Windows Startup Issue

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arnymars - 18 Nov 2007 13:54 GMT

When I startup the PC, at the end of boot process it appears to hunge looking
for something about 3 min then printing two times on the screen: c:/ , and
then starts normally. What do these c:/ mean - it can't find a previously
refenrenced and then uninstalled program? How I can find out, why it hangs
for some time, what it is looking for or checking without visibly accessing
HD?

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glee - 18 Nov 2007 17:42 GMT

Click Start> Run. type:
sysedit

|Click OK|

Click the autoexec.bat window in sysedit, select the entire text of the file and
copy, then paste into a reply here.
Click the config.sys window in sysedit, select the entire text of the file and copy,
then paste into a reply here.

To remove the two C:\'s stacked up when you start up, make sure there are no blank
lines in autoexec.bat, at the end. Open with sysedit, click the mouse pointer near
the bottom of the autoexec.bat window, and backspace till you are at the end of the
very last written line, so there are no blank lines at the end of the file.

If the file is empty, backspace all the way to the beginning of the file so the
cursor is all the way top left.

Save the changes, by clicking File> Save.

Do the same in config.sys, save, and exit sysedit.

You may still find there is a delay during startup for another reason. Does your
computer have a network interface...a Network Interface card (NIC) or integrated
Ethernet port? If so, is it connected to a network of any kind....is there a
network cable attached to it connecting it to anything else?

If no, then you probably need to configure your networking settings to stop Windows
from looking for a non-existent network at startup.

When a Win98 system is not connected to any networks and the NIC is configured to
obtain an IP address automatically, you can assign the NIC a static IP address so
that it does not try to contact a DHCP server at startup:
192.168.0.1 (or actually 192.168.0.2 may be better), subnet mask 255.255.255.0

So, if you are NOT connected to any network, do this:
Click Start> Settings> Control Panel> Network> Configuration tab.
Click to select TCP/IP bound to the Ethernet/Network adapter, in the list of
components.
Click the Properties button.
Click the IP Address tab> Specify
Assign an IP address of: 192.168.0.2
and a subnet mask of: 255.255.255.0
Click OK all the way out, and reboot when prompted.

Signature

Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/

> When I startup the PC, at the end of boot process it appears to hunge looking
> for something about 3 min then printing two times on the screen: c:/ , and
> then starts normally. What do these c:/ mean - it can't find a previously
> refenrenced and then uninstalled program? How I can find out, why it hangs
> for some time, what it is looking for or checking without visibly accessing
> HD?

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arnymars - 18 Nov 2007 19:07 GMT

Thank you Glee

I removed 1 blank line in both config.sys and autoexec.bat - both c:/ still
appear at startup. More - I unchecked both files in msconfig and restarted -
it didn't help. I can e-mail you a bootlog file if it helps. Do I need to
start in Safe Mode for Bootlog.txt to be updated?

As to NIC, I do have one connected to the Router, and I assigned a static IP
to my PC, but it didn't change the startup delay right before double c:/
lines appear.

Reply to this Message

glee - 18 Nov 2007 22:13 GMT

Replies inline...

> Thank you Glee
>
> I removed 1 blank line in both config.sys and autoexec.bat - both c:/ still
> appear at startup. More - I unchecked both files in msconfig and restarted -
> it didn't help. I can e-mail you a bootlog file if it helps. Do I need to
> start in Safe Mode for Bootlog.txt to be updated?

See my further reply below. Removing the blanks end-lines from those files usually
stops the multiple C:\ prompts on-screen at startup. Perhaps you have some other
batch file set to run at system startup, and it is loaded from elsewhere in your
startup axis.

You will need to disable all the items on the Startup tab in msconfig, click OK,
reboot, and see if the prompts still appear. If not, then something in the startup
axis is the cause.

Enable half the startup items, OK, reboot....if it comes back, it is something in
the half you enabled.
If it does not occur, enable that half and disable the other half, OK, reboot.
Continue till you have narrowed down the cause.

> As to NIC, I do have one connected to the Router, and I assigned a static IP
> to my PC, but it didn't change the startup delay right before double c:/
> lines appear.

Do a logged boot, then when Windows starts, download and run Bootlog Analyser (BLA)
to find delays and failures.

To do a Logged boot:
- Start the computer and hold down the CTRL key till the Windows 98 Startup menu
(boot menu) appears.
OR
- Repeatedly tap the F8 key after the memory count to bring up the boot menu.
- Use the arrow keys to select the "Logged" option, and press Enter.

Run BLA, then select the options to show failures and delays only, and post back
here with only the failures and delays listed, and also the last few lines of the
full log.

BootLog Analyser (BLA)
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Downright_pages/downrights_a-z.htm
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Download_Area/Downrights/bootlog_analyzer.exe

Signature

Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+

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arnymars - 19 Nov 2007 19:20 GMT

Glee,

I run diagnistics as adviced and found that c:\ lines at startup were caused
by an (looking) empty Winstart.bat file, properly not deleted timely when
uninstalling its application. As to Startup Delay & Bootlog file, I sent it
for privacy to your e-mail address above in a .zip file jointly with
screenshots of some other my laptop problems discussed in other posts of this
forum.

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arnymars - 19 Nov 2007 19:56 GMT

Glee,

My e-mail just bounced back. Is there anyway to send it to you, or post the
file somewhere you can get it from privately?

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glee - 19 Nov 2007 23:34 GMT

> Glee,
>
> My e-mail just bounced back. Is there anyway to send it to you, or post the
> file somewhere you can get it from privately?

glen.vee at gmail dot com

Signature

Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+

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glee - 19 Nov 2007 23:35 GMT

> Glee,
>
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> screenshots of some other my laptop problems discussed in other posts of this
> forum.

