Re: sys.ini problems

Hello again Wes:

I hope this will be the last time we need to communicate on this issue.
Yesterday I got a complete update on my AV from Norton. Today I ran a full
system scan in safe mode, which scanned a larger number of files than it did
previously, which I presume is a result of the AV update and running in safe
mode? The scan found 1 bit of adware which the utility rated as "low risk"
and it is quarantined; it also warned that removal might disable some
programs. I don't know what to make of that.

Another issue: in the "standard" list of services at service.msc, I counted
108 services. Is this number normal? Yesterday when I went into the file as
per your instructions, I would guess that nearly half of them were disabled.
As I wrote to you yesterday, I enabled all that I thought were necessary to
my machine; there were several that would NOT start, and displayed an error
message saying the program was not available, or words to that effect. What
I'm asking is: should all services in the standard list be started? or are
there ones I don't need, and can I tell if I need them, or not?

One more thingj: last night I was working with MS Publisher, which I use a
lot, and it ran very slowly and stalled a couple times; not quite to the
point of my having to "end task," but almost. I run Publisher on my Iomega F
drive. Until last night it was running fine.

Any thoughts you might have on these issues will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Bill

"Wesley Vogel" wrote:

Bill,

If you didn't disable those services, something did.

Canned spiel....

UPDATE your antivirus software and run a full system scan.

UPDATE whatever anti-spyware applications that you have and run a full
system scan with each one.

You might want to start in Safe Mode to run your antivirus and anti-spyware
software.

Running a full system antivirus scan or anti-spyware scan in Safe Mode can
be a good idea. Some viruses and other malware like to conceal themselves
in areas Windows protects while using them. Safe mode will prevent those
applications access and therefore unprotect the viruses or other malware
allowing for easier removal.

How to start Windows in Safe Mode Windows XP
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/index.php?showtutorial=61#winxo

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In news:D62D7B3B-F3C9-4BE8-A401-8EB61226ED78@xxxxxxxxxxxxx,
Bill <Bill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> hunted and pecked:
Hi Wes:
It worked! I opened services.msc and followed your instructions. In
addition to the spooler and Themes, there were many other services that
had somehow become disabled. I noticed the "expanded" and "standard" tabs
at the bottom of that page, clicked "standard" and re-activated all those
that were marked "disabled," assuming "standard" meant almost the same
thing as "default." So far everything seems to be working normally, and
the machine is a bit faster than before, which was my original complaint.
The crash also marked my Norton AV subscription as expired, since I know
I had two and a half months left, and I had to contact them by phone to
get that solved. I will follow your advice and do full system scans in
safe mode.

Thanks again for your help.
Cheers,
Bill

"Wesley Vogel" wrote:

Bill,

I would update your AV daily. I use AVG 7 and they have at least 5 or 6
updates a week. I am sure that Norton Anti-Virus is similar. Are you
sure that you do not have it set to automatically update?

FYI, the Win.ini and System.ini are not required by XP, they are both
included for backwards compatibility with old MS-DOS 16 bit programs.
The System.ini file is used to start and store information for drivers
and services; the Win.ini file plays a similar role for applications.
Both of these files were used for different settings before there was
such a thing as a registry.

To check on the Print Spooler and Themes services,
open Services...
Start | Run | Type: services.msc | Click OK |
Scroll down to and double click Print Spooler | On the General tab, set
the Startup type to Automatic | Click Apply | Click the Start button |
When the service starts, click OK

Scroll down to and double click Themes | On the General tab, set the
Startup type to Automatic | Click Apply | Click the Start button | When
the service starts, click OK

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In news:13BA04E2-4F02-4464-821D-45BE51A72C3D@xxxxxxxxxxxxx,
Bill <Bill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> hunted and pecked:
"Wesley Vogel" wrote:

You have apparently disabled *some* services also, i.e. the Themes
service probably.

Never, ever use msconfig to disable services, use services.msc.

You need to re-enable the things that you disabled using msconfig.

Msconfig Stuck in Selective Startup.

Msconfig.exe is the System Configuration Utility.

The Normal startup option reverts to Selective startup if you select
any of the options selected under other tabs in Msconfig.

Open msconfig...
Start | Run | Type: msconfig | Click OK

Click the System.ini tab.
If the Enable All button is available (not grayed out) click on it,
that means that you have something Disabled.
If you have to click the Enable All button then click on the Apply
button also.

Click the Win.ini tab.
If the Enable All button is available (not grayed out) click on it,
that means that you have something Disabled.
If you have to click the Enable All button then click on the Apply
button also.

Click the Boot.ini tab.
If /SAFEBOOT is checked, uncheck it.
If you had to do that then click on the Apply button also.

Click the Services tab.
If the Enable All button is available (not grayed out) click on it,
that means that you have something Disabled.
If you have to click the Enable All button then click on the Apply
button also.

Click the Startup tab.
If the Enable All button is available (not grayed out) click on it,
that means that you have something Disabled.
If you have to click the Enable All button then click on the Apply
button also.

Click on the General tab and select Normal Startup, if it's not already
selected.
Click on the Apply button.
And reboot.

The System Configuration Utility starts when you start your computer
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/312393

Now, the first thing to do when your computer slows down...

UPDATE your antivirus software and run a full system scan.

UPDATE whatever anti-spyware applications that you have and run a full
system scan with each one.

You might want to start in Safe Mode to run your antivirus and
anti-spyware software.

Running a full system antivirus scan or anti-spyware scan in Safe Mode
can be a good idea. Some viruses and other malware like to conceal
themselves in areas Windows protects while using them. Safe mode will
prevent those applications access and therefore unprotect the viruses
or other malware allowing for easier removal.

How to start Windows in Safe Mode Windows XP
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/index.php?showtutorial=61#winxo

Also see...

Why is my computer running so slow, it used to be much faster?
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/slowcom.htm

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In news:E997CB62-9CE9-4AF0-9B89-758BB8E8BA5D@xxxxxxxxxxxxx,
Bill <Bill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> hunted and pecked:
Hello:
My Dell I8200 was starting to run less efficiently than normal, so I
tried a diagnostic recommended by a Website columnist. It said to run
msconfig and then disable one by one the items on the sys.ini tab.
This is where I ran into trouble. This was last night (4 Dec) and
since then the machine has been running in a different mode than
normal, e.g. the task bar is now white instead of default blue. The
print spooler service is not active, and I don't know how to
reactivate. The items in the sys.ini list are all enabled. System
restore doesn't work past the point where the initial crash last
night occurred. Can anyone help me, in English?
Thanks!
Bill

Hello Wes:
Thanks for your timely response to my problem, however, it didn't work.
All the Enable buttons were grayed out, leaving only the Disable buttons
available. I DID notice under the Services tab, some of the services
listed had "stopped" as a status, while others were "running." I presume
that the ones "stopped" are the ones preventing my system from running
properly? So, the question is: how do I get them running again. Before I
posted to this Discussion Group, I had read somewhere of a "process of
elimination" to solve problems like this -- does that sound familiar to
you? Is there some way I can take those "stopped" services one by one
and re-start them?

For the record: I have Norton Anti-Virus, and run full system scans
weekly, and update the virus protection monthly, renewing my
subscription annually. What you said about viruses hiding in protected
areas sounds right to me, because the full system scans report only
about 200+K files examined, when I have almost 16GB of my hard drive
filled, which suggests to me that there are viruses hiding somewhere
Norton couldn't detect. Correct? Once I get this problem solved, I'll
run the scans in Safe Mode, as per your suggestion. Meanwhile, back to
the main problem. Any other ideas?
Many thanks, so far.
Bill


.