Win 98 install MDIS error

glee wrote:

"Don Phillipson" wrote in message
...
"Don Phillipson" wrote in message
...

The hotfix (for Win98FE only) used to be available from other sources
online...Google for the file named: 312108usa8.exe and you will likely find
some sources for it. . . .

The catch is that the NDIS FIX file 312108usa8.exe is itself
a Windows file, i.e. will not run at a DOS prompt, thus is of
no value to someone prevented by the NDIS error from
installing Windows. (MS did not respond when notified of
this approx. 2003. . . )

"glee" wrote in message
...

That's simple enough to work around, if you have access to another computer with
a floppy drive, preferably with WinZip installed on it. Save the update
312108usa8.exe to that other computer (friend, library, whatever), then
right-click it and select Open with WinZip. In WinZip, extract the single file,
ndis.vxd, to a floppy disk, then bring the floppy to the problem computer, copy
the file from the floppy to the Windows\System folder using the COPY command from
DOS, and overwrite the existing file.

OK, we are very nearly there thanks to GV, but
not quite. . . . Details to be posted later with the Final Solution.

MS file 312108usa8.exe runs in Safe Mode and writes to
c:\windows\system the NDIS.VXD file (version 4.10.2224.)
The catch is that there are earlier versions (mostly 4.10.1998)
in the instal CDs (in NET9.CAB) and during the OS instal
process these overwrite c:\windows\system\NDIS.VXD
even if the new file has been put there and made RO. So . . .

What DOS tool can be used to compact the good NDIS.VXD
and put it into NET9.CAB (already copied to the hard drive.)
This seems well worth trying. (I won't say how many times
installation crapped out at the first reboot, because I do not
understand how, years ago, installation of Win98FE on a
2.8 GHz PC worked OK at the 5th or 6th trial . . .

Once that is done, results can be neatly summarized (with
a note on multiple variants of NDIS.VXD) and we can keep
Win98 running until the cows come home.

If there are any DOS tools that allow you to add or replace files in a .CAB file, I
am not aware of them. Perhaps this can be manipulated to do what you want....I
don't know:
http://home.hiwaay.net/~pittman/arch..._cabinet_files

The only consumer product I found that claims to be able to do this from Windows, is
WinAce, which is not free:
http://www.winace.com/

From their description:
- compression of the following formats: ACE, ZIP, LHA, MS-CAB, JAVA JAR
- decompression of: ACE, ZIP, LHA, MS-CAB, RAR, ARC, ARJ, GZip, TAR, ZOO, JAR

You *could* copy the .cab file in question from the one computer to a floppy, using
DOS commands, then bring the .cab on the floppy to a Windows machine and use
something like WinAce to replace the ndis.vxd in the .cab with the newer version,
then copy the updated .cab back to the old computer from the floppy disk.

That's all I've been able to come up with thus far.
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.net/
http://dts-l.net/goodpost.htm

Make .cab files with:
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;310618&

The catch is that the NDIS FIX file 312108usa8.exe is itself
a Windows file, i.e. will not run at a DOS prompt, thus is of
no value to someone prevented by the NDIS error from
installing Windows. (MS did not respond when notified of
this approx. 2003. . . )

"glee" wrote in message
...

That's simple enough to work around, if you have access to another
computer with
a floppy drive, preferably with WinZip installed on it. Save the
update
312108usa8.exe to that other computer (friend, library, whatever),
then
right-click it and select Open with WinZip. In WinZip, extract the
single file,
ndis.vxd, to a floppy disk, then bring the floppy to the problem
computer, copy
the file from the floppy to the Windows\System folder using the COPY
command from
DOS, and overwrite the existing file.

If there are any DOS tools that allow you to add or replace files in a
.CAB file, I
am not aware of them. Perhaps this can be manipulated to do what you
want....I

Make .cab files with:
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;310618&

Aha! In all these years I never knew about that useful freebie.
My own dilemma was solved by reinstal from scratch from
a Win98SE CD with the later NDIS.VXD. (There turned out to
be at least four sizes or dates of this file, but I think all those
compiled in year 1999 work OK.)

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)