Chapter 24 - Device Management

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This chapter describes how Microsoft Windows 98 manages system devices. It also provides instructions for installing and configuring both Plug and Play–compliant and legacy devices, including PC Cards (also known as Personal Computer Memory Card International Association [PCMCIA] cards), display adapters, mouse devices, and communications ports.

See Also

  • For information about the components that work together in Windows 98 to configure the system, see Chapter 28, "Windows 98 Architecture." 

  • For information about the Windows 98 registry, see Chapter 31, "Windows 98 Registry." 

  • For information about Universal Serial Bus (USB) and the IEEE 1394 bus, see Chapter 30, "Hardware Management." 

Overview of Device Management

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Windows 98 allows you to configure and manage your system devices by using Device Manager, which you gain access to by clicking the System icon in Control Panel. Using Device Manager is recommended and is described in the sections that follow.

Note If Windows 98 does not include a driver for your device, check the \Drivers directory on the Windows 98 compact disc.

Understanding Device and Bus Classes

To install and manage device drivers and allocate resources, Windows 98 groups devices and buses into classes. The registry contains a subkey for every class of device supported, and the hardware tree (described in "The Hardware Tree" later in this chapter) is organized by bus type. Windows 98 uses class installers to install drivers for all hardware classes. Device Manager, for example, sends messages to the various class installers to tell them to add, remove, or configure specific hardware.

The following are some examples of class names defined in the Windows 98 registry.

Adapter
CD-ROM
Display
FDC
HDC
HID

Keyboard
Media
Modem
Monitor
Mouse

MTD
Net
NetService
Nodriver
PC Card

Ports
Printer
SCSI Adapter
System
USB devices

The Hardware Tree

The Windows 98 hardware tree is a record of the current system configuration, based on the configuration information for all devices in the hardware branch of the registry. The hardware tree is created in random access memory (RAM) each time the system is started or whenever a dynamic change occurs to the system configuration.

Each branch in the tree defines a device node with the following requirements for system configuration:

  • Unique identification code, or device ID. 

  • List of required resources, including resource type, such as interrupt request (IRQ) and memory range. 

  • List of allocated resources. 

  • Indication that the device node is a bus, if applicable (each bus device has additional device nodes under it in the tree). 

For more information about the components that work together in Windows 98 to configure the system, see Chapter 28, "Windows 98 Architecture."

Displaying Hardware Tree Information in Device Manager

Most information in the Windows 98 hardware tree can be accessed by using Device Manager, shown in Figure 24.1. Device Manager contains a representation of the active hardware device tree, listing the system device nodes. Under each node are listed the actual devices configured for your system; double-clicking a device node exposes its device list. You can reconfigure the device driver and resource settings for a specific device from the Device Properties dialog box, reached by clicking the device name and then Properties.

For more information about using Device Manager to configure devices, see "Configuring Device Settings" later in this chapter.

Note You can also see the information in the hardware tree in the Windows 98 registry. For more information about the Windows 98 registry, see Chapter 31, "Windows 98 Registry."

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Figure 24.1 Device Manager dialog box 

Plug and Play Support

Plug and Play is an independent set of computer architecture specifications that hardware manufacturers use to produce computer devices that can be configured with no user intervention. When you install a device, you do not need to know its Plug and Play requirements, because they will be set automatically.

You can install hot-pluggable Plug and Play–compliant devices simply by plugging in the device. For other devices, such as Plug and Play Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) cards, you must plug in or install a device while the computer is off and then turn the computer back on to initialize the device.

For example, a user can do the following:

  • Insert and remove such Plug and Play–compliant devices as PC Cards without having to configure them. 

  • Connect to or disconnect from a docking station or network without restarting the computer or changing configuration parameters.

  • Add a new monitor by plugging it in and turning it on. 

Windows 98 detects the presence of a Plug and Play–compliant device. This is known as enumerating the device. After enumeration, the device driver can be configured and then loaded dynamically, requiring little or no user input. Certain buses (for example, peripheral component interconnect [PCI] and Universal Serial Bus [USB]) are also automatically enumerated; these buses take full advantage of Plug and Play capability.

You can add some Plug and Play functionality by adding Plug and Play–compliant devices on legacy computers. Therefore, it is best to add Plug and Play–compliant devices on legacy computers rather than adding non–Plug and Play devices. To be able to use all Plug and Play features, however, your system must also include one of the following:

  • An Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) BIOS. 

  • A Plug and Play BIOS (for Plug and Play devices on the system board). 

  • The Plug and Play–compliant hardware devices (including buses). 

The Plug and Play implementation in the Windows 98 operating system provides the following benefits:

  • Dynamically loads, initializes, and unloads drivers in protected mode. 

  • Supports a wide range of device types (as described in "Plug and Play Device Types" later in this chapter). 

  • Provides enumeration of devices, which is critical for Plug and Play on legacy computers. 

  • Notifies other drivers and applications when a new device is available for use. Windows 98 also includes an automatic installation procedure to ensure that appropriate drivers are installed and loaded. 

  • Provides robust, seamless operation through the integration of all subsystems and the startup process. 

  • Provides an architecture with a consistent driver and bus interface for all devices. 

For more information about ACPI, see Chapter 30, "Hardware Management."

For more information about the supporting architecture, see Chapter 28, "Windows 98 Architecture."

Plug and Play Device Types

A variety of devices are compliant with Plug and Play. The following sections describe the types of devices and provide details for Plug and Play.

Note Windows 98 assigns resources first to ISA, EISA, and Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) devices, next to PCI devices, and finally to Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) devices.

USB Devices

Universal Serial Bus is a bus standard that brings Plug and Play capability to external hardware devices, such as keyboards, mouse devices, speakers, and cameras. USB devices are hot pluggable. This means that they can be connected at any time, even when the computer is running. USB devices are automatically configured as soon as they are physically attached — without the need to reboot or run the setup sequence. Windows 98 supports USB and includes a driver for a digital camera. Contact your hardware manufacturers for other drivers.

IEEE 1394 Devices

The IEEE 1394 bus is designed for high-bandwidth PC devices such as digital camcorders, cameras, and videodisc players. Windows 98 supports hot plugging of IEEE 1394 devices. To use an IEEE 1394 device, you must obtain the appropriate Win 32 Driver Model (WDM) driver. Windows 98 includes a driver for a digital camera; for other drivers, contact your hardware manufacturer.

For more information about USB and the IEEE 1394 bus, see Chapter 30, "Hardware Management."

SCSI Devices

Small computer system interface (SCSI) is a multiple-device chained interface used for many devices such as hard disks and CD-ROM drives. Plug and Play SCSI devices support dynamic changes to the adapter and automatic configuration of device ID and termination, as long as the driver supports it.

Configuration of a SCSI device can be separated into two distinct processes:

  • Configuring the SCSI bus itself, for example, by terminating both ends of the SCSI bus and setting device IDs. 

  • Configuring the SCSI host adapter, for example, by assigning an interrupt request (IRQ) channel, direct memory access (DMA) channel, and so on. 

Configuring a SCSI bus that is not Plug and Play–compliant is difficult for most users. The long list of issues related to configuring a SCSI bus includes the following:

  • SCSI device ID assignment

  • Termination

  • SCSI parity

  • Command sets

  • Disk geometry and software

For example, the SCSI-2 specification does not define an automated ID assignment mechanism, so the user is responsible for making sure that no two SCSI devices on the same SCSI bus share the same SCSI ID. Also, you might replace a SCSI host adapter with one from another company and find it does not work because of differences in disk geometries or the way devices are mapped to hardware interrupt 13 (INT13) parameters.

For more information about hardware interrupts as well as support for SCSI devices and drivers, see Chapter 10, "Disks and File Systems."

PC Card Devices and CardBus

Windows 98 supports the new features of products designed for the PC Card standard, also known as the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) standard. These products include multifunction cards, 3.3-V cards, and 32-bit PC Cards (CardBus). These advances add the modularity and bus-independence of Plug and Play without affecting device drivers.

Windows 98 also supports CardBus, a 32-bit implementation of PC Card also known as PC Card 32. CardBus brings 32-bit performance and the benefits of the PCI bus to the PC Card format. CardBus allows laptop PCs to run high-bandwidth applications such as Video Capture. For more information about how Windows 98 supports Video Capture, see Chapter 30, "Hardware Management."

Windows 95 and Windows 98 have the same driver development structure. This means many of the drivers that worked under Windows 95 should work under Windows 98.

VL Devices

The Video Electronic Standards Association (VESA) Local (VL) bus standard allows high-speed connections to peripherals (compared to ISA devices). VL bus devices are not totally Plug and Play–compliant but work similarly to ISA devices.

PCI Devices

The peripheral component interconnect (PCI) local bus has become the industry-standard bus and is used in most Pentium computers as well as in the Apple Power Macintosh. It is considered the successor to the VL bus. The PCI bus architecture meets most Plug and Play requirements, because the PCI bus and devices use agreed-upon mechanisms for identifying themselves and declaring their resource settings and/or requirements. Windows extracts PCI and ISA Plug and Play – compliant device resource information from the system BIOS, and the BIOS provides the PCI IRQ Steering Table for PCI devices. With the information from the PCI IRQ Steering Table, Windows 98 can reassign PCI device resource requirements dynamically, if necessary. For example, when a PCI-based laptop is hot-docked into a docking station, Windows 98 might have to reassign a PCI device's IRQ on the fly to accommodate the new hardware.

Note Windows 98 can manipulate only the ISA IRQ that is mapped to a particular PCI INT#. It cannot alter the link value for the PCI device listed in the PCI IRQ Routing Table. (The link value is the combination of the device's INT# assignment and the specific PCI slot the device is installed in.)

ISA Devices

Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus design is the architecture specified for the IBM PC/AT. Plug and Play ISA devices can be used on existing computers, because the specification does not require any change to ISA buses. To configure Plug and Play ISA devices, the system performs the following actions:

  • Isolates each card and retrieves a unique device ID and a unique serial number. 

