Situation:
You want to know how to start Windows 98 or Windows Me in an interactive, diagnostic mode.

Solution:
A diagnostic startup of Windows is used to selectively load or not load drivers and environmental variables. You generally use this type of startup to pinpoint the exact driver causing a problem.

Diagnostic startup
You can configure Windows to start with its Startup menu, or you can get to that menu manually.

To configure Windows to start with the Startup menu

1. Click Start > Run.
2. In the Open box, type msconfig and then click OK.
3. Check Diagnostic setup, and click OK.
4. When you are prompted to restart the system, click Yes. Windows will restart with the Windows Startup menu.

To manually restart to the Startup menu, follow these steps

1. Click Start > Shutdown.
2. Check Restart > OK. Windows will shut down.
3. When the computer begins to restart, hold down the Ctrl key. When the computer beeps, the Windows Startup menu will appear.

At this point--regardless of the method you used--you have several options to choose from. We will address two of them: Normal (the default) and Step-by-step confirmation.

Normal
If you select Normal, Windows will start up as if you had selected Step-by-step confirmation and said "Yes" to every prompt. Windows will start in VGA mode. You can choose this if you suspect the video driver is involved in the problem.

Step-by-step
During a step-by-step startup Windows asks you whether it should load or not load specific drivers. The main advantage of this startup is that you eliminate all the DOS level drivers and environmental settings. You can selectively load or not load drivers and applets contained in the registry and the System.ini and Win.ini files.

The following table shows the prompts you will see and how you should respond to them. Please keep in mind that there will be some variations in file locations and what is listed. If you do not see a prompt or you get an unexpected prompt, do not worry. If you choose not to load a driver that Windows needs, you'll likely end up at a command prompt. Start over and answer "Yes" to that prompt the next time.

Driver to load	Response	Why that response?
Load DoubleSpace driver You may or may not be prompted for this.	Yes	Necessary if you use disk compression. Otherwise, it has no effect. Loading it is precautionary.
Process the system registry?	Yes	Otherwise, you might as well start in Safe Mode
Create startup log file?	Optional	Your choice
Process your startup device drivers (Config.sys)?	No	This will bypass any DOS-level device drivers.
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS	Yes	Windows needs this to work.
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\DBLBUFF.SYS You may or may not be prompted for this.	Yes	If you're prompted for this, Windows needs it
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\NLSFUNC.SYS	Yes	Loads country specific information
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\IFSHLP.SYS	Yes	Windows needs this to work.
Process your startup command file (Autoexec.bat)?	No	This will bypass any DOS level drivers and environmental settings.
Load the Windows graphical user interface?	Yes	Otherwise, you might as well start in Command Prompt.
Load Windows drivers?	Yes	This will assist you in determining what drivers Windows is loading and the order in which they are loading.

The Windows drivers you need to load depend on what you are troubleshooting. For example, if you are trying to resolve a problem that you believe involves the Symantec event handler (Symevnt), then you would click "No" to the prompt for Symevnt.386.

Once you have gone through the entire list of drivers, Windows will start in VGA mode (16 colors, 640x480 screen size).

Returning to normal
To return your computer to its normal startup sequence, take the following steps while in Windows

1. Click Start > Run.
2. In the Open box, type msconfig and click OK.
3. Check Normal setup, and click OK.
4. You will be prompted to restart the system. Click Yes. Windows will restart normally.