Windows 95 on ASUS P/I-P55TVP4 Unable to Install: Disk-Cache Utility Found?

[Bart]

Hi,

First time PCem user trying to install Windows 95 (I *think* it's OSR2 but not sure -- it's the original OEM disk I've had since 1996). I created a P55TVP4 with a 1GB hard drive and a Pentium 166 MHz system. I found a boot floppy for Windows 95 and did the following:

1. fdisk to create a primary DOS partition.
2. format c:
3. Ran Windows setup.exe from e:\. Got a strange warning which I plowed through.

Code: Select all

This version of Microsoft ScanDisk will work only with MS-DOS versions 5.0 and
later.
Setup found a compressed volume or a disk-cache utility on your
computer. Quit Setup and check your compressed volume with
your disk compression software or remove the disk-cache utility.
Then run Setup again.

It seems to hang when copying the setup files. So I found an old tutorial that says there is a bug that prevents Windows from copying the files from the CD drive (not sure if this refers to a PCem issue or Windows).

Okay so:

4. I make a WIN95 directory on c:\ and copy e:\win95\* to it.
5. Run setup from e:\
6. After accepting the license agreement in the GUI installer I get a non-recoverable error (below)

Code: Select all

ERROR SU-0013

Setup could not create files on your startup drive
and cannot set up Windows.

If you have HPFS or Windows NT file system, you
must create an MS-DOS boot partition. If you have
LANtastic server or SuperStor compression, disable it
before running Setup. See SETUP.TXT on Setup Disk
1 or the Windows CD-ROM.

Any tips? Looks like it just doesn't like the hard drive because it thinks there is a disk-cache utility or disk compression enabled? Neither are true. Is there any workaround?

Thanks,

Bart

[unreal9010]

I see you actually formatted the drive already.

Just in case, here's how to do the whole process:
Using Windows 95 bootdisk, you first enter fdisk command at the command prompt. Select option 1. The computer will then ask you if you wish to enable support for large drives. Select "yes" since the drive you created is larger than 512 MB.
Reboot and once you're back at the command prompt enter "format c:/".
Insert Windows 95 installation disc and navigate to your CD-ROM drive (usually by entering D:/, E:/ or R:/, depending on what letter was assigned to your CD-ROM drive).
Enter "setup.exe" and wait for Scandisk to complete its job. You will then be able to install Windows 95.

If the problem persists, try using a different bootdisk.

[harrison98]

Hi,

First time PCem user trying to install Windows 95 (I *think* it's OSR2 but not sure -- it's the original OEM disk I've had since 1996). I created a P55TVP4 with a 1GB hard drive and a Pentium 166 MHz system. I found a boot floppy for Windows 95 and did the following:

1. fdisk to create a primary DOS partition.
2. format c:
3. Ran Windows setup.exe from e:\. Got a strange warning which I plowed through.

You're doing everything right, but it looks like you're having a problem with trying to install a retail / pre-OSR2 version of Windows 95 on a FAT32 drive.

The version of fdisk on the startup disk you're using is probably asking you if you want to enable large drive support. If you select yes, it will use FAT32. However, pre-OSR2 versions of Windows 95 do not support FAT32, so you'll get the messages that you're seeing.

More info here: https://jeffpar.github.io/kbarchive/kb/166/Q166466/

Try: 1) Do not enable large drive support, or 2) Use a known OSR2 Win95 disk.

[sberancolodivalle]

Hi Bart!
Try using MSDOS 6.22

[unreal9010]

Hi Bart!
Try using MSDOS 6.22

Won't help here. Besides, OEM discs were intended to be used in brand new PCs (meaning PCs with no operating systems installed).

[sberancolodivalle]

Won't help here. Besides, OEM discs were intended to be used in brand new PCs (meaning PCs with no operating systems installed).

I agree with you unreal9010, however I asked Bart to give it a try because he didn't specify with certainty the versions of the software he's using.

[Bart]

Thanks for the replies! Still having trouble, though. I didn't realize this was not an OSR2 disk -- it is indeed an OEM version, though. Before giving up and trying to find OSR2 I thought I'd give it a fair try for nostalgia's sake as this was the version of Win95 I remember reinstalling countless times back in the day

I created a new hard drive and this time I made sure not to enable large drive support. I've confirmed with fdisk that this indeed results in a FAT16 partition. But now there's a new issue. I continue as before:

1. fdisk to create a new partition
2. Reboot
3. format c:
4. mkdir win95 on c:
4. Copy E:\WIN95\*.* to C:\WIN95
5. Run A:\SETUP.EXE

Interestingly, it now hangs on:

Code: Select all

Please wait while Setup initializes.
Copying files needed for WIndows Setup...

I believe there is a problem that prevents the successful copying of files from the CD to HDD but the workaround was supposed to be this manual pre-copy step, which worked when I was using a FAT32 partition (the Windows installer would actually start up properly).

EDIT: Forgot to mention that when running Win95 setup, it *still* complains about disk compression despite the partition being FAT16 now.

[harrison98]

It's not necessary to copy the Win95 directory to C:. You should be able to install it from the CD, so I recommend doing that unless a problem presents itself. I'm not sure why that tutorial you linked says there's a bug that prevents Win95 from being installed from the CD (could you imagine the hell Microsoft would have been in if that were true?). I've installed Win95 from ISO in PCem many times without copying the install directory to C:. I believe that's just a precautionary step but not really necessary.

I'm not sure why you still get the warnings about disk compression. Probably related to using a newer version of fdisk from a boot disk for Win95 OSR2 or Win98.

If you want to continue with the pre-OSR2 version, I suggest using a pre-OSR2 boot disk, such as this one: https://winworldpc.com/product/microsof ... ot-disk/95

The problem then, however, is that boot disk doesn't include a CD-ROM driver, so you'd have to load your own in order to install from the CD. Using OSR2 will save you some headaches.

