CONTENTS
After Windows 98 is installed on a system, the system typically boots directly into the Windows 98 environment. If your system requires real-mode drivers, you might see a text screen as the drivers load. Also, if your Windows system has multiple configurations installed--to enable you to work with different hardware configurations, for example--a text screen prompts you to choose between the configurations. After you make your choice, Windows starts.
TIP: For a faster startup, press the Esc key during startup of Windows 98 to bypass the Windows 98 logo. To permanently bypass the logo, edit the MSDOS.SYS text file located in the root folder of the boot drive by adding LOGO=0 to the Options section. To see the logo on startup, change the 0 to 1. Note: MSDOS.SYS is a hidden read-only system file; you'll have to change the file attributes to enable editing.
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When Windows starts, it might display an Enter Network (or Windows) Password dialog box that contains your username and a field for your password. Windows uses this dialog box information for several purposes:
After login is complete, the Windows 98 desktop appears. When you initially start Windows, it displays a Welcome to Windows 98 screen. Close this screen by clicking the Close icon in the top-right corner. You will be asked if you want the Windows Welcome screen to be displayed each time. Most people elect not to display the Welcome screen again. However, the Welcome screen is actually an executable file, welcome.exe, that is located in the main Windows folder. Execute the program if you need to run Welcome again.
Windows can assign unique Windows environment settings and network capabilities to each user. For example, if your system is shared by multiple users, you might want to shut down Windows and log on as a different user. In those cases you don't have to completely shut down Windows. To log on as a different user without shutting down, follow these steps:
NOTE: If your Windows 98 system is configured with multiple user profiles, you might not be able to visually tell which desktop you are currently using. To enable at-a-glance identification, create a unique folder on the desktop of each user profile and name the folder to indicate the login name (for example, "This is Mary's Desktop").
If you have no need to change user profiles or you want to log on to your network without being prompted by the Enter Network (or Windows) dialog box, you can disable the dialog box by following these steps:
You can define how Windows applications and documents open on startup. By defining which applications and documents automatically open and whether windows are full-screen or windowed, you can set up a system that's easier for less-experienced computer users to use.
Windows starts all program or document files or shortcuts located in the Windows StartUp folder at system startup. Use the Find, Files or Folders command to locate the folder path location to the StartUp folder. Then, from Windows Explorer, drag and drop or copy and paste entries into the StartUp folder.
You can also add entries to the StartUp folder by creating shortcuts to programs, data files, or folders. To do so, right-click the taskbar and select Properties to open the Taskbar Properties dialog box. Select the Start Menu Programs tab, shown in Figure 1.1, and then click the Add button to start the Create Shortcut Wizard.
NOTE: If you frequently change the programs, documents, or folders that you want to execute at system startup, make the StartUp folder accessible as a shortcut on the desktop so you can easily edit or modify its contents.
FIG. 1.1 Use the Start Menu Programs tab to specify programs to run at system startup.
If you want folders to open on your desktop when Windows starts, drag the folder icon into the Startup folder.
You can control whether programs, documents, or folders start in a normal window, are minimized, or are maximized. To control how these items appear when Windows starts, follow these steps:
FIG. 1.2 Use the Shortcut Properties dialog box to specify how a program or document will appear on startup.
TROUBLESHOOTING: After I place some entries in the StartUp folder, Windows fails to start correctly. To check to see if the entries in the StartUp folder are indeed causing the problem, hold down the Shift key during initial Windows login. (If you hold down the Shift key during initial system boot, Windows goes into safe mode.) Pressing the Shift key prevents applications in StartUp from executing. If Windows starts correctly, a problem exists with one of the entries in the StartUp folder. Remove entries from the StartUp folder one at a time until you locate the offending entry.
