What should the user do when Windows® 98 (Windows® 98SE and Window® Me) on the computer starts only in the Safe mode?

Why doesn't Windows start normally and stops when the flag appears on the screen?

* This solution is applicable only when the same symptom occurs irregardless of the number of times you try to start Windows.

Important Note:
User should try the procedure below only when the same symptom occurs at every startup trial.


Please follow the procedures in the sequence of A to C.

A. Uninstall drivers

A.1. Drivers that user installed after the purchase of the model might not have been normally installed. Please uninstall the drivers in the following procedure.

- When user have experienced warning messages saying, Failed to install driver or Installed a driver that did not support a program at the time of the installation of drivers

Notes:
User need to re-install the drivers that had uninstalled.

Procedures to uninstall the drivers:
1. Start Windows®.

2. Right-click on My Computer icon on the desktop and click Properties.

3. Click Device Manager tab.

4. Confirm that the View devices by type option button is selected and uninstall the drivers that do not operate normally as well as the drivers that installed after the purchase of the machine.

5. When the Confirm Device Removal dialog box appears, click OK.

6. Restart the computer.

7. Check if Window® starts normally.


A.2. Delete network components.

Drivers related to the network may not work normally. Please refer to the following procedure when the vserver.vxd error message appears.

Notes:
The network components (adaptor, protocol service and so on.) that user had uninstalled must be installed again.

Procedures to delete network components:
1. Start Windows®.

2. Right-click on Network Neighborhood (My Network Places for Windows® Me) icon and click Properties.

3. Uninstall all items displayed in The following network components are installed.

4. Restart the computer.

5. Check if it starts normally.

6. If Windows® starts in the Normal mode, reinstall network components.


B. Make a recovery with registry operation

Please refer to the following to recover registries:

Notes:
When user execute the recovery of registries, you may not be able to use devices that had added or applications user had installed. User may have to install the drivers and applications again.


C. If Windows® does not start normally after executing steps A to B, recover the system to restore it to its factory shipped state.

Notes:
Before executing recovery, please ensure that important data is backed up by saving it to a floppy disk and others. For further details, please refer to the To re-set your computer with the recovery CD section in the user's manual.

Lastly, carry out Scandisk to check the possibilities of damage to the hard disk drive.

Important Notes:
If the installation of the drivers of peripheral devices causes the symptom again, a resource conflict may occur. If so, please contact the manufacturers of the peripherals for any available information on the connection to VAIO computers.