MISSING Win 98SE FILES

[BARRACK]

Since I first installed Win 98,I've problems installing programs or hardware because of the missing files. When I'm installing new programs I have to skip files to continue the installation.Because of the amount of missing files the computer keeps asking me for the Win 98 CD, even if the CD is in the CD-ROM.I asked MS but they did not help. I do not know how to get missing files if they are in the CD.Now the
computer,when turned on,shows:FDC Failure,Press F1 to resume.Besides this, my computer works fine.Any suggestion will be very helpful.Thanks

[Floppyman]

The FDC Failure has to with the floppy drive, take a look here:

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000349.htm

Also, when the computer prompts you for the cd, are you pointing it to the right directory to look for the files, for example D(or whichever leter your cdrom is):\Win98? HTH

[BARRACK]

Last program/hardware I tried was Home Network and during installation you need Win98. I installed Win98 and when it started,because of so many files missing(once I counted about40)the computer asked me to install Win 98 but it is in the CD-rom.Lets say you install a program,restart and you are prompted to install Win 98. Once installed,it can't find files to run program or hardware.There are no scratch on the CD. I have installed and reinstalled WIN98 a few times with no results. Not even the GAME file in the accessories is found. The computer is at least 95% ok, with an exception to this problem. Thanks.

[HAL9000]

I'm with Floppyman here and you were not clear on your answer.

1) When Windows requests the CD, it may NOT be directing to the proper location by default.

2) I am going to assume that you have a legitimate Windows CD and not some copy that somebody may have left stuff out with.

3) When it says that it cannot find such and such file, are you positive that Windows is actually looking at the right path. Assuming that your CD drive is D:\ (if not, replace with appropriate letter), check, and manually type in if necessary, D:\WIN98 to get the files that you need.

4) You mentioned it does this when you install hardware or software, just what are you trying to install. Tackle one at a time since trying to do them all at once will cause you even more problems. Lets start by getting all the hardware working correctly in Windows before worrying about applications or games.

5) It might also help to know what kind of computer you are working with. Give us some specs. It might help to strip the computer down to the basics to get everything in proper working order, then add the extras such as modem, sound card, etc.

[BARRACK]

Home made:INTEL 815AAEE,PIII 733,128 RAM,WD HDD20gb,FLASH56
PCI,VOODOO3 3000 AGP,HPCD-8200. I'm trying to install Home network.The Win98 CD is new ,that's why I contacted MS with no result.The computer is working ok with the exception of this Win 98 CD. All of the hardware programs are working properly. When I start the computer this is what it says:Can't find device file that may be need it to run Win or Win application. Win reg or SYS.INI file refer to this device file no longer exist. The last time I re-installed Win98 it didn't show this message until now.Thaks

[HAL9000]

OK, so the networking is the problem, lets eliminate it first. Remove your network adapter (assuming that you have a network adapter and it's not built on board). Boot to safe mode. In Control Panel, go into Networking. Remove EVERYTHING listed and reboot to normal mode. This should clean up the errors that you are getting. If not, post the details of the error.

Now hopefully everything is working fine. Make sure you have the driver disk for your network adapter (BTW, what brand adapter are you using?). Shutdown the computer and re-install it. Boot the computer. When it detects the adapter, it may want a driver disk. Then it may ask for the Windows CD. I have had some adapters that will say it cannot find the required files on the windows CD, that's because they are actually on the driver disk for the adapter. Don't skip any files or you will be back to square one again. The files will be located on either the Windows CD or on the network adapter disk. Reboot when the install is done.