Windows asks for Windows 95 Setup Floppy disks instead of Windows 95 CDROM \ VOGONS

Windows asks for Windows 95 Setup Floppy disks instead of Windows 95 CDROM

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First post, by drone16

Posted on 2024-05-06, 08:11

drone16 Offline

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I run into a problem, and don't know how to fix it.

Whenever I change network settings, or install Ethernet drivers, I'm presented with "Please insert Windows 95 Setup Disk NN", and not "Please insert Windows 95 CDROM". Of course pointing to CDROM drive letter does not work, CDROM has CAB files, not extracted files, like netapi.dll.

I traced it to C:\Windows\inf\layout.inf, and indeed it looks like system was installed using floppies, not CD (I did install using CD...). Check this post: https://forum.winworldpc.com/discussion/comme … /#Comment_99722

I cannot install anything right now, I extracted some cab files using 7Zip, this works, but painful. I would like to fix it permanently. How people get correct layout.inf? I checked precopy1.cab files on different iso, they all look like made for floppy installs...

Desperate 😀

EDIT: Copying CDRom to hard drive and installing Win95 from hard drive fixes the issue. But not sure how, the c:\windows\inf\layout.inf still looks like for floppy setup disks...

1997 period correct retro PC build

Reply 1 of 6, by myne

Posted on 2024-05-06, 10:54

myne Offline

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iirc the install paths are in the registry, but that aside, if you just hit enter it should offer you the option to browse for : FILENAME.EXE;CABNAME.CAB

Just browse to the CD path and the cab should be selected automagically.

If you want to try regedit: hlkm\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\setup\sourcepath

Things I built:
Mechwarrior 2 installer for Windows 10/11 Re: A comprehensive guide to install and play MechWarrior 2 on new versions on Windows.
Dos+Windows 3.11 auto-install iso template (for vmware)

Reply 2 of 6, by drone16

Posted on 2024-05-06, 10:59

drone16 Offline

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myne wrote on 2024-05-06, 10:54:

, if you just hit enter it should offer you the option to browse for : FILENAME.EXE;CABNAME.CAB

Just browse to the CD path and the cab should be selected automagically.

It asked for files, not cabs. Of course I tried to point it to Win95 dir with all the cabs, it did not like it, "netapi.dll" is not found. Only manually extracting a cab to temporary dir and pointing there satisfied it. But it was hard.

1997 period correct retro PC build

Reply 3 of 6, by drone16

Posted on 2024-05-06, 11:01

drone16 Offline

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> If you want to try regedit: hlkm\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\setup\sourcepath

Sadly I erased broken system, cannot compare it anymore.

1997 period correct retro PC build

Reply 4 of 6, by myne

Posted on 2024-05-06, 11:09

myne Offline

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Huh?
Is the OS booting or not?
If yes, then that will be in regedit and it will be set to something like "a:\"

The only other suggestion I have is to replace c:\windows\inf\layout.inf with one from the cd which is probably in one of the precopy.cabs
Ideally you rename the original first.

Reply 5 of 6, by drone16

Posted on 2024-05-06, 11:15

drone16 Offline

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Location: Sydney, Australia

myne wrote on 2024-05-06, 11:09:

The only other suggestion I have is to replace c:\windows\inf\layout.inf with one from the cd which is probably in one of the precopy.cabs
Ideally you rename the original first.

Yes, both were booting fine, old broken and current -fixed one.

I checked several Win95 iso's, and all of them had "floppy style" layout.inf inside preboot1.cab. That's why I am so confused, why copying setup cd to hdd changes system behaviour.

1997 period correct retro PC build

Reply 6 of 6, by myne

Posted on 2024-05-06, 11:28

myne Offline

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looked in precopy2?

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