Sarasota PC Monitor
Tech Talk (01/01)
Windows problem-solving tools
by Brian K. Lewis, Ph.D.*
Member of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc.How familiar are you with the tools that Microsoft includes with Windows 98 and Windows ME? I suspect that many of you have used both Scandisk and Defrag. However, what do you know about the Registry Checker, Dr. Watson, System File Checker and other tools that are included in your Windows software package? Have you ever looked at the information on your system that is provided by the Microsoft System Information tool? This one tool provides an amazing amount of information on the hardware and software on your computer. It also provides a base for analyzing problems that you might be having with your computer.
To bring up the System Information (SI) window click on Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and then, System Information. The primary window will show you the current version of Windows that you are using, the Internet Explorer version installed, the length of time the system has been turned on, the maximum RAM, and the amount of free resources. It will also show you the location of the swap file and the drive space available for it. The two important pieces of information are the space for the swap file and the amount of free resources. If either of these two components is low, you need to make some corrections. For example, if the swap file space is under 100 mb, then you need to clean out some space on your hard drive. When was the last time you removed the temporary internet files or the Windows Temp files? Have you emptied your recycle bin lately? If you have a single drive system, have you run ScanDisk and Defrag recently? This will increase the contiguous space available for the swap file that requires consecutive sectors for optimum operation. Also, do you have files with a CHK or _DD extension in the root directory of your hard drive? They usually have names such as FILE0000, FILE0001, etc. If you do, then delete them from your drive and from your recycle bin. They are most likely file fragments that have been found and saved by Scandisk and Norton Utilities. Since they can't be used, they are just taking up space on your hard drive.
In the left-hand pane of the SI window, if you click on the plus sign by Hardware Resources, you will see a list that includes Conflicts/Sharing and Forced Hardware. Select Conflicts/Sharing and you will see a list of IRQs. Any IRQs from 9 and above that are listed more than once are not a problem. In the newer computers running Win98 and WinME these IRQs are designed to be shared. If one of the lower IRQs shows the phrase "IRQ Holder for PCI steering", then you can ignore that IRQ. However, if you show two COM ports assigned to one IRQ, then you may have a potential conflict. I have both COM 1 and COM 3 using IRQ 4. However, since there is nothing connected to COM 1 and my PDA uses COM 3 only about once a day, there is no problem. Therefore, you can't assume that one IRQ assigned two functions is automatically going to be a problem. It depends on what the functions are, and how they are used.
I have yet to see anything listed under Forced Hardware, so we'll ignore that for the time being. The next category to look at is the Components Section. Here you can select Problem Devices. On my system there is one problem device, an Iomega Parallel Port device. This is the setup for an external Zip Drive that is not currently connected. If I were to connect the drive and restart the system, this problem would disappear. I have seen some systems where the problem device was an HP printer. In each case the printer appeared to be working correctly, but Windows was reporting a problem. This was usually related to the software installation. In most cases, as long as the printer was working, we just ignored the message. Here again, you should read the message with care.
The next category is the Software Environment. This will show you the Running tasks and Startup programs. If you want to know what is running in RAM when you start your computer check out these categories. You might be surprised to learn how much is running in the background. If you are having trouble with some software not having enough RAM or resources, this list will give you some ideas on what you should remove. The startup list also shows you where the program is loading from, the startup folder or the Registry. The Running Tasks, in some cases but not all, indicates to what program the file belongs.
However, this is just the beginning of the helpful tools that are available when you run the SI program. On the Menu, there is a Tools category. Clicking on this gives you a list of diagnostic and repair tools. Of those tools on the list the ones I have found to be the most useful are the System File Checker, Registry Checker, Automatic Skip Driver Agent and the System Configuration Utility. Although Dr. Watson is also on this list, it has limited usefulness. If you are running Dr. Watson and the system hangs, then no report is written to the log file. If the program creates an error that doesn't hang the system, Dr. Watson may be able to recommend a solution. However, it most cases this program is more useful to Programmers trying to debug a new program than it is to the average user. I would not recommend running Dr. Watson all the time. I know some people have this program included in their startup folder. It can slow your system as well as using RAM and resource memory.
If you are having trouble trying to boot your computer into regular mode, but can get to Safe mode, then the Automatic Skip Driver Agent (ASD) may be useful. Run this program from the Tools menu in the SI program. Then restart your computer. The ASD will find and disable any device that is preventing Windows from starting. The Details report will tell you which device(s) have been disabled and will suggest possible solutions. If no devices are causing any problems then the program will advise you of this as well.
The System File Checker (SFC) tool will check for damaged or replaced system files. When you run this program you should first click the settings button and check the "changed files" box. Then when you run the program all of your system files will be checked. If any files have been damaged, you will be given the option to restore the file from your Windows CD-ROM or the CAB files on your hard drive. The program will also advise you of any system files that have been replaced with different versions. Since many DLLs are changed by non-Microsoft applications, you may wish to keep newer versions. However, some applications install older versions of these library files. In that case, it is better to replace the older version with the one that came with your Windows version. You can also run the SFC from the Start - Run menu by typing "sfc", without the quotes.
The Registry Checker is another valuable tool. When Windows 98 starts, the Registry Checker utility runs in the background. It scans the registry for any damage and, if no problem is detected, creates a backup copy of your registry. If a problem is detected, the utility reboots your computer and launches an MS-DOS version of itself. This program automatically restores the most recent backup of your registry. If no backup is available, the program will attempt to correct the error it has detected. Although it does run every time the computer boots, if your system runs for many days with being re-booted, then you might need to run this application if you seem to have a problem.
The last item I want to consider is the System Configuration Utility (SCU). This is an excellent trouble-shooting tool for finding startup problems. This tool allows you to select or deselect every startup option. In Win98, you will find tabs for the Config.sys file, Autoexec.bat, System.ini, Win.ini and the Startup folder. (WinME does not use either the Config.sys or the Autoexec.bat file.) You can disable the startup of individual items in each of these folders or you can disable the complete file. Disabling the loading of a file allows you to determine the file that contains the problem. Then you can selectively disable the startup options in that file to determine which application or driver is causing the problem. To do this same analysis in Win95 you would have to edit each file and selectively add "REM" statements to prevent applications from running or drivers from being loaded. The SCU greatly simplifies this process.
I would suggest that you look at each of these tools and all the information that is available in your SI list. The time may come when some experience with each of these tools will be invaluable in helping you solve an operating problem. There are other tools available, such as the WinME System Restore. I'll save them for another article.
*Dr. Lewis, a former university & medical school professor, is a computer consultant doing instruction, hardware/software services and system upgrades.
He is available to help you with your home or business computer problems. He does make house calls and can be reached via e-mail at brian_klewis@hotmail.com or voice mail at 941/925-3047. :
_______________________________________________________________ Copyright 2001. This article is from the January 2001 issue of the Sarasota PC Monitor, the official monthly publication of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc., P.O. Box 15889, Sarasota, FL 34277-1889. Permission to reprint is granted only to other non-profit computer user groups, provided proper credit is given to the author and our publication. We would appreciate receiving a copy of the publication the reprint appears in, please send to above address, Attn: Editor. For further information about our group, email: admin@spcug.org/ Web: http://www.spcug.org/
The Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc. has 1,600+ members and was established in 1982. We are members of the Assoc. of PC User Groups (APCUG), the Florida Assoc. of PC Users Groups, Inc., and we are members of the America Online Ambassador Program.
See http://www.spcug.org for all reviews from the Sarasota PC Monitor, go to the Newsletter Section.