"msconfig" is not working, PLEASE HELP!

[cmptr_iliterate]

I recently read an article in PC Magazine that gave simple
tips on "how to" tweek a system in order for Windows to
load faster. One example that was given was to hit the
start button>run and then type msconfig. Then the
following page it suggested that I click on "startup" and
then manually click on programs that I did not want
windows to load at startup. Thus making Windows load
faster. Hopefully, I'm making sense thus far.

Anyways, I typed in msconfig and the following message
appears, "cannot find the file 'msconfig'(or one of its
components). Make sure the path and filename are correct
and that are required libraries are available". The only
option it gives me is to click on "ok".

By the way, I've owned my machine for about two years now
and never altered anything that I can remember. But in
the last month I have updated Windows 2000 professional to
include service pak 3 because I only had service pak 1
since I owned the machine. Also in the last month, I
loaded Zone Alarm and Norton Antivirus but I don't think
that would have anything to do with it.

Anyways, why is msconfig function not working AND how can
I get it to work? My intentions are to get my computer to
load Windows/boot faster. Thank you in advance.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

The tip you read related to Win98 or to WinXP. There is
no msconfig.exe in Win2000. However, you can copy
it from a WinXP installation.

 

[Mark]

I recently read an article in PC Magazine that gave simple
tips on "how to" tweek a system in order for Windows to
load faster. One example that was given was to hit the
start button>run and then type msconfig. Then the
following page it suggested that I click on "startup" and
then manually click on programs that I did not want
windows to load at startup. Thus making Windows load
faster. Hopefully, I'm making sense thus far.

Anyways, I typed in msconfig and the following message
appears, "cannot find the file 'msconfig'(or one of its
components). Make sure the path and filename are correct
and that are required libraries are available". The only
option it gives me is to click on "ok".

By the way, I've owned my machine for about two years now
and never altered anything that I can remember. But in
the last month I have updated Windows 2000 professional to
include service pak 3 because I only had service pak 1
since I owned the machine. Also in the last month, I
loaded Zone Alarm and Norton Antivirus but I don't think
that would have anything to do with it.

Anyways, why is msconfig function not working AND how can
I get it to work? My intentions are to get my computer to
load Windows/boot faster. Thank you in advance.

Msconfig is only available on win98 and XP..

--
Regards,
Mark
Samba Setup Guide: www.samba.netfirms.com
Courier-imap Tutorial: www.samba.netfirms.com/courier/courier.html
Tikanni Server Installer: http://sourceforge.net/projects/tikanni

 

[Jim Byrd]

Hi CI - There are several approaches you can use to make controlling the
Startup process easier in Win2k.

1) If you still have access to it, you can move a copy of the Win98 msconfig
to your \System\ folder and it will work - just ignore any complaints it
makes.

2) Much better, you can go here:

http://www.thetechguide.com/downloads.html (XP Version which works in Win2k
just fine) or here:

http://www.3feetunder.com/files/win2K_msconfig_setup.exe (stated to be a
Win2k Version - probably the same as the XP) or here:

http://www.techadvice.com/win2000/m/msconfig_w2k.htm and download msconfig.

3) As good, but different, is to go here:
http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml and get Mike Lin's Startup Control
Panel applet. A somewhat more difficult to use but more extensive program
to do the same thing is StartupList from here:
http://www.lurkhere.com/~nicefiles/index.html, or even better, Autoruns from
here: http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/source/misc.shtml#autoruns. Be
very careful about doing any Registry modifications directly unless you're
comfortable with this, and be sure that you BACKUP your Registry before
making any changes, so that you can recover if something goes wrong.
Changes made with StartUpCPL are less likely to cause problems, and are
usually a matter of just re-enabling the particular program. Another
program of this type that I can recommend is StartMan, free. You'll have to
get it here: http://www.pt.lu/comnet/files/utils/startman10396.exe, as the
pcforest site is, sadly, no longer in business. Another such free program
that I can highly recommend is StartupRun, here: http://nirsoft.cjb.net/,
particularly if you suspect malware problems. And finally, StartupCop,
here is excellent and allows you to set up multiple "startup profiles":
http://www.pchelp911.com/files/startcop.zip. If you have problems with
suspected hijackers, you can look up and investigate suspect programs in
your StartUp lists here:
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_pages/startup_full.htm (Recommended)
http://www.3feetunder.com/krick/startup/list.html (Recommended)
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm (Recommended)


All work fine for controlling startups, however, I would recommend getting
both of the last two. They're both free, and each has some advantages. For
example, the XP msconfig also gives you some visibility/control over
services, while Mike's applet offers much better startup control.

Also, you should read and print out/save for future reference mskb article
Q179365 here:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q179365 which will
tell you the order in which things get loaded.

Two additional resources which have useful information relating to startup
issues are:

How to Delay Loading of Specific Services
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;193888

HOWTO: Control Device Driver Load Order
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q115/4/86.asp


Perhaps this will help.


--
Please respond in the same thread.
Regards, Jim Byrd, MS-MVP



In

 

[cmptr_iliterate]

Thank you all who have responded with very
similiar "answers" to my question. Which is, that Windows
2000 Professional does not have a msconfig function.

