Reinstall W98SE from existing files on the hard drive

My CD drive is not working, and a reinstall is desirable, as my current install is
about 5 years old.

1. Recommendation of webpages, MS and otherwise, on install from cab files on hard
drive.

2. What normal folder in windows are the install files located?

I searched for "install.exe" in windows and only found a file date 2005, which
can't be right.

TIA

MS

The install cab files are not normally present in Win98 unless you or
someone else put them there.
Some use Windows\Options to hold the cabs, though others use any
folder they like, e.g. Win98
They will be obvious if there with names like:

BASE4.CAB
BASE5.CAB
BASE6.CAB
CATALOG3.CAB
DRIVER11.CAB up to DRIVER20.CAB
NET10.CAB
NET7.CAB
NET8.CAB
NET9.CAB
PRECOPY1.CAB
PRECOPY2.CAB
WIN98_21.CAB up to WIN98_74.CAB
WIN98_OL.CAB
chl99.cab
mini.cab

....Alan
--
Alan Edwards, MS MVP Windows - Internet Explorer
http://dts-l.org/index.html

On Fri, 23 Dec 2005 14:29:22 -0800, ms wrote:

My CD drive is not working, and a reinstall is desirable, as my current install is
about 5 years old.

1. Recommendation of webpages, MS and otherwise, on install from cab files on hard
drive.

2. What normal folder in windows are the install files located?

I searched for "install.exe" in windows and only found a file date 2005, which
can't be right.

TIA

MS

Alan Edwards wrote:
The install cab files are not normally present in Win98 unless you or
someone else put them there.
Some use Windows\Options to hold the cabs, though others use any
folder they like, e.g. Win98
They will be obvious if there with names like:

BASE4.CAB
BASE5.CAB
BASE6.CAB
CATALOG3.CAB
DRIVER11.CAB up to DRIVER20.CAB
NET10.CAB
NET7.CAB
NET8.CAB
NET9.CAB
PRECOPY1.CAB
PRECOPY2.CAB
WIN98_21.CAB up to WIN98_74.CAB
WIN98_OL.CAB
chl99.cab
mini.cab

...Alan
--
Alan Edwards, MS MVP Windows - Internet Explorer
http://dts-l.org/index.html

On Fri, 23 Dec 2005 14:29:22 -0800, ms wrote:


My CD drive is not working, and a reinstall is desirable, as my current install is
about 5 years old.

1. Recommendation of webpages, MS and otherwise, on install from cab files on hard
drive.

2. What normal folder in windows are the install files located?

I searched for "install.exe" in windows and only found a file date 2005, which
can't be right.

TIA

MS

Thanks, Alan.

That hasn't happened on my PC, I searched for 4 of those files, no luck, so
assume none of them are present.

So it appears I will have to get a working CD drive to use the normal install disk.

MS

Yes, as I indicated, they are not normally put there.
You can copy them there if you have a thumb drive or similar.

....Alan
--
Alan Edwards, MS MVP Windows - Internet Explorer
http://dts-l.org/index.html

On Fri, 23 Dec 2005 15:52:01 -0800, ms wrote:
Thanks, Alan.

That hasn't happened on my PC, I searched for 4 of those files, no luck, so
assume none of them are present.

So it appears I will have to get a working CD drive to use the normal install disk.

MS

Alan Edwards wrote:
The install cab files are not normally present in Win98 unless you or
someone else put them there.
Some use Windows\Options to hold the cabs, though others use any
folder they like, e.g. Win98
They will be obvious if there with names like:

BASE4.CAB
BASE5.CAB
BASE6.CAB
CATALOG3.CAB
DRIVER11.CAB up to DRIVER20.CAB
NET10.CAB
NET7.CAB
NET8.CAB
NET9.CAB
PRECOPY1.CAB
PRECOPY2.CAB
WIN98_21.CAB up to WIN98_74.CAB
WIN98_OL.CAB
chl99.cab
mini.cab

...Alan
--
Alan Edwards, MS MVP Windows - Internet Explorer
http://dts-l.org/index.html

On Fri, 23 Dec 2005 14:29:22 -0800, ms wrote:


My CD drive is not working, and a reinstall is desirable, as my current install is
about 5 years old.

