Can only start in safe mode

[monarols]

Hi there, just doin some work on a friends PC, 486 DX100/8 ram/2.2gb H/D/Win 95. I can only start it in Safe Mode. If I start it in Normal mode, I get the message "insuffient memory to run windows, quit programs running in config sys and autoexec files, then restart". The PC has been running fine till now. He claims that it happened after he dragged 2 files into another location on the desktop (Tho I seriously doubt it) So far, I have backed up config sys and auto exec and removed the 2 entries from the files,so they are empty, but I just get a windows protection error message. If I replace the config.sys and Auto exec files with what was there originally, I get the first message again. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Warmest regards, Chris
Dell Inspiron 8000 Notebook
P3/600 256mb ram
32 mb ATI Mobility M4 AGPx4 video card
Win 2K Pro SP Installed

Always think OUTSIDE the square

 

[BradSQLGuy]

Actually by moving a file to the desktop it could cause problems. When booting windows it needs atleast enough memory to load the icons/programs on the desktop. Being able to boot in safe mode frees memory because it only is loading basic drivers therefore leaving you with enough memory to atleast run. Honestly to run any services microsoft recommends 8MB RAM but realistically this is not enough. My suggestion is to get more memory for the computer. Memory for that computer may be hard to come by since it probably is using SIMM's which aren't cheap.

 

[BanditWk]

In regards to above message, if you can only boot in Safe Mode, move the specific Desktop files to another location (you can do this by find the specific files in Windows Explorer under the directory "Desktop" which, if I remember correctly, is under the specific directory of Windows)...

Try that and hopefully, this will allow you to boot up the program normally...

If this doesn't work, try "SCANREG /FIX" from Run in Start to see if maybe the Registry isn't bad or something. If it is, it may allow you to restore to a previous, correct boot-up Registry or you can request for it by using "SCANREG /RESTORE"

Hope this will work!

btw, SIMMs are a dime a dozen (at least, here in Vegas) and you can get an 8Meg stick for about $20 if that. Also, I believe the recommendations for Win 95 is at least 16 or 32Mb of RAM...

Good Luck!

Roy
aka BanditWk
roy@cccamerica.org