  • Reads the resource requirements and capabilities stored on each card. 

  • Allocates resources to each card, reserving these resources so that they cannot be assigned to other Plug and Play cards in the computer. 

  • Activates the Plug and Play ISA cards. 

For legacy devices, standard ISA cards can coexist with Plug and Play ISA cards in the same computer. Windows 98 determines the type of hardware and its configuration during Setup, by either polling the hardware or asking the user to supply values. This configuration information is stored as static values in the registry and cannot be changed dynamically, but it is used to determine resource assignments for Plug and Play–compliant devices.

EISA Devices

Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) is a bus design for x86-based computers, specified by an industry consortium. EISA devices use cards that are upwardly compatible from ISA. EISA devices use standard software mechanisms for identification and configuration. Windows 98 includes a bus enumerator that makes configuration information from these devices accessible to the operating system. This means that Windows 98 does not reconfigure EISA cards but instead uses the information that hardware detection derives from the EISA nonvolatile RAM storage to determine which resources are used.

Other Device Types

Other device types can take advantage of Plug and Play if they provide mechanisms for identification and configuration. These include integrated device electronics (IDE) controllers, Extended Capability Ports (ECPs), and communications ports.

Parallel ports (ports designated as LPT) can also take advantage of Plug and Play. The most common parallel port type is the Centronics interface. Plug and Play parallel ports meet Compatibility and Nibble mode protocols defined in IEEE P1284. Compatibility mode provides a byte-wide channel from the computer to the peripheral. Nibble mode provides a channel from the peripheral to the host through which data is sent as 4-bit nibbles using the port's status lines. These modes provide two-way communication between the host and the peripheral. Nibble mode is also used to read the device ID from the peripheral for device enumeration.

For totally Plug and Play–compliant computers, the BIOS also meets Plug and Play specifications. For computers that comply with the Plug and Play BIOS specification, the file Bios.vxd provides the BIOS Plug and Play enumerator. For computers that conform to the ACPI specification, the file Acpi.sys provides the motherboard Plug and Play enumerator.

Technical Notes on Plug and Play

With Plug and Play, the operating system and the BIOS can communicate with each other to share information about system resources. This communication channel is not new, but with newer system BIOSs combined with either Windows 98 or OSR2, this process is more effective than with previous Plug and Play implementations.

Many newer motherboards, with newer Plug and Play BIOSs, can store individual device settings in an area of non-volatile CMOS memory. This area, called the Extended System Configuration Database (ESCD), is a data structure that stores resource requirement data about Plug and Play, non-Plug and Play, EISA, ISA, and PCI devices. It also contains information about the standard devices in the system, such as serial and parallel ports. If a Plug and Play BIOS supports the ESCD, on shutdown Windows 98 actually writes to the CMOS, telling the Plug and Play BIOS which PCI and Plug and Play ISA devices have forced configurations (that is, if the user fixed their resource settings) and which legacy devices Windows 98 has already assigned. Windows 98 writes this information to the CMOS so that the Plug and Play BIOS will not attempt to reassign those resources to another Plug and Play device on the next boot. An added benefit is that if system hardware has not changed, Plug and Play – compliant devices will initialize with the same resources, from boot to boot.

In previous implementations, the operating system wrote to the CMOS using Plug and Play BIOS functions 9 and A. This method, called the bitmap method, allowed only the most primitive form of data exchange to occur. Instead of providing complete device descriptions and their resource requirements, the operating system described only IRQs and I/O addresses that were off-limits to the Plug and Play BIOS. If a Plug and Play BIOS does not support the ESCD but does support the bitmap method, Windows 98 uses the bitmap method to communicate with the Plug and Play BIOS.

Installing Devices

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In Windows 98, how you install a device depends on whether the device and the computer are Plug and Play–compliant. To take full advantage of Plug and Play technology, a computer needs the following:

  • Plug and Play operating system (Windows 98). 

  • Plug and Play BIOS or ACPI BIOS. 

  • Plug and Play–compliant hardware devices with drivers. 

The Plug and Play components perform the following tasks:

  • Identify the installed devices. 

  • Determine the device resource requirements. 

  • Create a nonconflicting system configuration. 

  • Program the devices. 

  • Load the device drivers. 

  • Notify the system of a configuration change. 

Windows 98 automatically installs and configures most Plug and Play–compliant devices. For devices that are not automatically configured, the Add New Hardware Wizard, shown in Figure 24.2, installs and configures legacy and Plug and Play devices that require installation information, such as the driver location. Microsoft recommends that, whenever possible, you choose new Plug and Play–compliant devices, even for a legacy computer that does not have a Plug and Play BIOS.

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Figure 24.2 Add New Hardware Wizard 

Classes of Devices

Windows 98 uses a large number of subsystems to control various classes of devices that identify logical device types, such as the display, keyboard, and network. For many devices, you must use Device Manager in the System option in Control Panel for configuration if you need to make manual changes.

Table 24.1 lists the default classes and devices and shows where you can find the installation tools for changing the device drivers. Your computer might have additional classes, depending on what you have installed.

Table 24.1 Configuration information for default classes and devices 

Class and devices

Where to configure devices

Disk class: Disk drives and adapters

Device Manager, under the Disk drives option.

Display class: Display adapters

Device Manager, under the Display adapters option.
-Or-
Display option in Control Panel. See "Configuring the Display" later in this chapter.

Modem class: Data and fax modems

Device Manager, under the Modem option.
-Or-
Modems option in Control Panel. See Chapter 21, "Modems and Communications Tools."

Mouse class: Mouse devices

Device Manager, under the Mouse option.
-Or-
Mouse option in Control Panel. See Help. See also "Configuring the Mouse" later in this chapter.

Multimedia class: Multimedia devices

Device Manager, under the Sound, video and game controllers option.
-Or-
Multimedia option in Control Panel. See the related media devices in Device Manager for game ports; see also Chapter 12, "Multimedia."

Network class: Network adapters

Device Manager, under the Network adapters option.
-Or-
Properties for the network adapter under the Network option in Control Panel. See Chapter 15, "Network Adapters and Protocols."

PC Card class: PC Card sockets

Device Manager, under the PC Card socket option. See "Using PC Cards" later in this chapter.

Ports class: Ports

Device Manager, under the Ports (COM and LPT) option. See "Configuring Communications Resources" later in this chapter.

Printer class: Printers

Printers Folder (no class installer). See Chapter 11, "Printing, Imaging, and Fonts."

System class: System devices

Installation handled by the system. Configure using the System devices option in Device Manager.

Unknown class: Detected devices with no driver for Windows 98

Device Manager
-Or-
Add New Hardware option in Control Panel. See "How Windows 98 Installs a Device" later in this chapter.

How Windows 98 Installs a Device

Windows 98 Setup performs an inventory of all devices on the computer and records the information about those devices in the registry. Setup gets configuration information for system devices from the INF file associated with each device and, with Plug and Play devices, from the device itself. To maintain compatibility, Setup also checks entries in Win.ini, System.ini, and Config.sys.

When a new device is installed, Windows 98 uses the device ID to search Windows 98 INF files for an entry for that device. Windows 98 uses this information or a default driver to create an entry for the device under the Hkey_Local_Machine branch in the registry, and it copies the drivers needed. Then the registry entries are copied from the INF file to the driver's registry entry, including the DevLoader= and DriverDesc= values for the Driver entry, and the Driver= and ConfigFlags= values for the Enum entry.

Tip If you use custom setup scripts to install Windows 98, you can include the setting devicepath=1 in the [Setup] section to specify that Windows 98 should check a source installation path to find INF files, rather than looking only in the Windows INF directory when installing devices. When you use this parameter in setup scripts, you can later add INF files to a single network source location to ensure that up-to-date drivers are used any time a new device is installed on computers running Windows 98. For information, see Appendix D, "Msbatch.inf Parameters for Setup Scripts."

When you need to install a new device, rely first on Windows 98 to detect and configure it. How you do so depends on what type of device you have, as the following list explains:

  • For hot-pluggable Plug and Play–compliant devices, simply insert the device into the computer.

  • For PCI and ISA Plug and Play cards, turn the computer off before installing. When you power the machine back on, Windows 98 enumerates the device and starts the Plug and Play installation procedures automatically.

  • For legacy devices, run the Add New Hardware Wizard and let Windows 98 detect the device.

To install a new Plug and Play–compliant device
  1. Check the documentation for your new device. If you are told to do so, turn off the power before inserting the device. (For hot-pluggable devices, such as USB or PC Cards, you do not need to turn off the power.) 

  2. Insert the device, and turn the power back on if you turned it off.

    The computer detects your device and, if you are installing a PC Card, beeps when the device is configured and loaded. If the computer does not detect your device, it is a legacy device, and you should follow the steps in the procedure "To install a legacy device" later in this section. If the computer does not appear to detect your device, check for your device in the Unknown Device section in Device Manager. You might need to install a driver from within Device Manager. 

You can begin working with the device immediately. Windows 98 notifies other drivers and applications that the device is available.

If your computer uses PC Cards or other Plug and Play cards and if a driver is not available for the new device, the Add New Hardware Wizard gives you the following four options:

  • Floppy drive 

  • CD-ROM 

  • Windows Update Web site (Internet search) 

  • Other (you must specify a search path) 

For more information about the Windows Update Web site, see Chapter 27, "General Troubleshooting."

To install a legacy device
  1. In Control Panel, double-click the Add New Hardware icon. The Add New Hardware Wizard is displayed. Click Next twice. 

  2. Windows 98 checks for Plug and Play devices on your system. If one is found, you are asked if it is the hardware you want to install. If you answer Yes, the device is installed, and the installation is finished. If you answer No, the wizard continues. 

