This is only the second chapter in Inside Windows 2000 Professional, and you're already reading about troubleshooting. I've got a good reason for putting this chapter here. Although many people have no problem installing Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional, many do have trouble. Often, the kinds of problems that users have are simply a matter of education. For example, you must log on to the computer as a member of the Administrators group in order to change many per-computer settings. Other times, real problems occur and solutions are available. Few users will avoid all of these problems; thus, the reason for a troubleshooting chapter so early in this book.
This chapter does not describe any sort of methodology. It presents problems I've observed, and offers solutions or, at the very least, answers. These are problems that you're likely to encounter during the setup process and immediately after it. Thus, the point of this chapter is to get you up-and-running as quickly as possible. Other chapters in this book offer more specific troubleshooting help for specific parts of Windows 2000 Professional, by the way. For example, Chapter 3, "Configuring Hardware," describes in more detail how to troubleshoot devices, and Chapter 5, "Installing Applications," shows how to troubleshoot applications. These are the two biggest areas where users tend to have trouble.
I've organized this chapter in the order in which you're likely to see problems occur. The setup process is first, followed by starting Windows 2000 Professional, logging on to the operating system, and configuring it. This chapter closes with information about additional sources of trouble-shooting help, such as the operating system's extensive troubleshooting wizards and System Information. If you're using an earlier version of Windows and you don't find answers to questions here, take a look at the quick start appendixes: Appendix B, "Quick Start for Windows 98 Users," and Appendix C, "Quick Start for Windows NT 4.0 Users." These quick start appendixes show users how to use features that are new to them.
For most users, the Setup program doesn't fail. When it does fail, trouble-shooting the problem is so frustrating that you might feel like giving up. Don't—because Windows 2000 Professional is worthy of a good effort.
When installing Windows 2000 Professional on ACPI-based computers, BIOS problems are the most common reasons that the setup process fails. More specifically, some ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) BIOSes are incompatible with the operating system. These problems usually cause the text-mode phase of the setup process to fail, never allowing the process to move on into the graphical, Windows 2000 Professional phase. The setup program uses a list of good BIOSes to determine whether the operating system should use ACPI, but some BIOSes slip through the cracks and the setup program enables ACPI, even if it won't work properly on that computer.
Steps for resolving this problem on ACPI-based computers include the following:
Check for an updated ACPI BIOS from your computer's manufacturer. Often, an updated BIOS will alleviate many installation problems. In some rare cases, you might have to exchange your system board for a more recent version that does work properly with Windows 2000 Professional.
Double-check to see that your computer is in Microsoft's Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) in the ACPI section. The hardware compatibility list is on the CD-ROM in SupportHcl.txt. Also, find a more up-to-date version at http://www.microsoft.com/hcl. If your computer isn't on the list, prevent the Setup program from enabling ACPI.
Some ACPI-based computers just aren't compatible with Windows 2000 Professional. Short of upgrading the computer's BIOS, you can get instant relief by disabling ACPI. The best way to disable ACPI is to do so using the BIOS. This ensures that devices don't wrongly assume that the operating system is using ACPI. Most ACPI BIOSes have an option that allows you to disable ACPI. I've successfully installed Windows 2000 Professional on a few incompatible computers after disabling ACPI in the BIOS. On the computers that don't have such an option, prevent the Setup program from using the ACPI HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) when you run the Setup program. During the text-mode phase of the setup process, press F5 at the Setup is inspecting your computer's hardware configuration screen. You have a small window of opportunity to press F5, so react quickly.
If you miss your chance, abort and restart the Setup program. Choose the HAL that's most appropriate for your computer, other than any of the ACPI HALs. For what it's worth, beta testers frequently refer to this process as F5'ing the setup process. Alternatively, change Txtsetup.sif, which is in i386 on the CD-ROM, to prevent the Setup program from enabling ACPI. To do so, you must either burn a new CD-ROM or create an installation folder on the network or somewhere in the computer's file system. Search for and change ACPIEnable to 0.
Ensure that no ISA device is using IRQ 9. ACPI uses this IRQ for PCI IRQ steering, and allowing an ISA device to use it creates an IRQ conflict. Either reconfigure the device so it uses a different IRQ or try reserving IRQ 9 for ISA devices using the BIOS.
Other problems that prevent you from installing Windows 2000 Professional aren't caused by ACPI incompatibilities; they are caused by good old-fashioned resource conflicts. In fact, mixing PCI and ISA devices is the second biggest cause for the setup process failing, after incompatible ACPI BIOSes. The operating system doesn't have a reliable mechanism for learning ISA devices' resource settings, causing resource conflicts when it tries to configure PCI devices. The easiest solution, assuming that you know what resources each ISA device uses, is to reserve those resources in the BIOS, preventing the operating system from allocating those resources to PCI devices. The next solution is to remove all ISA devices from the computer until after you install Windows 2000 Professional.
