Cannot Manually Extract Files from Cabinet Files

• Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 4.0, 4.01 for Windows 95

SYMPTOMS

When you use the Extract tool to manually extract a file from an Internet Explorer 4.0 cabinet file, you may receive the following error message:

   Cabinet <cabinet>.cab
   Extracting <filename>
   ERROR: Unknown compression type in cabinet file <cabinet>.cab

CAUSE

This error message can occur if you are not using the version of the Extract tool (Extract.exe) included with Internet Explorer 4.0.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, extract the updated Extract.exe file from the Setupw95.cab cabinet file to the Windows\Command folder, and then try to extract the file again.

NOTE: The Setupw95.cab cabinet file uses an earlier compression scheme and works with the older Extract tool.

To extract the updated Extract.exe file, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to Programs, and then click MS-DOS Prompt.

2. Type the following command at a command prompt, and then press the ENTER key:

         cd\
   

3. Type the following command at a command prompt, and then press the ENTER key:

         cd\intern~1.0se
   

   NOTE: This assumes that the Internet Explorer 4.0 Setup folder is in the root of the C drive. If you specified a different location for the Internet Explorer 4.0 Setup folder during Setup, change to that location before you continue with step 4.

4. Type the following command at a command prompt, and then press the ENTER key:

   extract setupw95.cab extract.exe /l c:\windows\command

For additional information about using the Extract tool, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q129605
   TITLE     : How to Extract Original Compressed Windows Files