Developer Forum

I may have taken on a virus that my Norton System Works
hasn't detected. It now takes about 5-10 minutes to boot
up. I've done a thorough scan and defrag, along with all
the tools that Norton has, with no luck. Powering down
doesn't seem to be affected. There is something that
flashes on the screen, that didn't before, for a brief
second while powering up. It says " "ATI Mach______" with
some numbers behind the "mach."

That is not a virus...it's merely your video card bios...
so it seems you must have just recently replaced your video card.

be sure you have the correct drivers installed...
it's possible that that's what is taking the extra time loading

if you feel that you may be infected with a virus you can
take the original norton disk and scan for a virus it is
possible to infect the norton that is on the system and if
it didnt catch it then it doesnt know what to look for.
when you originally put the norton on your computer it
scanned before it even completely booted up. i would
suggest doing that again. and then see what happens with
that

I'm sorry Philo, I haven't replaced the video card. I'm
still using OEM video & audio. But thanks for replying.
message

with
video card.
loading

ry a Logged Boot. See if you can pin down more closely the source of the delay.

Click Start, and then click Shut down., click Restart, click OK, and then press and hold the CTRL key until the Microsoft Windows 98 Start-up Menu appears. For some machines, you can use F8 instead of CTRL to bring up the Microsoft Windows 98 Start-up Menu. Enter the number for Logged Boot, and then press ENTER. At the end of the boot the system will have created a bootlog.txt file.

A bootlog.txt file can be quite difficult to interpret so you need to use a freeware utility called bootlog analyser to interpret the results. Bootlog analyser details failures and delays. You will be interested in both.

You can download a copy of bootlog analyser through the link which follows:
http://www.vision4.dial.pipex.com/

Have a empty Folder ready on your desktop and download into the folder. Double click the downloaded file to extract and run the utility.

Boot Log Analyzer for Windows 95/98 from Gemini Affinitas Ltd (v1.22)

FREE Boot Log Analyzer utility to help in identifying Windows95/98 boot-up problems.
Looks at your Windows95 BOOTLOG.TXT file and calculates the time taken to load each driver etc, in order to help in locating any cause of lengthy boot-up times. The displayed result can be sorted by loading duration, filtered to show only those items with long durations or which reported failure, and saved to a text file.

Post a copy of the report on failures / delays provided by Bootlog Analyser ( no attachments please ) and see what comments you get.

How large is your hard disk and how much free space? In Windows Explorer
right click on your C drive and select Properties. How much ram memory?

Download Adaware from http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/ and use it to remove parasites.

How good is your housekeeping?

1. In Outlook Express empty your Deleted Items folder.

2. In Outlook Express run File, Folder, Compact All whilst OFFLINE.

3. Remove Temporary Internet Files by selecting Start, Settings, Control Panel, Internet Options, General tab, Delete Files and check box for "Delete all offline content".

4. Empty Recycle Bin.

5. Run Disk Defragmenter in Safe Mode. Running in Safe Mode may be slower than in normal mode but generally is more certain to eliminate the restarting problem coming from other programmes writing to disk.

To start Windows in safe mode Click Start, and then click Shut down. Click Restart, click OK, and then press and hold the CTRL key until the Microsoft Windows 98 Startup Menu appears. For some machines, you can use F8 instead of CTRL to bring up the Microsoft Windows 98 Start-up Menu. Enter the number for Safe mode, and then press ENTER.


~~~~~~


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FCA
XXXX@XXXXX.COM
Stourport, Worcs, England
Enquire, plan and execute.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please tell the newsgroup how any
suggested solution worked for you.
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


< XXXX@XXXXX.COM > wrote in message news:025b01c3cc8b$9d78b580$ XXXX@XXXXX.COM ...

I tried your suggestion, but no bananas. Uninstalled
Norton and reinstalled it with disc in. Thanks for the
suggestion.
if
with

ATI is your video card.
http://www.yqcomputer.com/
Unfortunately, the article just deals with Win95 - but it
sounds like your problem.

I don't pretend to know any thing about your video problem,
but I reduced my boot up time significantly and I also have
a line of gibberish in my start up that doesn't mean
anything, so I'll assume you don't have a virus either.

Begin with start > run > msconfig. On the General Tab, put
a dot in Selective startup and check Process config.sys
file, Autoexec.bat file, System.ini file, Win.ini file &
Load startup groups items. Then go to your Startup tab and
uncheck anything unnecessary - pare it down to bare bones.

I have Tweak UI, which lets me reduce boot up time even
more: Go to Boot Tab: Boot menu and reduce the seconds to 2
or 3 (it's probably set at 60 or more). You'll still have
plenty of time to hit Scroll Lock if you see anything out of
place.

Good Luck!

