What to do if you forgot to change WINDOWS.000 back to WINDOWS

[HAL9000]

Typed this all out once, not gonna do it again, putting it here for reference.

How to fix the screwup

If you've ever done a Win98 to Win98SE or Win9x to WinME upgrade, and forgot to change the installation directory back to C:\WINDOWS from C:\WINDOWS.000 and now have what appears to be a clean installation, don't panic, here's how to reverse it. I'll give upgrade instructions at the end of this as well.

First, check, do you have a directory C:\WINDOWS.000, if so, you forgot to rename the installation directory. Here's what you need to do.

1) Boot from the Win98 CD to a command prompt with CD support.
2) Type in the following when you get to a command prompt

C:
PATH=C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND
ATTRIB -H -S -R MSDOS.SYS
EDIT MSDOS.SYS

Anywhere in that file that you see ".000" remove the ".000"

ALT-F X and save the file.

If you renamed the WIN.COM file, the following commands are the best to do;

CD WINDOWS
RENAME WIN.XXX WIN.COM

Where WIN.XXX is whatever you originally renamed the file. If you deleted the WIN.COM file, run the following instead;

CD WINDOWS.000
COPY WIN.COM C:\WINDOWS

Now reboot your computer. It will boot from the original Windows installation. When it is finally done, go into Explorer and delete the C:\WINDOWS.000 directory to clean everything up.

You are now back at your original Windows installation.

If you want to try to do the upgrade again, DO NOT forget to rename the installation directory during the install from C:\WINDOWS.000 to C:\WINDOWS

If everything I typed doesn't apply to you, you're probably stuck formatting and reloading from scratch unless you want to figure out what's causing the instabilities.


How to upgrade your Windows9x to a newer version of Windows9x with the full installation CD

Boot from your Windows98/98SE/ME CD to a command prompt with CD support. Run the following commands assuming your CD-Rom is D:\. If not, sub in the correct drive letter;

C:
CD WINDOWS
RENAME WIN.COM WIN.XXX
D:
SETUP

Now, when you are prompted for an installation directory, it's going to be C:\WINDOWS.000 by default. Select Other Directory and change it back to C:\WINDOWS and continue with the installation. When all is done, your system will be upgraded with all programs, shortcuts, themes, settings, etc, intact.

If you screw up and forget to rename the directory, go to the top of this explanation.

[LawyerRon]

Thanks Hal,
I was going to ask this exact question as I was in a hurry the other day and made this very mistake! I was going to ask if you can just remove the old Windows directory. Looks like that's not a good idea!!

But what if you want to keep the Windows.000 directory and get rid of the old Windows directory without reversing everything and reloading Windows? The computer's working fine with the Windows.000 directory.

[HAL9000]

Well, you can do that with a bit of modification to the above. The MSDOS.SYS file is just pointing to what directory of Windows you're booting from. You have two choices;

1) Leave the directory WINDOWS.000 as it is and just wipe out the old WINDOWS directory.

2) Delete the old WINDOWS directory, boot to DOS as suggested above, edit the MSDOS.SYS file and rename everything back to WINDOWS from WINDOWS.000, then rename the WINDOWS.000 directory back to WINDOWS. Now you will have things in a more standard configuration with the installation directory being C:\WINDOWS once again.

[LawyerRon]

Will it hurt anything (other than waste disk space) if I leave the old Windows directory?

[Markoman01027]

That is why I never upgrade operating systems. I always do full clean installations to prevent conflicts and those changing windows directories.

-Matt

[HAL9000]

Just wastes disk space.

-Matt, done properly, it can be a very painless procedure. I have done this to literally hundreds of machines with great success. Every now and then you run across a machine where somebody just doesn't want to reload everything and this gives them that advantage, but the above gives you the means to back out should you screw it up. Now you don't have to look bad in front of the client.

[TEEB]

Well this topic makes me want to ask this question. Like Markoman I try to avoid doing upgrades and stick to a format and clean install of the O/S.

