Banish start-up driver error




Every time I start up Windows 95, it displays the following warning: "The Windows registry or system.ini file refers to this device file, but the device file no longer exists". The message then lists the name of the device driver. I searched through the system.ini file, and it contains no reference to the missing device driver. How do I tell Windows' registry to stop trying to load the device file?
- Elias El Hossari


I've had this same problem. It occurs when you delete a device driver from your hard disk without uninstalling it. The error message also suggests that you reinstall or uninstall the application to solve the error. However, you might not want or be able to do either (for example, if you no longer have the program disks, or if the application lacks an uninstall feature).
To stop the error messages from popping up, you must delete the registry entry (called a key) that loads the device driver. First back up the following files in your Windows directory: system.da0, system.dat, user.da0, and user.dat. Choose Start--Run and type regedit.exe in the Open box to launch the Registry Editor. Press <Ctrl>-F, and in the Find what box, type in the name of the errant driver, without the .vxd extension. Now make sure only Keys is checked in the Look at section, and click Find next. You should land on a folder under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD. Triple-check that you highlighted the correct registry key, then press <Delete> and exit the Registry Editor.
- Scott Spanbauer


Category: Win95
Issue: Jan 1998
Pages: 162

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