After I place some entries in the StartUp folder, Windows fails to start correctly. To check to see if the entries in the StartUp folder are indeed causing the problem, hold down the Shift key during initial Windows login. (If you hold down the Shift key during initial system boot, Windows goes into safe mode.) Pressing the Shift key prevents applications in StartUp from executing. If Windows starts correctly, a problem exists with one of the entries in the StartUp folder. Remove entries from the StartUp folder one at a time until you locate the offending entry.
A startup disk can help you recover data from your hard disk when Windows will not start. The startup disk starts your system in DOS mode even when Windows will not start.
During Windows 98 installation, you had the opportunity to create a startup disk. In case you didn't take advantage of that opportunity, you can create a startup disk at any time. Open the Control Panel and click the Add/Remove Programs icon. Then select the Startup Disk tab to create a new startup disk.
Make at least two copies of your startup disk. Be sure to test each disk for proper operation immediately after you create it (confirm that the disks start your system as intended). Then keep one disk accessible to your work area and store the other disk in a safe remote location.
CAUTION: A startup disk created for a FAT16 version of Windows 98 will not give you access to the data on a hard drive formatted for FAT32. If you did not create a startup disk with the appropriate FAT system, you might be able to use a startup disk created from another similar system formatted with the correct FAT version.
The startup disk does not start your system in Windows. It starts the system in DOS but provides access to your floppy and hard drive(s). New in Windows 98 is limited support for CD-ROM drives. Whether or not you will have access to your CD-ROM drive after a startup disk boot is a CD-ROM hardware compatibility issue. Review the supplied system drivers contained on your startup disk.
To start your system using the startup disk, insert it in the booting drive and reboot the system. The system should restart to the DOS A: prompt. You can then use internal DOS commands to copy files to and from the hard drive, replace corrupted Windows files, and perform other common tasks. Set a path statement in the Windows environment to utilize external DOS commands available from the \Windows\Command folder.
Before you test for CD-ROM availability, remember that upon booting from a Windows 98 startup disk, by default Windows 98 creates a RAM drive and assigns the first available drive letter after your hard drive to the RAM drive. (The RAM drive would typically be assigned to drive D:.) The drive designation of your CD-ROM might have changed after the startup disk boot because any previously assigned network drives are no longer available.
For example, in normal Windows 98 mode, your CD-ROM might have been assigned to drive G:. Assuming that you have one hard drive in your system, after a startup disk boot, you might find that your CD-ROM is now assigned to drive E:--the next drive letter available after the RAM drive.
TIP: If you have the available hard disk space and you have determined, as just outlined, that your particular system does not provide CD-ROM support under a startup disk boot, you might want to copy all the Windows 98 CAB files from your Windows installation CD-ROM onto your hard disk so that you'll always have access to the Windows installation and driver files. After booting from the startup disk, go to the appropriate folder and run SETUP. When you install new hardware, point Windows to this folder when it asks for a Windows 98 file location.
It's guaranteed that Windows will fail occasionally. These failures and their recovery are handled more automatically in Windows 98.
If Windows gets shut down incorrectly or detects errors on your hard disk, it automatically runs ScanDisk, a program that checks for invalid filenames, file and folder name length errors, magnetic surface errors on the drive, and more. If you start your system and ScanDisk begins running, usually your best option is to let it finish.
If you want to control ScanDisk parameters, you can open the MSDOS.SYS file and edit the AutoScan line in the [Options] section to change ScanDisk's startup behavior. You can use any of the following parameters: ScanDisk Mode Behavior
If Windows has difficulty starting, you will want to start it in one of its diagnostic modes. In most troubleshooting situations, you will want to start in safe mode. In safe mode, Windows uses basic default settings that restart Windows with minimal functionality. For example, if a video adapter driver is incorrect or becomes corrupted, Windows will restart in safe mode using a default driver (standard VGA) that provides minimum functionality. In this case, safe mode gives you access to the Windows graphical user interface in order to review Control Panel or Device Manager settings.
When Windows starts in safe mode, a message informs you that Windows is running in safe mode and that some of your devices might not be available. The words Safe mode appear at each corner of the screen.
