Getting into Conflict

Oftentimes, software problems are due to conflicts between two applications, which basically means one or both of the programs in question does something in the course of their normal operation that causes the other application to crash or to not function properly. This is related, though not identical, to the .DLL problems described above.

Some conflicts are relatively easy to troubleshoot. If you install a new application and every time you try to run it while your word processor is open the new program crashes, but the new application works fine if the word processor isn’t running, then you’ve got a software conflict. The only way to fix it is by getting an update for one (or sometimes both) of the applications in question. Hopefully you won’t end up in a situation where each vendor claims it’s the other’s fault and nothing gets done, but be aware that that exact scenario sometimes happens.

Other conflicts are much harder to determine. One thing you should check is to see if the conflict is related to applications that are running in the background. Unbeknownst to most computer users, quite a few small applications are usually running in the background on typical Windows 95/98/ME machine. This is true even if you don’t see any applications running on the Taskbar (which is why this can be so confusing).

Under Windows 95, you can see a list of all applications running at a particular time by holding down Ctl-Alt-Del simultaneously (just do it once, though—if you do press all three again, it will restart your machine without prompting you to save any open files). The Close Program Window that pops up lists all the currently running tasks. While some are easy to understand, many of the programs listed only use obscure names like Systray or Rnaapp (which happen to be System Tray—which is the system application that puts all the icons in the lower-right corner of your Taskbar—and Remote Networking—which is used by Dial-Up Networking whenever you connect to the Internet via a modem). Figuring out what some of these various programs are and do can be extremely difficult because there’s usually very little information available about them.

Again, Microsoft has improved this situation in Windows 98 and ME by including a handy utility called Microsoft System Information that gives a thorough, understandable breakdown of all the different software components that are open and running on your machine at the time you run the utility.

One possible option for Windows 95 users is to pick up a copy of a shareware utility from SiSoft called Sandra. Sandra's Processes Information module can not only give you more information about each task (technically called a process) currently running on your machine, it can also tell you how much memory each one is using. Very handy.

Another option for Windows 95 users is to get a copy of the WinTop utility, which is part of Microsoft's Kernel Toys for Windows 95. What WinTop does is give a quick overview of what applications and other software processes are open on your computer at a given time and shows you how much of the processor's time they're demanding.

For troubleshooting purposes under Windows 95, 98, or ME you can quit applications individually from the Close Program Window mentioned earlier by selecting one and clicking on End Task. As you go through and quit each one you can see if that resolves your problem, but it’s a tedious process that doesn’t always give you the results you want. Another way to prevent (or see) some, though not all, of the applications that run in the background is to check your Startup folder, which is buried inside the Windows folder (it’s in the Programs folder, which is inside the StartMenu folder). Many applications place small utility programs inside the Startup folder, so you might be surprised at all the stuff you find there.

All the applications that are listed in the Startup folder are run in the background every time Windows 95 starts. Some of them put an icon in the System Tray to let you know that they’re running, but many of them don’t provide any visual indication whatsoever that they’re currently in use. If you want to prevent them from loading at startup to check for conflicts with certain programs, or if you just want to remove them completely, just remove the shortcuts listed in the Startup folder, either by deleting them or moving them to a different place. (Note that deleting a shortcut has no impact on the real file that the shortcut points to—it will still be on your system, but it won’t load at the system’s startup.)