how do you put cabs folder on the hard drive

onetopdog · Post by **onetopdog** » Wed Aug 22, 2001 11:16 pm

I will be intsalling windows 98 on a new pc I have. After I FDisk and Format I would like to have the cabs folder on the hard drive also. So when you make changes to the system it will get what it want from there and not ask for the win 98 cd. How do it get this done? Thanks in advance!! I have installed an operating system about 6 times in my life and I think that the default setup will not get them there.

boobless · Post by **boobless** » Thu Aug 23, 2001 12:11 am

C:\ (D:\ or where ever you what the files to be copied) copy E:\win98

so if i want to copy the win98 folder from my cdrom drive E to driver C:

C:\copy E:\win98

thats it.

sattien · Post by **sattien** » Thu Aug 23, 2001 12:16 am

Using the Win98 Startup Disk, boot up with CDROM support. Now put the Win98 CD into CDROM drive, create a folder in your hard drive (ie. C:\setup). Next copy the contents in the \win98 folder on the CD to the C:\setup folder (or whatever folder you created to keep the CAB files). Finally get into the C:\setup folder and type "setup". Now you can play around with your 98 CD while watching the setup process.

Norm · Post by **Norm** » Thu Aug 23, 2001 12:50 am

Here's how I do it......

Bootup with a Win98 startup floppy and select "with CDROM support"
e: is the CDROM drive (use the letter of your own CDROM, remember...it is bumped by one letter so if normally it's d: it will be e: and so on. At the A:> prompt type:

md c:\win98 [enter]
copy e:\win98 c:\win98 [enter]
c: [enter]
cd win98 [enter]
setup [enter]

[enter] means HIT the Enter button, don't type it.

Win98 setup will start, just follow directions from there.

Cornbread · Post by **Cornbread** » Thu Aug 23, 2001 12:53 am

can this be done if you already have windows installed? without erasing anything?

Norm · Post by **Norm** » Thu Aug 23, 2001 12:59 am

Yes it can cornbread but no need to run setup once the files are copied unless you want to do a reinstall over the existing version on your PC.
A reinstall will not change any user settings, but it can fix a lot of problems with windows files.

So to just get the files over to the new directory all you need are the first 2 lines

Once you have these files on c: drive, and windows at some point later asks for the Win98 CD when you make any changes, just point it to c:\win98 and you won't need to insert the CD.

sattien · Post by **sattien** » Thu Aug 23, 2001 1:57 am

Originally posted by Norm
Once you have these files on c: drive, and windows at some point later asks for the Win98 CD when you make any changes, just point it to c:\win98 and you won't need to insert the CD.

You can also make Windows go search in c:\win98 automatically without asking by applying the following tweak:

Fire up regedit.exe, go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Setup
On the right pane, find a value called "SourcePath" and change its data (which will be something lke "e:\win98" if you installed from CD) to the path on your HDD where you copied the CAB files (ie. "c:\win98" -- no quotes).

Once done, Windows will automatically go there when it needs the CABs.

Cornbread · Post by **Cornbread** » Thu Aug 23, 2001 2:00 am

you guys are good, thanks for the tips

onetopdog · Post by **onetopdog** » Thu Aug 23, 2001 6:57 am

Man this one got a lot of reply's. When do I copy the contents? After FDisk and Format and before I run setup?

onetopdog · Post by **onetopdog** » Thu Aug 23, 2001 8:45 am

I went into the registry and found the value you were talking about Sattien. Is the stuff case sensative? The WIN98 in the registry was caps. The Win98 folder I copy to the root directory need to be caps? If I have an OS already installed can I just copy and paste the Win98 folder from the cd to the HD and them change the value in the registry?

Then the os will know to get the files there and not ask for the cd? Thanks to you all for you help!!

sattien · Post by **sattien** » Thu Aug 23, 2001 9:30 am

Originally posted by onetopdog
I went into the registry and found the value you were talking about Sattien. Is the stuff case sensative? The WIN98 in the registry was caps. The Win98 folder I copy to the root directory need to be caps?

No it's not case sensitive. Doesn't have to be in caps. Just make sure you spell it right.

And to be safe, don't use long filename on that folder.

If I have an OS already installed can I just copy and paste the Win98 folder from the cd to the HD and them change the value in the registry? Then the os will know to get the files there and not ask for the cd?

Yup. And the next time you need to reinstall, just do it off the HD.

Norm · Post by **Norm** » Thu Aug 23, 2001 9:47 am

Originally posted by onetopdog
Man this one got a lot of reply's. When do I copy the contents? After FDisk and Format and before I run setup?

Yes, you got it.

Fdisk - To repartition c drive (all files on c will be lost)
Format /s - to format including the system files
md c:\win98 [enter] - makes a dir named win98 on c
copy e:\win98 c:\win98 [enter] - copies the files over to win98 dir
c: [enter] - puts you in c: drive
cd win98 [enter] - puts you in the win98 dir on c
setup [enter] - starts the Win98 setup from the new dir on c

If you still intend to start from scratch that's the way to go.
You can take the Win98 CD out once the files are copied to c:\win98

Remember to include all the spaces when working in Dos.
Fdisk is not needed if the drive is already partitioned, but won't hurt.

onetopdog · Post by **onetopdog** » Fri Aug 31, 2001 6:55 am

I think I got all that down now. Now what would you type in to run setup from the Cabs folder? I am sure I would get to the C: Prompt wont I? And what F key do you hold down when you boot to get to the selection of safe mode or msdos prompt. I think it is F2. Would I run setup this way of from a start up disk. Or does it really matter?