Installing Real Mode CD-ROM Drivers for Office Installation

ID: Q167069

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

This article describes how to install real mode CD-ROM drive drivers under Microsoft Windows 95 when you are troubleshooting problems that occur when you install Microsoft Office. The process in this article includes the following:


MORE INFORMATION

Enabling the Real Mode CD-ROM Drive Drivers

When you enable the real mode CD-ROM drive drivers, you must use the appropriate method. The method you use depends on whether the Config.sys file is present on the computer. If no Config.sys file exists, determine whether the Config.dos file is present on the computer.

If no Config.sys or Config.dos file is present, or if the file (Config.sys or Config.dos) does not list a real mode driver, you must contact the CD- ROM drive or computer vendor for help.

NOTE: The steps in this section work for a variety of configurations. In some cases that involve third-party drivers, these steps may not work. If these steps do not work, consult your CD-ROM drive documentation for information about loading and using real mode CD-ROM drive drivers.

Method 1: Config.sys File Is Present

To enable the drivers when a Config.sys is present on the computer, do the following:
  1. On the Start menu, click Run. In the Open box, type sysedit and click OK.

    This step starts the System Configuration Editor.


  2. Click the Config.sys window.

    This step displays the Config.sys window.


  3. Locate the line that loads the real mode CD-ROM drive driver.

    NOTE: This line contains the following: 
    
      device=

    -and- 
    
      /d:<cd rom drive device id>


  4. If you cannot find a Config.sys window in the System Configuration Editor, go to the "Method 2: No Config.sys File Is Present" section.


  5. Write down the drive identifier string after "/d:" in the Config.sys window. You will need this information later. An example of this identifier is MSCD001.


  6. If the "device=" line is remarked (starts with "rem"), remove the word "rem."

    For example, if the line resembles the following: 
    
      rem device=

    change it to the following: 
    
      device=


  7. In the System Configuration Editor, click Exit on the File menu. Click Yes when you are prompted to save changes.


Method 2: No Config.sys File Is Present

To enable the drivers when no Config.sys is present on the computer, do the following:
  1. If you started the System Configuration Editor in the previous section, close it by clicking Exit on the File menu.


  2. Open an MS-DOS window by clicking Start, pointing to Programs, and then clicking MS-DOS Prompt.


  3. To change to the root directory of drive C, type cd\, and then press ENTER.


  4. Type dir *.dos and press ENTER.

    Determine whether the Config.dos file is present. If this file exists, it is the original Config.sys file that Windows 95 renamed when you installed Windows 95. Note that it may contain the lines listed in step 3 in the previous section.


  5. If there is no Config.sys but there is a Config.dos file, copy the Config.dos file by typing the following at the MS-DOS prompt:


    6. copy config.dos config.bak
    When you are finished typing, press ENTER.

  6. Rename Config.dos to Config.sys by typing the following at the MS-DOS prompt:


    7. ren config.dos config.sys
    When you are finished typing, press ENTER.

  7. Edit the Config.sys file by typing the following at the MS-DOS prompt:


    8. edit config.sys
    When you are finished typing, press ENTER.

    The MS-DOS Editor is started and displays the Config.sys file.

  8. Write down the drive identifier string after "/d:" in the Config.sys file. You will need this information later. An example of this identifier is MSCD001.


  9. If the "device=" line is remarked (starts with "rem"), remove the word "rem."

    For example, if the line resembles the following 
    
       rem device=

    change it to the following: 
    
       device=


  10. In the MS-DOS Editor, click Exit on the File menu. Click Yes when you are prompted to save changes.


Restarting Microsoft Windows 95 Using Step-by-Step Confirmation

After you use one of the methods in the previous section to enable the real mode drivers, do the following:
  1. Restart the computer by clicking Shutdown on the Start menu, and then clicking Restart The Computer. When the Starting Windows 95 message appears, press F8. Then, choose option 5, Step-by-Step Confirmation.


