK on the Backup File dialog. This makes a backup of your existing file, in case you later decide you need it.
7. Windows automatically searches the .CAB files for the file whose name you typed. If it doesn't find the file, ensure you typed the name correctly, and try it again.
You can use the System File Checker to verify the integrity of your operating system files, and to restore them if they are corrupted. The System File Checker also gives you a convenient way to extract compressed files (such as drivers) from your installation disks.
Plus, if a systems file gets written over by some rude software installation; SFC is the magic bullet
Here are the basic steps you should follow:
1. Insert your Windows 98 CD in your CD drive. If the Windows 98 CD pops open, close it by clicking the X box in the upper right corner.
2. Launch System File Checker (SFC) by clicking Start, selecting Run, typing "sfc" in the Open field (no quotes) and pressing Enter.
3. Click the second radio button, "Extract one file from installation disk."
4. Type the exact name of the system file you want to recopy from the original Win98 CD -- in this case, MFC42.DLL.
5. Follow the onscreen instructions, clicking OK where you need to. Sometimes you may need to navigate in folders. Click OK to backing up the existing file, if you see that screen.
This process isn't guaranteed. It could be that some program you have running in background on your computer is doing something to this file every time you launch your PC, for example. Or you may have a disk corruption of some sort. You should run ScanDisk (Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Microsoft ScanDisk) to check for disk errors. If you still have problems, I recommend uninstalling all applications that you never or barely use -- especially any that you installed more recently.
Note
You can also open System File Checker by clicking Start, pointing to
Programs, pointing to Accessories, pointing to System Tools, and then clicking
System Information. In System Information, click Tools, and then click
System File Checker.
You can have System File Checker back up the existing files before restoring the original files. You can also customize search criteria based on folder and file extension, choose a different backup location, choose a different verification data file, or if you experience severe problems, you can Restore the default system information (System File Checker will prompt you about any system files that have changed since you installed Windows). You have also the ability to create/view a logfile.
You can start the System File Checker by clicking Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Information, and then selecting Tools > System File Checker from the Microsoft System Information toolbar.
It's recommended to enable Check for changed files and Check for deleted files, as well as selecting to Always back up before restoring.
Also recommended is to manually change the default settings to include the the missing sub-folders of C:\Windows and C:\Program Files. These folders are certainly important enough to deserve the modification in SFC.
To do this, select the Search Criteria tab, and select the C:\Windows and C:\Program Files in turn, pressing the Include Subfolders button on each of them.
To keep your files in good shape, run the SFC after installing new software.
Sometimes you will receive the following error message when you attempt to extract a new copy of a Windows 98 file using the System File Checker tool:
The file was not found. Verify that you have selected the correct Restore from' location and try again.
This error message occurs when:
1.You specify the wrong path to the Windows 98 cabinet files
2.The file you are attempting to extract was created during Windows
98 Setup and is not located in a Windows 98 cabinet file
3.You specify a path to a shared Windows 98 CD-ROM on a network
Resolutions:
Error #1:
In the Restore File dialog box, click Browse, locate and click the folder in which the Windows 98 cabinet files are located, click OK, and then click OK again.
Note: The Windows 98 cabinet files are located in the \Win98 folder on the Windows 98 CD-ROM.
Error #2:
If you need a new copy of a file that was created during Windows 98 Setup, install Windows 98 again. You can install Windows 98 "on-top" of itself (run Setup from MS-DOS), without loosing anything. Some values might be reset to default values however.
The following files are created during Windows 98 Setup and are not located in the Windows 98 cabinet files:
Control.ini
Exchange32.ini Msbatch.inf
Msmail.ini
Msoffice.ini
Ndislog.txt
Powerpnt.ini
Progman.ini
Protocol.ini
Qtw.ini
Ripaux.dll
Setup.old
Site.ini
Telephon.ini Wavemix.ini
Wininit.ini
Index.dat
Mstask.cnt
Mstask.hlp
Drvidx.bin
Mstask.inf
Setup.inf
Classes.zip
Tclasses.zip
Computerinfo.ocx Crypt32.dll
Icwscrpt.exe
Ie32dsw.ocx
Ie32dsw.txt Intro.dcr
Javaee.dll
Javasntx.dll Jsproxy.dll
M5drvr32.exe
M5drvr32.rst M5if32.dll
Mstask.dll
Mstask.exe
Mstinit.exe
Rnaph.dll
Selectfiledlg.ocx Swadcmpr.x32
Swastrm.x32
Sysagent.exe Vmm32.vxd
Vsrevoke.dll
Winoa386.mod Wintrust.hlp
Xobglu16.dll
Xobglu32.dll
Error #3:
System File Checker does not support extracting files from a Windows 98 CD-ROM shared on a network. For System File Checker to work properly, the Windows 98 files should be shared from a hard disk instead of the CD-ROM.