With that in mind, can you give me detail tweeks that I
can perform on my computer so that Windows boots faster.
As this moment, when I boot up my machine, a password is
requested (which I dont mind the password)......as soon as
I input my password and hit "enter" it takes 16 seconds
for my machine to be up and ready. It use to take 30
seconds when I had ZoneAlarm start up automatically. But
now I start ZoneAlarm manually which has saved about 14
seconds. Also, the only two things that show up in my
System Tray at startup are: The volume icon and the
unplug/eject hardware icon.

I have a Dell Latitude CPxh, 512mb ram, 20gb hd which i'm
currently using only 4 gb. So I'm confused as to why it
doesn't get up and ready faster AFTER I type in my
password. Thank you in advance.

 

[Jim Byrd]

Hi CI - If all you got out of Pegasus (MVP) and my replay to you was "that
Windows 2000 Professional does not have a msconfig function", then I suggest
that you re-read them.

--
Please respond in the same thread.
Regards, Jim Byrd, MS-MVP



In

 

[cmptr_iliterate]

Hi Jim, Actually I read all 3 microsoft articles that you
suggested and my concern was that I did not want to modify
the registry. Please keep in mind that I'm no expert and
I would hate to crash my system, so to speak. All in all,
my computer works great but I was just hoping there was a
way that I could do very simple tweeks such as the ones
that were given in PC World.

For example, typing in msconfig and hitting the startup
tab and unchecking programs that I didn't want to start
up. For instance, I have an external cdrw and I would
like to "uncheck" the box because I'm sure that the cdrw
loads at startup. If I were to uncheck the cdrw as well
as others, my hope is that the startup process will
decrease from 16 seconds to possibly half that time AFTER
I type in my password.

The questions I have are: 1) if I were to uncheck the
cdrw, what would I have to manually do in order to use the
cdrw when its time? Would I just stick in a cd or would I
have to re-check the box and reboot. 2) as I mentioned
before, it takes my Windows2000, 512mbram, 20 gb hd to get
up and ready 16 seconds AFTER I input my password, does
this sound normal? The volume and the eject hardware
icons are the only icons that appear in my system tray
after windows starts up. 3) if i were to take your
suggestion and copy the msconfig file from XP to my
Windows 2000 in order to control startup better, but then
ran into problems can I uninstall the file in order for my
system to go back to its original state. 4) MOST
IMPORTANTLY --> all in all, in your professional opinion,
would the startup time be greatly reduced if I copy the xp
msconfig file to my windows 2000 and make the
modifications or should I just leave it alone because of
that old saying, "why fix something that ain't broken"? I
really don't want to play around with my registry so if
that is the only way to notice significant changes then I
will just leave it alone.
Thank you in advance and I trully appreciate your help.
Happy Thanksgiving.

 

[Ozgirl]

"cmptr_iliterate" <[email protected]>
wrote in message

Hi Jim, Actually I read all 3 microsoft articles that you
suggested and my concern was that I did not want to modify
the registry. Please keep in mind that I'm no expert and
I would hate to crash my system, so to speak. All in all,
my computer works great but I was just hoping there was a
way that I could do very simple tweeks such as the ones
that were given in PC World.

For example, typing in msconfig and hitting the startup
tab and unchecking programs that I didn't want to start
up.

You can't use the simple msconfig program if you don't
have it. Everyone told you to
GET the msconfig program. You were even given the
website from where you can download the
msconfig program.
http://www.thetechguide.com/downloads.html (XP Version
which works in Win2k
just fine).

Go to that website, download and install the program
(msconfig is the last in the list of downloads on that
page) Then you will be able to do what PC mag says:
Click on Start|Run|Type in msconfig, press enter.
Ignore any error popup, just click "ok" on
the popup. msconfig will then open. That is about the
easiest to understand tweak we can give you.

 

[Jim Byrd]

HI CI - Well, let me make a few observations

1) msconfig doesn't in-and-of-itself modify your system in any significant
way, so you don't need to worry about "uninstalling" it. If you don't use
it, then it won't do anything. When you run it, it provides a GUI which
allows you to control certain of the startup and boot functions (which is
what you started out saying you wanted to do).

2) Your startup times don't seem particularly opprobrious to my - mine are
much longer, albeit for other reasons. If you want to speed up your
startup, the most straightforward way in which to do this in a Win2k system
is to disable loading services which are unneeded. BE DAMN CAREFUL and do
some reading. If you don't understand something, get some advice before you
make changes and try to err on the conservative side. Start here:
http://www.blackviper.com/WIN2K/servicecfg.htm, and pay particular attention
to the "SAFE" column.

3) There are other very good reasons for having and using msconfig than
just controlling Startup.

4) If you want MHO, leave your CD stuff alone. They cause enough problems
without you adding to the mixture.

5) As you noted, there's a lot to be said for "If it ain't broke, then
don't fix it."

--
Please respond in the same thread.
Regards, Jim Byrd, MS-MVP



In

 

[cmptr_iliterate]

Ozgirl...thank you for your advice. I will being taking
your suggestion and applying in tomorrow. As you may
already know from reading my original message...my hopes
is to basically decrease the amount of time it takes my
machine to get up and ready AFTER I type in my password.
Right now, it takes approximately 16 seconds for my system
to get up and ready AFTER I type my password...i'm hoping
to decrease it.

With that in mind, please read "Dave Patricks" suggestion
that he gave to "Kristi" on November 27 at 11:06am that is
within this same topic. Do you have any feedback on his
suggestion? In otherwords, will that work to decrease the
boot time? Thank you in advance.