Microsoft KB Archive/101958

= Reinstalling MS-DOS 6 Upgrade When Using Stacker Version 3.1 =

Article ID: 101958

Article Last Modified on 11/26/1999

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft MS-DOS 6.0 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q101958



SYMPTOMS
If your boot drive is compressed with Stacker version 3.1, and you try to reinstall MS-DOS 6 Upgrade or run SETUP /E or SETUP /Q, you receive one of the following error messages:

Please label a floppy disk as follows:

msdos.sys

and insert it in drive C.

When you are ready to continue,

press ENTER.

Caution: All existing files

on this disk will be deleted.

-or-

There is not enough free space on drive C to install MS-DOS.

You cannot install MS-DOS unless your computer has at least 4,200,000 bytes of free disk space on drive C. Exit Setup, and move or delete unneeded files from the drive. For more information about freeing disk space, see 'Diagnosing and Solving Problems.'

-or-

Setup cannot identify your system's startup partition

-or-

Please insert disk in drive C:

where is unexpected text, usually containing ASCII characters greater than 127.



CAUSE
If you use Stacker version 3.1 with MS-DOS 6.0, the status of the Stacker- compressed drive and the host drive are reported incorrectly. You can see this by typing "stacker" (without the quotation marks) and pressing ENTER at the MS-DOS command prompt. Stacker displays information indicating that drive C was drive C at startup and then shows you the host drive letter and Stacker compressed volume file. In fact, the machine actually booted from the host drive and swapped the host letter with C at startup.



Running SETUP /E
If you are trying to run SETUP /E to reinstall the MS-DOS-based or Windows- based versions of Microsoft Backup, Microsoft Anti-Virus, or Microsoft Undelete, use the MS-DOS EXPAND command to expand the MS-DOS utilities from the disk instead. Then, manually set up the MSTOOLS group and icons in Microsoft Windows. For more information, query on the following words in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  files and needed and msbackup.ex_ and msbackup.exe

If you don't want to manually expand the files for Microsoft Backup, Microsoft Anti-Virus, or Microsoft Undelete, you can use the following procedure:   Reduce the size of the Stacker drive (drive C) to create enough room on the host drive for the MS-DOS files.    Space Required on the Uncompressed Host Drive ---

Full installation with both Windows-based and MS-DOS-based optional utilities:................7300K Full installation without optional utilities:.....4200K Full installation with MS-DOS-based utilities:....5500K Full installation with Windows-based utilities:...6200K SETUP /E with both Windows-based and MS-DOS-based optional utilities:................3100K SETUP /E with MS-DOS-based utilities:.............1300K SETUP /E with Windows-based utilities:............2000K  If a DOS directory does not already exist on your host drive, create one. For example, if your host drive is H, type md h:\dos at the MS-DOS command prompt and then press ENTER. If your DOS directory does not contain COMMAND.COM, SYS.COM, FORMAT.COM, DISKCOPY.COM, and ATTRIB.EXE, copy these files from the DOS directory on the compressed drive. For example, type the following at the MS-DOS command prompt, and press ENTER after each line:

copy c:\command.com h:\dos

copy c:\sys.com h:\dos

copy c:\format.com h:\dos

copy c:\diskcopy.com h:\dos

copy c:\attrib.exe h:\dos

 If you need to install the Windows-based versions of Microsoft Backup, Microsoft Anti-Virus, and Microsoft Undelete, copy your SYSTEM.INI, WINFILE.INI, and PROGMAN.INI files from your Windows directory to your DOS directory on the host drive. For example, type the following at the MS-DOS command prompt, and press ENTER after each line:

copy c:\windows\system.ini h:\dos

copy c:\windows\winfile.ini h:\dos

copy c:\windows\progman.ini h:\dos

 Use the ATTRIB command to clear the file attributes on the Stacker version of DBLSPACE.BIN on the host drive. For example, type c:\dos\attrib -r -s -h h:\dblspace.bin at the MS-DOS command prompt and then press ENTER.</li> Rename the Stacker version of DBLSPACE.BIN on the host drive. For example, type ren h:\dblspace.bin stacker.bin at the MS-DOS command prompt and then press ENTER.</li> Restart your computer so that the Stacker version of DBLSPACE.BIN is no longer loaded.

