Microsoft KB Archive/93509

= Works: How to Troubleshoot Errors Reading Works Setup Disks (2.0 and 3.0) =

Article ID: 93509

Article Last Modified on 10/8/2003

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Works 2.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Works 2.0a
 * Microsoft Works 3.0 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q93509



2.00 2.00a 3.00 WINDOWS kbsetup kbref kbtshoot



SUMMARY
If you attempt to run the Setup program for Microsoft Works for Windows and receive a disk read error for the floppy disk drive, there may be a problem with the disk. It is also possible that the disk drive you are using for Setup does not closely match the alignment of the machine that produced the disk. Disk read errors are almost always caused by such problems, rather than by problems related to memory configuration, usage, or other environmental factors.



MORE INFORMATION
You can perform a simple test to determine whether or not the drive is capable of reading the disk. At the MS-DOS prompt, change to the drive you are using for Setup, then do the following with each disk:

 At the MS-DOS prompt, type the following and press ENTER to run CHKDSK:

chkdsk

If CHKDSK runs successfully but finds errors, the disk is probably corrupt. Note: In this case, the command CHKDSK /F does not correct any actual disk problems. If CHKDSK runs successfully and does not find any errors, do not consider this a definitive check; CHKDSK does not read the entire disk, it only verifies that there are valid entries in the file allocation table (FAT) and directories for all the files on the disk. The following test should also be performed. At the MS-DOS prompt, type the following, and press ENTER:

copy *.* nul

This command opens, reads, and closes each file in the current directory. This test verifies that each file can actually be read from the disk.

Using the MS-DOS NUL device as the target for the copy is convenient because no target file is created. The output of the command is discarded. If you use NULL as the target filename by mistake, the command tries to create a file on the disk; this usually results in an error due to lack of disk space. Note: The MS-DOS XCOPY command cannot be used with NUL as the target.  You can perform a more rigorous version of the test described in step 2 by doing the following:

Works 3.0
 Type the following at the MS-DOS prompt and press ENTER to create a new directory

md :\disk#

where &quot;x&quot; is a hard drive you can use to test copy the files on the floppy disk and the disk# is the number of the disk you plan to copy to the new directory. For example, Works 3.0 Disk 1 would go in a directory titled :\DISK1. Each Works 3.0 disk goes in its own directory with the appropriate directory name. Type the following at the MS-DOS prompt and press ENTER:

xcopy *.* <x>:\disk# /v

The /v switch verifies that the source file and the copied file are identical.</li></ol>

Works 2.x
<ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;"> Type the following at the MS-DOS prompt and press ENTER

md <x>:\workstmp

where &quot;x&quot; is a hard drive you can use to test copy the files on the floppy disk.</li> Type the following at the MS-DOS prompt and press ENTER:

xcopy *.* <x>:\workstmp /v

The /v switch verifies that the source file and the copied file are identical.</li></ol> </li></ol>

If you are successful with this test, run Setup from <x>:\WORKSTMP (for Works 2.x) or <x>:\DISK1 (for Works 3.0). If you are performing a custom installation, specify a different directory name when Setup asks for the drive and path to install to, or perform a complete installation. This method requires between 7 megabytes (MB) and 12.5 MB of available disk space for Works 2.0. Works 3.0 requires between 10 MB and 20 MB available disk space. Approximately 5 MB may be recovered after the installation by deleting the files in the WORKSTMP directory for Works 2.x. Approximately 6 MB may be recovered in Works 3.0 by deleting the files in the DISK# directories.

NOTE: When the XCOPY command is not available, for example in versions of MS-DOS or PC-DOS earlier than 3.3, use the following command instead of the XCOPY statement above:

copy *.* <x>:\workstmp

If you encounter any read errors in the above tests or if CHKDSK reports drastic errors, perform the same tests on another computer. If several other computers are available, it may be advantageous to try more than one.

If you find a computer that can successfully read the disks, the following workaround will most likely allow you to install the software on the original computer. If no available computer can read the disks, it is likely that they are damaged. If this is the case, you should obtain another original disk set.

<div class="workaround_section">

WORKAROUND

 * 1) On the original computer, use the MS-DOS FORMAT command to format the same number and type of disks as there are in the Works for Windows disk set.
 * 2) On the computer that can read the Setup disks, use the MS-DOS DISKCOPY command to copy each original disk to one of the formatted disks. The usage for DISKCOPY varies depending on the floppy drive configuration on this computer; refer to your MS-DOS documentation for the correct syntax.

Note: It is possible that this computer may be unable to successfully read the disks formatted on the original computer. If you cannot successfully complete the disk set, try another computer. The object is to find a computer that can read both the original Setup disk and the disks formatted on the target computer.
 * 1) Take the newly-created disk set back to the original computer, and try to run Setup again.

For further information on the MS-DOS commands discussed above, refer to your MS-DOS manual.

For further information about how to perform these tasks in Windows 95, see your Windows 95 printed documentation or online help.

Additional query words: w_works 2.00A tshoot install WZLTRHD.DLL

Keywords: KB93509

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