By the way, just to be sure: In your post, you said you were running Setup.exe from A:\. You meant E:\, right?

[Bart]

I was running from A: because I thought I had the correct boot disk.

What I ended up doing is running it from C:\ after copying the files and it installed just fine. Now I'm trying to figure out how to install Voodoo3 drivers. I found a driver disk that I made an ISO with and installed the drivers. Windows then noticed that >16-color modes were available (256, 16-bit, etc.) but when I rebooted, it complained about a device driver issue and kicked me back to 16-color mode. Has anyone done a step-by-step for installing 95 or even 98 with a decent emulated video card for gaming?

EDIT: The driver I used is at the top of this page. There's a YouTube video of someone setting up a 98 SE machine with drivers fetched from there (albeit newer versions at the bottom of the page). Possible they just don't work with 95 but they do seem to install. Device Manager indicates there is a "device failure" (Code 2).

[harrison98]

I think most people would use Windows 98 for a Voodoo 3 build, but the drivers support Windows 95 so it should work. Although a non-OSR2 version might be an issue...

Make sure to read the readme included with the driver package in case it has any installation steps you're missing.

[Bart]

On second thought, forget about Voodoo3! I didn't have a 3D accelerator in 1996 and managed just fine. I swapped out the Voodoo3 in PCem for an S3 Virge/DX, installed those drivers successfully, and am now sitting pretty enjoying Road Rash like it's 1996 again (also installed using the original disc)

Thanks, everyone!

[unreal9010]

I'm not sure why you still get the warnings about disk compression. Probably related to using a newer version of fdisk from a boot disk for Win95 OSR2 or Win98.

Definitely not the case here. I've been using my old Win 95 OSR 2 bootdisk from back in the day and the 98 bootdisk for Windows 98 SE installation for a while now and never ran in any of such issues when using PCem.
I recommend setting up a fixed size virtual HDD file with geometry that mimics an actual hard drive from back in the day (in my case of the 6.4 GB drive I "borrowed" geometry from an actual Quantum Fireball SE 6.4 HDD).
I use standard IDE controller and the virtual machine recognizes my HDD image file without issues. Of course the virtual hard drive also needs to be fdisked and formatted properly before proceeding with installation of Windows. Support for large drives must be enabled due to virtual HDD size and the fact that OSR2 uses FAT32 file system by default.
The virtual HDD file shall be created inside a folder to which PCem would have the full read and write access. It is not recommended to create the virtual HDD file inside Windows or Program Files folder where write access may be limited.

[harrison98]

Definitely not the case here. I've been using my old Win 95 OSR 2 bootdisk from back in the day and the 98 bootdisk for Windows 98 SE installation for a while now and never ran in any of such issues when using PCem.

The OP's situation is a bit different, though. He was trying to install a pre-OSR2 version of Windows 95, which does not support FAT32 (and therefore is limited to 2 GB HDD max).

If you try to use a Windows 98 boot disk to install pre-OSR2 Win95, it will apparently spit out the warning the OP was getting.

[unreal9010]

Ah, I see now he was trying to install a pre-OSR 2 version. In that case, using a bootdisk compatible with earlier Win95 releases might solve the problem here. If not, then something else is to blame.

[Bart]

It could indeed have been the boot disk now that I think about it. I didn't use an original boot disk but a Windows 95 one obtained online and it may well have been an OSR2 disk. Also, in setting up my disk, I set up a 1GB drive but did so simply by specifying the sizing and letting PCem adjust the geometry as it saw fit.

[ruben_balea]

Note: The explanations that I give below may not contain 100% correct information about the operation of hardware and software, they are based on my personal experience dealing with computers as an end user

Yes, Windows 9x may not be able to read the files on the CD because:
1 - Windows 9x setup does not install any CD-ROM drivers for DOS. The boot floppy loads them to start the setup from the CD-ROM but the setup program needs to reboot the computer and those drivers loaded from the floppy will not be available on the next boot from the hard drive.
2 - Windows 9x setup will disable any CD-ROM drivers for DOS previously installed on the hard drive, it will edit autoexec.bat and add "rem - By Windows Setup -" at the beginning of the line that loads MSCDEX.EXE

And then on some systems with enhanded IDE controllers/chipsets it will be unable to read the CD-ROM until it installs the proper drivers that are stored... in the CD-ROM

Windows 9x will still run from the IDE (or SCSI if the controller card has its own BIOS extensions) hard drive because the BIOS handles that access without MS-DOS needing any additional drivers, and Windows is using the drive in "MS-DOS Compatibility mode" which means calling MS-DOS that is "under the hood" to read from and write to the hard drive(s)
In Windows 9x/ME MS-DOS is always there waiting until any program needs to use some MS-DOS function, that program may be Windows itself if it doesn't have specific drivers for certain hardware.

Windows disables the slower 16-bit drivers in autoexec.bat because the hardware is not able to support the requests of both the 32-bit and 16-bit drivers simultaneously.
If those 16-bit drivers are re-enabled in autoexec.bat Windows will still be able to work (at least in most cases of CD-ROM drivers) but without loading the equivalent 32-bit drivers, so it will work slower or with any other kind of limitations.

If the Setup program is interrupted because it cannot access the CD you can usually use a floppy to reinstall the CD drives for MS-DOS, it may be the Windows 9x floppy itself in which case you have to copy and configure the drivers manually or the floppy supplied with a CD-ROM drive that usually installs and configures everything automatically.
Then you can restart the Windows setup from the Windows CD and usually it will continue where it stopped, but not always, that's why some recommend to copy the setup files to the hard drive and run the setup from there.
The Windows ME setup already does that automatically, at least if there is enough free disc space.