Finding and Resolving Init Conflicts

Many software problems are caused by conflicts between programs and system software. Conflicts can cause crashing, unexpected or unexplainable behavior or corrupt documents.

There are many types of files that can cause these problems. Extensions (called inits before System 7), Control Panel documents, start up files and scripts are just some of the types. To determine if a problem you are having is being caused by a conflict, follow the directions below.

Step 1) Be sure that the behavior you are encountering is a system problem. Are you sure the program is misbehaving, and that you haven't misunderstood one of it's features? For example, if something is printing incorrectly, check your printouts against what you actually see on the screen. You might have inadvertently changed the something and if the first time you see the change is on a printout, you might assume it's a system problem.

Step 2) Define the problem. Some problems are easy to identify (If I go under the File menu to "Open" it crashes) and some are a little more difficult (If I draw a rectangle and then scroll to the bottom right of the screen, I get a little weird cursor). You need to have something to test to see if you have found the solution to the problem.

The trick for testing for a conflict is to separate the System file from anything that might affect it, then restart. If the problem goes away, then you can be sure it is being caused by something in the system folder, and you can begin the process of searching for it. If it does not solve the problem, then it either is something in the program, or just unexpected behavior.

While there is software that allows you to turn inits off from the Control Panel, they are not as reliable for testing as the methods outlined below. In some cases, the software that turns off the inits has caused the conflict!

METHOD FOR COMPUTERS RUNNING SYSTEM 6 OR EARLIER
In order to separate the system from the inits, you have to place them in separate folders and restart the computer. Here is a step buy step method for testing:

1) Open your system folder. Click on the File menu and select "New Folder." Drag the resultant new folder to the Desktop. You will not need to rename the folder. A handy place to put it is right above the Trash.

2) Move your System file and your Finder file out from the System folder to the new folder. It's important to move them, not copy them.
3) Restart the computer.
4) Try to recreate the problem you were having.

IF YOU FIND AN INIT CONFLICT (System 6)
Let's say you have 10 inits, and you've found that one of them is causing a problem, but you don't know which one. You could put them into your temporary system folder one at a time and restart and then check for the problem, but that would take a long time.

The trick is to put 5 of your inits into the temporary system folder, restart, then check for the conflict. If it is still gone, then you have eliminated those inits as the culprit. You can then put 3 more inits in your temporary system folder and restart and narrow down the possibilities that way. This is what is known as a binary search, and it can dramatically cut down the time it takes to find a problem. Instead of testing 100 files one by one, you could test all 100 files using only 7 searches (50 files, then 25, 12, 6, 3, 2,1).

METHOD FOR COMPUTERS RUNNING SYSTEM 7
System 7 has a very handy method built right in for checking init conflicts. If you restart the computer while holding down the shift key, none of the files that affect the system on startup are enabled. You should hold down the shift key until you see the message that says, "Welcome to Macintosh. Extensions off."

After that, check to see if the conflict has been resolved. If so, do a binary search as described above, if not, do a variation on the method for System 6:

1) Open your system folder. Click on the File menu and select "New Folder." Drag the resultant new folder to the Desktop. You will not need to rename the folder. A handy place to put it is right above the Trash.
2) Move your System file, Finder file and your Enabler out from the System folder to the new folder. It's important to move them, not copy them.

Different computers require different enablers. If you are not sure which one your computer needs, copy all of the enablers to the new folder. The incorrect ones will be ignored.

3) Restart the computer.
4) Try to recreate the problem you were having.

When you are done troubleshooting:
1) Put the System, Finder and Enablers back into the System Folder.
2) Restart the computer.
3) Put the new system folder and its contents in the trash.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Under System 7, if the System file doesn't find all of the folders it expects to in the system folder (Apple Menu Items folder, Control Panels folder, etc.) it creates the folders. It is imperative that when you put your System, Finder and Enabler files back into the original folders that you do not move these new folders. They are empty, and if you drag them to the original system folder and it asks you to replace items with the same names, hit Cancel! If you do copy them, the empty folders will replace the folders with items in them, and you could lose all of your extensions, control panels, etc.

To make it easy to remember, only move back the items you removed from the original system folder.

IF YOU FIND AN INIT CONFLICT (System 7)

If you find an init conflict under System 7, you could use the method given above for finding conflicts under System 6. This is especially useful since there are instances when holding down the shift key does not always keep the problem file from affecting the system.

SOLUTIONS
Unfortunately, you do not have many options if you do find a conflict. You should contact the publishers of the software and make certain that you have the latest versions, and to see if those companies have any suggestions. Using the Extensions Manager or Control Panels to turn problem software on and off temporarily may allow you to use conflict software packages one at a time.