After installing the operating system, use Device Manager to determine what resources are available, and reconfigure your ISA devices to use those resources. If you lost a device's manual and don't know how to reconfigure it, check the independent hardware vendor's (IHV's) Web site or find help using DejaNews, http://www.deja.com.
The third most common reason that the setup program fails is that it might be using incorrect mass-storage device drivers, or your computer's mass-storage devices might be configured incorrectly. The first is common for system boards that are new relative to the release of Windows 2000 Professional that you're using. Most system boards come with disks that contain mass-storage device drivers, though, and you install those drivers early in the setup process. During the text-mode phase of the setup process, press F6 at the Setup is inspecting your computer's hardware configuration screen. Choose a mass-storage device driver from the list or use the device driver that came with your system board. You can also download a mass-storage device driver from the system board's manufacturer and create a disk containing them. The second case is when SCSI devices are configured incorrectly. Check to make sure you don't have any other SCSI devices, such as scanners and removable drives, attached to them and that you've properly terminated the SCSI bus.
See Also
Chapter 3, "Configuring Hardware," for more information about ACPI BIOSes and how the Setup program determines whether a BIOS is compatible with Windows 2000 Professional.
The Setup program might stop responding when upgrading from Microsoft Windows 98 to Windows 2000 Professional. This typically occurs during the first part of the setup process, when the Setup program examines the computer's configuration. Using the SafeMode option, the Setup program logs its progress so the next time you run the program, it skips the process that caused the failure. The whole process requires that you run the Setup program three times (you might have to run the Setup program more than three times if more than one process causes the program to fail):
Run the Setup program and it fails.
Run the Setup program with the SafeMode option, and it fails, creating Setupact.log in SystemRoot.
Run the Setup program with the SafeMode option, and it uses Setupact.log to avoid the failure.
To use the SafeMode option, start the Setup program using the following command: winnt32.exe /#u:SafeMode.
During the setup process, failures can occur that don't have easy explanations. If you have access to Microsoft Developers Network (MSDN), you can use checked versions of Migisol.exe to create debug logs that might be useful for locating the problem:
Copy the checked version of Migisol.exe to the i386 folder on the installation folder, which must be on a network share or stored locally.
Copy the checked version of W95upg.dll to i386win9Xupg on the installation folder.
Create an answer file (call it Debug.inf) that contains the lines in Listing 2.1.
Run the Setup program using the following command: winnt32.exe /#u:dolog.
The Setup program creates two log files, both in the root directory of the system partition. Debug9x.log contains information about the Windows98 phase of the setup process, and Debugnt.log contains information about the Windows 2000 Professional phase of the process. In these files, you find information about hardware detection and compatibility, results of any upgrade packs, and other information relating to the upgrade process. These log files very well might indicate the reason that the Setup program failed.
After the Setup program starts the Windows 2000 Professional phase of the setup process, all bets are off. You can no longer abort the installation, and you can't uninstall Windows 2000 Professional to restore the operating system that you're upgrading.
When upgrading to Windows 2000 Professional, the Setup program wipes out the previous operating system. During the first phase of the setup process, the Setup program migrates settings and files from the existing operating system. During the second phase of the setup process, the Setup program migrates those settings and files back into Windows 2000 Professional. Thus, it leaves few of the previous operating system's artifacts laying around, and there is certainly not enough left to restore it.
If you think for a moment that you might want to remove Windows 2000 Professional, back up the computer before starting the Setup program. The easiest way to back up the computer is to back it up to tape or some other mass storage device, such as a ZIP disk. Alternatively, if you want to try this new operating system without risking your current configuration, install it in a dual-boot configuration with your previous operating system.
See Also
Chapter 1, "Installing Windows," to learn more about installing Windows 2000 Professional in a dual-boot configuration.
Here's a checklist for troubleshooting dual-boot configurations between Windows 2000 Professional and earlier versions of Windows:
Earlier versions of Windows won't start . The system partition must use FAT, not NTFS. This is the only file system in common between Windows 2000 Professional and versions of Windows other than Microsoft Windows NT Workstation.
All operating systems in a dual-boot configuration are unstable . You must install each operating system on its own partition. Don't try installing Windows 98 and Windows 2000 Professional on the same volume, for example, because this can cause the operating systems to share incompatible files.
