About Chris Schuh Expertise I have several years of schooling in this area (including post-secondary), and also several years in the work force. This is my career, and I love helping others out with computer problems. I possess excellent written communication skills which allows me to guide people through complicated solutions to their problems with relative ease.
Outside of helping people with their computer issues, I'm also a Professional Magician and a Musician. You can check me out at www.chrisschuh.com!
Windows 95/98 - windows 98SE boot message can not find device file
Expert: Chris Schuh - 10/28/2004
Question Wow I really had no clue as to what you were writing to view the other tabs. Now I viewed all the check marks within the other tabs within the system configuration utility including General, Config.sys, autoexec.bat, system.ini, win.ini and start up again. I clicked on the + to see all the files below or within each category. Nowehere did I see any reference to the vxd file we are seeking. I also did a search on my computer under *.vxd and found 380 files. Did you want me to uncheck item by item within the configuration utility? Or did you want me to uncheck everything and reboot? I do not want to create any downtime hence the caution. The message upon each reboot references that the registry is seeking a system.ini file named SHLDDRV.VXD so would this be under a tab other than system.ini? Do I uncheck everything at once or will the system fail? Again I have no backup disc available. What next?-------------------------
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What is the strategy for the problem? Checking and unchecking boxes in the start menu has not altered what happens when I reboot. Whenever I reboot the registry is looking for a file that it can not find. I had deleted a back up file and this produced unknowingly the problem. I thought it had something to do with an old version of AOL. Altering the check marks in the start menu does not produce any new information. If they are all unchecked or all checked or some checked and some unchecked it all produces the same result. What did you think would happpen? Who else may have some insights in correcting the problem? What next?-------------------------
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Question -
It does not seem that we have accomplished anything after unchecking everything in start menu. The original message persists where the registry does not find the shlddrv.vxd. How does problem get fixed? -------------------------
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Question -
I don't understand. When everything is unchecked in msconfig with the start up menu there is no alteration in the problem. The same message appears where the registry is seeking the file ending with vxd. Then I can press any key to allow the full boot. Without pressing a key it will not go to desk top. What is the strategy?-------------------------
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I unchecked all check marks in msconfig and it produced the identical results. How do I find out which real or virtual device driver or program the vxd message is acssociated with and how do I fix the problem?-------------------------
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Several years ago I used to have problems with aol software and through those people I remember them telling me that I always had to have those two checks at a minimum form windows to boot properly. Was I misled? Having no emergency discs incase the system will not reboot I am concerned as I must continue to use my computer regularly. If unchecking everything in start run msconfig produces useful information what do you think it may produce that may provide clues to the problem? Will it tell me which program requires that file and if so what next? I do not understand how windows boots properly without scanning the registry (unchecking the scan registry in the msconfig menu)? The reason for the delay is the registry looking for the file ("The windows registry or system.ini file refers to this device but the device file no longer exists")so how will unchecking the scan registry help the system? Won't windows have to scan the registry to properly reboot and then look for all files unless one alters the registry? Followup To
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THere are only two that remain checked. I do not understand what you intend to accomplish by unchecking systray.exe or c:\windows/scanregw.exe/autorun? What do you learn by doing this and how could this correct the problem. How does it tell me where the registry is looking for SHLDDRV>VXD? I use msconfig all the time to reduce the consumption of my system resources on a reboot. Everything is unchecked except the two that I wrote above. How do I correct the registry looking for the file which is no longer there if I uncheck scanreg? -------------------------
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Chris,
I had unchecked everything except two boxes: systray and scan registry and had downloaded some trialware: Ace utilities and system cleaner to see if either one might correct the problem and neither worked. Regarding unclicking everything with msconfig I have never done that as I have always been concerned that these two at aminimum had to be checked to get a fresh boot. I do not have any cd's incase of emergencies so I will need to be careful that what we do is not by trial and error but by deliberation.
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Question -
Hi,
The message that I receive on a fresh boot is:
Cannot find a device file that may be needed to run windows or a windows application.
The windows registry or system.ini file refers to this device file but the device file no longer exists.
If you deleted this file on purpose, try uninstalling the associated application using its uninstall or setup program.
If you still want to use the application associated with this device file try reinstalling that application to replace the missing file.
SHLDDRV.VXD
I do not know which program/device/application etc. this vxd file was associated with. Using a google search there is some information in which others may have had this problem but I did not see a solution or information on it's association.
