Windows 98 - Troubleshoot

• Bypass the loading of programs at Windows startup

  Holding down the SHIFT key during Windows startup will stop applications from loading.

• Bypassing a screen saver with password using autorun

  Getting past a password protected screensaver by inserting a cd-rom.

• Bypassing user password protection in Windows 9x

  Getting past the password protection in Windows 9x.

• Change the source path for the install files in Windows 9x

  Configure the path to the location of the install files whether on CD-ROM or HDD.

• Checkpoints for fixing a bad or corrupt BIOS flash

  Description of different alternative ways for recovering from a bad BIOS flash.

• Checkpoints for fixing hardware conflicts

  Steps for finding what hardware devices that is causing problems.

• Checkpoints for fixing no BIOS POST

  Steps for fixing a computer which cannot perform BIOS POST.

• Configure Windows 9x startup with Msdos.sys

  List of the different settings available in Msdos.sys.

• Configure Windows 9x to handle more than 1 GB RAM

  Make it possible to run Windows 9x with 1 GByte RAM (or more).

• Configure the amount of spare stack pages

  Increasing the amount of spare stack pages to handle stack overflow by bad drivers.

• Configure timeout for application termination

  Change when an application is considered as deadlocked and should be terminated.

• Copying files when the DVD or CD is scratched

  When the media is filled with bad sectors, then one can still try to recover the good bits.

• Fix a non-working Windows Update

  Possible steps for repairing Windows Update

• Force Windows 9x to redetect all hardware

  Make Windows 9x redetect all hardware in case one is migrating to a new computer.

• Improve system stability by removing ghost devices

  Description of ghost devices and how they can be removed in safemode.

• Manually remove programs from the Add/Remove list

  How to manually uninstall an application and remove it from the Add/Remove list.

• No boot device found or available

  Computer cannot start if no proper boot device exists, or if the active boot device fails.

• Program startup order in Windows 9x

  Description of where and in what order programs are loaded at startup.

• Rebuild icon cache to fix incorrectly displayed icons

  The icon cache can become corrupted and lead to icons being garbled.

• Register Windows 98 without using registration wizard

  Enable the Update Wizard without performing registration.

• Retrieve a lost CD-Key from the registry

  Where to find the cd-key for the current Windows install.

• Setup switches for Windows 9x installation

  Useful command line switches that can be used when installing Windows 95 / 98 / Me.

• Unplug hardware if Windows fails to install properly

  Troubleshooting what is causing Windows not to install properly.

• Use extract.exe to restore a system file

  How use the extract utility for restoring a file from the Windows install CD.

• Using the System File Checker in Windows 98

  System File Checker is able to verify that system files are intact.