Chaos
" When I try to start program I get a message: MetaShell is already resident."
MetaShell is a TSR launched by Chaos. Chaos thinks that something is present
that looks metashel. It generates the first message. Then it tries to start
up and lo! Metashel isn't loaded!
Certain DOS substitutes might do this, or a virus checker in the bootup. Try
booting plain (no autoexec or config) to see if I'm correct. Narrow down the
problem to an individual file in the bootup and see if you can change it.
Good luck!