Microsoft KB Archive/79896

= Microsoft Knowledge Base =

FastTips: MS-DOS 5.0 General Installation Sequence Q&A
Last reviewed: April 9, 1996

Article ID: Q79896

The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft MS-DOS operating system version 5.0

SUMMARY
This article contains the complete text of the &quot;MS-DOS 5.0 General Installation Sequence&quot; fax script.

This fax script is available to customers who call the Microsoft FastTips Service for Operating Systems at (800) 936-4200.

MS-DOS 5.0 GENERAL INSTALLATION SEQUENCE
1.Q. When I run Setup, my video display is not readable, the full

instructions cannot be seen, or the instruction lines are truncated. What can I do?

A. If your video display encounters one of these problems during Setup, the video driver of your system may not be performing the correct video instructions from Setup. If you are using an ATI VIP card, insert the ATI disk that came with the video card into the floppy drive. Next, type the following command and run Setup again:

vs egabios

If you are using an ATI EGA Wondercard, you may be able to    correct the problem by typing the following from the command line:

sms egabios

This file is located on your ATI disk. If you are using a video card not mentioned above, please contact your video vendor for a    possible solution to the problem.

Another method is to install DOS to a second identical computer system and note all the MS-DOS 5.0 Setup menus, questions, and choices. With this information, you could run Setup on the first machine. 2.Q. When I run Setup to install the MS-DOS 5 Upgrade to the hard

disk, Setup repeatedly asks for the same Upgrade Setup disk or    states that my Uninstall disk is not the correct disk. What can I    do?

A. Your computer system may contain memory-resident programs or a    disk caching program that may be preventing Setup from correctly reading the floppy disk. Remove or remark out any memory-resident programs that may be started from the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files. Then reboot the computer and run Setup again. If the problem still persists, you may be able to successfully install MS-DOS by following the next three steps:

1. Create a temporary directory on your hard disk. To do this, type the following from the root directory:

md temp

2. Use the XCOPY command to copy all files from all the MS- DOS Upgrade Setup disks to the temporary directory. To do this, type:

xcopy a:*.* c:\temp

Do this with each MS-DOS 5.0 Upgrade disk.

3. Run the MS-DOS 5.0 Upgrade Setup program from the temporary directory. 3.Q. I am using an IBM PS/1 or Tandy computer. Can I install the

MS-DOS 5 Upgrade on this system?

A. If your IBM PS/1 boots from ROM by default, before you install MS-DOS 5 Upgrade, you must change your system configuration using the following steps so that the computer boots from drive C:

1. Run the startup program called System menu.

2. Choose &quot;IBM DOS&quot; from the menu.

3. Choose &quot;Customize how system starts&quot; from the System menu.

4. Choose &quot;Try diskette first, then try fixed disk.&quot;

5. Press ENTER to save the changes, and reboot your system.

For more information, refer to page 80 of the &quot;User's Reference for the PS/1 Computer&quot; or contact IBM Technical Support.

If your Tandy computer is capable of booting from drive A or drive C,    you can install MS-DOS 5 Upgrade. If your system boots MS-DOS from ROM only, you cannot install the MS-DOS 5 Upgrade. Contact Tandy Technical Support to determine if your system boots from ROM. 4.Q. The &quot;Microsoft MS-DOS Getting Started&quot; version 5.0 manual states

that Setup will place the MS-DOS files in the directory that contained the previous version MS-DOS files. How do I know which files are the MS-DOS files?

A. The MS-DOS files are commands that allow you to manage information on your computer system. Your previous version MS-DOS files are located on your original MS-DOS disks. Check your hard disk to locate what directory contains these MS-DOS files. Setup will put the MS-DOS 5.0 files into your current DOS directory if    Setup can find it, and transfer the previous version MS-DOS files from the current DOS directory to a new directory named OLD _DOS. If Setup cannot find the directory containing your previous version MS-DOS files, Setup will create a C:\DOS directory for the MS-DOS 5.0 files. For a complete listing of the MS-DOS 5.0 files, please refer to pages 359 to 360 in the &quot;Microsoft MS-DOS User's Guide and Reference&quot; version 5.0 manual. 5.Q. I am using the disk compression utility Stacker. When I run

Setup, I get the message &quot;Setup has determined that you do not have enough memory on your hard disk to install MS-DOS.&quot; What should I do?

A. You will receive the above message if the Stacker utility has allocated the majority of the disk space on your primary DOS partition for the storage of a Stacker volume, and the space that remains is insufficient for the MS-DOS 5.0 Upgrade to    install. To run Setup when using Stacker, please contact STAC Electronics technical support. 6.Q. I believe that one of my MS-DOS Upgrade disks is defective. What

should I do?

A. To determine if an original MS-DOS 5 Upgrade disk is defective, use the following two steps:

1. Copy the contents of the suspected defective disk to NUL. For example, type &quot;copy /b a:\*.* nul&quot; (without the quotation        marks) at the MS-DOS command prompt and then press ENTER.

This command forces MS-DOS to read all the files on the disk and copy them to the NUL device.

2. If you receive an error message, such as &quot;Data error reading&quot; or &quot;General failure reading,&quot; during the copy process, the disk is probably defective. To order a replacement disk, call Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400.

If you do not receive an error during the copy process, the disk is probably not defective.