SPEEEDUP YOUR GUI STARTUP!

[ben2ong2]

If your Windows 9x/ME system takes way too loooong to completely load the GUI (Graphical User Interface) upon bootup, even if you have a fairly new X86 CPU (300 MHz or faster), there are a few things you can do to cut down on that %$#&@ GUI loading time.
1.   Download the Boot Log Analyzer (BLA.EXE) tool [235 KB, freeware]. Boot Log Analyzer checks your BOOTLOG.TXT file found in C:\ root, times and reports about slow loading drivers, like .SYS, .386, .DLL, .DRV, .VXD etc. Just follow the guidelines in BLA.TXT to install it.
2.   Edit MSDOS.SYS (also located in C:\ root) using Notepad in Windows or You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login in DOS, and make sure you have these lines present under the [Options] section:
BootMenu=1
BootMenuDefault=2
DisableLog=0
The "BootMenu=1" switch allows the Microsoft Windows 95/98 Startup Menu to be displayed on your screen at boot time.
The "BootMenuDefault=2" parameter tells the OS to boot with the 2nd option from the Startup Menu: "Logged (\BOOTLOG.TXT)".
The "DisableLog=" entry is UNDOCUMENTED, and if its value is 0 (default), it enables the "boot-logged" Win9x/ME GUI startup (Windows creates a new, or updates an existing BOOTLOG.TXT file in C:\ root), for troubleshooting purposes.
NOTE: To learn how to tweak all MSDOS.SYS parameters (even those UNDOCUMENTED) to optimize your Windows OS startup, read the "COMPLETE MSDOS.SYS REFERENCE", also in MYTIPS95.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE].
First you need to "strip" MSDOS.SYS of its default Hidden, Read-only and System attributes, to be able to modify it.
This can be done two ways:
A.   In Windows: open Explorer -> in the left hand pane click on the C:\ drive's root folder -> highlight MSDOS.SYS in the right hand pane -> right-click on it -> select Properties -> click on the General tab -> uncheck ALL "Attributes" boxes -> finally click OK/Apply.
B.   In DOS: run this command:
ATTRIB C:\MSDOS.SYS -H -R -S
I recommend using SYS95.BAT [also part of W95-11D.EXE], an optimized DOS batch file that allows you to perform all above operations in one swift move. SYS95.BAT opens MSDOS.SYS in Notepad (if running SYS95 from Windows GUI or DOS session) or You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login (if running SYS95 from native MS-DOS) for editing (after stripping it of its attributes), and after YOU modify the file and save your changes, it reenables its default attributes.
3.   Reboot your computer, and choose the "Step-by-step confirmation" option from the Windows 9x Startup Menu. Type Y for "Yes" to "Load all Windows drivers" when prompted. Now have your stop watch ready and start timing from the moment you press Y. Then stop the timer when the Win9x/ME "Working in Background" cursor stops spinning (if you are using an animated cursor, like I am), or until it is replaced for the last time by the default "Normal Select" cursor (if using static cursors).
4.   Open Boot Log Analyzer (BLA.EXE), and take a look at all the drivers that loaded successfully. Mark down the longest times (6-10 seconds and above).
Possible "culprits" that you might not even need on your particular Win9x/ME system, and should consider removing, are (default locations used here):
o   C:\Windows\System\VNBT.386
o   C:\Windows\System\NDISWAN.VXD
o   other Networking (LAN, WAN, Novell, IBM etc) .386, .DLL, .DRV, .EXE or .VXD drivers/executables, ONLY IF you KNOW you are NOT connecting to or using such Networks!
o   C:\Windows\System\Iosubsys\DRVWPPQT.VXD
o   C:\Windows\System\Iosubsys\DRVWQ117.VXD
The first 2 drivers on this list belong to the "Microsoft Virtual Private Networking Adapter" (VPN), which is NOT installed or used on my machine.
AOLers: Beware that AOL 4.0/5.0/6.0/7.0 32-bit client for Windows 9x/ME ALWAYS installs (BUT DOES NOT USE!) the VPN component, which allows sharing [talk about privacy! ] user information over the internet! Therefore I STRONGLY RECOMMEND, IF NOT using VPN, to delete the files above!
Cable/xDSL modem users: Do NOT delete NDISWAN.VXD or ANY other Wide Area Network (WAN) related files or Registry entries! If you do, your broadband connection will STOP working!
Boot Log Analyzer reported these 2 were EACH taking about 15-20 seconds to load! Geez... Talk about watching that spinning hour-glass! So I moved them "PRONTO" from C:\Windows\System to a backup file (.ZIP).
Further more, Boot Log Analyzer reported a total loading time of 15 seconds for all the "TAPEDETECTION" sections (about 6 of them!) in my BOOTLOG.TXT. Since I don't use, or have any intention of getting a tape drive, I started a Registry search using the built-in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe, located in the Windows folder) for the TapeDetect string: click Edit -> select Find -> type the text string you want in the "Find what:" box (TapeDetect in this case).
Then I deleted ALL references (Registry keys, subkeys and values) returned by the search (BUT I MADE A FULL REGISTRY BACKUP FIRST!), and also moved the two .VXDs (DRVWPPQT.VXD + DRVWQ117.VXD above) from C:\Windows\System\Iosubsys to the same .ZIP backup file.
And there's more: if you [like me ] never used or intend using MS Backup, a primitive file/folder backup/restore utility, which is actually a stripped-down version of the older Seagate Backup tool (licensed by Microsoft, and included with all Win9x/ME releases), I suggest deleting (AFTER MAKING BACKUPS FIRST!) also these files and folders from their default locations:
o   C:\Windows\System\DRVWFFD.DLL
o   C:\Windows\System\DRVWCDB.VXD
o   C:\Windows\System\PNPWPROP.DLL
o   C:\Windows\Inf\PNPWPPT.INF
o   C:\Program Files\Accessories\MSBackup
and all their Registry references, by doing a Regedit search (see above) with these keywords: DRVWFFD.DLL, DRVWCDB.VXD, PNPWPROP.DLL, PNPWPPT.INF, MSBACKUP.
5.   Finally, I rebooted one more time. Guess what? This way I managed to "shave off" almost an entire minute from the GUI loading time. Aha! Now we're talking!
·   See "INCREASE NETBIOS SECURITY", also in REGISTRY.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE], for more GUI speeed-up tips.
·   See these BOOTLOG.TXT related MSKB articles:
o   Description of Windows Files Located in the Root Folder
o   Load Failures Listed in the BOOTLOG.TXT File
o   Troubleshooting Windows 98 Startup Problems and Error Messages
o   Troubleshooting Windows 95 Startup Problems.
... Do U feeel the neeed 4 speeed?!