W98SE startup reverts to default settings

[AlanV]

I recently reformatted my hard disk and reinstalled Windows 98 SE. In
the process of reinstalling all of the Windows Update patches and my
own software I included Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1. Before the
reformat I had upgraded from IE 4.01 (included with the OS) to 5.0 to
5.01 to 5.5 to 6.0. This time I installed 6.0 SP1 directly.

Since I used my machine for three years as a Windows 98 system and
then upgraded to Windows 98 SE OEM version and used it for another
year, I don't know what changes there are between that configuration
and my reinstalled configuration. However, I am experiencing several
problems, and I can't find anything in Microsoft's Knowledge Base or
in Googleland to help.

When my machine starts up, it frequently restores menu animation,
which I have turned off repeatedly with Tweak UI 1.33. It also
initiates a dial-up connection before the system tray is even filled
in. Finally, it has totally taken over the three default power
schemes and set them all to the Always On scheme, which turns off the
monitor after 15 mins and the disk drive after 1 hr. It even
overwrote a custom scheme I created with a new name.

1) Is there an explanation for this behavior?
2) Is there a way to stop it?

Thanks,
Alan

[Cricket]

I'm not sure if that has anything to do directly with IE 6.0 SP1, but you might want to get Ad-Aware and Spybot Search & Destroy and scan your system for spyware.

Do a full system virus scan with updated definitions.

And you might want to do a scan for trojans too.

Cricket

[Dan]

while Cricket's advice is certainly sound and a good idea, you recently reformatted...which should've removed any trojans or viruses...have you been online alot since the reformat, or opened any suspicious mail attachments?
the only other thing I can think of that might help is to go to add/remove programs in the control panel and try to uninstall internet explorer. you can't really do this, and you will be given a choice to repair it...try doing this.
also, did you upgrade from v.4 to v.6? maybe there is a step in between that addresses this issue. maybe if you uninstall v.6, up to one of the v.5's and then to v.6 it will help (try this first, then the repair).
let us know how you are progressing.....

[GaryRouth]

If you don't find a virus, trojan, or spyware - and if changing or repairing IE doesn't help . . .

1) Uninstall TweakUI (for now)
2) Run RegClean 4.1 (it was updated for Win98 2nd. Ed. - http://download.com.com/3000-2094-88...ml?tag=lst-0-1 -the directions for using it are in the Readme.txt file. It's a self-extracting zip file)
3) Look in the Add/Remove Programs applet in Control Panel to see if you have the option to uninstall Automatic Updates. I think IE6 SP1 installs that by default. It may be trying to check for updates at startup. If it's not available for uninstall, post that info & I'll see if I can find the registry setting (don't have it with me at the moment) [p.s. - the version of IE native to Win98se should be IE 5.0 I think]
4) If you are using multiple Users on that system, try going with just one user for a while & delete the others (you can re-create them later)
5) If you've been using msconfig to do a "selective startup", try using just a normal startup, and instead remove items from startup by the Preferences/Options menus in the offending programs, or removing the unwanted entries in the Registry HKEY Local Machine/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Run
[and if you have unwanted services running, also look under that same area - but instead of looking under /Run, look under /Run Service].
6) In the Control Panel, try manipulating the PowerManagement settings to your preferences. Reboot, and see if your settings have "stuck" like they should. If you have only one user, they certainly should.
__________
. . . and of course you could just try the reinstall all over again from scratch. If you are restoring anything from backups after your reinstalls, don't forget to scan them before restoring them.

Curious to see how this comes out.
. . . Gary

[p.s. ...the menu animation & such can be turned off in the Display applet in Control Panel under the Effects tab - your other settings are there too, under various tabs]

[stylin19]

Insalling IE6 sp1 as a standalone should be fine.

Re: The Dail-up. IE installs BrowserWebCheck as a default. It executes loadwc.exe on startup.
Go into msconfig/startup and uncheck this and save settings.

While you are in there, see if there is anything else you don't need/want to load on startup and uncheck it.

Re: Menu animation. You may want to go into display properties/effects and see if animation is checked there. If so, uncheck it and reboot.

Re: Power Schemes...scratchin my head. You may want to first stop them from loading on startup, so uncheck them all in msconfig/startup and reboot.
Then reset the settings and reboot. and take it from there.

not much good luck.

