AHHH!! Need quick win95 support

Okay, here goes.

I just tried reinstalling an older version of win95 over a slightly upgraded version (of win95). Making a novice mistake, I didn't allow the older version of system files such as vwin32.vxd, vcond.vxd, and other files in the system\vmm32 folder to overwrite the upgraded ones. Now I can't access the cd rom drive to try and execute setup once again to fix the problem. I don't know if I need to somehow get the cd drive to be recognized before the hard drive (it used to go floppy, cd drive, hard drive; now it goes floppy, hard drive, cd drive) or if finding the old system files and overwriting the new ones manually will help. I would appreciate the most expedient help on this as possible.

Believe it or not, I used to know how to deal with this, but I don't remember any of the "setpath:" stuff anymore.

PLEASE HELP!!!

 

Hi Michael Shortt, welcome to TSG.

Can you be more specific in what you did? Usually windows won't allow an older version to be re-installed overtop a newer version......

I'm thinking possible virus here

 

I'm sorry I was so vague...

hmmm.

There was an older version of Win95 previously on the computer (from manufacturer) sometime later an upgrade was installed... still win95.

I tried to install the ORIGINAL version from the manufacturer. During the setup process, in the file-installing phase, messages came up saying that each of the system files being installed were older than the versions existing on the computer already. It recommended that I keep the newer versions, and I chose yes to each file individually. After installation was complete and the computer restarted, I saw several messages come up (during boot-up), individually telling me that vwin.vxd, vcond.vxd, etc. were incompatible, or suffering from compatibility or whatever. I went to the command prompt during the boot-up phase to try and start set-up from there, but whenever I tried changing the directory from the hard drive to the CD drive, I kept seeing "invalid path name.." and such and such.

You can see my frustration, no?

thank you for the prompt replies.

if still not clear, please allow me another chance to recieve your expertise.

 

One more question.......why did you attempt to re-install the operating system to begin with?

and BTW, those are files associated with the USB support for the newer 95 version........

 

Is that of any consequence?

I guess I hadn't really considered that.

My mother had been stockpiling tons of useless programs and files she no longer wanted. She just wanted to return it to factory condition and start over, basically. She didn't really have much use for what was on there, and she recently got a RAM memory upgrade. The computer was running a bit slower after the upgrade (due to not upgrading her hd, along with the torrential heaps of useless files occupying it, I suppose) and she thought it would just be better to reinstall the whole OS.

thank you again for the prompt replies. It was a novice error and I dislike wasting expertise on such trite situations, but I'm really in a jam.

 

The CD drive is internal. I'm not sure if that's what you were getting at saying that those .vxd files deal with the usb controllers from the newer version, but either way, I can't get the darn thing to be recognized through the command prompt. I vaguely remember something that when you boot to dos from the splash screen, it's "real" dos, and it doesn't allocate the same "name" to the drive as it does in windows. I checked the config.sys and autoexec. bat for any clue as to what else it could be named, but I tried "cd F:\" all the way through the alphabet, to no avail.

Please continue!! Thank you!

 

What about D or E?

Can you get into safemode by chance......I think you are going to have to go to the add/remove programs to see if that USB support is available there to 'uninstall.' Unless, of course, you have access to the newer version of windows 95?

 

I don't have the other computer here in front of me to try anything else with any real assurance, but yes, I did try booting in safe mode, and I recieved the same messages shortly after the win95/cloud screen displayed.

Could someone maybe tell me how I could get dos to point to the cd rom drive before the hard drive, or how I could edit a path to allow me to at least access it?

I think in the autoexec? it's listed as "L:" or "M:"


thank you again, and keep them coming, please.

 

And as a side note, does anyone think it will do any good to try and copy those .vxd files to the system\vmm32 folder while at the DOS comm. prompt? Will that have any affect on whether or not I can get windows to load?

I did download a series of those files, but I'm not sure if they're specific to the version of windows I have. Does anyone possibly have some information on where I could find several versions of OS version specific .vxd files if so?

 

You can probably gain access to the cdrom by booting with a windows 98 bootable floppy (windows 98 because it has cdrom support).

That should get you to where you can access the cdrom drive......

If you don't have a bootdisk, you can download one from here:

http://freepctech.com/pc/002/files010.shtml

Save it to your desktop, double click on it, you'll be prompted for a blank floppy disk and files will be transferred.

 

So, the Win98 bootdisk will allow me to access the cdrom, even if it's to install win95?

I'm just clarifying to avoid dragging this out any further than need be.

As another side note, for future reference, I should not that the win95 bootable floppy does not have cd rom support? What will I need to do in order to access the cd rom? Just change the directory to what it's labled as in windows? Or is there something else to this?

 

It SHOULD allow you access to the cdrom......it has a bunch of generic cdrom drivers on it and most often it will work.....if you have a very old cdrom, it may not work......you may need 'real mode' drivers for it......but give this one a shot first.

Once you boot the computer with it, you should see a bunch of information scrolling along, and it should give you some clue as to whether the cdrom was found or not.......

When you get to the a: prompt, you're cdrom drive will be pushed one letter ahead from where you found it the last time....so if it used to be "D" it will now be "E" until you reboot the machine without the startup floppy.

And please don't hesitate to post back......that's what we're here for........

 

I will give that a try.


And a very sincere thank you to you and the other staff/regulars showing their omnipresence at this site. I should most definitely return if I face any future dilemmas, as you have been so helpful.

I will be sure to donate what I can to this site, and it's efforts. Help such as this should not go unrewarded.

I unfortunately have little to no time left for much deserved pleasentries, as I have to employ this solution, and get to work.

Consider this "solved" until something happens to conclude otherwise.

Tchuss!

 

I downloaded the executable from freepc tech...

and I followed the directions by trying to execute the self-extracting executable from the a: drive. It says to insert floppy(so I leave it in) and it says "file cannot be acceded" and asks me if I want to try again!

Sheesh!

Help!

 

You need to save the file to a functioning PCs Hardrive not a diskette. Then insert a blank diskette into the floppy drive of the functioning PC. Then double left click on the .exe to run it from the hardrive. Then you should see it writing to floppy and building the boot diskette.

BTW, for anyone wondering what happened here, his post above was a new topic. I merged it with this thread after I saw he already had a thread going for this problem. The duplicate new thread got deleted as part of the merge.