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Windows 9x CDs not providing the proper files


FantasyAcquiesce

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I've googled this issue and there seems to be no fix to this common problem! During initial and driver installations, Windows prompts me to insert the disk so the proper dll's, exe's, etc. can be obtained, but stupidly Windows refuses to work with me. I tried copying the CD files onto a created directory before installation, but only two files were copied over.

Is it my Windows disk version causing this? I'm using a Windows 95 Plus CD (Windows 95b) to install the TCP/IP protocol and as usual, it continues refusing to cooperate.

 

win95.JPG

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The usual culprit is that Windows only will look in the last dir it looked for a file, thus when installing anything that requires CD files, it constantly prompts for this. Files are in one of three places, so you constantly have to browse to the other folders to complete this operation. Windows 98 is the same way. Also the files it shows you it is looking for are sometimes (often?) either compressed or inside of a cab file.

Unless you mean something else.

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1 hour ago, Tripredacus said:

The usual culprit is that Windows only will look in the last dir it looked for a file, thus when installing anything that requires CD files, it constantly prompts for this. Files are in one of three places, so you constantly have to browse to the other folders to complete this operation. Windows 98 is the same way. Also the files it shows you it is looking for are sometimes (often?) either compressed or inside of a cab file.

Unless you mean something else.

... and - since day one two - anyone installing Windows 9x often would install DOS, copy the CD to a folder (if I remember correctly, but I could be wrong,  without spaces in the name) and install from there.

Some reference:

http://smallvoid.com/article/win9x-source-path-install.html

http://win.tweaklibrary.com/System/Application-Path/71/Change-default-location-of-source-files-for-Windows-setup/10484/

of course one can - post install -  copy anyway the files to the directory on hard disk and modify the Registry so that if an additional file is needed there is no need for the CD ROM.

jaclaz

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it's interesting, in the past, i used to copy all these requested files into the same folder when the wizards asked for certain files, but this obviously wasn't the right way in doing things and was very impractical because it required knowing exactly what files were needed in the first place. i am not sure on the process for tcp/ip, does that mean you already have the winsock 2 update or are you just seperately configuring tcp/ip? i never had to manually install tcp/ip in windows 95, all i had to do was install the winsock 2 update and restart the system right after. 

in any case, if winsock 2 is installed properly, for the wizard problem, i usually type "c:\windows" or "c:\windows\system" for it to find certain files as the files in these folders are also usually the newest and latest. you can even use the find wizard to manually locate the requested file and see where it's located, although in some cases, such as upon restart, you won't be able to access the find app, since it only shows the wizard, in this case, you'll just have to use either the two areas i just listed or some other directory, i actually have to do this in certain chipset inf updates where it requests a certain ide file which i have to point to "c:\windows\system\iosubsys". 

Edited by cov3rt
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14 hours ago, cov3rt said:

it's interesting, in the past, i used to copy all these requested files into the same folder when the wizards asked for certain files, but this obviously wasn't the right way in doing things and was very impractical because it required knowing exactly what files were needed in the first place. i am not sure on the process for tcp/ip, does that mean you already have the winsock 2 update or are you just seperately configuring tcp/ip? i never had to manually install tcp/ip in windows 95, all i had to do was install the winsock 2 update and restart the system right after. 

in any case, if winsock 2 is installed properly, for the wizard problem, i usually type "c:\windows" or "c:\windows\system" for it to find certain files as the files in these folders are also usually the newest and latest. you can even use the find wizard to manually locate the requested file and see where it's located, although in some cases, such as upon restart, you won't be able to access the find app, since it only shows the wizard, in this case, you'll just have to use either the two areas i just listed or some other directory, i actually have to do this in certain chipset inf updates where it requests a certain ide file which i have to point to "c:\windows\system\iosubsys". 

Yes, my intention was to install Winsock 2 so I could test the custom Opera 10.63 program by ToastyTech. Unfortunately, Microsoft just loves to leave legacy users behind...thank you so much for the advice! I will test it once I can obtain a proper Windows 95-compatible computer or virtualization. VMWare just loves to freeze, crash, and create problems on Windows 10...

