"Cannot Read from Drive C" Error with WFW 3.11

ID: Q113186

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 6.0, 6.0a
Microsoft Excel for Windows, version 5.0
Microsoft Windows for Workgroups version 3.11

SYMPTOMS

When you run Word 6.0 for Windows or Microsoft Excel 5.0 for Windows, one of the following error messages may occur on some systems:

Cannot Read from Drive C

The disk is full or too many files are open

These errors should only occur on computers that have Windows for Workgroups 3.11 pre-installed (that is, already installed on the computer when you purchase it).

CAUSE

On computers that are not pre-installed with a network card, the following DEVICE line is missing from the CONFIG.SYS file:


   DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\IFSHLP.SYS

When this command is missing, you cannot perform certain file input and output (I/O) operations. It is necessary for local as well as network I/O operations. This line is sometimes included in the CONFIG.SYS file for computers that come with a pre-installed network card but omitted from computers with no network card.

STATUS

Microsoft has notified computer manufactures that pre-install Windows that this line is necessary for all I/O operations, not just network I/O operations.

RESOLUTION

Open your CONFIG.SYS file in a text editor such as Windows Notepad and add the following line

DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\IFSHLP.SYS

where "C:\WINDOWS" is your Windows program directory.

MORE INFORMATION

The IFSHLP.SYS file is a system file responsible for interacting with 32- bit File Access and 32-bit Disk Access operations. You usually need to include this line to run Windows for Workgroups properly. For information on conditions in which you do not need IFSHLP.SYS, query on the following words in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Workgroups and IFSHLP.SYS

Microsoft has received reports of other error messages that occur because of the missing IFSHLP.SYS device driver.

Additional query words: 6.00a 3.11 3.10 3.1 hang hung crash winword crashed locks locked frozen freezes crashing quit quits stopped crashes bomb preinstalled preinstall pre-configured help factory word6 installation oem can't officeinterop box out machines omitted

Keywords : kbinterop
Version : WINDOWS:3.11,5.0,6.0,6.0a
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type :