  2. Answer the questions that appear as follows. 
    
      Question                         Answer
      --------------------------------------------------------------------

      Load doublespace driver?         NO (unless the drive is compressed)
      Process System Registry?         YES
      Create a Startup Log File?       NO
      Process Startup Device Drivers?  YES


  3. When you are prompted, choose NO for all prompts that appear except for Himem.sys, Ifshlp.sys, the real mode CD-ROM drive driver, and any necessary third-party drivers.

    If you are not sure if a driver is necessary, or if you do not know what the driver or prompt is, choose NO. Because this is an interactive process, no files are changed or lost. If you answer incorrectly, you can restart the computer.

    NOTE: Some third-party programs (for example, Sound Blaster) provide more than one file that pertain to the CD-ROM drive. These programs often include one file that provides the CD-ROM drive capabilities, one file that provides the sound capabilities, and a third file that provides the multimedia capabilities. You need only the CD-ROM drive driver. The other files provide additional capabilities but do not affect the ability to access and read the CD-ROM drive.


  4. Answer the questions that appear as follows. 
    
      Question                                    Answer
      --------------------------------------------------

      Load the Windows graphical user interface?  NO
      WIN?                                        NO


  5. To change to the root directory of drive C, type cd\, and then press ENTER.


  6. Type the following:


    7. c:\windows\command\mscdex /d: <CD-ROM ID> /L: <CD-ROM drive letter> /s
    where <CD-ROM ID> is the CD-ROM identifier string you wrote down and <CD-ROM drive letter> is your CD-ROM drive letter (usually D), and then press ENTER.

    For example, the command you type should resemble the following:
    c:\windows\command\mscdex /d:mscd001 /L:d /s
Nonstandard Installation of Windows 95:

If Windows 95 is not installed in the Windows folder, you must determine where the Mscdex file is located. To find the Mscdex file, switch to the root directory using an MS-DOS prompt and type the following command:
dir mscdex*.* /s
After you locate the Mscdex file, change the current directory to the location in which the Mscdex file is stored and type the mscdex command.

For example, assume that Windows 95 is installed in a folder called Win95. You would type cd\win95, and then press ENTER to change to the Win95 directory. The MS-DOS prompt becomes c:\win95>. At this prompt, type mscdex/d:mscd001 /L:d /s, and then press ENTER.

Restarting Windows 95 in Safe Mode with CD-ROM Drive Support

After you follow the steps in the earlier sections, you can restart Windows in Safe mode and retain CD-ROM drive support. To restart in Safe mode, use the following steps:
  1. To start Windows 95 in Safe mode with CD-ROM support, type the following command at the MS-DOS prompt:


    2. win /d:m
    NOTE: If you are attempting to perform an administrative installation (setup /a) of Microsoft Office to a network server and you need to start Windows in Safe mode with both CD-ROM drive and network support, type the following command instead:
    win /d:n
  2. Run the Microsoft Office Setup program. Click Start, and then click Run. In the Open box, type the following


    3. <CD-ROM drive letter>\setup
    where <CD-ROM drive letter> is your CD-ROM drive letter (usually, this is drive D).
If you are unable to run Setup or successfully use your real mode CD-ROM drive drivers, you can find more information in the Microsoft Knowledge Base. For additional information, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q139025 OFF7: Setup Err Msg \\D.\A.\SETUP.EXE Not Found

Q151634 Protected-Mode CD-ROM Drive Support in Windows 95

Q139428 Problems Accessing CD-ROM with Wrong Version of Mscdex.exe

Q135174 Cannot Access CD-ROM Drive from MS-DOS Mode or Command Prompt
Q131499 CD-ROM Drives Requiring Real-Mode Drivers

Q87165 Command-Line Switches for MSCDEX.EXE

Q135174 Cannot Access CD-ROM Drive from MS-DOS Mode

Additional query words: home essentials wdmain8.aw 


Keywords          : kbenv kbsetup offwinsetup offadmin offlocal offrfs 
Version           : WINDOWS:7.0,7.0a,97
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbhowto

Last Reviewed: April 26, 1999