Problems Caused by Disabling Original Profile on Some Devices (166238)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0
This article was previously published under Q166238

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information on how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" online Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" online Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

SYMPTOMS

Problems can occur if some devices are disabled through the H/W Profile option in the Devices tool in Control Panel. These problems may include boot failures or system initialization errors.

If you start the Devices tool in Control Panel, the device may show that it is set to start at Boot or System (or some system devices are set by default to disabled), but the device never starts.

CAUSE

This problem could be caused because the device has been disabled in its hardware profile.

MORE INFORMATION

Some specific scenarios follow:
  • Disabling the H/W Profile for FASTFAT will result in no longer being able to access FAT partitions or the floppy disk drives and causes the following error message to occur:
    The volume does not contain a recognizable file system.
    Also, if Windows NT has to start from a drive that is FAT and this driver has been disabled, it could cause a STOP:0X0000006B Process1_initialization_failed error message.
  • Disabling the H/W Profile for the video driver for the specific video adapter can cause a scenario where you go in and try to load a different driver and it seems to make the change, but when the computer is restarted, the VGA driver is the one that loads.
  • Disabling the H/W Profile for ATDISK will result in no access to IDE devices, except for IDE devices that use ATAPI. If the operating system starts from the IDE device, it could cause a STOP:0X0000007B error message.
  • Disabling the H/W Profile for DISK will result in no access to SCSI devices or ATAPI IDE devices and, if the operating system starts from a SCSI device, it could cause a STOP:0X0000007B error message.
  • Disabling the H/W Profile for the CD-ROM drive can cause a scenario where you cannot access the CD-ROM drive and, if you try to start the driver manually, it reports that it has been disabled.

RESOLUTION

After investigating normal causes for device drivers failing to start, check the hardware profile setting as follows:
  1. In the Devices tool in Control Panel, select the device in question.
  2. Click H/W Profiles.
  3. Make sure the status is not disabled. If it is disabled, click Enable.
  4. Restart the computer.
If this procedure also fails, install a parallel copy of Windows NT and edit the registry of the original installation. For more information on how to edit the registry of an installation on the same computer, refer to the following Knowledge Base article:

ARTICLE-ID: 165748
TITLE : How to Disable a Service or Device that Prevents NT from Booting

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys And Values" online Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" online Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it.
  1. Run Regedt32 and select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
  2. From the Registry tab, select Load Hive.
  3. Use the Look In drop-down list box to locate the failed installation. Locate the %SystemRoot% of the broken installation and follow the path to the "system." file (BrokenInstall\System32\Config\System.).

    NOTE: There is no extension, just a period (.) in the file name.
  4. Click Open, and then type Fix as the Key Name. You will be returned to Regedt32 with the new hive named Fix as the first entry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
  5. Double-click Fix under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and follow the tree to:
    \ControlSetXXX\Hardware Profiles\Current\System\CurrentControlSet \Enum\Root\Legacy_(devicename)\00

    NOTE: The above registry key is one path; it has been wrapped for readability.
  6. Set the following values for this key: 
       CSConfigFlags:REG_DWORD: 0 or 1
                            0 for ENABLED
                            1 for DISABLED
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:8/9/2001
Keywords:kbprb kbsetup KB166238
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