Also note that sometimes when you use System File Checker to restore a Windows 98 system file (for example, the Gdi.exe, Krnl386.exe or User.exe file) from a Windows 98 cabinet (.cab) file, the wrong version of the file can be extracted from the Mini.cab cabinet file. This can result in the inability to start Windows 98 or you will receive a Windows Protection Error error messages in normal and Safe mode.
This can occur when System File Checker prompts you to restore a corrupt system file during a scan or when you manually extract and replace a system file.
This problem is documented in Microsoft Knowledge Base Article No. Q192832,
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q192/8/32.asp
which also gives you instructions on how to fix this problem.
This problem was fixed in Windows 98 Second Edition.
The following Microsoft Knowledge Base Article may be of your assistance:
Q188186 - How the System File Checker Baseline Is Determined
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q188/1/86.asp
Using the Signature
Verification Tool
The Signature Verification Tool finds signed and unsigned files on your computer. A signed file is one that has been granted a Microsoft digital signature. The signature states that the file is an unaltered copy of the original file. With the Signature Verification Tool, you can:
View the certificates of signed files to make sure the files have not been tampered with.
Search for signed files in a specific location.
Search for unsigned files in a specific location.
You'll See a "Click Here" to start the Signature Verification Tool.
Notes
You can also start the Signature Verification Tool by clicking Start,
pointing to Programs, pointing to Accessories, pointing to System Tools,
and then clicking System Information. In System Information, click Tools,
and then click Signature Verification Tool.
To view the certificate of a signed file, click the file name, and
then click Details.
Replacing
your registry with the backup copy
Your system always keeps a backup copy of your registry configuration (including user account information, protocol bindings, software program settings, and user preferences). You can use the backup copy if your current registry encounters a problem. Each time you restart your computer, Registry Checker automatically scans your registry. If Registry Checker notices a problem, it automatically replaces the registry with the backup copy.
You'll See a "Click Here" to start Registry Checker.
Notes
You can also start Registry Checker by clicking Start, pointing to Programs,
pointing to Accessories, pointing to System Tools, and then clicking System
Information. In System Information, click the Tools menu, and then click
Registry Checker.
If your registry contains an entry referencing a file that no longer
exists (such as a .vxd file), it will not be fixed by Registry Checker.
Automatic Skip Driver (ASD) identifies failures that have caused Windows 98 to stop responding on previous startups and marks them so they are bypassed on subsequent startups.
You'll See a "Click Here" to start Automatic Skip Driver.
Notes
You can also start Automatic Skip Driver by clicking Start, pointing
to Programs, pointing to Accessories, pointing to System Tools, and then
clicking System Information. In System Information, click Tools, and then
click Automatic Skip Driver Agent.
All devices or operations that have failed to start are listed by ASD.
You can use ASD to enable any device previously disabled by ASD, and Windows
98 will attempt to use the device on the next startup attempt. If it fails,
your computer will stop responding. When you restart your computer again,
ASD will prevent the operation from running allowing you to start your
computer. Click Details to identify the failing device and display a suggested
course of action.
Using Dr.
Watson to diagnose system faults
Dr. Watson is a diagnostic tool that takes a snapshot of your system whenever a system fault occurs. It intercepts software faults, identifies the software that faulted, and offers a detailed description of the cause. Dr. Watson can often diagnose the issue and offer a suggested course of action. When you contact Microsoft Technical Support for assistance, Dr. Watson is the tool used to help evaluate the problem.
Notes
You can start Dr. Watson by clicking Tools, and then clicking Dr. Watson.
Dr. Watson is not loaded by default. To launch Dr. Watson automatically,
create a shortcut in your Startup group to \Windows\DrWatson.exe.
To start System
Configuration Utility
System Configuration Utility (Msconfig.exe) automates the routine troubleshooting steps that Microsoft Technical Support engineers use when diagnosing issues with the Windows 98 configuration. This tool permits you to modify the system configuration through a process of elimination with check boxes, reducing the risk of typing errors previously associated with Notepad and System Configuration Editor.
System Configuration Utility also can create a backup copy of your system files before you begin a troubleshooting session. Create backup copies of your system files to ensure that the modifications made during your troubleshooting session can be reversed.
