OFF95: Cannot Change Drive or Directory

ID: Q165811

The information in this article applies to:
WARNING: The information in this article has not been confirmed or tested by Microsoft. Some or all of the information in this article has been taken from unconfirmed customer reports. ANY USE BY YOU OF THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS ARTICLE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. Microsoft provides this information "as is" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose.

SYMPTOMS

The following error message may appear when you attempt to change folders or drives using the Open, Save, or Save As dialog boxes in a Microsoft Office 95 program:

The drive C: is invalid


CAUSE

This problem occurs if either of the following two files are corrupted or replaced by third-party software:

User32.dll
Imm32.dll


WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, locate the affected files, rename the files, and then reinstall them using your Microsoft Windows compact disc or disks. To do this, use the following steps:

  1. Locate the following files:
    User32.dll
    Imm32.dll
    Kernel32.dll
    Gdi32.dll
    These .dll files are usually located in the C:\Windows\System folder.


  2. Quit any open programs and click Shutdown on the Start menu.


  3. Click "Shut down the computer?" and click Yes. When you are prompted, turn off your computer.


  4. When the Starting Microsoft Windows message appears on the screen, press F8.


  5. Select Command Prompt Only.


  6. At the MS-DOS prompt, type the following, and then press ENTER
    cd\<folder>
    where <folder> is the name of the folder that contains the .dll file you want to rename.


  7. At the MS-DOS prompt, type the following and then press ENTER
    ren <filename>.dll <filename>.bak
    where <filename> is the .dll file you are renaming. Repeat steps 1-6 for each of the four .dll files.


For more information about how to perform this task in Windows, see your Windows printed documentation or online Help.

Reinstalling the .Dll Files on Your Computer

  1. Insert the Windows 95 compact disc into the CD-ROM drive (this requires that you previously loaded the real-mode CD-ROM driver.)


  2. If you installed Windows 95 from a disk, insert the corresponding disk in the disk drive. Refer to the following table for the disk number. For additional information about accessing your CD-ROM from the MS-DOS Prompt, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
    Q135174 Cannot Access CD-ROM Drive from MS-DOS Mode or Command Prompt


  3. If the name of the folder that contains the .dll file does not appear at the MS-DOS prompt, type the following and press ENTER
    cd\<folder>
    where <folder> is the name of the folder that contains the .dll file. This folder is usually windows\system.


  4. If you installed Windows 95 from a compact disc, type the following at the MS-DOS prompt
    extract <drive>:\win95\win95_<n>.cab <filename>.dll
    where <drive> is the letter of your CD-ROM drive, <n> is the cabinet file number that contains the .dll, and <filename> is the name of the .dll file you want to extract. For example, to extract the file Kernel32.dll from CD-ROM drive D, type the following:
    extract d:\win95\win95_11.cab kernel32.dll
    -or-

    If you installed Windows 95 from a disk, type the following at the MS-DOS prompt
    extract <drive>:\win95_0<n>.cab <filename>.dll
    where <drive> is the letter of the CD-ROM drive, <n> is the cabinet file number that contains the .dll, and <filename> is the name of the .dll file you want to extract.


  5. After you extract the file, press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart your computer.


Refer to the following table to locate the .dll file. 

                 CD-ROM
   File Name     Cabinet       DMF     File          Non-DMF  File
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

   Imm32.dll     Win95_06.cab  Disk6   Win95_06.cab  Disk9    Win95_09.cab
   Gdi32.dll     Win95_11.cab  Disk11  Win95_11.cab  Disk18   Win95_18.cab
   Kernel32.dll  Win95_11.cab  Disk11  Win95_11.cab  Disk18   Win95_18.cab
   User32.dll    Win95_11.cab  Disk11  Win95_11.cab  Disk18   Win95_18.cab
The sizes and dates for files that are installed by Microsoft Windows 95 are listed in the following table. 

   File Name     Size           Date
   ------------------------------------------
   User32.dll    44,544 bytes   July 11, 1995
   Imm32.dll     6,144 bytes    July 11, 1995
   Kernel32.dll  411,136 bytes  July 11, 1995
   Gdi32.dll     131,072 bytes  July 11, 1995

Additional query words: 


Keywords          : offwinsetup 
Version           : 7.0
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbprb

Last Reviewed: June 9, 1999