Clean Boot to Windows 95

Clean Boot to Windows 95
If you have a recurring problem in Windows95 and you think it might be a conflict between devices, TSRs, or maybe a corrupted file or driver that loads at startup, you can do a clean boot to help discover the culprit.

Restart your computer. As soon as you see the words "Starting Windows 95", press the F8 key. When you're presented with the StartUp Menu, highlight 'Step by Step Confirmation' and press the ENTER key. You'll be prompted before each item is loaded. You press 'Y' for Yes (load it), or 'N' for No (don't load it).

So, let's do it. Restart your computer to the StartUp Menu. Choose 'Step by Step Confirmation'. Get a pen and paper and write down what you load and what you don't!

Press 'Y' for the following:
Process the System Registry...Y
load HIMEM.SYS...Y
load DBLBUFF.SYS...Y
load IFSHLP.SYS...Y
load Windows Graphical User Interface...Y
load All Windows Drivers...Y

Press 'N' or No for everything else.

So, the computer won't be creating a log file, it won't be processing the CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT file. It won't be loading any static virtual device drivers. No .VXD files, or .386 files, no network support files or other 3rd party support files.

When windows starts, you need to watch for expected error messages. For instance, if your anti-virus program is loaded in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, its been omitted, and Windows may produce an error message about not being able to find it. That's to be expected.

However, if the original recurring problem is gone, you can definitely suspect one of the items that was omitted during the Clean Boot.

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