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Win95 won't install

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by blackcurrant

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Hi

I am trying to install a copy of Win95 on a machine. The machine used to have Win95, but was operating erratically - rebooting by itself, inexplicably crashing...

I used Fdisk to repartition the drive (1500MB), then formatted it. I inserteda Win95 OSR2 disk into the CD drive and copied the setup files to windows\options\cabs. When I run setup the process checks the drives, displays the EULA, then displays an error message which says:

ERROR SU-0013 Setup cannot create files on your startup drive.

I have tried to reinstall Win95 using a CD that came with a new computer, but this has failed as well. I have used these disks to install Windows to newly partitioned drives in the past without incident.

Apparently, setup needs an MS-DOS Boot partition. Can anyone tell me what to do so that I can install Windows95?

Any help will be gratefully received...

Thanks

12 replies

by kuhlio

Hi. When I install Windows 95, I always use a trusty DOS boot disk with CD-ROM support. Using that disk, I partition and format the drive, switch over to the CD-ROM drive, and just run setup from there. After that, it is your run of the mill installation of Win95.

by blackcurrant

Hi, thanks for answering. I am booting with CD-ROM support. It doesn't matter whether I start from setup from the CD or from setup files copied to the hard drive, the error message is still displayed.

by thechas

Step back, and check the drive information under fdisk.

Do you have a primary dos partition?
Is that partition the active partition?

Try an fdisk /mbr to reset the master boot record on the drive. This is esspecially useful if the drive waspreviously partitioned with a BIOS overlay program.

Did you system the drive?
It may have a bad or incorrect command interpreter installed.
Make sure that you have a boot floppy for the exact version of w95 that is on the CD,
Boot from the floppy,
use the command sys c: press enter.
That will replace the command.com file on the hard drive.

Chas

by blackcurrant

Hi, thanks for answering. I have used Fdisk to set the primary DOS partition and made it active. I tried replacing the MBR with the MBR switch, with the same error message displayed when setup was subsequently run. I have also used the sys c: command to copy system boot files to the hard drive. Fdisk is the same version as that on the CD.

by blackcurrant

Thanks for answering. This problem has been resolved. The solution was to install a copy of MS-DOS 6.22 on the new partition. This created a genuine MS-DOS boot partition. It was the absence of the boot partition that was causing the error message. I could then install W95 without a hitch. Thanks to everyone for their input.

by dklippert

Here are some suggestions. Type the Q number in the search box at support.microsoft.com.

Err Msg: Setup Found a Compressed Volume or a Disk-Cache Utility

Q166466

The version of Windows 95 being installed is not the same version that is already installed.

Error Msg List for Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me

Q129971

To verify the version you are installing, type "ver" at a command prompt. Version 4.00.950 (files dated 7-11-95)is retail and OEM (non-OSR2). Version 4.00.1111 (files dated 8-24-96) indicates Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2 (OSR2).

DOS FDISK
Try to reformat your hard drive using fat16 which can be done using "fdisk.exe". Say "NO" when asked if you want to use large disk capacity.

by blackcurrant

Thanks. I had already serached the MS KB without luck. Obviously, reinstalling MS-DOS 6.22 created the required FAT16 formatting. Thanks

by Former member

DKlippert's last point will solve your problem. That error message SU-0013 relates to the fact that the drive is formatted with FAT32 which Win95 does not support.

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