  3. You are asked if you want to install any devices that have problems running (a disabled device, one that has a resource conflict, and so on). If you answer Yes, Windows 98 proceeds to fix the chosen device. If you answer No, the wizard continues. 

  4. The wizard now asks if you want to let Windows 98 search for the device. If you answer Yes, the wizard attempts to find and install the device. If the wizard then fails to find the device, or if you answer No, you are prompted to select a device from the list. 

  5. In the list of hardware devices, click a device class, and then click Next

  6. In the next Add New Hardware dialog box, specify the manufacturer and model of the device, and then click Have Disk

  7. In the Install From Disk dialog box, type the path to the driver files, and then click OK

Using PC Cards

Under Windows 98, Plug and Play support for the PC Card socket is enabled automatically. If you must use old drivers, Windows 98 should work well with your previous PC Card drivers, although some Plug and Play capabilities such as automatic installation and friendly device names will not be available.

To take advantage of Plug and Play, a PC Card must contain information that Windows 98 can use to create a unique device ID for the card. This is called the card information structure (CIS). Device drivers can be implemented under three possible schemes:

  • A standard Plug and Play device driver for PC Card (the preferred driver) can handle dynamic configuration and removal, and receive configuration information from the operating system without knowledge of the card in the PC Card bus. The recommended choices are NDIS version 5.x drivers for network adapters and miniport drivers for SCSI cards. 

  • Generic Windows 98 device drivers are supported automatically for such devices as modems and disk drives. If the card contains complete configuration information, the operating system initializes the device and passes configuration information to the driver.

  • Manufacturer-supplied drivers are required for device classes that Windows 98 does not natively support. 

Windows 98 supports many PC Cards, including modems, network adapters, SCSI cards, and others. If Windows 98 includes supporting drivers for the PC Card and for the socket, installation and configuration should be automatic. This section provides some guidelines for enabling Windows 98 protected-mode PC Card support when automatic detection and configuration are not available for your card.

For more information, see the topic "PC Cards" in Help. See also the PC Card Troubleshooter.

Important If you are using a network card, your PC Card socket driver and network driver both must be Plug and Play–compliant drivers (that is, developed for Windows 98 and compliant with NDIS version 3.1 or later) or both must be real-mode drivers. If these drivers are of mixed types, the computer might hang, or you might not be able to connect to the network.

If you are performing a clean install, Windows 98 Setup automatically detects the presence of a PC Card socket and automatically enables it. If you are not performing a clean install, you can use the Add New Hardware Wizard to make Windows 98 automatically detect the socket.

To verify that Windows 98 has properly detected your PC Card socket
  1. In Control Panel, double-click System, and then click the Device Manager tab. The Device Manager dialog box appears. 

  2. Look for a PC Card Socket listing. 

    If Windows 98 has not detected a PC Card socket, your socket controller might not be supported by Windows 98.

To find out if a PC Card socket is supported
  1. In Control Panel, double-click Add New Hardware. 

  2. On the first screen in the Add New Hardware Wizard, click Next

  3. When the Add New Hardware Wizard asks you if the device you want is in the list, click No, and then click Next

  4. When the Add New Hardware Wizard asks you whether you want Windows to search for your new hardware, click No, and then click Next

  5. In the Hardware Types list, select PCMCIA Socket, and then click Next

  6. Select the manufacturer for your device, and examine the Models list. 

If your socket does not appear in the list, you might want to find out if this type of socket is supported. Most likely, if it did not install automatically, the socket type is not supported.

If your PC Card does not appear in Device Manager after you insert it, you might need to enable protected-mode support for that PC Card by using the following procedure.

To enable protected-mode support for PC Card by running the PC Card Wizard
  • In Control Panel, double-click PC Card. 

    – Or – 

    In Device Manager, double-click the PC Card controller. 

    – Or – 

    In the Windows 98 Help index, look up "PC Cards" and then "enabling support." 

To find out if Windows 98 has enabled PC Card support
  1. In Device Manager, double-click your PC Card controller, and then click Properties

  2. Click the General tab. 

    In the Device Usage box, if the box labeled Disable in this Hardware Profile is not checked, PC Card support is enabled. 

Real-Mode Drivers and the Ios.ini Safe Driver List

Microsoft strongly recommends that you use 32-bit, protected-mode drivers wherever possible. With protected-mode drivers, much of the configuration information is stored in the registry rather than in Config.sys or other files.

General Guidelines

The following lists the general guidelines for device entries in Config.sys and whether such entries are required or can be removed under Windows 98:

  • When you use only protected-mode drivers, the only configuration information the operating system needs to know for system startup is the location of the Windows 98 system files and the directory for the swap file. You do not need to load drivers in Config.sys or Autoexec.bat.

  • Any boot device in your computer that needs real-mode support does not require an entry in Config.sys. In the unusual case that the CD-ROM is part of system startup, entries for this device must be included in Config.sys. 

  • If your computer requires any real-mode drivers, an entry for loading the driver must be included in Config.sys and Autoexec.bat, as was true under earlier versions of MS-DOS. 

Windows 98 automatically unloads any real-mode drivers for which it has protected-mode drivers to provide the same functionality. For example, the real-mode Dblspace.bin driver is unloaded, and the protected-mode Dblspace driver, Drvspacx.vxd, takes over. However, the protected-mode device driver should take over only when it guarantees functionality similar to that of the real-mode driver, not merely because it can drive the hardware.

Tip To determine whether a particular driver is running in real mode versus protected mode, click the Performance tab in the System option in Control Panel.

Safe Drivers

Real-mode drivers that can safely be used are identified in the list of safe drivers, which identifies drivers and terminate-and-stay-resident (TSR) programs that Windows 98 can replace with corresponding protected-mode drivers. The list of safe drivers (Ios.ini in the Windows directory) can include the following information:

  • Name of the driver or TSR, using the same name as used in Config.sys or Autoexec.bat. 

  • Driver requirements. 

  • Whether the driver hooks INT13. 

  • Whether the driver monitors INT13 (regardless of whether I/O is controlled by a protected-mode driver). 

  • Whether the driver accesses hardware directly. 

Windows 98 does not store the version number of the driver or the TSR in the list, so the vendor must change the name of the driver if a future version is enhanced so that the driver is safe or unsafe.

By default, the following drivers are considered safe:

  • MS-DOS version 5.0–compatible real-mode block device drivers. 

  • INT13 driver (provides INT13 functionality and directly accesses hardware). 

  • INT13 monitors (hooks INT13 for monitoring I/O but does not access hardware directly or modify the I/O buffer). 

  • INT13 hooker (hooks INT13 for altering I/O but does not access hardware directly). 

  • ASPI Manager (implements the Advanced SCSI Programming Interface for the MS-DOS specification). 

  • CAM Manager (implements the MS-DOS Common Access Method specification). 

For more information on interrupts, see Chapter 10, "Disks and File Systems."

Unsafe Drivers

A real-mode driver is considered unsafe if it implements functionality that is not supported. For example, a real-mode IDE or enhanced small device interface (ESDI) driver that uses dynamic encryption is an unsafe driver because Windows 98 does not support encryption. Windows 98 protected-mode drivers do not implement the following functions, so if a real-mode driver uses any of them, it is considered unsafe and should not be added to the list of safe drivers:

  • Data compression (other than DriveSpace-compatible compression). 

  • Data encryption. 

  • Disk mirroring. 

  • Bad sector mapping. 

  • Fault tolerance (maintaining error correction code [ECC] correction on a separate disk). 

  • Input/output controls (IOCTL) defined or extended by the vendor. 

If Windows 98 provides an appropriate protected-mode driver, you should use only the real-mode driver in the following cases:

  • The real-mode driver is used for a boot device. 

  • An MS-DOS mode application uses the driver's device, in which case the protected-mode driver must be unloaded to load the real-mode driver. 

Ios.ini Formats

The following is the syntax of the list of safe drivers in Ios.ini:

filename, qualifier_string ; comments 

qualifier_string is optional.

Qualifier string

Meaning

do_not_care

Indicates that it is acceptable to load the protected-mode driver and not use the mapper for this real-mode driver, because it doesn't matter whether it sees any I/O requests. This is the default.

must_chain

Implies that the device driver or TSR is safe, but it has an INT13 hook that needs to see INT13 requests. In this case, the protected-mode drivers are loaded, but the system routes the logical requests through the real-mode mapper and then switches back to protected-mode at the end of the INT13 chain.

must_not_chain

Implies that the driver is safe as long as it does not see any INT13 requests. In this case, the protected-mode drivers are loaded, and the real-mode mapper is not used.

non_disk

Indicates a driver that controls a device that is not a disk, such as Interlnk.exe. Integrated office system (IOS) issues INT25 calls to all logical volumes in the system and determines whether the request is mapped to INT13, ASPI, or CAM. If the request is not mapped, this is a monolithic driver, as is the case for Interlnk.exe. Adding non_disk prevents IOS from considering Interlnk.exe in its safe-driver processing.

monolithic

Similar to non_disk. Any driver that is monolithic and safe must have this qualifier set to indicate to IOS that the protected-mode port drivers can be loaded and the driver's entry point can be handled to prevent contention.

Ios.ini also contains an Unsafe CD section. Adding a driver to this section indicates that this compact disc file system (CDFS) will not be loaded on the CD drives that this driver controls.

The following is an example of some Ios.ini entries:

386max.sys ; Qualitas
4dos.com ; 4DOS shell program
ad-dos.com ; Afterdark
ad_wrap.com ; Afterdark
adi2.com ; Afterdark
aspi3x90.sys ; DTC SCSI no PM driver
ramdrive.sys, non_disk; MS-DOS
interlink.exe, non_disk; MS-DOS
laddrv.sys, non_disk; MS-DOS
Tip for Troubleshooting Protected-Mode Drivers

If you believe that a protected-mode driver should be controlling a device, but the device appears with a real-mode driver in the System option in Control Panel, you can check entries in Ios.log. The Ios.log file in the Windows directory is created when a protected-mode driver is not available or the operating system detects that an unknown device driver is controlling a device.

