How can I force the IFX menu to be displayed during boot?

Normally, the INI File eXaminer (IFX) runs silently during the boot process to scan and create unattended backups of the two critical desktop INI files, OS2.INI and OS2SYS.INI. If errors are detected, it will prompt to either continue to the desktop or to restore one of its backups. However, there may be situations where even valid INI files should be “rolled back” to a previous point. To do this:

During the boot process, before the IFX banner is displayed in the boot messages, press and hold a <Shift> key. Timing is critical: too soon, and something else running during the boot process may interpret the key; too late, and the key may be missed. On very fast systems, it may be easier to step through the boot process first, by pressing <Alt>-<F4> at the boot blob (the while block which appears next to “OS/2” at the very beginning of the boot cycle). This will pause at each device driver load and system RUN or CALL statement (though not when loading base device drivers very early in the boot process).

Note that IFX runs independently of the traditional Workplace Shell archiving option, which may be configured on the Archives tab of the desktop Properties notebook. The archives created with that system may be recovered form the Recovery Choices screen, accessible by pressing <Alt>-<F1> at the boot blob.