Windows NT Workstation 4.0 can't read NTFS volumes after installing Windows 2000 Professional . NTFS 5 introduces many new features, and Windows 2000 Professional upgrades all NTFS volumes it finds to NTFS 5 after you install it. Unfortunately, NTFS 5 is not completely compatible with NTFS 4. Thus, you must install Service Pack 4 or greater in Windows NT Workstation 4.0 prior to installing Windows 2000 Professional in a dual-boot configuration.
You can no longer start Windows 2000 Professional after installing MS-DOS or Microsoft Windows 95 . Neither operating system is aware of dual-boot configurations, so you must install both before installing Windows 2000 Professional. If you already installed MS-DOS or Windows 95 after installing Windows 2000 Professional, use the repair process, which you learn about later in this chapter, to restore it.
Devices no longer work in Windows 2000 Professional after starting Windows 98 . Windows 95 and Windows 98 might reconfigure devices when you run them, and Windows 2000 Professional won't be aware of these changes. This can cause Windows 2000 Professional to assume that the device's configuration has not changed, even though it has. Try using Device Manager to rescan the computer's configuration, which you learn about in Chapter 3, "Configuring Hardware."
Applications aren't available in all operating systems . You must install any applications you want to use in all operating systems under which you want to use them. Each operating system is a separate entity, requiring you to repeat the installation in each operating system.
See Also
Chapter 3, "Configuring Hardware," to learn how to force Windows 2000 Professional to rescan the computer for configuration changes.
Chapter 1, "Installing Windows," to learn how to install Windows 2000 Professional in a dual-boot configuration with earlier versions o f Windows.
When Windows 2000 Professional refuses to start, troubleshooting becomes a nefarious process. Because the operating system can't start, you don't have access to many of the troubleshooting tools that it provides. Still, a number of options are available that can help get your computer running in these cases. Mind you, if you've installed a new copy of the operating system, try reinstalling the operating system before sitting down for a painful debugging session; you don't have much to lose. If you upgraded from an earlier version of Windows and Windows 2000 Professional won't start, you probably care a great deal about the files you might lose, so use the tools that you learn about in this section to get things up-and-running again.
If you previously started Windows 2000 Professional and now it won't start due to a change you made during your last session, restoring the Last Known Good Configuration might be just the ticket. For example, if you installed a new device driver and now the operating system won't start, you can restore the Last Known Good Configuration, which restores the operating system's configuration the way it was before you installed the device driver. Did you accidentally disable a service that the operating system requires to start? Restore the Last Known Good Configuration. This nifty capability doesn't restore per-user settings, software settings, or any settings that aren't part of a control set—a portion of the registry that contains hardware and operating settings. Look in the registry at HKLMSystem. The Select subkey contains values that define the current control set, the default control set, the control set that last failed, and the last known good control set. Here's how to restore the Last Known Good Configuration:
When you see Starting Windows at the bottom of the screen, press F8 to display the Windows 2000 Advanced Options menu.
On the Windows 2000 Advanced Options menu, choose Last Known Good Configuration.
On the Hardware Profile/Configuration Recovery menu, choose the configuration you want to use.
If you're using a desktop computer, you're likely to see a single item called Profile 1. If you're using a mobile computer, however, you might see two different items: docked and undocked. Choose whichever option is appropriate.
Windows 2000 Professional has new features that help you troubleshoot problems that keep the operating system from starting properly: Safe Mode and Recovery Console. Windows 2000 Professional uses an Emergency Repair Process that's similar to earlier versions of Windows NT Workstation, but its usefulness is limited if you can't start the operating system after installing it, because you must be able to start the operating system in order to create an Emergency Repair Disk (ERD). To create an ERD, use Microsoft Windows Backup, which you will learn about in Chapter 7, "Managing Disks and Files."
Safe Mode in Windows 2000 Professional is similar to the same feature in Windows 98. It starts the computer with a minimum of device drivers and services. With Safe Mode, you can start the operating system when a device driver prevents it from starting normally. Keep in mind that most devices (other than the keyboard, mouse, and display adapter) won't work properly while running the operating system in Safe Mode. To start in Safe Mode, restart the computer and, when you see Starting Windows, press F8; then choose one of the following options from the Windows 2000 Advanced Options menu:
Safe Mode . Starts Windows 2000 Professional with a minimum set of drivers and services, and doesn't provide support for network connections.
Safe Mode with Networking . Similar to Safe Mode, but also includes support for network connections.
Safe Mode with Command Prompt . Starts Windows 2000 Professional, but displays the command prompt instead of the desktop and taskbar.
Enable Boot Logging . Logs the drivers and services that Windows 2000 Professional loads or can't load as it boots. It stores the log in a file called Ntbtlog.txt in SystemRoot.
Enable VGA Mode . Starts Windows 2000 Professional with the basic VGA driver, which is useful if your faulty display driver is preventing the operating system from starting properly.