NOTE: Because the DBLSPACE.BIN file has been renamed, when you restart your computer, your Stacker compressed drives will not be accessible.</li> Install MS-DOS 6 Upgrade (run SETUP) or the optional programs (run SETUP /E) to the uncompressed drive (now drive C).

NOTE: If you install the Windows-based versions of the optional programs, specify your DOS directory when Setup asks for your Windows directory.</li> Rename the Stacker version of DBLSPACE.BIN (currently called STACKER.BIN on your system). For example, type ren c:\stacker.bin dblspace.bin at the MS-DOS command prompt and then press ENTER.</li> Restart the computer to load the Stacker version of DBLSPACE.BIN.</li> Copy the DOS directory from the host drive to the DOS directory on drive C. For example, type copy h:\dos\*.* c:\dos at the MS-DOS command prompt and then press ENTER.</li> If you installed the Windows-based versions of the optional programs, use the MOVE program to move the SYSTEM.INI, WINFILE.INI, and PROGMAN.INI files from your DOS directory to your Windows directory. For example, type the following at the MS-DOS command prompt, pressing ENTER after each line:

move c:\dos\system.ini c:\windows

move c:\dos\winfile.ini c:\windows

move c:\dos\progman.ini c:\windows

</li> Delete the DOS directory on the host drive. For example, type deltree h:\dos at the MS-DOS command prompt and then press ENTER.</li></ol>

Drive C Is Not Compressed and You Reinstalled MS-DOS 6.0
If Stacker version 3.1 has compressed a portion of the normal boot drive (that is, drive C is not compressed), and you install MS-DOS 6.0 again, Setup overwrites the Stacker version of DBLSPACE.BIN. After the computer is rebooted, you do not have access to your compressed data.

If you do not have a system disk that you created after installing Stacker 3.1, you probably don't have a copy on your computer. However, if you have your MS-DOS 6.0 Uninstall disk, you can use it to replace the MS-DOS 6.0 DBLSPACE.BIN file with the Stacker version of DBLSPACE.BIN. To do so:

To replace the MS-DOS 6.0 DBLSPACE.BIN file with the Stacker version of DBLSPACE.BIN:
 * 1) Use the DELTREE command to delete the DBLSPACE.BIN file in the root of your C drive. For example, type deltree c:\dblspace.bin at the MS-DOS command prompt and then press ENTER.
 * 2) Put your MS-DOS 6.0 Uninstall disk in drive A and copy DBLSPBIN.HST to your C drive (renaming it DBLSPACE.BIN in the process). For example, type copy a:\dblspbin.hst c:\dblspace.bin at the MS-DOS command prompt and then press ENTER.

Alternatively, if you created a system disk, you can use the SYS command to transfer the MS-DOS system files and the Stacker version of DBLSPACE.BIN to drive C. For example, type sys a: c: at the MS-DOS command prompt and then press ENTER.

If you still cannot resolve this problem, contact STAC Electronics.

<div class="moreinformation_section">

Drive C Is Compressed and You Want to Reinstall the MS-DOS 6.0 System Files
Before you alter your Stacker 3.1 system, you should make a backup boot disk that includes the Stacker version of the DBLSPACE.BIN file. From your swapped drive C, format a floppy disk in drive A as follows:

format a: /s

To reinstall MS-DOS 6.0 system files without losing access to your Stacker-compressed drive:
 * 1) Run Setup with the /F parameter to install MS-DOS 6.0 to a single floppy disk. For example, type a:\setup /f at the MS-DOS command prompt and then press ENTER.
 * 2) Delete DBLSPACE.BIN from the startup disk you created in step 1. (You cannot use the MS-DOS 6.0 DBLSPACE.BIN file to access your Stacker-compressed drives.)
 * 3) Use the SYS command to transfer the MS-DOS system files to the host drive. For example, if your C drive is compressed and your host drive is H, type sys a: h: at the MS-DOS command prompt and then press ENTER.

Stacker is manufactured by STAC Electronics, a vendor independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding this product's performance or reliability.

Additional query words: 6 SETUP /Q /U stacker volume file SVF spade ascii character garbage

Keywords: KB101958

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