In most cases, the first line in Ios.log states why the protected-mode driver was not loaded. If the first line mentions Mbrint13.sys, the problem most likely is a virus (unless you are using a driver that replaces the master boot record).

Configuring Device Settings

Cc768194.spacer(en-us,TechNet.10).gif Cc768194.spacer(en-us,TechNet.10).gif

For Plug and Play–compliant devices, there are no true default settings. Instead, Windows 98 identifies devices and their resource requests and then arbitrates requests among them. If no device requests the same resources as another device, their settings should not change. If another device requests the same resources, the settings might change to accommodate the request. Consequently, you should never change resource settings for a Plug and Play–compliant device unless absolutely necessary. Doing so will fix its settings, making it impossible for Windows 98 to grant another device's request to use that resource. Changed resource settings can be brought back to the original values by checking the Use automatic settings box under the Resources tab of the Device Properties dialog box in Device Manager. See the procedure "To change a device's resource settings using Device Manager" later in this section.

All legacy devices have fixed resource settings, which are discovered either during Windows Setup or through the Add New Hardware Wizard in Control Panel.

Certain circumstances might require users to change resource settings after Windows 98 has configured a device. For example, Windows 98 might not be able to configure one device without creating conflicts with another device. In such a case, a message usually appears to explain what is happening and what you can do about the problem — turn off a device to make room for the new device, disable the new device, or reconfigure a legacy device to make room for the new device.

The best source for resolving any conflicts that might occur is the Hardware Conflict troubleshooting aid in Windows 98 Help. For more information, see "Troubleshooting Device Management" later in this chapter.

When you must manually change a device's configuration, you can use the Device Manager tab in the System option in Control Panel. Never attempt to edit registry entries directly. Editing registry entries directly is not supported and can cause serious problems.

If you need or want to resolve device conflicts manually, you can use Device Manager and try the following strategies:

  • Identify a free resource, and assign the device to use that resource. 

  • Disable a conflicting Plug and Play–compliant device to free its resources. 

  • Disable a legacy device to free its resources, by removing the legacy device card and not loading the device drivers. 

  • Rearrange resources used by another device or devices to free resources needed by the device with a conflict. 

  • After powering down and unplugging your computer, change jumpers on your hardware to match the new settings. 

Caution Changing default settings using either Device Manager or Registry Editor can cause conflicts that make one or more devices unavailable on the system.

To get assistance in resolving device conflicts, go to the Hardware Conflict troubleshooting aid in Windows 98 Help. For more information, see "Troubleshooting Device Management" later in this chapter.

To use Device Manager

  1. In Control Panel, double-click System, and then click the Device Manager tab. 

    – Or – 

    Right-click My Computer, click Properties from the shortcut menu, and then click the Device Manager tab. The Device Manager dialog box is displayed. 

  2. Double-click the device type in the list to display the specific devices of that type on your computer. 

  3. Double-click the device you want to configure. Or select the device, and then click Properties to view or change its settings. 

In Device Manager, you can print reports about system settings, including reports on the following:

  • System summary 

  • Selected class or device 

  • All devices and system summary 

To print a report about system settings

  1. In Device Manager, click Print

  2. In the Print dialog box, click the type of report you want. 

Important You should quit all MS-DOS-based applications before printing the report named "All devices and system summary," because the device detection code might cause problems for some MS-DOS-based applications. If you do not do this, some applications might report the system is out of memory.

The following procedure explains how to change a device's resource settings using Device Manager. Change resource settings only if absolutely necessary. Also, before changing resource settings, make sure that your problem is a resource conflict instead of a missing driver.

To change a device's resource settings using Device Manager

  1. In Device Manager, double-click the device class, or click the plus sign (+) next to a device class. The tree expands to show the available devices. 

  2. Click a device, and then click Properties. The Device Properties dialog box is displayed. 

  3. Click the Resources tab. Notice that the Conflicting device list shows any conflicting values for resources used by other devices. 

  4. In the Resource type list, select the setting you want to change. Make sure the Use automatic settings box is unchecked. 

  5. Click Change Setting. The dialog box for editing the particular setting is displayed. 

    If there is a conflict with another device, a message is displayed in the Conflict Information field. 

    Note When you click Change Setting, you might see an error message saying, "This resource setting cannot be modified." If this is the case, you must choose a different basic configuration until you find one that allows you to change resource settings. 

  6. Choose a setting that does not conflict with any other devices, and then click OK

  7. Shut down and restart Windows 98. Then verify that the settings are correct for the device.

Note Most legacy devices have jumpers or switches that set the IRQ, DMA, and I/O addresses. If you change these settings in Device Manager, you must also change the settings on the device to match them.

Changing Device Drivers

If your device is not working properly and you suspect that you have either an outdated device driver or the wrong device driver for your device, you can change your device driver from within Device Manager.

You might also want to change your device driver from within Device Manager if you need to switch between WDM and VxD drivers. You might want to do this, for example, if your WDM driver doesn't work with a specific application, or if you are using VxD drivers and you want the enhanced performance and functionality available with WDM drivers.

To change the device driver using Device Manager
  1. In Device Manager, double-click the device class of the driver you want to change, or click the plus sign (+) next to the device class. The tree expands to show the available devices. 

  2. Click the device whose driver you want to change, and then click Properties. The Device Properties dialog box is displayed. 

  3. Click the Driver tab. 

  4. Click Update Driver in the Device Properties dialog box. The Upgrade Device Driver Wizard is displayed. 

  5. Click Next.

  6. The wizard asks whether you want to search for a better driver. If you want Windows 98 to detect your driver automatically, click Search for a better driver than the one your device is using now

    – Or – 

    If you want to choose a driver yourself, click Display a list of all the drivers in a specific location, so you can select the driver you want

  7. Click Next and follow the instructions to upgrade the driver. 

Using Hardware Profiles for Alternate Configurations

Windows 98 uses hardware profiles to determine which drivers to load when system hardware changes. Hardware profiles are an especially important feature for portable computers that can be docked. Windows 98 uses one hardware profile to load drivers when the portable is docked and another when it is undocked — for example, at a customer site that has a different monitor from the one at the office.

Configurations are created when Windows 98 queries the BIOS for a dock serial ID and then assigns a name for the docked and undocked configurations. Windows 98 then stores the hardware and software associated with these configurations. Applications access and store information for each of the different hardware configurations used by the mobile user. The registry support enables applications to adapt gracefully to different hardware configurations.

Note It is not necessary to use a different hardware profile for a fully Plug and Play–compliant portable computer, because the computer automatically knows when it is docked or undocked.

The only time Windows 98 prompts you for the name of a hardware profile is when two profiles are so similar that Windows 98 cannot differentiate between them. If this happens, Windows 98 displays a Hardware Profile menu from which you can choose the correct one.

To create a hardware profile
  1. In Control Panel, double-click System, and then click the Hardware Profiles tab. 

  2. Click the name of the hardware profile on which you want to base the new hardware profile, and then click Copy

  3. Type a name for the hardware profile you are creating. 

  4. Change which hardware is enabled or disabled in this profile by using the Device Manager, as described in the following procedure. 

To enable or disable hardware in a hardware profile
  1. In Device Manager, click the plus sign (+) next to the hardware type, and then double-click the hardware. 

  2. In the Device Usage box, click to clear or add the check mark in the Disable in this hardware profile check box. 

  3. If you see a message prompting you to restart your computer, click Yes

To delete or rename a hardware profile
  1. In Control Panel, double-click System, and then click the Hardware Profiles tab. 

  2. Click the name of the hardware profile you want to change. 

  3. If you want to remove this profile, click Delete

    – Or – 

    If you want to change the name of the profile, click Rename, and then type a new name. 

Configuring the Display

Windows 98 consolidates display properties in the Display option in Control Panel, so you can easily customize display adapter settings. You can use the Display option in Control Panel to do the following:

  • Change the display type or driver. 

  • Change screen resolution and color depth (without restarting the computer when using display drivers that support this functionality). 

  • Change color schemes and text styles in all screen elements, including fonts used in dialog boxes, menus, and title bars. 

  • View changes in colors, text, and other elements of display appearance before the changes are applied. 

  • Configure display settings for each hardware profile, for example, docked and undocked configurations. 

  • Configure monitors as multiple displays. For information, see "Configuring Multiple Displays" later in this chapter. 

Tip To set display options quickly, right-click the desktop, and then click Properties. Click the Help button to get help for setting display properties.

Display Driver Overview

Windows 98 provides enhanced functionality and easy configuration for display adapters, in addition to resolving many problems inherent in Windows 3.1 display drivers. By using a minidriver architecture for display drivers, Windows 98 provides better support for a wide range of hardware and provides more stable and reliable drivers.

If you are upgrading from Windows 95, Setup uses the existing display driver. Otherwise, if Windows 98 supports the display adapter, Setup automatically detects it and installs the correct display driver, or an updated driver, if one is available in Windows 98. If the display adapter is not supported, the user is asked to provide the search locations for the appropriate driver. If no appropriate driver is found, Windows 98 installs the standard Video Graphics Array (VGA) driver. In some cases, if an existing driver has been shown to cause problems with Windows 98, Windows 98 replaces an existing display driver with the Microsoft-provided driver.

Windows 98 contains a universal display driver called the device-independent bitmap (DIB) engine. The DIB engine provides 32-bit graphics code for fast, robust drawing on high-resolution and frame buffer-type display adapters. Windows 98 display minidrivers use the DIB engine for all in-memory graphics operations and on-screen operations that do not pass to the adapter for hardware acceleration. This architecture makes it easy for hardware developers to write drivers for a new controller type and to add hardware acceleration features incrementally.