The default safe mode settings use a generic VGA monitor driver, the standard Microsoft mouse driver, and the minimum device drivers necessary to start Windows. When you start Windows with the default settings, you cannot access CD-ROM drives, printers, modems, or other external hardware devices. One of the safe modes allows networking devices to function.
For help on troubleshooting hardware and driver problems, refer to the section "Troubleshooting Common Problems" in Chapter 16 or sections in the appropriate chapters on installing hardware drivers.
To start Windows in a different mode, follow these steps:
Normal Logged (\BOOTLOG.TXT) Safe mode Safe mode with network support Step-by-step confirmation Command prompt only Safe mode command prompt only Previous version of MS-DOS
Normal
Logged (\BOOTLOG.TXT)
Safe mode
Safe mode with network support
Step-by-step confirmation
Command prompt only
Safe mode command prompt only Previous version of MS-DOS
To skip the Windows 98 Startup Menu and start directly in a mode, start your system and hold down one of the key combinations listed in the following table while Windows is starting.
Interactively test each action in the boot process by following the procedure described in the preceding section and selecting Step-by-Step Confirmation. As Windows loads each item, it displays a message onscreen saying so. You must press Y (Yes) or N (No) for each action. This enables you to boot Windows 98 but bypass suspect drivers by responding with N.
TIP: If you install Windows 98 as an upgrade over a previous version of Windows, Windows 98 typically inherits the previous version's configuration; for example, entries in AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS will be retained. A useful preliminary troubleshooting technique is to rename AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS to non-operational names and then reboot to see if the problem still exists. Unlike in Windows 3.x installations, many Win98 systems do not require AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS files.
Windows 98 continuously polls applications to see if they are running and responding. When an application fails to respond, Windows 98 displays a dialog box in which you can click the End Task button to close the application. If you do that, however, you lose all changes you've made to data in the application since the last time you saved. Click Cancel to return to the application.
If the application misuses memory or has a fatal error that causes the application to fail, other applications usually will not be involved. When an application fails to respond--for example, if clicks or keystrokes get no response--press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to display the Close Program dialog box.
The problem application or component might show the message [Not responding]. To continue working in Windows with your other applications, you must shut down this application. Select the application or component and click End Task. If you click Shut Down or press Ctrl+Alt+Delete again, all applications and Windows 98 will shut down. Usually a second End Task confirmation dialog box appears a few seconds after the initial End Task command is executed. Click End Task again. The process of shutting down the application or component might take several more seconds.
You can run Windows 98 on a multi-boot system in the same way you could with previous versions of Windows, Windows NT, and DOS. However, you have to take into account certain considerations involving the FAT32 file system that might have been installed with Windows 98 or Windows 95 OSR2.
You cannot multi-boot to another operating system if drive C: is a FAT32 file system. Other file systems can't access files on a partition formatted as FAT32. Older operating systems, such as DOS and previous versions of Windows and Windows NT, do not recognize the FAT32 file system.
If you want to use Windows 98 in a multi-boot system, format drive C: as a FAT16 file system. You can have other partitions that are formatted in FAT32, but DOS and versions of Windows or Windows NT prior to release 5.0 will not recognize files on the FAT32 partition.
Windows now has multiple ways to turn off your system. To shut down your system, click Start, Shut Down, and then click one of the following choices:
If you prefer to shut down by clicking on a desktop icon, create a one-line DOS batch file with Close on Exit Properties as follows:
C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL32.EXE user.exe,ExitWindows
This batch file example assumes that your main Windows folder is c:\Windows. If you are using a non-standard installation, edit the folder path as necessary. Give the batch file an appropriate name, such as Shut Down or Power Down PC. Save the batch file on your desktop or create a shortcut to the desktop from the folder of your choice. Then you can click on the icon to shut down your system. You could also use a timer program such as Windows 98 Scheduled Tasks to execute the batch file to shut down your system at a scheduled time.