Windows 95 Reinstall Problem

[GloryBound]

Hi, I am new to this forum and "REALLY" need some help! I purchased an older computer with a 166 mhz processor in it to give someone for Christmas. It has Windows 95 on it and it had some of the files missing so I decided to go to the c:\windows\options\cabs folder and ran the setup program to reinstall Windows 95 from there. After the reinstall when I restarted the computer, an error message came up. It said "The Loadwc.exe file is linked to missing export shlwapi.dll:wnsprintfA. Well, I was able to get rid of that error message by removing IE5 and going back to IE4. But that did not fix all my problems. I cannot use the "drag" feature nor can I use the "paste" feature when I use "copy". I can't even move my icons on my desktop. All this was working before the reinstall of Windows 95. Can someone here "PLEASE" help me??? I am desperate to get this computer back up and running smoothly!

[acymlf]

probably the best thing for u to do is to format the hard disk and do a clean install of win 95.

if u dont want to format your hard drive then u could try and reinstall win95 again and hope it will replace the missing and corrupted fles.

*** Computers are NOT logical never ask for an Explanation just the solution ***

[reghakr]

GloryBound,

This is why I think it's a very bad idea to do a re-install. It's all due to the fact that you have overwritten newer files with older files. The loadwc.exe and shlwapi.dll are directly related to IE.

IE5 didn't come with Win95. IE 4 did.

In this case I agree with acymlf and think you should reformat. It's not like the computer is full of important files...correct?

reghakr

[BertImmenschuh]

Win95B usually had IE3.0 with it and Win98FE had IE4.0 and Win98SE had IE5.0

[reghakr]

Minds slipping...again IE3

was there such a thing?

reghakr

[BertImmenschuh]

'Fraid so. Windows 95B, OSR 2.1 had IE 3.02 on the CD. MS Office 95 had IE 2.0 on the CD in the Valuepack folder.

[GloryBound]

Gosh I was afraid that someone would say "Reformat" the drive! I guess if that is the only way to fix it I will just have to give it a try. I worry that I wont be able to get the CD Rom drive back up and running because I don't know how to see what kind of drivers I will need for it. Who is the best tech on this forum who could walk me step by step through the reformat and Win95 install? I saw a posting from a man here on this board who lived in Plant City, FL who seemed to know his stuff but not sure I will be able to find him since I read a whole bunch of the postings on this forum. Anyone know who I am talking about?

[Mocha]

Have your hardware installation disks handy for anything that windows doesn't have drivers for and can't install for you...so go into DEVICE MANAGER and click the plus mark in front of your hardware to get the manufacturer and model numbers of what you have. Then go to your manufacturers' websites, and then download the newest drivers for your hardware ahead of time.

Windows 95 needs the Product ID number for the installation. This information can be found by going to RUN type REGEDIT, click the plus in front of the following:
HEKY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows and now click the words Current Version. Scroll on the right side and write down the information you need for your operating system version. This assumes you haven't already formatted the drive....if you have, then the Registry won't be available to you.

FORMAT

Boot up with your boot disk and enable cdrom support when W98 asks you...otherwise cdrom support will automatically appear if you used a boot disk that you downloaded or created yourself. Keep an eye on the screen to see which drive letter has been assigned because it won't be the same one you had in Windows before, and then change to that drive letter. Make sure you can access the cdrom with that disk by changing to the cdrom drive with a cd in the drive and type DIR at the cdrom prompt...if it shows you the list of files on the cd, you are good to go so change back to the A: prompt.

At the A: prompt, type FORMAT C: /S to get the boot drive ready to receive data. If you have already formatted the drive, then at the A: prompt type SYS C: instead.

Now if you have enabled the cdrom support, you can change to the cdrom drive ( so as it is loading, watch for which drive letter it has assigned), and put your Windows installation cd into the drive and type SETUP....the installation will begin.

"People may not always remember exactly what you did or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel"

TONI HACKLER
Moderator: Computer Help