LeeTutor's Doing Windows
Windows Tips Categories
System Tools Tips
SYSTEM CONFIGURATION UTILITY (WIN98 & ME)
If you have a startup problem in either Windows
98 or Windows ME, often it can be diagnosed by using this
tool. There is a long way of getting to this utility by
means of the Start Menu (click Start, then Programs, then
Accessories, then System Tools, then System Information.
Finally, click the Tools Menu and select System
Configuration Utility.) But a much easier way is to click
on the Start button, select Run, type in MSCONFIG in the
dialog box and click OK (or hit the Enter key.) This
utility, on various "tabs", presents all the
parts of Windows that start up when you boot your
computer, as well as all the programs you've selected to
run at this time.
On the various tabs, you can disable the running of a
certain program or Windows task by clicking to remove the
check mark next to that item. (You may have to click a +
sign to open up the list of items that are underneath a
category, as in Windows Explorer.) Probably the major tab
that you would do this on is the Startup tab, for it is
often these programs starting at boot time which cause
errors, hardware conflicts, etc. You would need to leave
the check marks next to all tasks and programs that are
necessary for Windows and your computer to operate, such
as Explorer, SysTray, power management routines, your
antivirus program. But by removing the check marks from
nonessential programs and tasks, and then rebooting,
hopefully your problem will disappear. Then successive
reboots after re-enabling the unchecked programs one at a
time might track down the culprit behind your startup
problem.
The Windows ME MSconfig utility also has a couple of
buttons on the General tab that are not present in
Windows 98. One is labeled Extract a file. This would
enable you to replace a corrupted or missing system file,
much as the System File Checker (SFC) does in Windows 98.
Windows ME does not come with SFC. Another button is for
starting the System Restore utility which is the new
feature of the Millenium Edition that replaces SFC.
