Missing DLL File Error

[Amats]

I am in the process of resurrecting an old machine I have (the one in my sig) for the purpose of collecting and playing old windows 95 and DOS games.  I bought an unused full version of windows 95 and installed it then the FX5200 Graphics card and jumped through all the hoops to get the driver installed.  Now this error comes up when I try to start a program that says "A required .DLL file, DINPUT.DLL, was not found." that keeps the program from opening.  I fdisked and formatted this hard drive and have not had it on the internet yet.  The only thing I've put on it from the internet is the Nvidia driver from Nvidia's site.  After some searches on google for some answers I've only come up with people who want me to buy their registry cleaner or pcFixer which I think are just so much snake oil.  Does someone here have any experience with this problem?

[Amats]

Logged back in to my win 95 computer and am getting several more different errors (oh what fun) reminds my of the days when we were first using win 95, lol.
"The NVSVC.EXE file is linked to missing export USER32.DLL:EnumdisplayDevicesA."  "Error loading C:\Windows\SYSTEM\NvCpl.dll.  One of the library files needed to run this application cannot be found."  Well I think Im going to Format C:/s and start over.  Starting to get my DOS legs again. 

[Amats]

Did the Format C:/s command but now it will not boot to the boot disk for some reason

[Computer_Commando]

You need a space between the colon and the forward slash.
You don't have to format again, transfer system.
From A:\

sys c:

It will say "System Transferred" when completed.

[patio]

Not sure why format /s was used anyways in this instance...
I always used format /u which is an unconditional format...then booted to the floppy and follow commandoe's lead above.

At any rate it's just a matter of getting it right here..so starting over is a good option.

[Amats]

You need a space between the colon and the forward slash.
You don't have to format again, transfer system.
From A:\

sys c:

It will say "System Transferred" when completed.

Thanks for that info, I did that but am still getting all the missing file error dialog boxes.  Is there somewhere I can go to get the missing files and install them?

[Hunter quest]

You sure can. Where, precisely, you must seek. I guess system32 is a good folder for dinput.

If the presence (I mean absence of the error) of the file won't help, I think you might want a different graphics card in Win95.

[Amats]

OK, I have been searching for an answer to this problem for quite some time and found this tonight on another forum.
 

    Resistere pro causa resistentiam.

    Group: Supreme Sponsor
    Posts: 600
    Joined: 11-May 09
    OS:98SE
    Country: Country Flag

 
I use ATi Radeon 8500 128MB's in my Windows 95 boxes. I have an original drivers disc for one from back when 95 was still supported.

Later ATi cards may work as well, but it's been a while since I tried experimenting with them. I think I had a 9200 working at one time, but I believe my 9800 XT's had some issues.

Note - there will be various errors about missing DLLs, exports, etc etc unless you be sure to install DX8 and several other updates before attempting to install any "newer" drivers. One DLL in particular that installers will complain about is MFC42.DLL. It is contained in the updates or it can be copied from a 98 machine.

Is DX8 a windows 95 update?  I have a windows 98SE machine, if I knew which files to copy.

[Hunter quest]

According to the list, the newest supported version of DirectX for Windows 95 is 8.0a. Any cards that don't rely on later versions (9, 10, 34..) and have drivers (Generally, up to Win ME) could work.

I imagine graphics drivers for Win95 are a headache in general.

[patio]

No reason not to go up to Win98 at all as it'll support / play all old DOS games...
That way you get better support for drivers and whatnot.

[Amats]

Sticking with getting Windows 95 going since its my favorite OS.  It does have some quirks when loading drivers but I'm not sure if it's because it has quirks or they are just not the right drivers.  I did manage to find the right driver with some help for my onboard ATI 3D Rage Pro graphics chipset and am up to 24 bit color now and am working with onboard sound which is supposed to be Crystal Sound Fusion.  As soon as I get onboard sound going then I will try a more powerful graphics card and sound card.  ATM Win95 is not recognizing the drivers for Crystal Sound Fusion that I installed, so that is my project for the moment.
If you are installing DirectX8 you need to install DC95Inst.EXE first and then install DX80eng.exe.

DC95Inst.EXE here - http://download.microsoft.com/download/platformsdk/Redist/4.71.1015.0/W95/EN-US/DC95Inst.EXE

DX80eng.exe here - http://web.archive.org/web/20120105105445/http://download.microsoft.com/download/winme/Update/8.0a/W9XMe/EN-US/DX80eng.exe

[Amats]

Well I stuck with it and with some help from another forum got everything up and running.  It's been 15+ years since I've run this OS and had to relearn it's ways and they are wierd.   This was before the day of just executing a bunch of executable driver files to equip your computer.  All drivers for hardware and software have to be loaded but not opened on the root of the C drive.  Then you have to go through ADD, REMOVE PROGRAMS in the Control Panel to install everything.  Easiest way is to press Browse and select the executable file for each program that you put on the C drive, then it takes you through the install process for that program.  I was able to install my Nvidia GeForce FX5200 256mb graphics card that way without any problems as well as directX, onboard sound and video drivers and whatever I wanted.  I also got rid of the error messages caused by the newer type drivers my Nvidia card uses by installing MSCONFIG  and just removing them from the start menu.  Everythings running good now and of course it runs Win95 games perfectly which is my purpose for this computer.