You'll See a "Click Here" to start System Configuration Utility.
Important
Back up your current system configuration files with Msconfig before the troubleshooting session begins to ensure that changes made during this session are reversible. To do so, click the General tab, click Create Backup, and then click OK.
Notes
You can also start System Configuration Utility by clicking Start, pointing to Programs, pointing to Accessories, pointing to System Tools, and then clicking System Information. In System Information, click Tools, and then click System Configuration Utility.
For more information on using System Configuration Utility, click Help in the System Configuration Utility window.
You can use ScanDisk to check your hard disk for logical and physical errors. ScanDisk can then repair the damaged areas.
You'll See a "Click Here" to start ScanDisk.
Notes
You can also start ScanDisk by clicking Start, pointing to Programs,
pointing to Accessories, pointing to System Tools, and then clicking ScanDisk.
For information about how to use ScanDisk, click Related Topics.
Using Version Conflict
Manager
During installation of new software, including Windows 98, older versions of software files may be detected and then replaced with the newer versions. The older versions are backed up and saved on your hard disk.
If you have conflicts with your system or software files after you install an application, Version Conflict Manager is used to restore a backup file.
Version Conflict Manager lists all your backup files, the dates they were backed up, and the version numbers of backup and current files. When you restore a backup file, the current version is then backed up. Both versions remain available.
You'll See a "Click Here" to start Version Conflict Manager.
Important
This tool should be used only by someone with advanced system knowledge or while under the direction of a technical support professional.
Note
You can also start Version Conflict Manager by clicking Start, pointing
to Programs, pointing to Accessories, pointing to System Tools, and then
clicking System Information. In System Information, click Tools, and then
click Version Conflict Manager.
It is frustrating when, for no obvious reason, your computer screen shows an error that interrupts your work. When this happens, help is at right at your fingertips. You can look to see if the problem you're experiencing is listed under the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on the Windows 98 Web site. Or you could talk to the helpful folks at Microsoft Technical Support.
Before you go looking further afield, take a look at the aid that's even closer -- the troubleshooters built right into the Help on your desktop.
Some of the most common snafus have been summarized and accompanied by likely solutions into a series of Troubleshooters in Help. Dozens of possible glitches are detailed in the Troubleshooters, which provide full details to walk you through the solutions in a series of questions that help narrow the problem and offer a way to fix it, if possible.
To use or find the Troubleshooters:
1. From the Start menu, select Help
2. Click the Contents tab
3. Click Troubleshooting
4. Select Windows 98 Troubleshooters
5. Select the area that's giving you trouble.
Below, in the first of two articles about how to solve problems yourself, we've excerpted three items from the Windows 98 Troubleshooting guide.
Computer fails to start properly
Your computer fails to start up properly or gets stuck at the Windows logo after you switch it on.
The problem may be caused by an anti-virus program that detects certain files when you start your computer. This type of software normally operates with a series of prompts from the user. When the Windows logo freezes, it may be because the anti-virus software is awaiting further instructions.
You can easily determine if anti-virus software is causing this by pressing the ESC key. This closes the Windows logo screen. You should now be able to see the anti-virus software menu, if you have it on your computer. Choose the option that allows the program to update any affected files. This prevents the pause from occurring when you start Windows in the future.
If Windows 98 does not start normally, try to start it in Safe mode. Switch on your computer, and press and hold down the CTRL key (below the left Shift key). When the Windows 98 menu appears, choose Safe Mode.
If your computer won't start in safe mode, it may have been infected by a computer virus. Detecting and removing a virus can be complicated and you should enlist help. You'll find information on contacting Microsoft Customer Support in the sidebar.
If anti-virus software is not the issue, and you don't appear to have a virus, visit the Troubleshooter guide for other possible solutions to what's wrong.
Conflict error message
When you plug devices such as printers and scanners into your computer you may receive an error message saying that there is a conflict between the devices.
A conflict usually means that two devices are trying to share the same software resources, which often prevents either from operating. This can sometimes happen after you have installed a new printer or other piece of hardware. Hardware Conflict Troubleshooters have lots of information on how to solve this problem.
Out of memory
When you try to start a program or while a program is running do you receive an Out of Memory error message?
A number of memory-related issues can generate this message, including
when temporary files you no longer need are taking up space on your hard
drive. However, most problems can be easily remedied by following a Troubleshooter.
Check out the options listed under Memory.
Use "Hardware Info Utitliy For Windows"
At a Dos Prompt C:\> type HWINFO/UI