ERROR: At least one service or driver failed during system startup

ERROR: At least one service or driver failed during system startup

Document number: 29012

The error message you are receiving At least one service or driver failed during system startup. Use Event Viewer to examine the event log for details occurs when you have installed something that is normally connected to the machine, such as a Jaz drive, serial mouse, external keyboard, etc but that device was not connected to the machine at start up. The message can also occur if the device is physically attached but is broken, powered down or for some similar reason Windows NT cannot detect it.

In most cases you should just ignore the message. Click OK and continue working normally.

To stop the error message:
To discontinue receiving that message you will need to either
(1) attach the missing device or
(2) disable the device driver for the missing device.

To identify which device is causing the message:
Look at Event Details in the Event Viewer. If you identify the missing device and its device driver then you can stop the error message by disabling the device driver. If you disable the device driver the device will not work if you do attach it later. To get the device to work again you will need to re-enbable the device driver.

To open Event Viewer:

Select Start menu and select Programs.
Select Administrative Tools (Common) and then Event Viewer.
From the menu bar select View, and then Newest First.
From the menu bar select Log, and then S ystem.
Along the left-hand side of the System log next to the date look for a red icon representing an Error event.
If you find an Error event (red icon) next to today's date, double-click to open the Event Details. The message appearing under Event details should help identify the source of the message you are receiving. Write down the message and if you can take a screen shot of the message that can be helpful.
From the menu bar select Log, and then E xit.

The information in Event Viewer identifies the device that was missing when Windows NT attempted to detect it. In some cases the information the Event viewer gives you will make it obvious which device is causing the problem. For example, the messages Driver=SERMOUSE failed to load or The serial mouse does not exist or was not detected occur when a serial mouse is expected but not detected.

The only device for which disabling the device driver has been tested as safe is disabling the serial mouse driver. To get specific instructions for disabling the serial mouse see document 29003 — ERROR: Driver=SERMOUSE failed to load. Disabling of other devices has not been tested. Be aware that if you disable a device you cannot count on being able to simply re-enabling it. That is how it is supposed to work, but it may not.

If the Event Viewer message is not one of these two Driver=SERMOUSE failed to load or The serial mouse does not exist or was not detected open a NorthStar ticket to make an appointment for service. Be sure to include your contact number. Describe the problem in detail, especially the steps you took to try to correct the problem. You will be contacted by the appropriate party. For more information on creating the NorthStar ticket, see Eureka! document 39068 — How to submit a computer or peripheral for repair.