How to Troubleshoot Computer Hangs During Hardware Detection

When you attempt to install Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition (Me), Setup may stop responding (hang) during the hardware detection process. During this phase, Setup determines what hardware components are installed in your computer. This phase requires you to restart your computer either once or twice, depending on the type of hardware in your computer. You can identify this Setup phase by the "Setting Up Hardware" screen.

Your computer may hang because of various hardware issues. If you are trying to upgrade, this behavior can occur because of conflicts with previous hardware settings. If you are trying to install a full version of Windows 98 or Windows Me, this behavior can occur because of incompatible hardware, hardware that is located in the wrong bus slot on the motherboard, or Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) settings.

Note Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.

To resolve this issue, do one of the following troubleshooting methods:

Restart Your Computer

You may be able to address this issue by restarting your computer. Turn off your computer, and then turn it back on. If Windows 98 Setup does not continue, try the following method.

Restart in Safe Mode and Use Msconfig.exe

Restart your computer, press and hold down the CTRL key after your computer completes the Power On Self Test (POST), and then choose Safe Mode from the Startup menu. For additional information about Windows 98 startup, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: After your computer restarts in Safe mode, use the System Configuration Utility tool (Msconfig.exe) to minimize conflicts that may prevent your computer from finishing Setup.

To start and use the System Information tool:

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Information.
2. On the Tools menu, click System Configuration Utility.
3. On the General tab, click Selective Startup, and then click to clear the following check boxes:
   • Process Config.sys File
   • Process Autoexec.bat File
   • Process Winstart.bat File (if available)
   • Process System.ini File
   • Process Win.ini File
   • Load Startup Group Items
   
   
4. Click OK, and then restart your computer when you are prompted.

If Setup finishes, use the following steps to return your computer to a typical startup mode. If your computer continues to stop responding (hang), use the steps in the "Check the Hardware Configuration" section .

1. Run System Configuration Utility, click to select one selective startup item, click OK, and then follow the instructions on your screen to restart your computer and test hangs or unusual behavior.
2. Continue this process until all of the selective startup items are selected. If you select an item and your computer hangs or behaves unusually, click the tab for the corresponding item, clear half of the check boxes, click OK, and then restart your computer. Continue this process until you locate the setting that is causing the problem.
3. If you can restart your computer successfully when all items are selected, run System Configuration Utility, click to select the Normal Startup check box, click OK, and then follow the steps on the screen to restart your computer.

For additional information about using Msconfig.exe, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Advanced Troubleshooting with Msconfig.exe

Restart your computer, press and hold down the CTRL key after your computer completes the Power On Self Test (POST), and then choose Safe Mode from the Startup menu. For additional information about Windows 98 Startup, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: After your computer restarts in Safe mode, use the System Configuration Utility tool (Msconfig.exe) to minimize conflicts that can prevent your computer from completing Setup.

To start and use the System Information tool:

1. On the toolbar click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click the System Information tool.
2. On the Tools menu, click System Configuration Utility.
3. On the General tab, click the Advanced Button.
4. Select the Force Compatibility Mode Disk Access option.
5. At the bottom of the Advanced Troubleshooting settings, click OK, and then click OK again.
6. Restart the computer when prompted.

If Setup completes, the behavior was caused by an incompatibility between the hard drive controller and the Setup program. On your desktop to enable the 32-bit disk access, follow these steps:

1. On the toolbar click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click the System Information tool.
2. On the Tools menu, click System Configuration Utility.
3. On the General tab, click the Advanced Button.
4. Select the Force Compatibility Mode Disk Access option.
5. At the Advanced Troubleshooting settings, click OK.
6. Restart the computer when prompted.

Check the Hardware Configuration

To check the hardware configuration on the computer, restart your computer in Safe mode and use Device Manager to troubleshoot the installed hardware. To do this:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click System.
2. On the Device Manager tab, disable all devices under the following branches:
   • Display adapters
   • Floppy disk controllers
   • Hard disk controllers
   • Keyboard
   • Network adapters
   • PCMCIA socket
   • Ports
   • SCSI controllers
   • Sound, video and game controllers
   • Mouse
   
   To disable a device in Device Manager, use the following steps.
   
