Why won't Win95 run on my computer?




I have just recently tried installing Win95 on my computer. The setup program worked OK, until it was time to detect my hardware. After numerous crashes, I removed all additional devices, including a CD-ROM drive, sound card and a modem. After reinstalling these devices, Win95 would work -- for a while. After a number of mouse clicks, I would either get a Fatal Exception Error, Win95 would automatically shut down, telling me it was safe to switch off the computer, or the system would just hang until I pressed the reset button. After continuing this way for two days (which included doing at least five scandisks and defrags) I finally decided to remove Win95 and re-establish Windows for Workgroups. My system is a Tandy 486SX33, 8Mb RAM, 8X CD-ROM, Sound Blaster Pro and 14.4 internal modem (WM-1444CR+). Can you suggest any reasons why this has happened?
I would also like to congratulate you on an exceptional magazine. Not only have I gained useful tips but also the reviews of both hardware and software are well constructed and informative. Keep up the great work.
- David Richardson


Your system hardware must be in fine working order if you want a painless Windows 95 installation. I have seen machines with Windows for Workgroups motor along quite happily with the odd freeze or crash until the onslaught of the more demanding Windows 95!
So where's the problem? It's often best to start looking at the basics of your system, such as the RAM and the hard disk. Faulty RAM chips can cause a "Fatal Exception Error" so why not swap out the RAM altogether? 8Mb RAM will work with Windows 95, however your machine will be slow and unresponsive as it swaps regularly to disk, so go for 16Mb or 32Mb. You will probably lose those old 1Mb memory modules in the process, but you may lose the problem as well. It's also possible that your disk is faulty. A slowly degrading disk may not always be obvious to programs like Scandisk and can certainly cause system lockups.

Check system resource settings to avoid clashes between devices

Assuming your problem is not one of the above, it may be an add-in device. My advice would be to add one device at a time, starting with the CD-ROM, until you find the culprit. Make sure that the modem and SoundBlaster are not sharing system resources. To see which IRQs and I/O addresses your machine is using, double-click the System icon in the Windows 95 Control Panel. In the Device Manager section you can click on the Properties button when "Computer" is selected. Consult your modem and SoundBlaster documentation to make sure that your add-in cards are not occupying the same interrupts, or one which is already being used by your system. If these have been set incorrectly they may cause these devices to fail or cause Windows 95 to hang. Check with each device's manufacturer for recent driver updates.
The last option is to stay with Windows 3.11. Most people consider a 16Mb Pentium to be the basic Windows 95 machine. A slower 8Mb/486 may be more productive running Windows 3.11. It's a question of what software you need to run. To keep pace with the demands of modern software you may be forced to upgrade your hardware. Good luck!
- Tony Locke


Category: Win95
Issue: Aug 1997
Pages: 158-160

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