Sometimes Windows won't start because one of the drivers it is trying to load is causing trouble. You're then supposed to start up in Safe Mode, which runs Windows with the absolute minimum of drivers, and sort out the problem. That's a bad enough prospect, but because Safe Mode does not give you access to some devices – because the drivers aren't loaded – the task can be made all the more nightmarish.

A scenario we encountered recently was that a newly-installed driver had brought Windows to its knees, and restoration of certain files from the Windows CD was required. The problem was that Safe Mode left the CD-ROM drive unavailable. This PC belonged to a busy self-employed photographer. It was the middle of a working day, the chap didn't have much computer knowledge, and so he was totally goosed. Luckily for him, a PC Plus staffer just happened to drop in to collect his photos...

Automatic Skip Driver should dig you out of situations like that, without the miraculous appearance of a PC Plus writer in your hour of need. It will identify driver problems that caused Windows 98 to fail on start-up, and mark them so they are bypassed on future start-ups. You can then try to deal with the problem with all the PC's other faculties intact.