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Situation:
You are troubleshooting a problem, and need to perform a clean boot under Windows 95.

Solution:
A clean boot is a restart of Windows with no applications running and as few extra drivers loading as possible. Extra drivers come from any applications installed after the basic installation of Windows 95. This is different from a diagnostic restart or a restart into Safe Mode. Those types of restarts are dealt with in other documents.

A clean boot under Windows 95 can become quite complicated. There are six areas from which applications or drivers can be launched when Windows 95 starts up:

StartUp folder:	Contains shortcuts to applications that launch immediately after Windows has started.
Config.sys file:	Contains DOS level drivers for devices such as CD-ROM and system parameters such as FILES=100.
Autoexec.bat file:	Launches DOS level applications and batch files and sets environmental parameters.
Win.ini file:	Contains Windows drivers for devices such as printers or modems.
System.ini file:	Contains virtual drivers for applications.
Windows registry:	Contains application modules that launch during Windows startup.

You will perform the following actions (detailed instructions for each procedure follow):

• Empty the StartUp folder of items.
• Rename Config.sys.
• Rename Autoexec.bat.
• Remark out two lines in the Win.ini file.
• Remove values (if present) from the Windows registry.
• Remark out lines (if present) in the System.ini file.
• After restarting the computer, you will restore your system to its normal startup sequence by undoing the changes you made.

Before you start, ensure that Windows Explorer is configured to display file extensions and system files. To check and configure this, follow these steps:

1. Open the Windows Explorer.
2. Click View and choose Options.
3. Click the View tab.
4. Uncheck "Hide file extensions for known file types."
5. Check Show all files.
6. Click Apply, then click OK.

To empty the StartUp folder

1. Using the Windows Explorer, create a folder under drive C called Startup.
2. Navigate to the following folder:
   
   C:\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp
   
3. Click Edit and choose Select All. This will select all items contained in the StartUp folder (located in the right pane).
   
   
   
4. Click Edit and choose Cut.
5. Navigate back to the drive C, and select the Startup folder you created in step 1.
   
   
   
6. Click Edit and choose Paste. This moves all the items from C:\WINDOWS\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp to your temporary Startup folder.

To rename Config.sys

1. Using the Windows Explorer, navigate to drive C.
2. Locate the Config.sys file.
3. Right-click Config.sys and choose Rename.
4. Rename the file by changing the extension to something distinctive (for example, "Config.xxx") and press Enter.
5. Note the new name of the file. You will need this to restore your system.

To rename Autoexec.bat

1. Using the Windows Explorer, navigate to drive C.
2. Locate the Autoexec.bat file.
3. Right-click Autoexec.bat and choose Rename.
4. Rename the file by changing the extension to something distinctive (for example, "Autoexec.xxx") and press Enter.
5. Note the new name of the file. You will need this to restore your system.

To remark out two lines in the Win.ini file

1. Using the Windows Explorer, navigate to the C:\Windows folder.
2. Locate the Win.ini file.
3. Double-click Win.ini to open the file.
4. In the [windows] section, look for the load= and run= lines.
   
   
   
5. Insert a semicolon ( ; ) at the beginning of each of these lines only if there is an entry after the equal ( = ) sign. In this example, only the load= line has entries.
   
   
   
6. Close the file and save the changes.

To remark out lines in the System.ini file

1. You should still be in the C:\Windows folder. Locate the System.ini file.
2. Double-click System.ini to open the file.
3. Print this file for reference when you undo the changes.
4. Scroll down to the [386 enh] section.
   
   
   
5. Look for lines that begin with device= . Disregard lines that begin with device=*. These are Windows drivers and should be left alone.
   In this example, device=*enable is a Windows driver. The line after that, device=symevnt.386, is a driver installed by an application. This is the type of line to search for. Insert a semicolon ( ; ) at the beginning of these lines, if there are any.
   
   
   
6. Close the file and save any changes.

To remove values from the Windows registry

1. Click Start and choose Run. The Run window appears.
2. In the Open box, type regedit and click OK. The Registry Editor appears.
3. Navigate to the following key:
   
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
   
4. Click Registry and choose Export Registry File. The Export Registry File dialog box appears.
5. Browse to your desktop and enter a name in the File Name box.
   
   
   
6. Click Save. This will save the registry keys and values for the current version of Windows to your desktop.
7. Expand the CurrentVersion key, locate and open the sub-key Run.
8. Delete any values you find in this key.
9. Repeat the last step for the following three subkeys:
   • RunServices
   • RunOnce
   • RunServicesOnce
10. Repeat step 9 for the following three subkeys (if present):
    • Run-
    • RunOnceEx
    • RunServices-
11. Close the Registry Editor.

You are ready to restart Windows.

Restoring your system

Once you have resolved the issues that prompted you to do a clean restart of Windows, you will want to restore your system to its normal startup sequence by undoing the changes you made above.

StartUp folder

1. Using the Windows Explorer, locate the Startup folder you created on drive C.
   
   
   
2. Click Edit and choose Select All. All items in the right pane will be highlighted.
3. Click Edit and choose Cut.
4. Navigate to the following folder:
   
   C:\Windows\StartMenu\Programs\StartUp
   
5. Click Edit and choose Paste.
   
   
   
6. This will restore your startup items to the StartUp folder.

Config.sys

1. Using the Windows Explorer, navigate to drive C.
2. Locate the Config.sys file you renamed for the clean restart (for example, "Config.xxx").
3. Right-click this file and choose Rename.
4. Rename the file back to Config.sys and press Enter.

Autoexec.bat

1. Using the Windows Explorer, navigate to drive C.
2. Locate the Autoexec.bat you renamed for the clean restart (for example, "Autoexec.xxx").
3. Right-click this file and choose Rename.
4. Rename the file back to Autoexec.bat and press Enter.

Win.ini

NOTE: If you did not change this file, you can skip these steps.

1. Using the Windows Explorer, navigate to the C:\Windows folder.
2. Locate the Win.ini file.
3. Double-click the file name to open the file.
4. In the [windows] section, look for the load= and run= lines.
5. If either line begins with a semicolon ( ; ), please remove that character.
6. Close the file and save the changes.

System.ini

NOTE: If you did not change this file, you can skip these steps.

1. Using the Windows Explorer, navigate to the C:\Windows folder.
2. Locate the System.ini file.
3. Double-click the file name to open the file.
4. In the [386enh] section, look for the lines to which you added the semicolon ( ; ). Use the printout you made to determine which lines you modified, and remove the semicolons from those lines.
5. Close the file and save the changes.

Windows registry
On your Windows desktop, locate and double-click the registry file you created (for example, "Saved.reg").
This will import the Windows\CurrentVersion registry keys and values you saved. You can delete this file after you have successfully restarted Windows.

Windows should restart in its original state.

 

Document ID: 1999020514124412
Last Modified: 04/15/2005
Date Created: 02/05/1999
Product(s): TS_GEN

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