Mac OS 9 tidbits: crashes. startup and launch problems

Here's a collection of recently received items on Mac OS 9 issues. Not all of them are absolutely confirmed, but they all seemed of enough general interest to post:

Extensions Manager crash? Jerome Carre found that if he removed an extension from the Extensions folder while Mac OS 9's Extension Manager was open, when he went back to Extension Manager, it crashed with a Type 2 error. This did not happen in Mac OS 8.6.

Note: We had previously posted this same advice - in Troubleshooting Mac OS 9 - for another Extensions Manager-related crash.

Language Kit crash? Zenon Feszczak reports: "After using Custom Remove from the OS 9 Installer to remove certain language kits, I am unable to use the Customize Menu command under the Keyboard menu. If I try, I get a Type 10 error crash."

JLK glitch? Michael Witt found that "The Japanese Language Kit included in Mac OS 9 seems to 'forget' its settings after cold reboots. For example, the tool palette keeps reappearing on switching to Japanese, and settings such as 'use English letters with caps lock on' simply vanish. Deleting the Preferences file does not help."

Login memory increase Andy Jelagin found that increasing the memory allocation to the Login application eliminated unexpected quits he was having during the Multiple Users login process.

Photoshop error and multiple users Gregorio Algarin-Marquez could not get Photoshop to start with Multiple Users enabled. He would get an error that said another copy of Photoshop (4.0) with the same serial number was already running. Turning off Multiple Users eliminated the error. I expect this relates to previously documented Preferences problems (and suggested work-arounds) when using Photoshop and Multiple Users.

Fixing startup problems with MS Office in Mac OS 9 Iain Stevenson could not get Excel to open after installing Mac OS 9 and applying all the relevant Office patches, including Microsoft Office 98 Mac OS 9 Updater. He found the solution (as recommended by Microsoft tech support) in a posting in the MacFixIt Forums (note: we have already mentioned this posting in Troubleshooting Mac OS 9 as regards a copy and paste problem):

Delete the following Office-related "extensions": Microsoft Component Library, Microsoft OLE Automation, Microsoft OLE Library, Microsoft Structured Storage. And also delete the following Preferences files: Embedding Preferences PPC, Registration Database, Word Settings (8), Excel Settings (8).

Stephen Hirst reports a similar problem loading PowerPoint after applying the Office 98 Mac OS 9 Update. He "had to revert to the Office 98 Combined Update version before it would run." However, as far as I know, he did not test out the above fix.

Starting up from a Zip drive Bo McCarty could not boot from his USB Iomega Zip drive in Mac OS 9 until he deleted the Iomega drivers and ran from Apple's "built-in" drivers for USB (an often recommended solution for avariety of USB problems). He adds: "Unfortunately, the Iomega drivers have to be loaded in order to run Tools and Iomega Drive Options. So, whenever I need to startup from the Zip I just disable the group I made in Conflict Catcher."

Update: Jungle Payne replies: "I always use Iomega Guest to load/unload drivers as needed. Saves restarting, and avoids conflicts with system extensions."