[AlanV]

Thank you all for your suggestions. After Easter festivities I was able to spend 45 minutes troubleshooting last night. Here is a more detailed background and the cumulative results:

Background:
===========
1) I rebuilt my PC around the middle of last month (new case, new motherboard, new sound card, retained disk drives, CD drives, graphics card and modem).

2) I upgraded to Norton Antivirus 2003. Pre-upgrade I used version 5.0. I have always kept both the virus definitions and the software (common client module, etc.) up-to-date. I also run scans about once a month.

3) I use Ad-Aware 6.0, which I had used pre-upgrade. I run scans at the same time as Norton.

4) I use Zone Alarm 3.1.395, which I had used pre-upgrade.

5) I check for and install Windows Critical Updates once a week. I also install the majority of Recommended Updates.

6) I had to reformat my hard drive and reinstall all of my software because of the new motherboard and CPU. My HP CD-RW drive in particular needed to be re-recognized, but several people have told me that Windows should be re-installed from time to time anyway. This is a big deal, for all of the software I have to reinstall and configure.

Research:
=========
1) I suspected a problem with Norton, so I unchecked all of the startup items in the Startup tab of System Configuration. If I uncheck animation for menus and lists from Display Properties and reboot, menu animation is turned on again. However, if I simply sign off and sign on either as myself or another family member, the setting remains intact.

2) I unchecked all other startup items except for ScanRegistry, TaskMonitor and SystemTray, all items in Autoexec.bat, and menu animation, and rebooted again. Menu animation was back.

3) An article in Answer Line of the April 2003 issue of PC World (page 154) mentions a problem with arrows on shortcut icons returning after installing a security update, and TweakUI being powerless to make the changes stick. (Fresh UI freeware was suggested as a possible alternative, but I didn't try that.)

=======

Here are the registry settings for my startup programs and services:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
"ScanRegistry"="C:\\WINDOWS\\scanregw.exe /autorun"
"TaskMonitor"="C:\\WINDOWS\\taskmon.exe"
"SystemTray"="SysTray.Exe"
"Propel Accelerator"="C:\\PROGRAM FILES\\PROPEL ACCELERATOR\\PROPELAC.EXE"
"ccApp"="\"C:\\Program Files\\Common Files\\Symantec Shared\\ccApp.exe\""
"ccRegVfy"="\"C:\\Program Files\\Common Files\\Symantec Shared\\ccRegVfy.exe\""
"MULTIMEDIA KEYBOARD"="C:\\Program Files\\Netropa\\Multimedia Keyboard\\MMKeybd.exe"
"IconSaver"="C:\\Program Files\\IconSaver\\IconSaver.exe"
"Adaptec DirectCD"="C:\\PROGRA~1\\CD-WRI~1\\DIRECTCD\\DIRECTCD.EXE"
"WheelMouse"="C:\\Program Files\\ScrollMouse\\4DMAIN.EXE -startup"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices]
"ccEvtMgr"="\"C:\\Program Files\\Common Files\\Symantec Shared\\ccEvtMgr.exe\""
"ScriptBlocking"="\"C:\\Program Files\\Common Files\\Symantec Shared\\Script Blocking\\SBServ.exe\" -reg"
"TrueVector"="C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM\\ZONELABS\\VSMON.EXE -service"

========
Current status:

Menu animation returns consistently, but dial-up startup is intermittent. Since unchecking Load Power Profile in system configuration I have not had any further problem with the values for the Always On power scheme being reset.

========
Again, thanks for your help. This is a real puzzler!

Alan

[stylin19]

Is it possible propel accelarator is trying to dial-up? It looks like it requires a connection to their network in order to use their services.

you may want to turn auto-dial off, if possible, in propel.
you can also turn auto-dial off in in IE6 properties/connections.

not much ... good luck

[AlanV]

I'll be monitoring dial-up, and if it occurs frequently enough I will certainly try disabling Propel at startup and just use it manually to see if that's really the cause. BTW, I don't know if you're familiar with the service, but my ISP is having me beta-test them for dial-up speed gains - they may eventually be offered to all users (fee or free?). So far it does seem to speed me up nicely both by compressing and degrading grahics and by caching my frequently-visited pages.

[glc]

Look in your Scheduled Tasks - I'd bet that Symantec Net Detect is in there - that's for Norton's automatic live update. Disable it and see if the dialup call goes away. I'd personally just set my Internet Options to never dial a connection and drag a shortcut to the dialup connection out to the desktop, then put it on the quicklaunch bar - and connect manually when I want to go on line before opening IE or OE.