To ensure broad support for display adapter devices in Windows 98, Microsoft developed many display drivers in cooperation with the major display controller hardware manufacturers. The Microsoft development team also worked closely with hardware manufacturers to write additional display drivers and assisted in optimizing existing drivers to enhance display speed for improved graphics performance.

Windows 98 also includes mechanisms to ensure that incompatible display drivers cannot prevent a user from accessing the system. If a display driver fails to load or initialize when Windows 98 is started, Windows 98 automatically uses the generic VGA display driver. This ensures that you can start Windows 98 to fix a display-related problem.

For displays, colors are described in bits per pixel (bpp). Table 24.2 lists the bpp-to-color conversions.

Table 24.2 Bpp-to-color conversions 

Bits per pixel

Color conversion

1 bpp

Monochrome

4 bpp

16 colors

8 bpp

256 colors

15 bpp

32,768 (32K) colors

16 bpp

65,536 (64K) colors

24 bpp

16.7 million colors

32 bpp

16.7 million colors 1

1 This is another description of true color that includes an 8-bit alpha component in addition to the 24-bits used for 16.7 million colors. Alpha is a degree of transparency or translucency.

Resolutions are described in the horizontal number of pixels multiplied by (x) the vertical number of pixels—for example, 640 x 480.

Tip You can identify the Windows 98 version of a display driver by clicking the display adapter from within Device Manager. If you can boot only to the command prompt, you can also identify the driver by examining the following line in the [boot.description] section of the System.ini file:

display.drv=pnpdrvr.drv.

For example:

[boot.description]
system.drv=Standard PC
keyboard.typ=Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural Keyboard
mouse.drv=Standard mouse
aspect=100,96,96
display.drv=S3 ViRGE-DX/GX PCI (375/385)

The actual display driver is loaded from the registry. This supports docking computers that have different adapters for the portable computer as opposed to the docking station.

Configuring Plug and Play Monitors

Windows 98 can automatically detect a Plug and Play monitor as soon as you plug it in. If you are using a legacy monitor, this option is disabled by default. If you want to enable it, follow the procedure below.

To enable Windows 98 to detect Plug and Play monitors automatically
  1. In Control Panel, double-click the Display icon. 

    – Or – 

    Right-click the desktop, and then click Properties from the shortcut menu. 

  2. In the Display Properties dialog box, click the Settings tab, and then click Advanced

  3. Click the Monitor tab, select the Automatically detect Plug & Play monitors check box, and then click Apply. Windows 98 detects and installs the monitor. 

If you are having problems with a Plug and Play monitor, you might need to disable this option by following the procedure below.

To prevent Windows 98 from automatically detecting Plug and Play monitors
  1. In Control Panel, double-click the Display icon. 

    – Or – 

    Right-click the desktop, and then click Properties from the shortcut menu. 

  2. In the Display Properties dialog box, click the Settings tab, and then click Advanced

  3. Click the Monitor tab, clear the Automatically detect Plug & Play monitors check box, and then click Apply.

  4. Reboot your computer.

    When the computer reboots, Windows 98 runs the Add New Hardware Wizard and configures your monitor as an Unknown Device, with a default refresh rate of 60 Hz. 

After your computer has been configured as an Unknown Device, you can change the device driver by following the procedure in "Changing the Display Type and Driver" later in this chapter.

Changing the Display Type and Driver

You can change or upgrade a display driver by using the Display option in Control Panel or by using Device Manager. For more information about adding or changing a device driver, see Help.

Warning Some monitors can be physically damaged by incorrect display settings. Carefully check the manual for your monitor before choosing a new setting.

To change or upgrade the display driver by using the Display option in Control Panel
  1. In Control Panel, double-click the Display icon. 

    – Or – 

    Right-click the desktop, and then click Properties from the shortcut menu. 

  2. In the Display Properties dialog box, click the Settings tab. If you have configured multiple displays, the highest framed number indicates the number of monitors configured for the system. 

  3. Click Advanced. The properties dialog box for your display driver appears. 

  4. If you've chosen a specific monitor, a Refresh Rate menu appears in the lower portion of the dialog box. 

  5. Click the Adapter tab, and then click Change.

  6. If you are using a Plug and Play monitor and you have chosen to have Windows 98 automatically detect Plug and Play monitors by selecting the Automatically detect Plug & Play monitors check box, the Upgrade Device Driver Wizard is displayed. Click Next and follow the instructions to upgrade the driver. 

    – Or – 

    If you are not using a Plug and Play monitor or have not selected the Automatically detect Plug & Play monitors check box, the Select Device dialog box is displayed. Follow the instructions to change your driver. 

Changing Hardware Acceleration Settings

Windows 98 uses hardware acceleration to improve display performance. In some cases, this might cause problems. (These problems are rare with newer hardware.) If so, you can turn off part or all of your hardware acceleration.

Note If you are using multiple monitors, changing hardware acceleration settings affects all monitors.

The following procedure describes how to turn off hardware acceleration.

To turn off hardware acceleration
  1. In Control Panel, double-click the Display icon. 

    – Or – 

    Right-click the desktop, and then click Properties from the shortcut menu. 

  2. In the Display Properties dialog box, click the Settings tab, and then click Advanced

  3. Click the Performance tab. In the Graphics box, choose a setting based on the level of hardware acceleration you need. For information about which setting corresponds to what level of hardware acceleration, see the section "Setting Graphics Compatibility Options" in Chapter 26, "Performance Tuning." 

Configuring Display Resolution and Colors

You can configure the display resolution and color choices for your display or customize the font size used by using the Display option in Control Panel.

New features in Windows 98 allow you to change resolution and color depth without rebooting, if the installed display adapter is using a video driver provided by Windows 98. However, if you select to change or customize the font size, you must reboot your computer regardless of what video driver you are using. You must also reboot the computer if you are not using a Plug and Play–compliant display adapter and driver that support on-the-fly changes (such as an older Windows 3.1 driver).

To configure your display resolution
  1. In Control Panel, double-click the Display icon. 

    – Or – 

    Right-click the desktop, and then click Properties from the shortcut menu. 

  2. In the Display Properties dialog box, click the Settings tab. 

  3. To change your display settings, use the options described in Table 24.3. 

    Table 24.3 Display setting options 

    Option

    Description

    Colors 

    Select from this list the number of colors you want for your display adapter. The larger the number, the greater the number of colors. 

    Screen Area 

    Drag the slider to change the visible screen area used by the display. The larger the desktop area, the smaller everything looks on your screen. 

    Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor 

    Active when multiple display support is enabled and monitors are configured as multiple displays. A checked box activates the display adapter for a particular monitor. For information, see "Configuring Multiple Displays" later in this chapter. 

    Advanced

    Click to display a dialog box with tabs for selecting display font size, adapter type, monitor type, and restart options. Notice that the monitor type setting has no impact on system performance. This setting identifies the characteristics of the monitor to define the maximum resolution and power management capabilities that it supports. For information, see "Changing the Display Type and Driver" earlier in this chapter. 

    Note Sometimes selecting a supported, higher color-depth (for example, from 16bpp to 24bpp) requires you to reduce the desktop area (for example, from 1024 x 768 to 800 x 600 pixels). Conversely, selecting a supported, lower color-depth gives you the option to select a higher resolution. In nearly all cases, these traits are a function of the amount of video RAM installed on the display adapter. 

To customize display of fonts in dialog boxes
  1. In Control Panel, double-click the Display icon, and then click the Settings tab. 

  2. Click Advanced. The properties dialog box for your display adapter is displayed. 

  3. With the General tab selected, pull down the Font Size menu and select Other. The Custom Font Size dialog box is displayed. 

  4. Drag the controls until the sample shows the size you want, and then click OK

Note You must shut down and restart Windows 98 for the font size changes to take effect.

Configuring Display Appearance

You can use the Display option in Control Panel to set the screen saver and the background pattern used on the desktop.

You can also use settings in Screen Saver properties to take advantage of Energy Star Monitor support in Windows 98 if your hardware supports this feature. This is similar to the standby mode commonly used in portable computers to save power. Windows 98 can support screen saver power management if both of the following conditions are true for your computer:

  • In the properties dialog box for your display adapter with the Monitor tab active, the option Monitor Is Energy Star Compliant is checked. 

    This option is checked automatically if, during Setup, hardware detection determined that the monitor supports the VESA Display Power Management Signaling (DPMS) specification. You can also check this option manually. 

  • The device driver for this display uses either the Advanced Power Management (APM) version 1.1 or later BIOS interface with support for device "01FF" (which is not supported by every APM 1.1 or later BIOS), or the VESA BIOS Extensions for Power Management. For information about whether your display adapter supports these BIOS interfaces, see the documentation for your device driver. 

The display monitor is typically one of the most "power-hungry" components of a computer. Manufacturers of newer display monitors have incorporated energy-saving features into their monitors based on the DPMS specification. Through signals from the display adapter, a software control can place the monitor in standby mode or even turn it off completely, thus reducing the power the monitor uses when inactive.

To use Energy Star power consumption features
  • In Control Panel, click the Power Management icon, select a power scheme, and specify the time intervals to place the system on standby, to turn off the monitor, and to turn off hard disks. 
Configuring Multiple Displays

Multiple Display allows you to configure multiple monitors so that the Windows 98 desktop can be spread out over their display areas. For each display, you can adjust its position, resolution, and color depth.

Windows 98 has been tested successfully with up to nine monitors; however, because of such limitations as the limited number of PCI slots available on current motherboard designs, real-world implementations generally work on three or fewer additional monitors.

For you to be able to use a monitor as a secondary monitor, it must meet certain criteria. It must be a PCI or AGP device, and it must be able to run in GUI mode or without using VGA resources. It also must have a Windows 98 driver that enables it to be a secondary display. For a list of these drivers, see "Technical Notes on Multiple Display" later in this chapter.

For more information about Multiple Display, see Chapter 30, "Hardware Management."

To add a second display to your computer
  1. Verify that your primary display adapter works properly. 

