Australian PC World - Tell Setup where to go

Tell Setup where to go

Q When I purchased my laptop PC, the compressed "cabinet" (.cab) files, in which Microsoft distributes Windows 95, were included on the hard drive. After I backed them up using Microsoft Create Disks, Windows 95 assumed that the .cab files were residing on my floppy drive. Now that I have Windows 95 on CD-ROM, I'd like to use that version whenever Windows needs a specific .cab file. But Windows won't let me specify the path. How can I make it recognise my CD-ROM drive?
- Justin Kuo

A You're not the only one with this problem; it can afflict anyone who installs a CD-ROM drive or makes other system changes that affect the drive letter of their original Windows 95 installation. Fortunately, you can fix it by editing the Windows Registry.
As a precaution, first make a backup copy of these important files in the Windows folder: user.dat, user.da0, system.dat, and system.da0. (If you don't see them, choose View--Options in My Computer or Explorer, click the View tab, select Show all files, and click OK.)
Now start the Registry Editor. Choose Start--Run, type regedit, and press <Enter>. Then navigate through its branches until you come to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup. Now, select the Setup icon in the left pane, and double-click Source Path in the right pane. In the Value Data box, type the new drive letter and path to the Windows 95 source files -- for example, f:\win95\setup\ (your path may vary). Then click OK and exit the Registry Editor.
The next time you run Windows Setup, it should know where to look.
- Scott Dunn

Category: Win95
Issue: Feb 1998
Pages: 164