How to Manually Decompress Word 6.0 for Windows Files

ID: Q109832

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c

SUMMARY

Page 12 of the Microsoft Word 6.0 for Windows "Quick Results" guide incorrectly states that you can run DECOMP without specifying the destination filename. To manually decompress Word 6.0 for Windows files from the floppy disks, you must specify both the source filename and the destination filename. With previous versions of Word for Windows, only the source filename was necessary.

For example, to decompress the file UNIDRV.DL_ from the Word 6.0 for Windows disks, the simple command syntax is:

decomp unidrv.dl_ unidrv.dll

MORE INFORMATION

Word 6.0 for Windows files are shipped in a compressed format that requires the program DECOMP.EXE to decompress them. Setup will use DECOMP.EXE to automatically decompress the files with the appropriate destination filenames.

To manually decompress these files, you must run the program DECOMP.EXE located on Disk 1. When you run DECOMP.EXE specifying only the source filename, DECOMP.EXE will read the header of the compressed file to determine the destination filename. If no destination filename is found in the header, DECOMP.EXE uses the source filename as the destination filename. For example, if you run the following command

decomp unidrv.dl_

you will receive the following message:

Warning -- the file 'unidrv.dl_' already exists.
Should I append to that file? Yes or No?

DECOMP attempts to decompress "unidrv.dl_" to the destination file "unidrv.dl_" which is also the source file. To prevent DECOMP from appending the decompressed file information to the compressed source file, and thereby corrupting the source file, respond "N" for No.

You are then prompted a second time:

Should I try to overwrite it? Yes or No?

Respond "N" for No.

To properly decompress the UNIDRV.DL_ file, run the following command:

decomp unidrv.dl_ unidrv.dll

Earlier versions of Word for Windows shipped with compressed files that contained the destination filename in the compressed file header. It was not necessary to specify the destination filename to decompress these files.

You can specify command arguments when you use DECOMP to vary the way files are decompressed. For example, you can specify the source and destination paths for the above files:

decomp a:\unidrv.dl_ c:\windows\system\unidrv.dll

The following is the command syntax and argument descriptions for DECOMP:

decomp [-afq] <srcArg> [<destArg>]


Argument
or Switch      Description
---------      -----------
  -a           Appends to the destination file, if it exists.

  -f           Overwrites destination file, if it exists (files
               cannot be decompressed in place).

  -q           Calculates and displays size of uncompressed file
               (does not decompress the file).

  <srcArg>     Specific file or wildcard pattern. Either can be
               preceded by a path.

  <destArg>    (Optional.) Specific file or directory. If <destArg> is
               a directory or omitted, DECOMP generates the
               destination filename using information in the source file
               header. (If the information is missing from the source
               file header, DECOMP uses the source filename itself.)

Note: Decompressing Word 6.0 for Windows files requires version 1.2 of DECOMP.EXE. For more information, query on the following words in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

decomp and and algorithm

REFERENCES

"Microsoft Word Quick Results," page 12

Additional query words: 6.0 decomp setup docerr winword word6

Keywords : kbsetup
Version : WINDOWS:6.0,6.0a,6.0c
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbhowto