Cannot Configure Windows 95 to Use Default Hardware Profile

 Last reviewed: October 17, 1995
Article ID: Q138305
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows 95

SUMMARY

If you create multiple hardware profiles on your computer, Windows 95 attempts to automatically detect the hardware profile that should be used by examining the hardware that is currently installed. If Windows 95 cannot determine the hardware profile that should be used, you are prompted to select a hardware profile. You cannot configure Windows 95 to use a default value at this prompt; you must select a profile for Windows 95 to start.

MORE INFORMATION

The hardware profile detection routine combines interrupt checksums, serial and parallel port data, computer identification data from the system ROM BIOS, and other information to create a unique identifier for the current hardware configuration. Windows 95 then compares this value with the values for the hardware profiles that you have created.

If the current hardware configuration matches only one hardware profile, that profile is used automatically. If the current configuration matches more than one profile, you are prompted to select a hardware profile, or to create a new hardware profile. If the current configuration matches none of the current profiles, a new profile is created and you are prompted to enter a name for the new profile. You cannot configure Windows 95 to use a default value at this prompt.

If you are using an MS-DOS multiple configuration menu, the menu may not appear when you start your computer. Once a hardware profile has been selected (either automatically by Windows 95 or manually by you), Windows 95 attempts to match the profile with one of the MS-DOS configurations in the Config.sys file. If the name of the hardware profile matches the name of one of the MS-DOS configurations, that configuration is selected automatically and the multiple configuration menu does not appear. If the name of the profile does not match the name of one of the MS-DOS configurations, the multiple configuration menu is displayed and you are prompted to select one of the configurations. This prompt can be configured to use a default value using the "Menudefault=" line in the Config.sys file.

KBCategory: kbenv kbusage
KBSubcategory: win95
Additional reference words: 95 multiconfig multi-config

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Last reviewed: October 17, 1995
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