WINDOWS TROUBLESHOOTING ERRORS
Troubleshooting STEPS
1. Talk to customer
2. Gather information
3. Eliminate possibilities
4. Document work (cover your behind, make sure you backup and record settings)
F5 - Loads windows into safe mode (minimal device driver) mouse, keyboard and VGA
F6 - safe mode with network support
F8 - menu options
Windows Boot Problems
Many Windows troubleshooting issues deal with boot problems. In most cases, these are fairly simple fixes. Here a re a few of the classics.
No OS Found
This points to a corrupted or missing IO.SYS or MSDOS.SYS. Just pop in your startup disk and use the SYS program to put back the missing file. From the A: prompt, type the following command:
SYS C:
This automatically restores the IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, and COMMAND.COM files. If you edited the MSDOS.SYS file, you will have to restore any edits manually.
Bad or Missing COMMAND.COM
This problem is an easy one to fix. Just use your startup disk to copy the COMMAND.COM file back onto the C: drive.
Errors in CONFIG.SYS (Line XX)
This one rarely happens unless you’ve been working in the CONFIG.SYS file or installing some older device that tossed something into CONFIG.SYS. Edit the CONFIG.SYS file and count the line numbers until you get to the one in question. Look for typos. Because most Windows system pretty much ignores the CONFIG.SYS file anyway, just put a semicolon (;) at the very beginning of the line. If everything runs fine for a few days, go back in and remove the line completely.
Device Referred in SYSTEM.INI Not Found
This is exactly the same scenario as described before for CONFIG.SYS, except this usually shows the device name in question. Look back to the section on “Dealing with SYSTYEM.INI and WIN.INI” in chapter 12 for details.
HIMEM.SYS Not Loaded or MISSING or Corrupt HIMEM.SYS
Windows must load the HIMEM.SYS file at each boot. Because Windows does this automatically, this is rarely an issue. This error tends to result from a hard drive that needs some serious ScanDisking! As a quick fix, boot off the startup disk and add this line to the CONFIG.SYS file using EDIT:
DEVICE=C: \HIMEM.SYS
Then, copy the HIMEM.SYS file from the startup disk to the C: drive. Now boot normally and check that hard drive!
Won’t Boot to GUI
Have you ever booted a copy of Windows just to get stuck at the pretty Windows startup screen? Failure to boot into the GUI can have many causes. Let’s look at these in order of most to least common.
1. The first thing to blame is a corrupted swap file. Boot into Safe mode and disable virtual memory. Restart the system when prompted by Windows. If the swap file was the culprit, the system will boot normally, although it may run rather slowly. Turn the swap file back on and reboot again.
?CAUTION On system with small amounts of physical RAM (32 MB or less), this might cause serious instability when you first boot. It will still solve the problem of a corrupted swap file. To open System Properties to turn virtual memory back on, however, you might have to boot into Safe mode.
2. The next thing to try is a step-by-step configuration from the boot menu. This will usually give you a good feel as to which of the following areas should be checked next.
3. You may need to restore the previous Registry copy. Use whatever tool you have to restore a known good copy of the Registry. If you don’t have one, try replacing SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT with SYSTEM.DA0 and the USER.DA0. All of these files are hidden and read-only, so use the ATTRIB command from the startup disk to turn off the attributes. It would look something like this:
ATTRIB –r –s –h C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\*.dat
COPY C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\*.dat0 C:WINDOWS\SYSTEM\*.dat
If you have Windows 98, boot to the startup disk and run the Windows Registry Checker tool. From the A: prompt, type the following command:
C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\SCANREG /fix
Try booting again. If the Registry was the problem, you should now boot normally.
4. Resource conflicts can something prevent the GUI from booting. A quick boot to Safe mode and a check of the Device Manager should confirm this. Fix resource conflicts as described previously.
5. A bad driver may cause problems. For this, use the Automatic Skip Driver (ASD) tool in Safe mode. You can find it under the Tools menu in the System Information tool, although I usually go to Start/Run and type in ASD. The ASD looks over your log files and prevents any drivers that failed previously from loading at the next boot. If this works, check for a driver update or remove the offending device.
6. Sometimes some of the core Windows files get corrupted. If you have Windows 98/Me, you can run the System File Checker from a command prompt as follows:
SFC /SCANBOOT /QUIET
SFC doesn’t show much on the screen, but it will restore any corrupted core file from its own backups automatically. You must reboot after running SFC so that Windows can reload the core files.
Lockups/Reboots
All system lockups fit into one of two groups. The first group is the lockups that take place immediately after you add a new program or device. These almost always point to resource conflict or software version in incompatibilities. Use the techniques described earlier to fix these problems. The second group is the “lockups from nowhere”. These invariably point either to a virus attack, or to a hardware problem, usually the power supply, RAM, or hard drive. Test/replace until the problem goes away.