  2. Add your second adapter. The system BIOS then decides which adapter will be the primary one. Windows 98 then autodetects the new adapter. 

    Note To test which card will be primary, watch to see which card performs a Power On Self Test (POST). The one that performs a POST will be primary, and the one that seems inactive will be secondary. If you want the order to be changed, reverse the order of the cards in the PCI slots. 

  3. When you are prompted to reboot, do so. When Windows 98 reboots, it will display a message that the card initialized properly. 

  4. If the primary display comes up in a 640 x 480 resolution with 16 colors, try changing to 256 colors or higher, and reboot. 

  5. In Control Panel, double-click the Display icon. 

    – Or – 

    Right-click the desktop, and then click Properties from the shortcut menu. 

  6. In the Display Properties dialog box, click the Settings tab. Windows 98 lists each adapter in the system. 

  7. Select the adapter you want to use.

  8. The Extend my Windows desktop to this monitor check box appears. Click it, and then click Apply

To configure multiple displays

Note This procedure applies only if your system contains multiple displays. A system with a single display will have a different Display Properties dialog box.

  1. In Control Panel, double-click the Display icon. 

    – Or – 

    Right-click the desktop, and then click Properties from the shortcut menu. 

  2. In the Display Properties dialog box, click the Settings tab. The number in the framed area indicates a particular monitor configured for the system. Frame 1 is for the primary display; frames 2 through 9 are for the secondary displays. 

  3. Double-click frame 1 to activate it. In the Monitor menu, select the display adapter for the primary display. Click the Extend my Windows Desktop to this monitor box to place a check mark in it. In the Colors menu, select the color depth. In the Screen area menu, select the resolution. 

  4. Double-click frame 2 to activate it. In the Monitor menu, select the display adapter for the first secondary display. Click the Extend my Windows Desktop to this monitor box to place a check mark in it. In the Colors menu, select the color depth. In the Screen area menu, select the resolution. 

  5. If there are additional secondary displays, repeat step 4 for each one. 

  6. Make sure that the on-screen arrangement of the monitors matches the physical configuration of your monitors. 

  7. Click Apply

  8. Optionally, right-click a display.

    From the context-sensitive menu that appears, you can enable or disable the display, show the number of the display on the desktop, or select which monitor to use. 

  9. Click OK

Technical Notes on Multiple Display

Table 24.4 lists Microsoft-supplied drivers that can be used for secondary displays and that are included with Windows 98:

Table 24.4 Microsoft-supplied drivers that can be used for secondary displays 

Monitor

Driver

ATI Mach 64 GX (GX, GXD, VT)
ATI Graphics Pro Turbo PCI

Atim64.drv

ATI Rage I, II, & II+
ATI All-In-Wonder
ATI 3D Xpression+ PC2TV
ATI 3D Xpression
ATI 3D Xpression+

Atim64.drv

ATI Rage Pro (AGP & PCI)

Atir3.drv

S3 765 (Trio64V+)

S3mm.drv, revisions 40, 42, 43, 44, 52, 53, and 54 1 

S3 Trio64V2(DX/GX)
Diamond Stealth 64 Video 2001
STB PowerGraph 64V+
STB MVP 64
Miro TwinHead 22SD
Hercules Terminator 64/Video
Number Nine 9FX Motion 331

California Graphics V2/DX
Videologic GraphicsStar 410

S3mm.drv

Cirrus 543
Cirrus Alpine

Cirrusmm.drv

Cirrus 5446
STB Nitro 64V

Cirrusmm.drv

S3 ViRGE (ViRGE (325), ViRGE VX (988), ViRGE DX (385), ViRGE GX (385))
Diamond Stealth 3D 2000
Diamond Stealth 3D 3000

Number Nine 9FX Reality 332
STB Nitro 3D
STB Powrgraph 3D
STB Velocity 3D
STB MVP/64 3D
Miro Crystal VR4000

S3v.drv

ET600
Hercules Dynamite 128/Video
STB Lightspeed 128

Et6000.drv

S3 Aurora
Compaq Armada

S3mm.drv

1 If the card is at one of these revisions, then Windows 98 will recognize the card as a Trio 64V+, provided the Microsoft driver is used. If the card is not at one of these revisions then it is recognized as a Trio 32/64. Please note carefully which Microsoft driver Windows 98 selects with this card.

Table 24.5 lists third-party drivers that can be used for secondary displays. These drivers are provided by third-party manufacturers and are not supported by Microsoft.

Table 24.5 Third-party drivers that work with Multiple Display 

Monitor

Driver

Permedia 2
TI TVP4020, 8 MB (Reference board)

Glint.drv

InterGraphics Systems (IGS) CyberPro 2000A, 2MB

Iga2k.drv

Configuring the Mouse

Mouse drivers based on the Windows 98 mini-driver architecture are protected-mode drivers that provide better support for MS-DOS-based applications in the Windows 98 environment. Windows 98 makes mouse configuration and customization easier by providing a single Control Panel option for mouse settings.

Windows 98 Setup detects Microsoft, Logitech, and Microsoft-compatible mouse device drivers, and then replaces these with new drivers.

Mouse and Pointing Device Driver Overview

Windows 98 provides the following improvements in mouse and pointing device support:

  • Supports Plug and Play for easy installation of pointing devices. For example, the VMOUSE driver interface supports Plug and Play.

  • Supports USB mouse devices. 

  • Provides smooth, reliable input when using the new protected-mode drivers. 

  • Supports multiple simultaneous devices, for example, when using PS/2 and serial devices at the same time. 

  • Eliminates the need to use separate MS-DOS-based mouse drivers. 

    Windows 3.1 required that an MS-DOS-based mouse driver be loaded before starting Windows to use a mouse in an MS-DOS-based application running in a window or running in a full screen. 

The protected-mode Windows 98 Virtual Device Driver (VxD) mouse driver provides mouse support for Windows-based applications, MS-DOS-based applications running in a window, and MS-DOS-based applications running in a full screen. This results in zero use of conventional memory for mouse support in the Windows 98 environment. (However, most legacy real-mode drivers will run in Windows 98.)

In addition to better mouse services, Windows 98 allows the use of serial ports COM1 through COM4 for connecting a mouse or another pointing device.

To see the improvements in mouse driver support
  1. Be sure the real-mode mouse driver from such entries as Mouse.com or Mouse.sys has been removed from Config.sys or Autoexec.bat. 

  2. Restart the computer, and start an MS-DOS-based application that supports the use of a mouse.

    For example, use an application such as Edit, and try the MS-DOS-based application both in a window and in a full screen. Notice that the mouse is available in both modes. 

Changing Mouse Drivers

The Mouse option in Control Panel provides customization options, including setting the behavior of the mouse buttons and the mouse pointer. You can use Device Manager to change drivers for a pointing device. For information, see Help.

For pointing device drivers that do not appear in the Select Device dialog box (that is, those that are not provided with Windows 98), the Windows Driver Library (WDL) provides support for additional drivers from other vendors. For information about obtaining drivers, check the Windows Update Web site by clicking Windows Update on the Start menu.

Configuring Mouse Behavior

You can use the Mouse option in Control Panel to configure buttons, customize mouse cursor appearance, set mouse speed, and make other changes. Different functions might be available, depending on the pointing device used with your computer.

To specify mouse behavior
  1. In Control Panel, click the Mouse icon. The Mouse Properties dialog box is displayed. 

  2. Click the tab for the behavior you want to set. 

  3. After changing the settings to the ones you want, click Apply

    For information about the configuration options, see Help. 

Configuring Communications Resources

A communications resource is a physical or logical device that provides a single, asynchronous data stream. Communications ports, printer ports, and modems are examples of communications resources. In Windows 98, VCOMM is the 32-bit protected-mode VxD that manages all access to communications devices. Port drivers use VCOMM to register themselves and to manage access to communications devices.

Two types of ports appear in Device Manager:

  • Communications ports, also known as COM ports, serial ports, or RS-232 ports, are used to connect RS-232- compatible serial devices, such as modems and pointing devices, to the computer.

  • Printer ports**,** also known as LPT ports or parallel ports, are used to connect parallel devices, such as printers, to the computer. For more information about configuring printer ports, see Chapter 11, "Printing, Imaging, and Fonts." 

Several types of communications ports might be listed in Device Manager:

  • Serial ports, also known as RS-232 COM ports, are ports to which external serial devices can be attached. These usually require a 9-pin or 25-pin plug. Serial ports designed for Windows 98 use the 16550A buffered UART, which has a 16-byte FIFO that gives the CPU more time to serve other processes and that can serve multiple characters in a single interrupt routine. 

  • An internal modem adapter may be installed in Device Manager. In addition, internal modems should also be installed and configured in the Modems option in Control Panel. For information, see Chapter 21, "Modems and Communications Tools." 

When you install a communications device, Windows 98 automatically assigns COM names to communication ports, internal modem adapters, and PC Card modem cards according to their base I/O port addresses as shown in the following list:

  • COM1 at 3F8 (input/output range) 

  • COM2 at 2F8

  • COM3 at 3E8 

  • COM4 at 2E8

If a device has a nonstandard base address, or if all four standard ports have been assigned to devices, Windows 98 automatically assigns the modem to COM5 port or higher. Some 16-bit Windows 3.1–based applications might not be able to access ports higher than COM4. Consequently, in the System option in Control Panel, you must adjust the base address in Device Manager or delete other devices to free up a lower COM port.

In addition, if some of the devices installed on a computer are not Plug and Play–compliant, you might have to change resource settings for their communications ports. You can change communications port settings by using Device Manager, as described in "Installing Devices" earlier in this chapter.

Tip For future reference, you might want to record the settings that appear on the Resources sheet for each communications port.

Troubleshooting Device Management

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This section describes specific problems in device configuration and how to correct them. For information about general procedures and Windows 98 tools that can be used in troubleshooting, see Chapter 27, "General Troubleshooting." Chapter 27 also includes information about what to do if you are having trouble booting to Safe Mode.