1. Recommendation of webpages, MS and otherwise, on install from cab files on hard
drive.

2. What normal folder in windows are the install files located?

I searched for "install.exe" in windows and only found a file date 2005, which
can't be right.

TIA

MS

New CD drives are inexpensive and used ones can be had for a couple of
bucks. Typically, two to four screws hold the drive in and there is a power
cable, a ribbon cable and usually an audio cable to connect. Watch which
way the wires are connected and you will have no problem. You also will
have to check the jumper pin to make sure it is in the same position as the
one on the old drive.

--
Regards


Ron Badour, MS MVP for W98
Tips: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour
Knowledge Base Info:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo



"ms" wrote in message
...
Alan Edwards wrote:
The install cab files are not normally present in Win98 unless you or
someone else put them there.
Some use Windows\Options to hold the cabs, though others use any
folder they like, e.g. Win98
They will be obvious if there with names like:

BASE4.CAB BASE5.CAB BASE6.CAB CATALOG3.CAB DRIVER11.CAB up to
DRIVER20.CAB NET10.CAB NET7.CAB NET8.CAB NET9.CAB PRECOPY1.CAB
PRECOPY2.CAB WIN98_21.CAB up to WIN98_74.CAB WIN98_OL.CAB chl99.cab
mini.cab ...Alan
--
Alan Edwards, MS MVP Windows - Internet Explorer
http://dts-l.org/index.html

On Fri, 23 Dec 2005 14:29:22 -0800, ms wrote:


My CD drive is not working, and a reinstall is desirable, as my current
install is about 5 years old.

1. Recommendation of webpages, MS and otherwise, on install from cab
files on hard drive.

2. What normal folder in windows are the install files located?

I searched for "install.exe" in windows and only found a file date 2005,
which can't be right.

TIA

MS

Thanks, Alan.

That hasn't happened on my PC, I searched for 4 of those files, no luck,
so assume none of them are present.

So it appears I will have to get a working CD drive to use the normal
install disk.

MS

Ron Badour wrote:
New CD drives are inexpensive and used ones can be had for a couple of
bucks. Typically, two to four screws hold the drive in and there is a power
cable, a ribbon cable and usually an audio cable to connect. Watch which
way the wires are connected and you will have no problem. You also will
have to check the jumper pin to make sure it is in the same position as the
one on the old drive.


Thanks to all for advice.

MS

You are welcome. Keep us informed.


--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
should things get worse after this,
PCR

"ms" wrote in message ...
| Ron Badour wrote:
| New CD drives are inexpensive and used ones can be had for a couple of
| bucks. Typically, two to four screws hold the drive in and there is a power
| cable, a ribbon cable and usually an audio cable to connect. Watch which
| way the wires are connected and you will have no problem. You also will
| have to check the jumper pin to make sure it is in the same position as the
| one on the old drive.
|
|
| Thanks to all for advice.
|
| MS

On Fri, 23 Dec 2005 14:29:22 -0800, ms wrote:

My CD drive is not working, and a reinstall is desirable, as my current install is
about 5 years old.

That doesn't necessarily follow at all - a well-setup and
well-maintained OS installation never "needs" to be re-installed.

Remember that Win9x's IE is lethally flawed, unless upgraded before
use to versions that ship with no version of Win9x. So whenever you
"just" revert to as-shipped Win9x, you fall back to exploitability via
MIME-spoofing and other defects, as well as stupid lethal duhfault
settings like "treat email scripts as Internet Zone".

1. Recommendation on install from cab files on hard drive.

Yep; agreed.

2. What normal folder in windows are the install files located?

Normal Win95xx and Win98xx installations do not copy the OS
pre-install file set to the HD at all. WinME does, storing these
under %WinDir%\Options\Cabs or something.

