A little lost

[techgranny]

  She did. It used to belong to the public library but it had 95 on it when she got it. She had it upgraded to 98se later. Do you think I can delete the copy?

[BC_Programmer]

yes- but first I would confirm that the old windows folder isn't used by anything by first trying to rename it. and then rebooting. I am guessing that the "windows" folder contains windows 95 since all signs point to the win98SE folder containing windows 98 SE, not the least of which of course being the name of said folder. 

in the extreme case, windows won't load properly. never fear!

If this happens, simply press f8 repeatedly after the computer detects your hard drives and so forth after starting, If you do it right, the windows 98 boot options should appear, allowing you to select "Command prompt".

using command prompt you can rename the folder, using the "move" command:

Code: [Select]

Move C:\oldwin C:\windows

assumes you rename the "windows" folder to oldwin.

after renaming it back using Move you should be able to reboot properly. of course it would then be a good question why it wouldn't boot.


Chances are you will see no ill effects, in which case you can safely delete the folder.

[techgranny]

  Oh, boy! It will take Granny a bit of time to wrap her head around all that! I've got sparks flying off my walker just trying to keep up! I will look into it and get back as soon as I can.
 

[BC_Programmer]

Don't worry- I only included that second part about renaming it back in case it didn't work the first time- chances are you can rename it in windows as usual and it will restart properly.

[techgranny]

  OK, first of all, I thought that WIN98se was a copy of the set up disk. I've attached it so you can take a peek and tell me if I am correct. If it is then I believe I also have the set up for 95 in archive. So how can I tell what is in Windows?
  I'm just going to attach everything! If you need to see Program Files, just let me know! I love my latest download!

[attachment deleted by admin]

[BC_Programmer]

Ahh, interesting.


the first file attached appears to be a "archive" of windows 98 Install files(you thought correctly ). For example, sometimes when you install, say a camera or USB scanner and so forth, it will request files from the windows 98 CD- that folder contains those files.

I recommend to keep that folder, unless you have a windows 98 CD.

The second file appears to be of a similar theme, but windows 95 installation files. They are safe to delete. (on account of you not having win95) In a similar vein,

the third one, the windows folder- I believe, based on file dates, is a windows 95 installation (which means your not using it) Almost all the system files are around 96/97, and the latest files are from 2002. Chances are it would be safe to delete this folder as well.

On the other hand- the win98se folder is windows 98 install files- the windows folder is a windows 95 installation- and the other two are archives, which makes me wonder exactly where the actual windows folder is. (perhaps the "test" folder?)

one way of finding out. paste the following into notepad:

Code: [Select]

echo %WINDIR%
pause

save it as "C:\wdir.bat"

now start->run "C:\wdir.bat"

a command window will appear that will show the windows directory as the first line; this could solve the mystery... or it could raise more questions, I suppose...

[techgranny]

  OK, I did as you said and here is what I got...
C:\>echo C:\TEST
C:\TEST
C:\>pause  Press any key to continue....
  I take it that this is what you were expecting?
Sorry if this appears twice. For some reason I am having trouble posting.

[BC_Programmer]

Interesting- the version of windows  that boots up is in the "test" folder, and by all appearances looks like windows 95 (again, just judging from file dates).


What about Start->Run winver

does that tell you windows 98, or windows 95?


Either way don't delete the test folder- for some reason your running OS is installed to it.

[techgranny]

  Well, it said 98.
  So, the 95 install files are in Archive and the 98 install is in 98se (turns out that it wasn't that hard to find the old OS set ups!). Then, judging by the dates, it is safe to say that Windows is the 95 OS and Test contains the 98 OS as well as a bunch of other stuff.  Whew!! This begs the question of why the old OS was left. Is it possible that there are programs or documents that need it? Is it possible that many of the problems with this machine are OS version conflicts? Am I driving you crazy with all of my question?
  I thought I would backup Windows ( because it seems to be 95 ) and delete it but I can't seem to install the right drivers for my Flash Drive and this computer can't write CD's, it can only read them.
  I am so frustrated that I have gone Old School and picked up pencil and paper! I am drawing a self portrait to spruce up my postings.
  I'm not sure which way to turn so any suggestions would be appreciated.
 

[BC_Programmer]

hmm- actually, windir is pointing to "test", and if winver says windows 98, it could be the first edition of windows 98, which would explain the dates being earlier then what I remember.

It's possible there are some issues- some badly written programs assume that windows can be found in "C:\windows", which in your case doesn't contain the same version of windows you have installed.

I wouldn't want to be the one to recommend deletion of any of the folders in case it causes even more issues...

[techgranny]

  May I say that I understand and even applaud your caution when giving advice. Rest assured that I take full responsibility for anything I download or delete.
  I am positive that my computer is 98se so I ran winver on it and it said just 98 as well.
  Call me crazy but I also assumed that windows would be in C:\WINDOWS!

[patio]

Win95 and 98 were in the C:\Win directory by default...
Post some specs on that machine...it may run rather nice on Win2K.

[BC_Programmer]

Win95 and 98 were in the C:\Win directory by default...
Post some specs on that machine...it may run rather nice on Win2K.

Windows 3.1,95,98, and 98SE default to C:\WINDOWS


windows NT3.1,3,5,3.51,4, and W2k default to C:\WINNT.

your getting "win" from the positive sounding "win" command one would invoke to load up windows when in DOS mode. 

I agree though,  win2k is a good option to explore.

[patio]

your getting "win" from the positive sounding "win" command one would invoke to load up windows when in DOS mode.

Thanx for the correction.
 

[techgranny]

Now Ive got an error 666 so I checked Device Manager and found out that there are seven devices with problems. They say that " The NTKERN.VXD device loader for this device could not load the device driver. (Code 2). "
  It also says that it can be fixed by reinstalling the drivers but after reinstalling I still have the problem.
  I ran NTKERN.VXD through FIND and got no results but I did find it on the 95 disk. Need help!