MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS REGARDING THE WINDOWS 3.1 SETUP Question 1: When I try to set up Windows 3.1, Setup asks me for the next disk even if that disk is already in the drive. What can I do about this problem? Answer: Setup may not be able to find the next file it needs to copy, perhaps because of an improperly labeled or bad disk. This problem can also be caused by memory-resident programs interfering with Windows Setup. It's rare for an original Windows disk to be mislabeled. If you are installing from backup copies and suspect that they may be mislabeled, try your other backup disks to see if Windows Setup recognizes one of them as the disk its looking for, or run Setup with your original Windows disks, with write-protection on. It's also rare that a customer receives a defective original disk. To test your disks perform the following 2 steps. 1. Use the MS-DOS DIR command to list the contents of each original Windows disk. All Windows disks should give normal directory listings. If you cannot get a directory listing or if there are some garbled filenames, you probably have a bad disk. 2. If the MS-DOS DIR command works correctly, then use the MS-DOS COPY command to copy the files from each original Windows disk to a temporary directory on your hard drive. If you receive a DOS error message during this process, you probably have a bad disk. If either of these tests indicates a bad original Windows 3.1 disk, call Microsoft End-User Sales and Service at (800) 426-9400 Monday - Friday, 6 am - 5:30 pm Pacific time, to order replacement disks. To make sure that a memory-resident program does not interfere with Windows Setup, perform the following 2 steps. You may want to refer to your MS-DOS manual for additional information. The following procedure does not apply to installing Windows for shared use on a network, and may not work if your hard drive uses special disk partitioning or compression software. 1. Make a bootable floppy disk by using the MS-DOS FORMAT command with the forward slash S (/S) option: FORMAT A: /S 2. Reboot your computer with this floppy disk in drive A, and then continue with the normal Windows setup. This procedure assures that there are no memory-resident programs loaded when you run Windows Setup. If this procedure does not solve your problem, call Microsoft Windows Technical Support at (206) 637-7098 Monday - Friday 6 am - 6 pm Pacific time. Question 2: When I run Windows Setup, it gets part way through disk 3 and then the screen goes blank. What is the problem? Answer: If Setup hangs while copying files from disk 3, most likely it is having a problem either with memory-resident software or with special hardware in your computer. The following 2 steps may resolve this problem. These procedures do not apply to installing Windows for shared use on a network, and may not work if your hard drive uses special disk partitioning or compression software. 1. Make a bootable floppy disk by using the MS-DOS FORMAT command with the forward slash S (/S) option: FORMAT A: /S 2. Reboot your computer with this floppy disk in drive A, and then continue with the normal Windows setup. This procedure assures that there are no memory-resident programs when you run Windows Setup. Run Setup from your original Windows disks, set to write-protected. If Setup still hangs on disk 3, it could be having a problem correctly detecting special hardware in your computer. The next 2 steps should resolve this problem. 1. Boot from your floppy disk that you prepared, then insert Windows disk 1. At the A:\ prompt, enter SETUP /I. The /I option prevents Setup from detecting hardware components. Change the settings as needed to match your computer, following the instructions on each Setup screen. Refer to the written "Hardware Compatibility List" included with the Windows packaged product. Find the name of your computer on this list. If there is an asterisk after your computer's name, go to the top option in Setup and select your computer. 