````````````````````

On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 05:01:02 -0800, "Bob"






Practice safe eating - always use condiments

seemed to have narrowed it down. A few days ago I
decided to finally see why my scanner had not worked for a
while. I disconnected it from my USB hub and connected it
straight to the PC. That didn't work so after trying all
the un/reinstalling I checked the MSCONFIG start up page,
and noticed the scanner was listed twice and not checked
in one box. Vohla!? It worked. That's when the boot
problems started. So today, I needed the scanner again,
and it wouldn't work. It wasn't even listed in the Control
Panel under "scanners and cameras." So I unplugged it and
plugged it back in and Vohla! Not only did it work, but my
boot time changed back to normal. But now, I can't get my
Compact Flash reader designated as a drive. It's listed in
the device manager and the driver say's it's working, but
there is no drive letter showing it. There's only 2 USB
ports in the back or the PC. One is for the hub, the other
is my HP6200 scanner. In the hub is a SanDisk card reader,
an external hard drive and my Cannon i950 printer. In the
mean time I'll keep playing with it. But I may have too
much going on for this lil' ole PII 450. Thanks to all,
again.
the source of the delay.
click OK, and then press and hold the CTRL key until the
Microsoft Windows 98 Start-up Menu appears. For some
machines, you can use F8 instead of CTRL to bring up the
Microsoft Windows 98 Start-up Menu. Enter the number for
Logged Boot, and then press ENTER. At the end of the boot
the system will have created a bootlog.txt file.
you need to use a freeware utility called bootlog analyser
to interpret the results. Bootlog analyser details
failures and delays. You will be interested in both.
link which follows:
into the folder. Double click the downloaded file to
extract and run the utility.
Ltd (v1.22)
Windows95/98 boot-up problems.
the time taken to load each driver etc, in order to help
in locating any cause of lengthy boot-up times. The
displayed result can be sorted by loading duration,
filtered to show only those items with long durations or
which reported failure, and saved to a text file.
by Bootlog Analyser ( no attachments please ) and see what
comments you get.
Windows Explorer
much ram memory?
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/ and use it to
remove parasites.
whilst OFFLINE.
Settings, Control Panel, Internet Options, General tab,
Delete Files and check box for "Delete all offline
content".
Mode may be slower than in normal mode but generally is
more certain to eliminate the restarting problem coming
from other programmes writing to disk.
Shut down. Click Restart, click OK, and then press and
hold the CTRL key until the Microsoft Windows 98 Startup
Menu appears. For some machines, you can use F8 instead of
CTRL to bring up the Microsoft Windows 98 Start-up Menu.
Enter the number for Safe mode, and then press ENTER.
news:025b01c3cc8b$9d78b580$ XXXX@XXXXX.COM ...
Works
boot
all
down
brief
bios...
time

I seemed to have narrowed it down. A few days ago I
decided to finally see why my scanner had not worked for a
while. I disconnected it from my USB hub and connected it
straight to the PC. That didn't work so after trying all
the un/reinstalling I checked the MSCONFIG start up page,
and noticed the scanner was listed twice and not checked
in one box. Vohla!? It worked. That's when the boot
problems started. So today, I needed the scanner again,
and it wouldn't work. It wasn't even listed in the Control
Panel under "scanners and cameras." So I unplugged it and
plugged it back in and Vohla! Not only did it work, but my
boot time changed back to normal. But now, I can't get my
Compact Flash reader designated as a drive. It's listed in
the device manager and the driver say's it's working, but
there is no drive letter showing it. There's only 2 USB
ports in the back or the PC. One is for the hub, the other
is my HP6200 scanner. In the hub is a SanDisk card reader,
an external hard drive and my Cannon i950 printer. In the
mean time I'll keep playing with it. But I may have too
much going on for this lil' ole PII 450. Thanks to all,
again.
problem,
have
put
and
to 2
of

brief