Last Known Good Configuration . Restores portions of the registry that the operating system saved the last time Windows 2000 Professional shut down, which is useful if a new device driver prevents the operating system from starting normally.
Directory Service Restore Mode . Restores the SYSVOL directory and the directory service on a Domain Controller (Windows 2000 Server Domain Controllers only).
Debugging Mode . Starts Windows 2000 Professional, but sends debugging information through a serial cable to another computer.
Note
Safe Mode is not useful if one of the devices in the minimum configuration fails. Failing keyboard device drivers will prevent Windows 2000 Professional from starting in Safe Mode. If you're not able to start the operating system in Safe Mode, use Recovery Console, which you will learn about in the next section, to attempt repairing the operating system.
One of Windows NT Workstation's age-old problems has been that once you change the boot partition's file system to NTFS, you cannot access it from MS-DOS. Thus, creating a bootable MS-DOS disk with which you can examine the file system and repair the operating system was not an option. You couldn't even boot the computer to MS-DOS in order to recover files off the dead volume. Winternals Software , http://www.winternals.com , publishes a utility that allows you to get files off a dead NTFS volume.
Windows 2000 Professional partly goes further with Recovery Console, however. You can start the computer using Recovery Console, which provides commands that you can use to disable services, repair a damaged system volume, or even replace missing system files. It provides limited access to the computer, however, preventing you from copying files to removable drives and restricting you to files in SystemRoot. Even though you can't use Repair Console to recover files, you can use it to copy files from a removable disk to any location in SystemRoot.
Without planning ahead, the only way to start Recovery Console is via the Setup program. Start the Setup program from boot disks or the Windows 2000 Professional CD-ROM. When the program asks if you want to install Windows 2000 Professional or repair an installation, press R to repair an installation, and choose to start Recovery Console. You must log on to Recovery Console using the local Administrator account and password (the Setup program prompted you for the password of the local Administrator account when you installed the operating systems).
Recovery Console supports a limited number of commands. Type help at Recovery Console's command prompt to learn more about them, most of which work similarly to the same commands in MS-DOS:
Attrib . Changes a file or directory's attributes.
Batch . Executes a batch file.
Cd (Chdir) . Changes directories or displays the name of the current directory.
Chkdsk . Scans the disk for errors and optionally repairs errors on the disk.
Cls . Clears the screen.
Copy . Copies a single file to another directory.
Del (Delete) . Deletes one or more files.
Dir . Displays the contents of a directory.
Disable . Disables a service or device driver.
Diskpart . Manages partitions on the disk.
Enable . Starts a service or device driver.
Exit . Exits Recovery Command Console and restarts the computer.
Expand . Extracts a file from a compressed file.
Fixboot . Writes a new partition boot sector on the system partition.
Fixmbr . Repairs the master boot record on the partition boot sector.
Format . Formats a disk.
Help . Displays a list of commands that Recovery Command Console supports.
Listsvc . Lists the services available on the computer.
Logon . Logs on to Windows 2000.
Map . Displays drive letter mappings.
Md (Mkdir) . Creates a directory.
More . Displays a text file one page at a time.
Ren (Rename) . Renames a single.
Rd (Rmdir) . Removes a directory.
Set . Displays a list of environment variables or sets an environment variable.
Systemroot . Changes to the root of the Windows 2000 installation to which you're logged on.
If you want to make Recovery Console more accessible, install it as a choice in the list of available operating systems. This is like installing Recovery Console and Windows 2000 Professional in a dual-boot configuration, except that you install both on the same partition. This makes Recovery Console available as an operating system each time you start the computer. To install Recovery Console, use the following command to run the Setup program: winnt32.exe /cmdcons.
Boot.ini is a file in the root directory of the system partition that describes the operating systems you can choose and any options that apply to them. The lists of operating systems that you see when you start computers in dual-boot configurations result from this file. Listing 2.2 shows a typical Boot.ini file.
[boot loader] timeout=30 default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS [operating systems] multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect /SOS C:CMDCONSBOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Recovery Console" /cmdcons
Boot.ini supports options that might help you figure out why Windows 2000 Professional won't start. If the system partition uses the FAT file system, edit Boot.ini by using a text-based editor after starting the computer with MS-DOS. Also, if the system partition uses the NTFS file system, you must start another copy of Windows 2000 Professional or Windows NT Workstation 4.0 with Service Pack 3 in order to edit Boot.ini. In either case, you must reset the file's system and hidden attributes in order to edit it. In Listing 2.2, the first item under [operating systems] indicates the location o f Windows 2000 Professional. It includes two options: /fastdetect and /SOS. You learn about these two options and a few others that are useful for troubleshooting why the operating system
doesn't start in the following list: