Let's start with one of the easier problems that can be corrected but seems to be one that I correct on computers that come into our shop every week. We have probably all had an error message that comes up every time you start your computer? It is a black DOS screen that tells you that there is a file that is being referenced in the system.ini or the system registry that is corrupted or does not exist. This error usually occurs when someone has deleted a program from their computer that they do not need anymore. Notice that I said deleted and not uninstalled. If you had uninstalled the program from within the Control Panel then you probably would not have this type of error. Your computer is trying to load a file for Windows from one of the system files. The file is not there anymore and this is where the error message usually comes from. If it is not an essential file Windows needs to run, you will usually not have a problem except for the initial error message. This type of error is simply a nuisance that could have been avoided.

For this type of message, we would start by writing down the name of the file at the end of the message. We know what the rest of the message says so don't waste your time writing down the whole thing. Just the name of the file that is causing the problem will be enough. If you want to try to correct the problem yourself, you need to be sure that you can get back to where you were before you started to fix the problem. If you have Windows 98, your can use the System Configuration Utility, or MSConfig program to edit the files and get back without much trouble. Click on Start, Run and type msconfig in the Open line. Click on OK to start the program. You will see six tabs at the top of the program. The General tab will allow you to change your startup selection for your system. The first line is self-explanatory. If this line is checked then every item that is listed in the system files will be loaded when Windows starts. This is how you change back to Normal startup when you are finished testing your system. 

The second button will allow for a Diagnostic startup. This will allow you to step through the drivers that are loading so you will be able to see if one of them is having a problem loading. The third line is good to use to stop all of the files from loading from one or more of the tabs. We will be going into all the tabs for the errors we are looking for today. 

 Don't get into the system files if you don't know how to find and edit them from a DOS prompt. If you mess up Windows then that is all you will have to fix the problem. Don't delete things until you know that you have corrected the problem. Rename files if you need to but don't delete them until you know for sure. Don't delete lines out of you system.ini file, put a semicolon in front of them to make Windows ignore the command. This will let you know whether you have corrected the problem or not. If the change you made does not fix the problem, then edit the system.ini and take the semicolon out so that the system will be back to where it was when you started with it.

Now back to our error message. To correct this type of error we will need to look at the system.ini file and possibly edit it. If you are using msconfig then start the program and click on the appropriate tab to get to the file we are looking for. If you are using Windows 95, click on the Start button, then Run and type in sysedit and click on OK. This will bring up the System Configuration Editor, which will have a few of the major system files so they can be edited. Click on the window that is labeled C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.INI. This will bring the system.ini file to the front. Click on Search and then Find at the top of the program. Type the name of the file that you wrote down from the error message. If the file is listed in the system.ini file then it will show up and be highlighted. If you are using msconfig you will need to click on the plus sign to see the files that are listed within the categories. Verify that this is the file that you noted from the error message. If it is, type a semicolon at the beginning of the line or take the check mark out of the box for msconfig. 

Click on the X in the upper right hand corner of the System Configuration Program you are using and you should see a message telling you that the system.ini file has been changed and asking if you want to save the changes. Click on Yes and then restart your computer. If the error message does not show up when you reboot, then you have fixed your problem. If the message is still there, verify that you have written the name of the file down correctly. If you wrote the name of the file down correctly the next step would be to start the System Configuration Editor again. Verify that you put the semicolon at the beginning of the line that the file was listed on. This means that if the full path were listed such as c:\window\sysfile.dll, then the semicolon would need to be placed in front of the c:\ in order for Windows to ignore the command. Take a look at the Autoexec.bat and Config.sys files to look for the file name. If the file that is causing the error is in one of these files you will need to type rem in front of it to have your computer ignore it. With msconfig you will only need to take the check mark out of the box next to the name of the file.

Another of the easier problems is the error that comes up after the Windows GUI has started telling you that Windows cannot find a program that you are trying to run. Deleting program or files instead of uninstalling them usually causes this. These are usually shortcuts within the StartUp folder or on the load or run line of the win.ini. This error will usually list the name of the file that it is trying to load and you can look at the StartUp folder by clicking on Start, Programs, StartUp and look for the program shortcut. If the program is listed and you are running Windows 98, you can simply right click on the file and Delete the shortcut. This should send it to the Recycle Bin so that you can restore it if you need to. If you cannot right click on the shortcut then click on Start, Settings, Taskbar. Click on the second tab, which is labeled Start Menu Programs. Click on Remove and you will see a list of all the items in your Start Menu. Browse down to the StartUp folder and click on the plus sign to expand the folder. Highlight the shortcut that is causing the error and then click on Remove. If it not within the StartUp folder, then you will need to run the System Configuration Editor to look at the win.ini file. Towards the top should be a load= and a run= line. Look to see if the program that is causing the error message is listed on one of these lines. If it is the only program listed after the load or run command then you can put a semicolon in front of the command to make Windows ignore it. Restart Windows to see if the error message has gone away. If it is gone then your job is done. If the message is still there then undo the changes that you made and start over from the top.

These two items are the easiest types of error message that you can correct. Be sure to take your time so as not to get to a point that you cannot get back from. If you don't feel like you have the knowledge to handle the problem don't make any changes. It would be better to continue clicking on an OK button to get a window to go away or pressing the any key to continue booting than to foul your system up so that it will not even go into Windows. Next month we will take a look at some of the more difficult types of error messages and try to give you some guidance on how to correct them.