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Troubleshooting Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Professional
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Author |
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Jerry Joyce and Marianne Moon
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Pages |
352
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Disk |
N/A
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Level |
Beg/Int
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Published |
12/06/2000
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ISBN |
9780735611658
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ISBN-10 |
0-7356-1165-3
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Price(USD) |
$19.99
To see this book's discounted price, select a reseller below.
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Starting up
Starting up
Windows won’t start correctly
Source of the problem
Despite all the safeguards built into the system, there are many ways to break Windows. Not only can you mess it up by deleting essential files or making the wrong settings, but hardware or software that isn’t fully compatible with Windows 2000 can do some evil things to the system. For example, you might try using an old device driver for your modem because there are no Windows 2000 drivers available for the modem. Some drivers might work just fine, but others will cause a system failure. If you used software to create your own CDs on a computer running Windows 98, you might find that your system locks up when you install the software on a computer that’s running Windows 2000. Although there’s no substitute for checking the software and hardware compatibility lists before you install or modify anything on your computer, Windows does provide a couple of other safeguards. If the system isn’t working correctly, you can try starting Windows using the settings that worked previously. If that doesn’t work, you can usually start the system in Safe Mode, with only minimal features available, and then try to fix the problem.
How to fix it
- Start Windows. When you see the "Starting Windows" message on the black screen, press the F8 key. (Depending on your computer, you might need to do this very quickly.) If your computer is set up to run more than one operating system, you can press the F8 key when you’re prompted to select an operating system. When you press the F8 key, the Windows 2000 Advanced Options menu appears, offering you several choices. Use the Down arrow key to select the Last Known Good Configuration item, and press Enter. In the Hardware Profile/Configuration Recovery menu that appears, you can select a different hardware profile if your computer has one, or you can start with the default profile. If you created a backup profile before making any major hardware changes, and if you’ve since reversed the hardware changes, select the backup profile, and press Enter. Otherwise, wait for the default profile to be used and for the computer to start.
TIP:
For information about creating and using hardware profiles, see "Windows keeps reconfiguring my computer" on page 268.
- If Windows starts normally, reverse whatever you did that caused the problem. If you installed a program, remove it. If you installed a hardware driver, remove it. If you discover that whatever you did has already been reversed, be happy—it means that Windows ignored the cause of the problem when you started up using the previous configuration.
- If Windows didn’t start normally, restart the computer, and press the F8 key to return to the Windows 2000 Advanced Options menu. Now you must select the startup option you want. Determine what you need to do, use the arrow keys to select the appropriate option, and then press Enter to start Windows in the mode you selected.
- Safe Mode: Starts Windows with no network connections and without most of its drivers. Use this option to correct settings, remove programs or drivers, or fix network problems.
- Safe Mode With Networking: Starts Windows with network connections but without most of its drivers. Use this option if any resources you need are on the network, or if someone is going to try to fix your computer from another computer on the network.
- Safe Mode With Command Prompt: Starts Windows without network connections, without most of its drivers, and with the command prompt only. Use this option only if you have special utilities that run from the command prompt and/or you have detailed instructions about repairing your computer from the command prompt. Repairing the system from the command prompt is not for the timid.
- Enable Boot Logging: Starts Windows normally, and records startup information to the ntbtlog.inc file (in the WINNT folder). It’s useful in diagnosing the startup problem. If the system fails to start correctly, restart in Safe Mode, and examine the log.
- Log on to the computer as the Administrator, and change the settings or remove the program or driver that’s causing the problem. Then restart the computer and see whether it will start in Standard Mode.
TIP:
If you don’t have the Windows 2000 Professional Setup disks, see "I can’t repair the computer because I can’t start it" on page 264 for information about creating the disks.
- If you were unable to correct the problem in Safe Mode, you need to go to the next level of repair. If your computer is on a large network with a domain, get help from your network administrator. If you’re on a small network or you have a stand-alone computer, insert the Windows 2000 Professional CD, and then restart Windows and try to get the computer to boot from the CD (some computers require you to press a key to boot from the CD). If the computer doesn’t boot from the CD, shut down Windows and the computer, insert the first of the four Windows 2000 Professional Setup disks into the floppy disk drive, and restart the computer. Step through the setup process, and, in the Welcome To Setup section, press R to begin the repair process. In the Windows Repair Options section, press R to use the emergency repair process. Specify whether you want to use the automatic or the manual repair process, and whether you want to use your emergency repair disk, if you have one. Complete the process, restart Windows, and see whether you’ve repaired the problem.
- If none of the foregoing has solved the problem, you might need to repeat the repair process, this time choosing to install a new copy of Windows. However, consult a repair professional first, because this is the last resort.
Next
Last Updated: Friday, July 6, 2001 |