What happens when you do the old files when you do an upgrade. By that I mean can you have some of those old corrupted files ending up in your new upgrade? Is this even possible with a win me to win xp type upgrade.
I have been told that this will happen so I don't do upgrades.

I would appreciate hearing other opinions?

[HAL9000]

Whenever I have done an upgrade with the full CD as described above, I find that it usually fixes previous problems as older files are replaced with updated versions. The advantage to clean installations is that you get rid of the bloat that may be present from files that are no longer in use.

As for the ME to XP upgrade, that I don't recommend. I have yet to see it go smoothly. The description I have given above is for using the full installation CD to upgrade within the Win9x series.

[TimPoet]

HAL9000,
Are you able to view my computer screen when I open up my directory? Cuz I got that same problem.

I say this is a candidate for the Hall Of Fame forum.

[HAL9000]

Yup.... I see everything.... get that stuff off your computer now you sick.... (J/K)

[Murray791]

Help..........I did the same dumb thing in win Me. I forgot to delete temp windows. How do I fix it in win Me?

[HAL9000]

You will find that you have the exact same situation then, follow the exact same procedure to revert back to the old windows and start over.

[Murray791]

Thanks for your speedy response! It worked fine ....eventually..............I am a newbie!
Since I did this ................I was thinking ...............I backup my system with Dantz Retrospect 7.0. on an exterior Harddrive.Could I have simply recovered the system and excluded the Windows.000 envelope?????...................Murray791

[glc]

No, there's still the issue of registry keys.

[ITlover]

Originally Posted by HAL9000 Typed this all out once, not gonna do it again, putting it here for reference. How to fix the screwup If you've ever done a Win98 to Win98SE or Win9x to WinME upgrade, and forgot to change the installation directory back to C:\WINDOWS from C:\WINDOWS.000 and now have what appears to be a clean installation, don't panic, here's how to reverse it. I'll give upgrade instructions at the end of this as well. First, check, do you have a directory C:\WINDOWS.000, if so, you forgot to rename the installation directory. Here's what you need to do. 1) Boot from the Win98 CD to a command prompt with CD support. 2) Type in the following when you get to a command prompt C: PATH=C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND ATTRIB -H -S -R MSDOS.SYS EDIT MSDOS.SYS Anywhere in that file that you see ".000" remove the ".000" ALT-F X and save the file. If you renamed the WIN.COM file, the following commands are the best to do; CD WINDOWS RENAME WIN.XXX WIN.COM Where WIN.XXX is whatever you originally renamed the file. If you deleted the WIN.COM file, run the following instead; CD WINDOWS.000 COPY WIN.COM C:\WINDOWS Now reboot your computer. It will boot from the original Windows installation. When it is finally done, go into Explorer and delete the C:\WINDOWS.000 directory to clean everything up. You are now back at your original Windows installation. If you want to try to do the upgrade again, DO NOT forget to rename the installation directory during the install from C:\WINDOWS.000 to C:\WINDOWS If everything I typed doesn't apply to you, you're probably stuck formatting and reloading from scratch unless you want to figure out what's causing the instabilities. How to upgrade your Windows9x to a newer version of Windows9x with the full installation CD Boot from your Windows98/98SE/ME CD to a command prompt with CD support. Run the following commands assuming your CD-Rom is D:\. If not, sub in the correct drive letter; C: CD WINDOWS RENAME WIN.COM WIN.XXX D: SETUP Now, when you are prompted for an installation directory, it's going to be C:\WINDOWS.000 by default. Select Other Directory and change it back to C:\WINDOWS and continue with the installation. When all is done, your system will be upgraded with all programs, shortcuts, themes, settings, etc, intact. If you screw up and forget to rename the directory, go to the top of this explanation.

Hi,

Sorry for the late comment, I just wanted to know that if we have a bootable msdos floppy drive, then can we use it to change the C:\windows directory name?

Hope my question is clear

[glc]

Yes, but that will break all the registry keys. Sure would be nice if it were that simple, but if it were, there would be no need for the procedure.