Ahh, good that you found it. The winstart.bat file should not even be there, so if
you found an empty one, it is a leftover from setup.

Signature

Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+

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arnymars - 20 Nov 2007 15:55 GMT

Glee

Did you have a chance to look at the Bootllog file and Screenshots I
e-mailed to your gmail address above?

Reply to this Message

glee - 20 Nov 2007 19:43 GMT

I looked at the screenshots but have not yet looked at the logs. I have to do it in
my "spare" time, so I may not get to look at the logs till later tonight (I'm at
lunch now). You sent data pertaining to more than one of your threads in these
groups that I am involved in AFAICS, so I have to sort it all also.

Signature

Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+

> Glee
>
> Did you have a chance to look at the Bootllog file and Screenshots I
> e-mailed to your gmail address above?

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arnymars - 22 Nov 2007 05:33 GMT

On Glee's advice I am posting below the part of Bootlog file identified by
Boot Analyzer as causing Startup slowdown. As some delay appears to be
related to audio and video strings, my Audio chipset is integrated on my
Video Adapter NeoMagic MagicMedia 256AV, which seems to be surprizingly good
for the laptop age:

13:36:37 6.61 LoadSuccess = C:\WINDOWS\IFSHLP.SYS
13:36:44 0.06 LoadFailed = ndis2sup.vxd
13:36:48 0.72 LoadSuccess = vflatd
13:36:50 0.44 DEVICEINIT = NTKERN
13:36:56 0.39 Starting Ricoh RL/RB5C478 CardBus Controller
(PCI\VEN_1180&DEV_0478&SUBSYS_8042104D&REV_80\BUS_00&DEV_0A&FUNC_00)
13:36:56 0.94 Starting PCMCIA Card Services (PCMCIA\PCCARD\HTREE&ROOT&0)
13:36:57 0.39 Starting Ricoh RL/RB5C478 CardBus Controller
(PCI\VEN_1180&DEV_0478&SUBSYS_8042104D&REV_80\BUS_00&DEV_0A&FUNC_01)
13:36:58 0.94 Started Ricoh RL/RB5C478 CardBus Controller
(PCI\VEN_1180&DEV_0478&SUBSYS_8042104D&REV_80\BUS_00&DEV_0A&FUNC_01)
13:36:59 2.50 Started 3Com Megahertz Telephony 3CXM756 Modem
(PCMCIA\3COM_MEGAHERTZ-3CXM756/3CCM756-7F1B\0)
13:37:02 0.28 DEVICEINIT = IOS
13:37:05 0.00 Dynamic load failed C:\WINDOWS\system\MRCI.VXD :
[000D76CE] File not found
13:37:05 1.06 Started Alps GlidePoint (ACPI\*PNP0F13\0)
13:37:09 1.50 Initing esdi_506.pdr
13:37:11 0.33 Initing esdi_506.pdr
13:37:11 1.78 Initing drvwq117.vxd
13:37:13 0.67 Init Success drvwq117.vxd
13:37:14 0.78 INITCOMPLETE = CONFIGMG
13:37:15 0.72 Started Ricoh RL/RB5C478 CardBus Controller
(PCI\VEN_1180&DEV_0478&SUBSYS_8042104D&REV_80\BUS_00&DEV_0A&FUNC_01)
13:37:16 0.44 Starting Dynex DX-E201 CardBus PC Card
(PCI\VEN_1186&DEV_1340&SUBSYS_13951186&REV_10\005100)
13:37:17 0.00 INITCOMPLETEFAILED = SDVXD
13:37:18 0.28 Dynamic load success C:\WINDOWS\system\serial.vxd
13:37:18 5.78 INITCOMPLETE = AMON
13:37:24 1.50 INITCOMPLETESUCCESS = AMON
13:37:26 2.89 Starting NeoMagic MagicMedia 256AV Audio Driver (WDM)
(PCI\VEN_10C8&DEV_8005&SUBSYS_8041104D&REV_20\BUS_00&DEV_08&FUN
13:37:31 9.89 InitDone = TSRQuery (time estimated)
13:37:41 4.89 Enumerating TapeDetection
(TAPECONTROLLER\TAPEDETECTION\0000)
13:37:46 21.39 Enumerated TapeDetection (TAPECONTROLLER\TAPEDETECTION\0000)
13:38:07 0.94 Enumerated D347PRT SCSI Controller (PCI\D347PRT&0&0&0\0000)
13:38:08 0.33 Enumerated Microsoft DirectMusic SW Synth (WDM)
(SW\{8C07DD50-7A8D-11D2-8F8C-00C04FBF8FEF}\DMUSIC)
13:38:08 27.00 Enumerated Microsoft Kernel Audio Mixer
(SW\{B7EAFDC0-A680-11D0-96D8-00AA0051E51D}\{9B365890-165F-11D0-A195-0020AFD15
13:38:35 6.11 Enumerated Microsoft Kernel System Renderer
(SW\{A7C7A5B0-5AF3-11D1-9CED-00A024BF0407}\{9B365890-165F-11D0-A195-0020A
13:38:42 47.33 Enumerated Microsoft Kernel Audio Mixer
(SW\{B7EAFDC0-A680-11D0-96D8-00AA0051E51D}\{9B365890-165F-11D0-A195-0020AFD15
13:39:30 175.28 Enumerated Microsoft Kernel System Renderer
(SW\{A7C7A5B0-5AF3-11D1-9CED-00A024BF0407}\{9B365890-165F-11D0-A195-0020A

Is it normal to see some strings repeated several times in the Bootlog? Is
their start time appropriate? What can be done to improve the boot time? At
what point Bootlogging stops - my HD continues to wokr hard for some time
after I gain access to the Desktop. Things that start after that - are they
bootlogged?

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