Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss

Lost Ctrl-Alt-Del function on W98, 2nd

173 views
Skip to first unread message

Plato56

unread,
Jan 10, 2004, 6:28:01 AM1/10/04
to
No idea whether I'm in the correct subforum, but perhaps
you can redirect me if I'm not. I have suddenly lost the
functionality of the Ctrl-Alt-Del keystrokes to call up
task manager or to reboot. Absolutely nothing happens
when I give this command. Can anyone help me restore them?

Gary S. Terhune

unread,
Jan 10, 2004, 9:10:21 AM1/10/04
to
Are you certain that your keyboard is functioning properly? Test using Del, Ctrl
and ALT keys with other combinations. I'd wonder, also, about any add-on
utilities that provide added "keystroke shortcuts" management. Any new
programming is also suspect.

Otherwise, look for TASKMAN.EXE. If you find it, run it. What happens? Won't
look the same as when you hit C-A-D, but that's the app that's called. Need to
test it.

Might replace TASKMAN.EXE on GP.

Might also want to scan for viruses, adware, spyware, etc. Malware can do the
*strangest* things.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP for Windows 9x

*Recommended Help Sites*
http://www.dts-l.org
http://www.mvps.org
http://www.aumha.org

How to Use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups
http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=newswhelp
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Plato56" <anon...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:089301c3d76c$ce645eb0$a101...@phx.gbl...

Hugh Candlin

unread,
Jan 10, 2004, 12:44:43 PM1/10/04
to

Plato56 <anon...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:089301c3d76c$ce645eb0$a101...@phx.gbl...

Start => Run
Type SYSEDIT
Press [Enter]
Find the [386Enh] in SYSTEM.INI
If it contains the entry
LOCALREBOOT=OFF
change it to
LOCALREBOOT=ON
If it does not contain a LOCALREBOOT entry,
then create one
LOCALREBOOT=ON


CGB

unread,
Jan 11, 2004, 12:33:36 AM1/11/04
to
I checked mine as you described and I have no LOCALREBOOT entry listed and
my ctr/alt/del function works just fine. How come?

Chet

"Hugh Candlin" <n...@spam.com> wrote in message
news:%23obNeI6...@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...

Hugh Candlin

unread,
Jan 11, 2004, 12:46:42 AM1/11/04
to

CGB <nos...@nospam.net> wrote in message news:eyVa7RA2...@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...

> I checked mine as you described and I have no LOCALREBOOT entry listed

Neither do I

> and my ctr/alt/del function works just fine.

As does mine.

> How come?

The Gospel according to Microsoft

"LocalReboot=<on-or-off>
Default: On
Purpose: Specifies whether you can press CTRL+ALT+DEL to
quit applications that cause an unrecoverable
errors in 386 enhanced mode, without restarting
Windows. If this setting is enabled, you can quit
the applications. If this setting is disabled,
pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL will restart your entire
system (as it normally does.)
To change: Use Notepad to edit the SYSTEM.INI file."


Sometimes, I don't cook it - I just dish it out.

This is one of those times.

Gary S. Terhune

unread,
Jan 11, 2004, 4:51:14 AM1/11/04
to
Because the default is =On. Which means that if it isn't present at all, it is
in fact On. That's what Default means.

The problem would arise if it were set to =Off.

But I don't *think* this is the problem here. See my response to Hugh's reply to
you.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP for Windows 9x

How to Use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups
http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=newswhelp
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"CGB" <nos...@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:eyVa7RA2...@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...

Gary S. Terhune

unread,
Jan 11, 2004, 4:54:10 AM1/11/04
to
That [386enh] entry is not mentioned in the KB for any Windows after 95, where
it is specifically referring, I assume, to possible SYSTEM.INI entries for Win95
that may be inherited from Win 3.1 SYSTEM.INI, since the documentation only
apparently occurs in Win3.1 SYSINI.WRI (a ReadMe for Win3.1 System.ini.)

I put it into a Win98 System.ini file and got the following results:

Normally, when you press C-A-D once, the End Task GUI appears (which is a
function of TASKMAN.EXE--Task Manager). When you press it a second time, a
"Forced" Restart occurs. I say "Forced", since the system I'm testing on
normally warns me about having to close a background program I have running as a
service before exiting Windows. When I perform this type of Exit, it does not
prompt that warning. There seem to be timing issues involved when you hit C-A-D
a second or third time--if you aren't quick about the second time, it will pause
a bit before restarting, but using rapid succession, or hitting it a third time,
will cause an immediate restart.

1. With LocalReboot=On, there was no observed difference in behavior.
2. With LocalReboot=Off, the effect is to skip the End Task panel and act just
as if you had pressed C-A-D a second time, not in rapid succession. A second
pressing of C-A-D in this setup causes an immediate restart.

Notes:
This test was performed on Win98SE with "Fast Shutdown" disabled. In no cases
did any of these C-A-D shutdowns cause a Scandisk on Bad Shutdown, though it's
my recollection that they should. However, I'm sure that Scandisk on Bad
Shutdown works, because it is prompted when I hit the reset button on my
machine. Not sure about this, since it sounds like what's occurring during these
C-A-D- restarts is similar to a "Forced" restart using the RunDLL32 command line
suggested for such things. Specifically:
rundll32.exe shell32.dll,SHExitWindowsEx 6
I was under the impression that this type of Restart caused a "Bad Shutdown",
but running the above command line doesn't prompt Scandisk, at least not during
my testing.

Lastly, I don't know what's up with the "delayed" forced shutdown. Can't quite
figure that one out, but I assume it's another built in function of Taskman.exe.

HOWEVER....

In none of these cases did a restart *not* occur, and that is one of the OP's
symptoms--no forced restart using C-A-D. *Nothing* happens. This leads me to
believe that Taskman.exe is simply not launching, in any form, and this is
either because there's a problem with Taskman.exe or because there's a keyboard
error, or because a policy is in place to prevent execution, etc. Something
along those lines. Suppose it would be worth a try to see if putting the
LocalBoot=On line in System.ini helped, though.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP for Windows 9x

How to Use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups
http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=newswhelp
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Hugh Candlin" <n...@spam.com> wrote in message
news:uPFjXbA2...@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...

Gary S. Terhune

unread,
Jan 11, 2004, 4:58:52 AM1/11/04
to
Another idea:

In SYSTEM.INI, [Boot] section, if there is a line:
Taskman.exe=xxxxxxx or Taskman=xxxxxx
or if there is such a line with nothing after the = sign, try commenting out the
entire line (or erasing it entirely) with a semi-colon. Alternatively, make the
value (after = sign) C:\Windows\Taskman.exe, after making sure that file and
that path actually exist, of course.

If that line exists, I'd be interested n what it says. Big hint as to what
happened to your Taskman.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP for Windows 9x

How to Use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups
http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=newswhelp
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Plato56" <anon...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:089301c3d76c$ce645eb0$a101...@phx.gbl...

0 new messages