If the system fails to start, Windows 95 displays a Startup menu which contains troubleshooting options. You can also manually prompt Windows 95 to display the Startup menu.
The following table describes Startup menu options. The contents of this menu can vary, depending on the options specified in the MSDOS.SYS, and the configuration of the computer.
Startup menu option | Description |
Normal | Start Windows, loading all normal startup files and Registry values. |
Logged (BOOTLOG.TXT) | Runs system startup creating a startup log file. For information about using BOOTLOG.TXT, see Chapter 6, "Setup Technical Discussion." |
Safe Mode | Start Windows, bypassing startup files and using only basic system drivers. You can also start this option by pressing F5 or typing win /d:m at the command prompt. |
Safe Mode with Network Support | Start Windows, bypassing startup files and using only basic system drivers, including basic networking. You can also start this option by pressing F6 or typing win /d:n at the command prompt. |
Step-By-Step Confirmation | Start Windows, confirming startup files line by line. You can also start this option by pressing F8 when the Startup menu is displayed. For more information, see "Step-By-Step Confirmation" later in this chapter. |
Command Prompt Only1 | Starts the operating system with startup files and Registry, displaying only the command prompt. |
Safe Mode Command Prompt Only1 | Starts the operating system in Safe Mode and displays only the command prompt, bypassing startup files. Same as pressing SHIFT+F5. |
Previous version of MS-DOS | Starts the version of MS-DOS previously installed on this computer. You can also start this option by pressing F4. This option is only available if BootMulti=1 in MSDOS.SYS.2 |
1 When you start the computer at the command prompt, you can use switches with the win command to control Windows 95 startup for troubleshooting purposes, as described in "Using WIN.COM Switches" later in this chapter.
2 For information about the options in MSDOS.SYS, see Chapter 6, "Setup Technical Discussion."
The following sections describe when to use these Startup menu options to troubleshoot system problems.
Tip
Windows 95 uses entries in the MSDOS.SYS file to control Startup menu options, automatic loading of certain drivers, and path statements for system files. If Windows 95 does not start as expected, check the entries in MSDOS.SYS.
If Windows 95 fails to start normally, select Safe Mode from the Startup menu to begin troubleshooting. Windows 95 automatically initiates Safe Mode if it detects that system startup failed (for example, if a WNBOOTNG.STS signature files still exists in the Windows directory), or if the Registry is corrupted (for example, if an important key such as SYSTEM is missing), or if an application requests Safe Mode.
Safe Mode bypasses startup files, including the Registry, CONFIG.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT, and the [Boot] and [386Enh] sections of SYSTEM.INI, and provides you with access to the Windows 95 configuration files. You can make any necessary configuration changes, and then restart Windows 95 normally.
Use Safe Mode for system startup in situations such as the following:
When starting Windows 95 in Safe Mode, only the mouse, keyboard, and standard VGA device drivers are loaded. This makes Safe Mode useful for isolating and resolving error conditions caused by both real-mode and Windows drivers. This option is identical to typing win /d:m at the command line, as described in "Using WIN.COM Switches" later in this chapter.
The Startup menu can include three to four Safe Mode options, depending on whether the computer is compressed, or part of a network. Each Safe Mode option disables a different portion of the startup process, as shown in the following table.
Action | Safe Mode | Safe Mode, Network Support | Command Prompt Only | Safe Mode Command Prompt Only |
Process CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT | – | – | – | – |
Load HIMEM.SYS and IFSHLP.SYS | X | X | – | – |
Process Registry information | – | X | – | – |
Load COMMAND.COM | – | X | X | X |
Load DoubleSpace or DriveSpace if present | X | X | – | X |
Run Windows 95 WIN.COM | X | X | – | – |
Load all Windows drivers | – | – | – | – |
Load network drivers | – | X | – | – |
Run NETSTART.BAT | – | X | – | – |
Safe Mode Command Prompt Only loads the COMMAND.COM and DoubleSpace or DriveSpace (if present) files. It does not load HIMEM.SYS, IFSHLP.SYS, or Windows 95.
The following are examples of when to use Safe Mode Command Prompt Only:
This option appears on the Startup menu only if the computer has a compressed drive. This option loads COMMAND.COM, and does not load any compression drivers. The computer starts at the real-mode command prompt.
The following are examples of when to use Safe Mode Without Compression:
You can use the Safe Mode With Network Support option in networking environments where users might require network connectivity to recover from a system problem. If the operating system starts with Safe Mode but not with Safe Mode with Networking, the network configuration probably requires further adjustment.
The following are examples of when to use Safe Mode with Network Support:
This option loads the following files and drivers:
It also processes Registry information and runs NETSTART.BAT (if required for real-mode networking from another vendor).
This option does not process CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT, but does load COMMAND.COM. It only processes AUTOEXEC.BAT if no Windows 95 version of MSDOS.SYS is present, or if the [Paths] section in MSDOS.SYS is invalid and no valid WinDir= entry is present.
If the [Paths] section and the WinDir= variable are not defined in MSDOS.SYS when you use this option, NETSTART.BAT does not run; only AUTOEXEC.BAT runs, and Windows 95 fails to load.
You cannot use Safe Mode with Network Support when the Registry is corrupted.
Most existing real-mode networks run from the startup files, and all Safe Mode options bypass these files. The NETSTART.BAT file in the Windows directory contains commands for starting Microsoft or NetWare networks. NETSTART.BAT allows Windows 95 to start most real-mode networks on individual computers without running AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS.
Step-By-Step Confirmation allows you to specify which commands and drivers the system should process by confirming each line of the startup files.
The following are examples of when to use Step-By-Step Confirmation:
For information about which drivers are required for system startup, see "Checking Whether a Required Driver Is Missing" later in this chapter.
When you choose to confirm system startup line by line, the following prompts appear. You can press ENTER to confirm or ESC to skip that part of system startup.
Each line from CONFIG.SYS is displayed with the [Enter=Y,Esc=N] prompt. You can press TAB when the first CONFIG.SYS prompt appears to accept all options automatically.
Each line from AUTOEXEC.BAT is displayed with the [Enter=Y,Esc=N] prompt. You can press TAB when the first AUTOEXEC.BAT prompt appears to accept all options automatically.
If you press Enter to answer Yes to each prompt, the result is the same as starting Windows 95 normally except that the logo does not appear. Answering No to "Load All Windows Drivers?" runs Windows 95 in Safe Mode.