Spontaneous reboots always point to bad hardware or a virus. The power supply is the first item to check, followed closely by the CPU. Overheated CPUs love to reboot spontaneously. Make sure the fan works. Most CMOS setup utilities have a screen that enables you to set overheat alarms to monitor the CPU (figure 15-72)
General Protection Faults
A General Protection Faults (GPF) occurs when one program tries to stomp on another program’s memory area. If I get an occasional GPF (say, once every two weeks), I usually just ignore it; static subtle incompatibilities just make GPFs something we live with in Windows. GPFs that always point to the same file as the culprit, however, require attention. If the system has not been changed, the named file may be corrupt. Try reloading the file from the installation CD-ROM. Use the EXTRACT command to locate the file on the CD-ROM, and copy it to the same location as the potentially bad one. Use the search function to locate the bad file.
Windows Protection Errors
Windows protection errors take place when a special type of driver file, called a virtual device driver (VxD) fails to load or unload. VxDs are used to support older Windows programs, and this error usually occurs when a device somehow gets a device driver in both CONFIG.SYS and SYSTEM.INI or the Registry. Running SYSEDIT will show us any drivers in CONFIG.SYS. Put semicolons in front of DEVICE= lines until the problem goes away. If that doesn’t fix it, check for resource conflicts in the Device Manager and then restore the Registry.
Fatal Exception Errors
Fatal exception errors are caused by software or hardware that sends a particular type of error that Windows is not designed to contain. If these arise from a new device or software, uninstall the offending beast and check the manufacturer’s web site and the Microsoft Knowledge Base for known issues related to that software or device.
Dr. Watson Utility
In some cases, these problems simply defy the best of our repair attempts. At this point, you’ll probably need to call tech support. But before you call, run the Dr. Watson utility and re-create the error. Dr. Watson generates a detailed report on the status of the system at the time of the error, and although the information in that report goes way outside of the knowledge of most techs, it provides critical insight to very high-level tech.
Shutdown Problems
I find it interesting that most shutdown problems are identical to startup issues. Bad drivers, a corrupted Registry, and faulty page files all cause shutdown problems. Let’s add a few other fixes that are unique to shutdown problems.
Disable Fast Shutdown (Windows 98 Only)
Windows 98 normally “turns off” every device driver at shutdown. You can choose not to turn off device drivers, however, by using a tool called Fast Shutdown. Fast Shutdown works well on most systems but gives others fits. Make sure to disable Fast Shutdown. It’s in the System Configuration Utility-click the Advanced button on the General tab. The Disable Fast Save check box is third from the bottom.
Application Not Closing
Some applications refuse to close. Windows 98 does a good job of closing them anyway, but Windows 95 often needs you to close an application manually before it can shut down. Try to close the application normally, but if that fails, use the Task Manager to shut it down. If you click End Task and nothing happens, try again. I sometimes have to “End” Microsoft Word three or four times before it obeys.
Sound file
If the Windows shutdown sound file corrupts, the system will not shut down. Use the Sound applet in the Control Panel to turn off the shutdown sound.
System Files not found - Every OS has key system files the must be present in order for the OS to boot if these files are missing or corrupt, the OS will cease to function properly.
No Operating System found - No OS or startup disk present
The boot sector or files is corrupted - The sector needed to boot up your PC is missing or corrupted
Swap file issues - Not enough memory or virtual memory
Missing NTLDR - Your Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 will not boot since this is a key file needed to boot your NT 4.0 or 2000 machine
Illegal Operation - Occasionally a program will quit for no apparent reason and present you with this program have performed an illegal operation and will shut down. If the problem persists, contact the program vendor. An illegal operation occurs when it did something that windows did not like.
System Lock up - needs more memory or you are asking the computer to process to many instructions at one time.
Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) - You get this error when your computer fails to boot properly, device drivers not loaded or functioning properly or your computer is overloaded.
TSR - Terminate Stay Resident programs are applications that run in the background like and ANTIVIRUS program. You sometime must disable this so it won't conflict with your program or during the installation process
Missing or corrupt drivers - You need drivers so that your hardware can run if they are missing or corrupted contact the manufactures to solve this problem.
Invalid working directory - Incorrect parameters so that your programs do not recognize the proper working directory. Quick solutions would to reinstall program and set the correct parameters.
Virus found - A virus is found on your computer. Run an antivirus program before opening a file from a disk or downloading a file from the Internet.
Bad network connections - Bad network cards, cables or if you cannot connect to the network wrong password or you do not have the proper permissions.