As a general troubleshooting step, always make sure that you are using updated drivers. You can get updated drivers from the Windows Update Web site, as described in Chapter 27, "General Troubleshooting." Also, check the \Drivers directory on the Windows 98 compact disc. Also, make sure that your drivers have been digitally signed by Microsoft by using the Digital Signature Tool, also described in Chapter 27. If they have not been digitally signed, try the Windows Update Web site. If you do not find drivers there, contact your hardware manufacturer and ask for drivers that bear the "Designed for Microsoft Windows 98/Windows NT" logo.

Your first and best resource for diagnosing problems due to changing device settings is the Hardware Conflict troubleshooting aid in Help.

To use the Hardware Conflict troubleshooting aid

  1. In any Help window, click the Contents button. 

  2. Click Troubleshooting, click the listing called Windows 98 Troubleshooters, and then click the topic called Hardware Conflict. Follow the instructions on the screen. 

Correcting Problems with Enabling PC Cards

If you have the correct drivers and protected-mode PC Card support is activated, but the device is still not available, your computer is probably using the wrong memory window for the device. Windows 98 selects a default set of commonly supported settings. Your socket might not support certain interrupt settings, so you might be able to get a PC Card socket to work by changing the IRQ. Similarly, your socket might not work on certain memory windows, and changing the memory window might solve your problem.

To change the memory window for a PC Card device
  1. In Device Manager, click your PC Card socket, and then click Properties

  2. In the PC Card controller properties, click the Global Settings tab. 

  3. Make sure that the Automatic Selection check box is not checked. 

  4. Change the Start address according to information from your hardware manual.

    Typically, selecting a Start value higher than 100000 will work. 

  5. Restart Windows 98. 

To change the interrupt for a PC Card device
  1. In Device Manager, click your PC Card socket, and then click Properties

  2. Change the IRQ from its default to a value that does not conflict with other IRQ settings used on your computer.

  3. Restart Windows 98. 

If Windows 98 still does not detect your PC Cards, you should disable the Windows 98 protected-mode PC Card support. If you do so, you will be able to use your PC Card only with real-mode drivers.

To disable protected-mode PC Card support
  1. In Device Manager, click your PC Card socket controller, and then click Properties

  2. In the Device Usage box, select the Disable in this hardware profile box. 

    The new configuration should appear in Device Manager. If not, restart Windows 98. 

Correcting Problems with the Display

If your computer has problems with the display, determine whether the problems persist when you use lower screen resolutions and different color depths with the display driver. If the display driver fails and changing resolutions does not resolve the problem, check or replace the current display driver. Also, make sure the installed display driver is the correct one for the installed display adapter.

Windows 98 includes safeguards that in most cases prevent unsupported settings from being implemented. However, problems can result when Windows 98 has incorrect information that a monitor or display adapter can support certain functionality. This usually happens only if Windows 98 misidentifies the display adapter or Plug and Play–compliant monitor, or the user misidentifies a legacy monitor, and Windows 98 attempts to exceed the display adapter's resolution or color depth capabilities or the monitor's supported refresh rates.

If Windows 98 correctly identifies your display adapter, and you attempt to set the adapter to a setting it does not support, in most cases you will see an error message stating that the display adapter does not support the chosen resolution or color depth. Less commonly, Windows 98 might try to set the chosen resolution or color depth, and your system might lock up.

Windows 98 can identify Plug and Play–compliant monitors and automatically adjust refresh rates available in the user interface to correspond to the settings provided in the monitor's INF file listing the monitor's capabilities. This results in reliable monitor operation and usually prevents users from setting incorrect or incompatible refresh rates.

With older legacy monitors, however, it is possible to set refresh rates incorrectly. Because Windows 98 does not communicate with legacy monitors, it is possible for a user to select an INF file of a monitor with a greater range of refresh rate capabilities than that of the actual monitor installed. If you select a higher refresh rate than the monitor can support, you will see corrupted display with an image that looks like a misadjusted horizontal with oscillating multiple images. If this happens, Windows 98 should return the monitor to its original refresh rate after a few moments.

Note If the video signal is set to an unsupported refresh rate, newer monitors may mute the video signal and generally return an error message such as "Invalid sync" or "Unsupported mode."

To determine whether any performance problems might be related to the display adapter, you can progressively disable enhanced display functionality using the System option in Control Panel. On the Performance tab, click Graphics, and then use the slider to select new settings. For information, see Chapter 26, "Performance Tuning."

If Windows 98 does not recognize the display adapter, try using the basic VGA driver (by definition, a generic 640 x 480, 16-color driver). However, keep in mind that multiple display support is not available when you are using a basic VGA driver. If you have a vendor-supplied driver disk for the display adapter, you can install the OEM drivers. If the drivers were not written for Windows 95 or Windows 98, some advanced display features might be disabled.

If an error occurs during display adapter initialization, the computer stops responding. To restart the computer, press CTRL+ALT+DEL. This problem might occur if you are using a video accelerator card and you change the display from the default setting (640 x 480, 16 colors) to 1024 x 768, 256 colors in the properties dialog box for your display adapter. Although Windows 98 might accept the changes, the error still results. The Super VGA (SVGA) driver (1024 x 768) included with Windows 98 is designed only for nonaccelerated SVGA display adapters. To correct this problem, change the display driver back to the default VGA setting.

To see if the display error is corrected by changing the screen color setting
  1. In the Display option in Control Panel, click the Settings tab. 

  2. Check the setting in the Colors menu. If the selection is other than 16 Colors, select 16 Colors

  3. Click Apply

  4. Retest the condition that was causing the display error. If the error does not recur, you might want to temporarily operate at a lower resolution until you can upgrade the display driver to a version that functions without error. 

To check the display drivers
  1. In Device Manager, click the plus sign (+) next to Display Adapters

  2. Double-click the specific display adapter shown (for example, Cirrus Logic). 

  3. In the Adapter properties dialog box, click the Driver tab, and then click Driver File Details

  4. Click each file shown in the Driver files box. If available, the Provider, File version, and Copyright information appears below the file tree (some vendors' display drivers might not contain version information). 

  5. Check displayed file versions for compatibility. Windows 98 display driver files have version numbers starting at 4.00 or higher. 

  6. If you have an incompatible driver, you can reinstall the original driver from the Windows 98 disks or get new drivers from the Microsoft Support Online site at https://support.microsoft.com/. If Microsoft drivers do not support the display adapter, contact the display adapter vendor for updated drivers or check the Microsoft Windows Update Web site. 

To check where the driver is loading from
  • To ensure that a Windows 98 version of the display driver is installed, check the [boot] section of System.ini for the following entry: 

    display.drv=pnpdrvr.drv
    

If this entry is specified, the display entries in System.ini are ignored, and the display drivers are loaded from the registry. If the entry specifies any driver other than Pnpdrvr.drv, the display drivers are loaded from System.ini.

To find out if an incorrect display driver is installed
  1. Restart the computer, and then press the left CTRL key until the Microsoft Windows 98 Startup Menu message appears.

  2. Choose Safe Mode, which uses the standard VGA (640 x 480 x 16-color) driver.

    If this resolves the display problem, the display driver is probably involved. Try replacing the driver with a newer version, or reinstall the driver from the original disks.

To see if the display error is corrected by changing screen resolution
  1. In Control Panel, double-click Display, and then click the Settings tab. 

  2. Check the setting in the Screen area menu. Select a setting with a lower resolution. 

  3. Click Apply

  4. Retest the condition that was causing the display error. 

To load VGA on your next boot
  • In the [boot] section of System.ini, change the value of DisplayFallBack from 0 to 1. 
To change your display driver back to VGA
  1. Restart the computer, hold down the left CTRL key until the Microsoft Windows 98 Startup Menu message appears, and then choose Safe Mode

  2. After you have successfully booted to Safe Mode, in Control Panel, double-click Display, and then click the Settings tab. 

  3. Click Advanced, and then click Change. The Upgrade Device Driver Wizard is displayed. Click Next, and then follow the instructions on the screen. 

If you want to use a high-resolution display driver with Windows 98, consult your display adapter manufacturer for the proper driver to use.

To correct jerky motion during multimedia playback. 

  • Use the Add New Hardware option in Control Panel to verify that the appropriate display driver is installed for the display adapter you are using. 

  • Check to see if Mscdex.exe is installed. If so, remove it and use Windows 98 CDFS drivers.

  • If the problem occurs with MS-DOS - based applications, check and maximize available extended memory specification (XMS) memory in the virtual memory (VM). 

Correcting Problems with Multiple Displays

This section describes problems that might occur with multiple displays. As a general troubleshooting step, make sure that your video card is on the list of supported video cards listed in Tables 24.4 and 24.5 and that you are using an updated driver.

An additional display does not appear in Display Properties. 

If an additional display does not appear in the Display Properties dialog box, or if you cannot use additional monitors, check the following:

  • Check the driver you are using for your displays. If you are using VGA or a Windows 3.1 driver, Multiple Display will not work. Keep in mind that the standard VGA driver is used whenever the desktop resolution is 640 x 480 and the color depth is 16 colors, so you should also make sure you have selected a higher resolution and color depth. 

  • Make sure you are not using a Windows 3.1 driver for your primary monitor. 

  • Make sure that all the display adapters you use are PCI-based. One of them can be a PCI-based adapter embedded in the motherboard. The bulleted list later in this section provides information about potential problems with this configuration. 

  • Check to see if you are using any third-party display control panels; if so, try removing them. 

You might also have a hardware problem. Following are several problems you might experience with motherboard or on-board PCI video:

  • The PCI motherboard video is hidden from the enumerator and might be identified incorrectly. 

  • Some systems vendors hide the motherboard video from PCI when another video card is detected in the system. If Plug and Play cannot find the device, Setup cannot start it. To determine whether you have this problem, check Device Manager. If only your add-in card is shown as present and working, this is likely your problem. 