Pressing any key allows the system to fully boot but it requires the interruption and wait. How do I get the system back to working properly?
System:
Dell XPS T500 Pentium III 500 with 540 ram, windows 98 SE, office 2000, broadband connection.
Answer -
Hi Martin,
You'll have to go here to look for the file.
START > Run > type in "msconfig" (no quotes) > and click OK. In there, go to the startup tab and clear out all the check boxes. Restart the computer and see if the error message comes back.
If it doesn't, then you'll have to find out which check it is. If it does still happen, then re-check all the boxes again and let me know so we can go from there.
Cheers,
Chris
Answer -
Hi Martin,
You can uncheck everything in MSCONFIG and have a perfectly clean boot without stress of the system failing. All this does is prevent any additional applications outside of Windows from loading. We can always go back and check the boxes without trouble.
Cheers,
Chris
Answer -
Martin,
SHLDDRV.VXD is a virtual device driver file. This means that anything, including Windows system files and applications, could be triggering it. By stopping everything in MSCONFIG, we can be absolutely certain that the solution does not lie in there. What I don't want to do is bark up the wrong tree because we haven't fully explored this option.
If you don't want to continue troubleshooting, that is your choice. Here are the places where this file can be called:
-Autoexec.bat
-System.ini
-The computer's registry (which we've been working on through MSCONFIG)
You'll have to find the reference in there and properly remove it to resolve this issue and ensure nothing else is affected.
Cheers,
Chris
Answer -
Systray.exe is the application that handles and manages the icons in your system tray (that little area to the left of the clock in the bottom right corner). If you have everything in MSCONFIG unchecked, then there is nothing to manage and systray isn't needed.
Scanreg simply scans the registry for errors and makes an automatic backup. It probably doesn't have any impact on this issue, but I'd rather be 100% sure.
The key application to have Windows boot up is Explorer.exe. This is not in MSCONFIG because it's a required application.
Even if your PC doesn't boot up in normal mode after making those changes, it will boot up in Safe Mode and we can go into MSCONFIG and correct the settings to fix it. However, I have never seen or heard of that ever happening.
The information we'll get is 100% confirmation of where the problem is/isn't. That is vital to the troubleshooting process because then we can rule out one big part.
Cheers,
Chris
Answer -
Hi,
First thing is to check everything in MSCONFIG again that you want. Let's get the computer back to how it was and then we'll make our change.
In MSCONFIG, you should see config.sys, autoexec.bat, and system.ini. You'll find to find the reference to this file in there, then.
You should be able to uncheck the reference. Let me know how it works out and we can go from there.
Cheers,
Chris
Answer -
The error message should mention at least system.ini as a possible cause (and some errors also include win.ini). Since we have unchecked everything in MSCONFIG (in the startup tab), we have ruled out that the registry is generating this error message.
That means we need to look at the other tabs (autoexec.bat, win.ini, system.ini) to find the reference in there. When you have it, simply uncheck the box next to it and restart.
Keep me posted!
Cheers,
Chris
Answer -
Martin,
As per my last message, you'll have to look at the other tabs in MSCONFIG (autoexec.bat, win.ini, system.ini) to find the reference in there. When you have it, simply uncheck the box next to it and restart.
Cheers,
Chris
Answer -
Martin,
You're going to have to re-read the last couple of messages I've sent you and also ensure you read this one completely. Either you're skipping over parts or not understanding the next steps that I've already provided.
In MSCONFIG, you have several tabs. One of them is the STARTUP tab. We have eliminated that tab from causing this problem.
The other tabs (autoexec.bat, win.ini, system.ini) are where this file could be. You'll have to go into those tabs, review the content, and search for the VXD file that is being referenced and causing the error message.
Another option is to locate the files in Windows Explorer and then right click them and go to "edit." Then, you'll have to go through the files and see if the VXD file name from the error message is in there. If it is, then you can simply put the letters "REM" followed by a space at the beginning of the line. Here's an example.
Original Text:
Line 2
New Text:
REM Line 2
You will have to follow these suggestions and be clear on them before we can even consider what the next step is.
Cheers,
Chris
Answer Hi Martin,
No worries - here's the next step.
Let's go to START > Run > type in "regedit" (no quotes) and click OK. In there, go to Edit > Find. Search for "SHLDDRV.VXD" (no quotes) and if you come across that exact entry, simply right click it and delete it. Just make sure that you have the exact file name from the error message so we're not deleting the wrong things.