2. On the Setup screen that lists your computer's configuration, make sure that it is set for NO NETWORK and NO MOUSE. Trying Setup with these features turned off may allow Setup to finish. If you need network or mouse support, you can run Setup again later from Windows to add these. Chapter 15, page 537, in your "Microsoft Windows User's Guide" for version 3.1, gives step-by-step instructions for running Setup from Windows to modify an existing installation. Note that these procedures do not apply to installing Windows for shared use on a network, and may not work if your hard drive uses special disk partitioning or compression software. If this does not solve your problem, call Microsoft Windows Technical Support at (206) 637-7098 Monday - Friday, 6 am - 6 pm, Pacific time. Question 3: When I try to run the Windows 3.1 setup I get the following error message. Setup Error #S020 Setup is unable to make changes to the Windows configuration file, SYSTEM.INI. These changes are needed to set up Windows. Setup cannot continue. It then advises me to contact Microsoft Product Support. What can I do about this? Answer: This error message occurs during low memory situations as the setup program is unable to fit the Windows configuration files, WIN.INI or SYSTEM.INI into conventional memory. The solution is to free up conventional memory and then restart Windows setup. The following 2 instructions provide the easiest way to free conventional memory. 1. Make a bootable floppy disk by using the MS-DOS FORMAT command with the forward slash S (/S) option: FORMAT A: /S 2. Reboot your computer with this floppy disk in drive A, and then continue with the normal Windows setup. Note that these procedures do not apply to installing Windows for shared use on a network, and may not work if your hard drive uses special disk partitioning or compression software. If this does not solve your problem call Microsoft Windows Product Support at (206) 637-7098 Monday - Friday, 6 am - 6 pm, Pacific time. Question 4: I have a high resolution or special video card and want to use its special features with Windows 3.1. How do I do this? Answer: Windows 3.1 includes driver software for standard video formats including a standard 800 x 600 16 color super VGA driver. For Windows to use the extra features of your special video card or a higher display resolution, you need software specifically written by the manufacturer to support those special features. Note: Unless you have this software from the video card manufacturer, Microsoft Product Support will not be able to help you. There are three ways to obtain this software: 1. Many special video cards, especially video cards purchased after June 1990, are sold with disks that include either Windows 3.0 drivers or Windows 3.1 drivers. Instructions for installing this software should come with the video card. Call your local dealer or the video card manufacturer for assistance. 2. If you are trying to install Windows 3.0 video drivers for use under Windows 3.1 please listen to question 5 in this section. 3. Several companies have provided Microsoft with their Windows 3.1 super VGA drivers. Microsoft makes these available on the Windows Drivers Library (WDL) disks. To find out if drivers for your super VGA card are included, call Microsoft End-User Sales and Services at (800) 426-9400 Monday - Friday, 6 am - 5:30 pm, Pacific time. If you don't have the proper Windows 3.1 or Windows 3.0 driver now, and if it is not included in the Windows Drivers Library, you will need to contact your local dealer or the video card manufacturer for this software. Question 5: When I try to install my Windows 3.0 high resolution video drivers in Windows 3.1 I get the following message. "Setup is unable to open the OEMSETUP.INF file at the location you specified." What can I do about this? Answer: This message occurs because the Windows 3.1 Setup is looking for a file called OEM.INF . The following four steps outline the solution to this problem. 1. Run setup from the Windows directory and select VGA (Version 3.0) as the display type. 2. Check the Windows System subdirectory for any OEM.INF file. To do this type at the C prompt: cd\ cd windows\system dir oem?.inf 3. Copy the SETUP.INF file from the 3rd party disks to the system subdirectory as OEMx.INF where x is a unique number such as OEM1.INF or OEM2.INF if there was an OEM1.INF already there. The following command is an example of what you would enter at the C prompt to do this. copy a:\setup.inf c:\windows\system\oem1.inf 4. Run Setup from the Windows directory again. The high resolution driver or drivers should now be in the list of displays. Choose the correct driver and follow the instructions on the screen. If Windows does not work correctly after you have done this, edit the SYSTEM.INI file and make sure that the 286 and 386 grabber lines in the [boot] section read as follows. 286grabber=vgacolor.2gr 386grabber=vga30.3gr Question 6: I installed Windows 3.1 with no problems. After Setup was complete it rebooted my computer and now Windows will not start. What should I do? Answer: If you have completed a successful Setup but Windows will not start see your Windows 3.1 Getting Started book pages 57 and 58 for troubleshooting tips. If the suggestions contained there do not solve your problem contact Microsoft Windows Technical Support at 206-637-7098 Monday - Friday, 6 am - 6 pm, Pacific time for assistance.