   NOTE: If you have a serial mouse and you disable the COM ports, if Windows writes back to the BIOS that the COM ports are disabled, you will have no mouse functionality until you enable the COM ports in the BIOS again.
   
   
   1. Double-click the branch that contains the device you want, click the device, and then click Properties.
   2. On the General tab, click to select the Disable in this hardware profile check box, and then click OK.
   3. Restart your computer.
   NOTE: When you disable the mouse and then restart your computer, you may receive the following message:
   Windows did not detect a mouse attached to the computer. You can safely attach a serial mouse now.
   To enable the mouse, use the following keyboard commands:
   
   
   1. Press CTL+ESC to activate the Start menu.
   2. Press UP ARROW until Settings is selected, press RIGHT ARROW to select Control Panel, and then press ENTER.
   3. Press DOWN ARROW and LEFT ARROW until System is selected, and then press ENTER.
   4. Press RIGHT ARROW to select the Device Manager tab, press TAB, press TAB, and then press DOWN ARROW to select the device listed under the expanded Mouse branch.
   5. Press TAB to select Properties, press ENTER, press TAB to select Enable Device, and then press ENTER.
   6. Click OK, and then click YES to restart your computer.
   7. If the mouse still does not work after step E, press TAB, and then press ENTER. Press ENTER when you receive the prompt to restart your computer.
3. If Setup continues, enable the devices you disabled in step 2 after Setup is finished, and then verify that no devices are conflicting. Enable the devices in the following order:
   • COM ports
   • Hard disk controllers
   • Floppy disk controllers
   • All other devices
   
   To enable a device and check for possible conflicts, follow these steps:
   
   
   1. Double-click the branch that contains the device you want, click the device, and then click Properties.
   2. On the General tab, click to clear the Disable in this hardware profile check box.
   3. On the Resources tab, verify that there are no conflicts listed in the Conflicting Device List box. Note that the Resources tab does not appear for every device.
   4. Click OK, and then restart your computer.

Check the Log Files

Another troubleshooting method that may help to determine the cause of the issue is to examine the Setup log files. Three files are created during Setup:

• Detlog.txt. This log file lists the start of the detection test and the test outcome. This is a hidden file located in the root folder of drive C.
• Detcrash.log. This file records which detection steps were successfully completed so that Setup does not hang on the same step again. This is a hidden file that is created only if the detection step caused the computer to stop responding. This file is located in the root folder of drive C.
• Setuplog.txt. This file records what takes place during Setup, including successes and problems. It is used by Safe Recovery to determine where Setup should resume. This file is located in the root folder of drive C.

Install in a New Folder

If the problem persists, install Windows in a new folder for testing purposes. You can use the following Setup command to troubleshoot a specific module: The /p switch causes Setup to pass string(s) directly to Detection Manager (Sysdetmg.dll). Setup does not interpret the content of the string. The string can contain one or more detection options.

The b switch enables Prompt Before mode. It prompts you before a detection module is called so that you can step through each detection module manually and decide if you want to skip it. The default is disabled.

For additional information about installing Windows 98 in a new folder, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Check for Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) Issues

On certain motherboards, Windows 98 or Windows Me may not be able to successfully complete the Plug and Play detection process. This issue may be caused by an incorrect interpretation of data stored in the computer's BIOS. If you have tried the steps in the previous methods and your computer still hangs during hardware detection, contact the computer's manufacturer to see if you need an upgrade before you install Windows 98 on your computer.

Upgrading over Windows 3.1

If you are upgrading from Microsoft Windows 3.1, you may have a damaged Windows 3.1 group (.grp) file. If you have a damaged group file, use the Group Converter tool to re-create the groups. To do so, use the following steps:

1. Turn off your computer for at least ten seconds, and then turn it back on.
2. Click Start, click Run, type grpconv.exe in the Open box, and then click OK.

Using Novell IntraNetWare Client version 2.2

If you are upgrading from Microsoft Windows 95 with the Novell IntraNetWare Client version 2.2 for Windows 95 software (also known as Client32) installed, contact Novell about obtaining an updated Nwsipx32.dll file.

The third-party products that are discussed in this article are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.

For additional information about troubleshooting hardware issues after Setup finishes, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: