Scandisk has stopped autobooting after a Windows 98 crash

[ecto]

When I would reboot Windows98 SE after a crash, Scandisk would always perform a scan before Windows started, and I would get a message saying ..."Windows has shut down improperly. To prevent Scandisk from running again, always shut Windows down properly..." or some similar statement. Now Scandisk does not start up during a reboot. How do I fix this problem. Thanks!

Cheers,

ecto

 

[artguy]

Make sure it's not disabled for whatever reason. I don't know how this would have changed but check it first anyway.

On the toolbar click Start, click Run.

Type msconfig, and click OK.

Click the Advanced button in the lower right under the general tab, and make sure Disable Scandisk after bad shutdown option is not checked.

 

[mattjurado]

If that doesn't do it, edit the msdos.sys file, see if autoscan=0, should be autoscan=1. Its read-only, so you'll have to change the attributes.

attrib -r -h msdos.sys.

Matt J.

Please always take the time to backup any and all data before performing any actions suggested for ANY problem, regardless of how minor a change it might seem. Also test the backup to make sure it is intact.

 

[ecto]

Thank you to both previous replies. However, msdos.sys file does have AutoScan=1 and in msconfig advanced, Disable Scandisk after bad shutdown option is not checked. I am still puzzled as to how to fix this issue. Again, many thanks.

Cheers,

ecto

 

[mattjurado]

If u run scandisk in windows, does the program launch and operate?

Matt J.

Please always take the time to backup any and all data before performing any actions suggested for ANY problem, regardless of how minor a change it might seem. Also test the backup to make sure it is intact.

 

[TekTippy4U]

got SCANDISK.INI in C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND ?

your msdos.sys file may be overlooked if you have winboot.sys or somesuch on there.

in MSCONFIG
got a winstart.bat on General tab available?? or greyed out?

Got Norton (NSW) or similar installed?


TT4U

Notification:
These are just my thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs

 

[ecto]

Thanks again to everyone who has responded.

To respond to your questions, I am able to run scandisk in Windows98, although I prefer using Norton Utilities Disk Doctor. However I think scandisk is still my default program.

As to overlooking my msdos.sys on startup, indeed when I look at the General Tab in MSCONFIG winstart.bat is greyed out. I have Selective Startup checked, and all process categories (except the greyed out "Process winstart.bat") and load startup group items are checked. But MSCONFIG has been set this way during most of the time that scandisk would run at startup after rebooting from a crash.

I used to have NAV installed along with Zone Alarm, but there were conflicts with the 2004 NAV and my older Zone Alarm, so I removed both programs and now use in their place Trend Micro Internet Security suite (PC-cillan, firewall, spam blocker, privacy data protection and url filter). I am also running McAfee Spam Killer, Spybot Search & Destroy v.2.3, and PestPatrol v.4.4.3.36. I think I have Norton Utilities 2000 and not Norton System Works.

Also of note, I have 2 msdos.sys files, one in the C:\ root directory and one in the C:\Windows directory. The one in the root directory has these lines:

[Paths]
WinDir=C:\WINDOWS
WinBootDir=C:\WINDOWS
HostWinBootDrv=C
UninstallDir=C:
[Options]
BootWin=1
BootMulti=0
BootGUI=1
DoubleBuffer=1

Then there is a big block of null data:

;The following lines are required for compatibility with other programs.
;Do not remove them (MSDOS.SYS needs to be >1024 bytes).
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxa

Then these lines at the bottom:

AutoScan=1
WinVer=4.10.2222

The one in the Windows directory has these lines:

[Paths]
WinDir=C:\WINDOWS
WinBootDir=C:\WINDOWS
HostWinBootDrv=C

[Options]
BootMulti=0
BootGUI=1
DoubleBuffer=1

Then there is a big block of null data:

;The following lines are required for compatibility with other programs.
;Do not remove them (MSDOS.SYS needs to be >1024 bytes).
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxa

Then these lines at the bottom:

AutoScan=1
WinVer=4.10.2222

Is it significant that these files are different? Should the AutoScan=1 be listed BEFORE the null data block? Do I need both files?

Maybe it's not that critical that scandisk runs automatically after a crash and reboot, because I will manually run it in Windows following a crash. Sometimes I will run both Norton Disk Doctor and Scan Disk and get additional fixes from scandisk that Norton DD has missed. But I always like to try and figure things out when something stops working.

Thanks again for all your help. Perhaps this additional information will lead you to help me solve this issue.

Cheers,

ecto

 

[ecto]

P.S. Yes, SCANDISK.INI is located in my Windows/Command directory, 7,329 bytes 4/23/99 file date.