Windows 95/98 forum: missing or corupt files

how do i make one? this is my SIL's old computer ans she onlys ent the windows 98 disk. is there any where on line i can get the files to make a windows 98 boot up disk?

i made teh 98 boot up disk- put it in then booted all i get is invalid system disk replace the disk and then press any key- it does that over and over, is this a bad sign???

i made the floppy- put it in then turned thecomp on- got to the prompt A thingy...... get to the system transferrred- then i took out the floppy and rebooted... but it just gives me the same old 5 item start up black screen suggesting i choose number 5 - am imissing a step?

command prompt only
when i do that i get the 3 missing file notice... the himem.sys, dblbuff.sys and ifshlp.sys missing or corrupt

1. Did you have it created within Windows 98 at the Startup Disk area of Add=Remove Programs?
''no''.

2. Did you download a W98 bootdisk from the internet....
''yes
if so, did you actually click the .exe file you downloaded to start the program that actually creates the bootdisk to a clean floppy disk in the drive?
''yes

3. Do you get to the A: prompt using the bootdisk -
-yes
or does it only take you to the menu with choices?
"no , only after the reboot do i get the 5 choices even after rebooting after getting the system transferred message''-''note-there is another A prompt line below the system transferred line''.

4. If you only get the menu with choices, it appears that you don't have your bios/setup configured to boot from a floppy disk as your first device, so if that's the case and you need help being able to do that, let us know. Instructions will be given.

5. Do you have a Windows 98 installation cd?.yes i have the windows 98 that came with the computer im fixing.
If so, what version.....First Edition or Second Edition.first edition i believe -i know its not windows 98 SE.

i tried every letter for the cdrom to extract the files from just get the following
cannot open R:\Win98\win98_46.cab\dblbuff.sys /L C:\Windows
ive tried from B to Z for the drive letter exept C ofcoarse but wonder of maybe C isnt the hardrive letter? lol...my sil had major problems with this thing so thats why my kids got it..i know the CDrom works we were using it shortly before my dear son decided to delete pics- cant extract any files from the 98- it acts like it doesnt recognize the cdrom drive- the little light comes on but i dont hear any noise when its supposed to be searching for a file on a disk in the cd rom....

well it sais 2 things
the first is this
The diagnostic tools were successfully loaded to Drive D
then below that
Drive E: = Driver MSCD001 Unit O
then the A prompt under that

After you type EXT. I would expect that you will see a file name. Double click on that file. If it asks where to extract it to, extract ot to the desktop. If it doesn't name it, use basically any name that you want.

If you have any doubts wait for her to get back in the morning.

Had to move over here, and down here to move the posts to the left. LOL

I always make Win 98 boot disks directly from my Win 98 system. Read about Toni's info in many threads about downloading and creating boot disks. I am totally confused why a CD is getting involved with the process to make a boot floppy.

OK, I've re-read the thread to see what Toni is shooting for.

The question now may be what the CD is that you are putting into the drive. Is it a full Win 98 CD? Or just a recovery/restore disk???

So while waiting for Toni. let's simply see if that boot floppy has made the CD drive the E drive.

With CD in the CD drive and the system booted up with the boot floppy with CD-ROM support and at the A prompt. Simply type E: and hit enter [could be lower case DOS doesn't care about case]. When you get an E prompt [if you do, seems that you should] type DIR /P and hit enter [note the space after the R]. The slash is known as a switch and the P says to show only one page [screen] of the files on the CD. If there is more than one page of files/directories, simply hit enter to see the next page.

If you get to see the files, simply hit enter until you get back to the E prompt alone. Then type A: and hit enter. Now from the A prompt, type Toni's paths using E rather than R. [should work if the CD is really a Win 98 CD.

She normally shows up in these forums fairly early, like 7 am eastern. We are somewhat email friends so I know some of her habits.

i tried it- just get the cannot open file- ive tried it with both the win98 cd an my 98se cd- it seems liek the comp cant run the cdrom- maybe thats why it cant get the file- im wondering if the bootup floppy i have doesnt have the driver for this cdrom?? but i dont know how to tell what cdrom it is....

the only thing she sent was a disk marked windows 98- i ran it and not much on it maybe
[add ons] autorun.inf [cd sampler] [drivers]read me
setup.exe [tools] win 98
3 files 6743 bytes
5 dirs o bytes

is this just the emergency boot up cd??

win 98 with brackets around it?

If so, at the E: prompt, type cd\win98 and see if you get E:\win98> and then type DIR /W/P and press Enter. We are looking for where the CABS are located on that cd.

If you can't get a DIR for win98, then instead type cd\Tools and then type DIR /W/P and let us know what shows up there.

It sounds like perhaps a burned copy of W98 and not a true MS cd, but if it's all you have I won't lecture you about using pirated software right now...you need help with what you have already and the horse has already been let out of the barn. However, if the disk has Microsoft actually printed on it and doesn't have a homemade label, it's a good one.

Did she also give you the Product Code for it? You can't reinstall windows over the top of itself nor as a clean installation on a formatted harddrive without it. Sometimes the Product Code Key is actually on a label stuck right to the computer itself so look around for it.

TONI

2 screens of cab files, some exe's, bin files- should i just box this mess up and pull out the old 95 for the kids? all i know is my SIL gave it to the kids to play on and it went kapoot and she cant find any of hte other disks- i hate defeat.... lol. she sent us a used comp and 1 disk.. thats all i know.