Have you tried copying files with a physical disk during the Windows 95 installation? I tried copying the Windows 95 CD's files onto a directory I created, but as written earlier only two files would even transfer.

Watching a bunch of youtube, it's plain too obvious most videos copying the files are of modified, downloaded iso's (though the creators are likely unaware a physical disk may not automatically give you a format screen). Do physical CDs have some sort of copy protection?

It's because of this problem I prefer Windows ME out of the three...it's just more user-friendly and works a lot better with modern hardware than 98...

Edited by ~♥Aiko♥Chan♥~
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On 8/10/2018 at 11:10 PM, ~♥Aiko♥Chan♥~ said:

Yes, my intention was to install Winsock 2 so I could test the custom Opera 10.63 program by ToastyTech. Unfortunately, Microsoft just loves to leave legacy users behind...thank you so much for the advice! I will test it once I can obtain a proper Windows 95-compatible computer or virtualization. VMWare just loves to freeze, crash, and create problems on Windows 10...

Have you tried copying files with a physical disk during the Windows 95 installation? I tried copying the Windows 95 CD's files onto a directory I created, but as written earlier only two files would even transfer.

Watching a bunch of youtube, it's plain too obvious most videos copying the files are of modified, downloaded iso's (though the creators are likely unaware a physical disk may not automatically give you a format screen). Do physical CDs have some sort of copy protection?

It's because of this problem I prefer Windows ME out of the three...it's just more user-friendly and works a lot better with modern hardware than 98...

i've never used a virtual machine, as such, it would create the problems you explained for one. i always use a 98SE boot disk with 98SE os burned iso on another disc, although the specific boot disk i have is somewhat a modified version, i do not remember what i did to make it, however a normal 98SE boot disk should work ok for most basic partitioning, etc. 

so i use 98SE boot disk and launch fdisk, wipe any partitions not needed, create a new one, exit, reboot into fdisk again, now i can select the e: directory, then once in the e: directory, i type cd win95, you may have to retype it twice or three times , then i type format c:, then after it formats, i do md c:\win95, then copy *.* c:\win95, then i switch to the c: directory, specifically c:\win95, then i run setup from there. 

below is detailed installation instructions i made for myself below:

. put in 98SE boot disk in optical drive and allow it to load or be selected from boot options
. boot from cd rom, when the start up menu appears, select start computer with cd rom support
. go to fdisk by typing fdisk in the command prompt and select yes for large disk support
. clear all partitions that are not needed or create a specified partition and make it active after
it you created the exact size
. reboot, put back 98SE boot disk and make sure fdisk has the specified drive active
. exit from fdisk and now that you are back in command prompt, you should be able to go into either the "d:" or "e:" drive
. for custom builds that do not use the original windows cd, the optical drive directory will be most likely "e:" so 
type in "e:", then type "cd win98", or if it is windows 95, type "cd win95", it should then read "e:\win95" or "e:\win98"
. you can then go ahead and type "format c:", press "Y" 
. then after format completes, press enter and then type "md c:\win98" or "md c:\win95" and then press enter
. then type "copy *.* c:\win95" or "copy *.* c:\win95" and press enter, this will copy install files to "c:" drive
. then you can change to the "c:" drive and run setup by typing "c:", press enter, and then type "cd win98" or "cd win95"
and press enter
. then it should read either "c:\win95" or "c:\win98" and you can then type "setup" and press enter or a different command of setup 
depending on the system, some systems may require running a certain setup switch such as "setup /p i"
. the setup should now load and should not need the cd anymore unless specified, i like to keep it in for the first setup
phase and remove it right after the 1st phase restarts, for windows 95, some systems with fast processors such as pentium 4
will need you to load fix95cpu version 3.0 right before the 2nd setup phase to allow fully installating of windows or else
a windows protection error occurs, this update also fixes other things

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