Problems Using Windows 95 or MS Plus! Startup Disk

ID: Q138991

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows 95
Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95

SYMPTOMS

When you start your computer with the Startup disk, you may not have access to certain drives, such as CD-ROM drives, compressed drives, or logical drives located on hard disks on which geometry translation is normally performed by a real-mode driver. In addition, other devices that require real-mode drivers may not function properly.

CAUSE

This problem may be caused by any of the following conditions:

If you are unable to access a compressed drive after starting your computer with the Startup disk, you may not be loading the necessary third-party compression drivers in the Config.sys file, the Startup disk may not have been properly updated for the third-party compression software you are running, or the Startup disk may not contain the correct version of the real-mode DriveSpace compression driver.

If you are unable to access a CD-ROM drive or other device that requires a real-mode driver in the Config.sys file after starting your computer with the Startup disk, the Config.sys file on the Startup disk may not be loading the necessary driver. The Config.sys file on the Startup disk is not automatically updated to load real-mode drivers that are necessary for devices installed in the computer.

If you are using a third-party software tool to perform geometry translation, and you are unable to access one or more of your uncompressed drives after starting your computer with the Startup disk, the Config.sys file on the Startup disk may not be loading the necessary driver, or it may not be possible to completely start your computer from the Startup disk.

RESOLUTION

To resolve the problem, refer to the appropriate section below.

Compressed Drives

Third-Party Compression:

If you are using third-party compression software that requires a real-mode driver in the Config.sys file, you must manually update the Config.sys file on the Startup disk so that it loads the necessary driver. For information about the proper syntax for the real-mode compression driver, refer to the documentation that came with the software or contact the software manufacturer.

If the third-party compression software that you are using loads the real- mode compression driver before the Config.sys file is processed, the Startup disk must be updated so that the real-mode driver is loaded when you start your computer with the Startup disk. For information about how to do so, contact your software manufacturer.

DriveSpace 3 Compression:

If you installed Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95 and currently have DriveSpace 3 compressed drives on your computer, but you did not update the Startup disk when you installed Microsoft Plus!, you must manually update the Startup disk to have access to your DriveSpace 3 compressed drives when using the Startup disk.

When you create a Startup disk in Windows 95 when Microsoft Plus! is not installed, the real-mode DriveSpace compression driver is one of the files that is placed on the disk. This allows you to access your DriveSpace compressed drives when you start your computer with the Startup disk. When you install Microsoft Plus! and choose to update your Startup disk, the DriveSpace files on the disk are updated to the DriveSpace 3 versions. This allows you to access your compressed drives when using the Startup disk if you choose to convert your existing compressed drives to DriveSpace 3, or if you create new compressed drives after you install Microsoft Plus!. If you choose not to update your Startup disk, you are unable to access your DriveSpace 3 compressed drives when using the Startup disk.

For information about manually updating the Startup disk after Microsoft Plus! is already installed on your computer, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q136900 Manually Updating the Startup Disk After Installing Microsoft Plus!

CD-ROM Drives or Other Devices

If you have a CD-ROM drive or other device that requires a real-mode driver in the Config.sys file installed in your computer, you must manually update the Config.sys file on the Startup disk so that it loads the necessary driver. For CD-ROM drives, you must also update the Autoexec.bat file on the Startup disk so that it loads the real-mode MSCDEX driver.

For information about the parameters for the real-mode CD-ROM driver and MSCDEX, or for information about the syntax for the real-mode driver for another device, refer to the documentation that came with the device or contact the hardware manufacturer.

NOTE: You may be able to obtain the correct parameters for the real-mode CD- ROM driver and MSCDEX from the Config.dos and Autoexec.dos files in the root folder of your boot drive. These files represent the Config.sys and Autoexec.bat files that you were using before you installed Windows 95. If your CD-ROM drive functioned properly before you installed Windows 95, the Config.dos and Autoexec.dos files should contain the correct parameters for the real-mode CD-ROM driver and MSCDEX.

Drives with Geometry Translation Software Installed

If you are using a third-party software tool that requires a real-mode driver in the Config.sys file to perform geometry translation, you must manually update the Config.sys file on the Startup disk so that it loads the necessary driver. For information about the proper syntax for the real- mode driver, refer to the documentation that came with the software or contact the software manufacturer.

If the third-party software tool that you are using to perform geometry translation uses a real-mode driver that is stored in the root folder of the boot drive and is loaded from the Master Boot Record, you may not be able to completely start your computer from the Startup disk. You may need to partially start your computer from the hard disk before inserting the Startup disk and continuing the boot process. For information about how to do so, refer to the documentation that came with the software or contact the software manufacturer.

MORE INFORMATION

If you do not have a Startup disk, you can create one in Windows 95. To do so, double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon in Control Panel, click the Startup Disk tab, and then click the Create Disk button. If you cannot start Windows 95 normally, you should use these steps to create a Startup disk on another computer that can start Windows 95. If you have Microsoft Plus! installed on your computer, the computer that you use to create a Startup disk must also have Microsoft Plus! installed.

NOTE: If you can boot your computer to a command prompt, but cannot start Windows 95 normally, you may be able to manually create a bootable floppy disk by using the SYS command to copy the Windows 95 system files from your hard disk to a floppy disk. To do so, place a floppy disk in drive A, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

c:\windows\command\sys c: a:

This command copies the system files from the root folder of drive C to the floppy disk in drive A. If there is a problem with the system files on drive C, the same problems will exist with the system files that are copied to the floppy disk.

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