The SYSTEM.INI file is a text file used my Windows to configure hardware and other device drivers to be used in Microsoft Windows. Overtime, installation of hardware devices and software applications can add to or modify the SYSTEM.INI file that might cause conflicts with other applications. Because of this it might be desired to create a clean version of the SYSTEM.INI file for troubleshooting purposes. Unlike the WIN.INI file, which you can rename and have Windows create a generic one for you, the SYSTEM.INI file must actually be rebuilt to reflect the hardware that is in your machine.
To create a new SYSTEM.INI file that is configured for your specific hardware but does not contain any references to third-party device drivers, do the following:
1. Rename the SYSTEM.INI to SYSTEM.BAK
2. Expand the file SYSTEM.SR_ from the original Windows diskettes to the Windows directory with the following command:
c:\\windows\\expand a:\\system.sr_ c:\\windows\\system.ini
NOTE: This file can be found on DISK1 of the Windows 3.1 1.44 megabyte 3.5 inch disk set or on DISK 2 of the 1.2 megabyte 5.25 inch disk set.
3. Change to the Windows drive, and then change to the Windows directory.
4. Type SETUP and press ENTER / RETURN to start the MS-DOS based Windows Setup. It is very important that this step is run when in your Windows directory (see STEP 3)
5. Select the correct hardware options for your system.
6. Accept the changes. At this point you can have SETUP copy new drivers if you want
7. Open the new SYSTEM.INI in a text editor and make the following changes:
- Add PROGRAM.EXE to the SHELL= line of the [Boot] section.
- Remove or remark out the TASKMAN= line in the [Boot] section.
- To enable 32-bit disk access, add the following lines to the [386Enh] section:
32BitDiskAccess=<Boolean>
device=*int13
device=*wdctrl
Replace <Boolean> with ON if you want 32-bit disk access enabled; replace it with OFF if you do not want 32-bit disk access enabled.
8. Start Windows. If you do not receive any errors, you have successfully recreated your SYSTEM.INI file.
At this point, try recreating the issue you were having. If the issue is not reproducible, then there was something in your SYSTEM.INI file that was causing a issue. Troubleshooting SYSTEM.INI file issues goes beyond the capacity of Claris Technical Support to assist you. At this point it is recommended that you contact Microsoft's Technical Support for more information on your SYSTEM.INI file.
If the new SYSTEM.INI file does not fix the issue, the you can rename your backed up SYSTEM.INI from STEP #1