  • Windows 98 cannot read the ROM from a motherboard video device. It might be possible to overcome this problem if you set up Windows 98 without any other display adapters in the computer. 

The computer will not boot with multiple displays, or you see a Code 12 in Device Manager. 

If your computer won't boot or you see a Code 12, you might have a system BIOS bug. Try moving all the video cards to the slots closest to the motherboard.

In Device Manager, you are told that video card memory is in use. 

If you check your video card in Device Manager and see a message stating that the region of memory the video card uses is already in use, try removing Emm386.exe, or set the following under the [386enh] section of System.ini:

Emmexclude C000-CFFF

Device Manager says your card will not work with Multiple Display. 

If your card is on the list of supported cards listed in Tables 24.4 and 24.5, but Device Manager tells you that your card will not work with Multiple Displays, make sure that you are using the correct driver. For a list of supported drivers, see "Technical Notes on Multiple Display," earlier in this chapter.

You cannot use an absolute pointing device on your secondary display. 

Absolute pointing devices work only on the primary display.

Correcting Problems with SCSI Devices

This section includes problems that might occur with SCSI devices.

A SCSI device fails to work. 

The SCSI and CD-ROM support built into Windows 98 requires that CD-ROM drives provide SCSI parity to function properly. For many drives, this is a configurable option or is active by default. Examples of drives that do not provide or support SCSI parity are the NEC CDR-36 and CDR-37 drives.

If you have trouble with a SCSI drive, make sure the SCSI bus is set up properly (refer to your hardware documentation for specific details).

In some cases, adding or removing a SCSI adapter might prevent your computer from starting correctly. Check the following:

  • The ends of the SCSI bus must have terminating resistor packs (also called terminators) installed.

    If you have only internal or only external SCSI devices, the ends of the bus are probably the SCSI adapter and the last device on the cable. If you have both internal and external SCSI devices, the adapter is probably in the middle of the bus and should not have terminators installed. If you disconnect a device that has terminators installed (such as an external CD-ROM drive), be sure to install terminators on whatever device then becomes the last one on the bus. One of the devices on the SCSI bus (usually the adapter) should be configured to provide termination power to the bus.

    Windows 98 supports as many internal and external SCSI devices as the SCSI controller supports. In addition to the requirement that the last external and the last internal SCSI device be terminated, some hardware has additional requirements for where it must be placed in the SCSI chain.

  • Removable media must be mounted on the drive before running Setup. 

    If you have a SCSI removable media device, such as a cartridge drive, make sure the media are mounted on the drive before running Setup. If no media is mounted on the drive, errors might occur during Setup that prevent installation of Windows 98.

A SCSI device works with MS-DOS but not Windows 98. 

For many SCSI hardware devices, you can specify command-line parameters when the driver is loaded. By default, the Windows 98 miniport driver runs without parameters (in the same way it does for real-mode drivers). If you want to use a command-line parameter, if the device has a Windows 98 MPD file, you can add the parameter to the Settings tab in the Properties for the SCSI controller.

For information about the switches that can be used for a particular SCSI device, see the documentation from the device manufacturer. There are no additional parameters added by Microsoft.

For example, if your SCSI adapter has full functionality under MS-DOS but not under Windows 98, you can add any device parameters previously specified in Config.sys to the Adapter Settings box. As another example, for Adaptec 7700 SCSI devices, you might specify removable=off to disable support for removable media if you want to load another ASPI removable disk.

Setup does not automatically detect the SCSI CD-ROM drive. 

If Setup does not automatically detect a SCSI CD-ROM drive, try the following:

  • Try loading real-mode drivers for the SCSI controller, the CD-ROM driver, and Mscdex.exe, and see if the CD-ROM drive works in MS-DOS. 

  • If the drive does work in MS-DOS, in Device Manager, examine the SCSI controller's properties to make sure it was detected correctly. 

  • Check your physical connections. 

  • Check the SCSI IDs for all devices to make sure they are unique. 

Setup does not recognize the correct SCSI CD-ROM drive. 

Windows 98 Setup can recognize multiple CD-ROM drives connected to the same SCSI host adapter. Therefore, if it does not recognize one of the CD-ROM drives, there is a hardware problem. For example, it could be caused by a legacy adapter with more than one device with the same SCSI ID.

You see an error message about your CD-ROM drive during Setup. 

If you see an error message during Setup, and your SCSI or IDE CD-ROM drive does not appear in Device Manager, make sure your driver appears in the Ios.ini safe list. If a real-mode driver is loaded for the CD-ROM drive, and the driver does not appear in the Ios.ini safe list, Windows 98 Setup does not install protected-mode drivers for it, and it does not appear in Device Manager. If that happens, you must comment out the real-mode driver. For example:

rem device=c:\sbrpo\drv\sbpcd.sys/d:mscd001 /p:220

Then reboot your computer. Windows 98 should automatically detect and configure the CD-ROM drive.

A SCSI or IDE tape drive or scanner does not show up in Device Manager. 

Windows 98 does not assign drive letters to tape drives and scanners, because they have no drive to assign a letter to; that is, they have no official hardware class designation. Therefore, they might appear as Unknown Devices in Device Manager. (If you run Microsoft Backup, however, they will be moved to a new device class and will not appear as Unknown Devices.) After you start Windows 98, it asks if you have a driver for these devices. If you have Windows 98 drivers, click Yes, and then type the path to where the drivers are located. To use existing real-mode drivers, click No. Windows 98 will continue to recognize and support these devices although they are listed as Unknown Devices.

A SCSI drive does not show up in My Computer. 

This probably indicates that there is something wrong with the SCSI drivers in Config.sys and Autoexec.bat, or that the protected-mode SCSI drivers fail to load. Look for an Ios.log file and check its entries, as described in "Real-Mode Drivers and the Ios.ini Safe Driver List" earlier in this chapter.

Correcting Problems with Other Devices

This section describes problems that might occur with devices other than the display or SCSI devices.

You see Code 11 error when installing a PCI device. 

If Windows 98 hangs or reboots when you are installing a PCI device and then gives you a Code 11 error, you might have a problem with IRQ steering in your BIOS (a mechanism that enables Windows 98 to dynamically allocate ISA interrupts). To find out whether this is the cause, try turning off IRQ steering.

To turn off IRQ steering
  1. In Device Manager, click your PCI bus, and then click Properties

  2. Click the IRQ Steering tab, and then clear the Use IRQ Steering check box. 

When you reboot, Windows 98 will no longer dynamically allocate interrupts but will instead rely on your BIOS to do so.

The system stalls when accessing the CD-ROM. 

After you press CTRL+ALT+DEL to shut down and restart the computer, Windows 98 might be unable to find the CD-ROM or might stall when trying to access the drive; sometimes, pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL will not reset the computer. This might occur if Windows 98 is relying on real-mode drivers for the Sound Blaster or Media Vision Pro Audio proprietary CD-ROM drive. If this is the case, you cannot access anything on the CD-ROM because its drivers cannot load. If this happens, turn off and then restart the computer. Use the Add New Hardware option in Control Panel to install the protected-mode drivers provided with Windows 98 for the specific CD-ROM device.

CD-ROM performance problems occur when AutoPlay is enabled. 

This problem sometimes occurs with both protected-mode drivers and real-mode Microsoft Compact Disc Extensions (MSCDEX) drivers. To fix it, turn off AutoPlay, which is enabled by default, and then turn it back on again.

WAV files cannot be played. 

If Windows 98 cannot recognize the sound card, you might not be able to play WAV files.

To verify sound card settings
  1. In Device Manager, double-click Sound, video and game controllers

  2. Double-click the specific sound card, and then in the card's properties, click the Driver tab so you can verify the drivers. 

  3. Click the Resources tab, and verify IRQ settings. 

  4. Check the Conflicting device list, and verify that no conflicts for the sound card settings appear in the list. 

Ports for sound cards with multiple CD-ROM adapters are not detected.

If a sound card has multiple CD-ROM adapters, they often include a program that activates the port to be used. This program must run before Windows 98 runs. If it does not, Windows 98 will not detect the port.

An input device fails. 

If an input device, such as the keyboard or the mouse, fails, do the following:

  • Check the physical connection. 

  • In Device Manager, check the driver used for the device. 

  • Check for conflicts with the I/O and IRQ resources used. 

  • Check for conflicting drivers or applications. 

The mouse moves erratically, or keyboard input fails. 

For specific problems concerning mouse or keyboard operation, do the following:

  • In Device Manager, check the mouse and keyboard drivers, replacing them if necessary. 

  • In Control Panel, click Mouse, and then check the Motion configuration for pointer speed. 

  • Check the port used for the mouse. 

  • Check the physical connection of the mouse and keyboard. 

  • Make sure there are no entries for real-mode mouse drivers in Config.sys, Autoexec.bat, Win.ini, and System.ini. 

  • Reboot the computer and hold down the left CTRL key until the Microsoft Windows 98 Startup Menu message appears, and then choose the Logged option. Check the Bootlog.txt file and verify that the mouse driver is loading. 

Mouse reports GROWSTUB errors. 

If you were using the Microsoft Mouse Manager with Windows 3.1, Windows 98 Setup automatically updates the Pointer.exe and Pointer.dll files in the Mouse directory. If these files are not updated correctly, the mouse might stall and report GROWSTUB as a running task in the Close Program dialog box. To fix this problem, remove all references to the mouse in the Autoexec.bat and Config.sys files, and make sure the correct POINTER files were copied to the Mouse directory and not just the Windows directory.

Additional Resources 

For more information about

See this resource

Changing a PC Card device memory window
SCSI device switches
Display adapter support for BIOS interfaces

Device documentation

Card bus
Adding or changing a device drive
Configurations options

Windows 98 Help

INF files

Appendix C, "Windows 98 INF Files"
Windows 98 DDK

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