Having said that, it's common OEM practice to copy the OS pre-instrall
file set to C:\WIN98 (or C:\WIN95) and install from there; a few may
tuck the files elsewhere, such as %Windir%\Options\Cabs.

Search for PRECOPY*.CAB (or just *.CAB) and make sure you see and
search all hidden and system files too. If they are not to be found,
then you need to pull them from CD, and one way to do that is via Lap
Link parallel cable between your PC and one with a working CD drive
supported by DOS mode drivers. Don't run Lap Link for DOS from
Windows, it will lock up; get out of Windows into DOS mode.

You can also use Direct Cable Connect from Windows, with the same Lap
Link cable, but then you get bogged down in networking protocols,
passwords, and that sort of useless BS.

OTOH, if you have LAN already, well duh use that :-)

Else you may have to populate a HD with the file set and then drop
that in for a HD-to-HD transfer. Unplug from mains when connecting HD

You can re-direct the OS to look for the cab files via regedit, and a
useful side-effect of installing from HD is removing the need to do
this as the correct values will be set automatically.

I'd still avoid "just" re-installing, though. See...

http://cquirke.mvps.org/reinst.htm

....though if you do, take the opportunity to get off "one big doomed
C:" via intelligent partitioning, thus removing one of the few reasons
why old installations slow down even if well-maintained.








--------------- ----- ---- --- -- - - -
First, the good news: Customer feedback has
been clear and unambiguous.
--------------- ----- ---- --- -- - - -

cquirke (MVP Windows shell/user) wrote:
On Fri, 23 Dec 2005 14:29:22 -0800, ms wrote:


My CD drive is not working, and a reinstall is desirable, as my current install is
about 5 years old.


That doesn't necessarily follow at all - a well-setup and
well-maintained OS installation never "needs" to be re-installed.

Remember that Win9x's IE is lethally flawed, unless upgraded before
use to versions that ship with no version of Win9x. So whenever you
"just" revert to as-shipped Win9x, you fall back to exploitability via
MIME-spoofing and other defects, as well as stupid lethal duhfault
settings like "treat email scripts as Internet Zone".


1. Recommendation on install from cab files on hard drive.


Yep; agreed.


2. What normal folder in windows are the install files located?


Normal Win95xx and Win98xx installations do not copy the OS
pre-install file set to the HD at all. WinME does, storing these
under %WinDir%\Options\Cabs or something.

Having said that, it's common OEM practice to copy the OS pre-instrall
file set to C:\WIN98 (or C:\WIN95) and install from there; a few may
tuck the files elsewhere, such as %Windir%\Options\Cabs.

Search for PRECOPY*.CAB (or just *.CAB) and make sure you see and
search all hidden and system files too. If they are not to be found,
then you need to pull them from CD, and one way to do that is via Lap
Link parallel cable between your PC and one with a working CD drive
supported by DOS mode drivers. Don't run Lap Link for DOS from
Windows, it will lock up; get out of Windows into DOS mode.

You can also use Direct Cable Connect from Windows, with the same Lap
Link cable, but then you get bogged down in networking protocols,
passwords, and that sort of useless BS.

OTOH, if you have LAN already, well duh use that :-)

Else you may have to populate a HD with the file set and then drop
that in for a HD-to-HD transfer. Unplug from mains when connecting HD

You can re-direct the OS to look for the cab files via regedit, and a
useful side-effect of installing from HD is removing the need to do
this as the correct values will be set automatically.

I'd still avoid "just" re-installing, though. See...

http://cquirke.mvps.org/reinst.htm

...though if you do, take the opportunity to get off "one big doomed
C:" via intelligent partitioning, thus removing one of the few reasons
why old installations slow down even if well-maintained.


Thanks for good advice.

I had forgotten how valuable your site is for W9X, I have to save a lot of that
data. I will look there for an ME page, if you have one.

MS