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Windows 95B/95C OSR 2.0 - 2.5 + DOS 7.10
Tricks, BUGs, Fixes + FREE Upgrades

WinDOwS

I will post here ALL New OSR2 + DOS7 ©Tricks [in chronological order] every time I'll also add them to OSR2TIPS.TXT or REGISTRY.TXT, both part of my Updated Windows 9x/NT4/2000/ME/XP/2003/Vista/2008/7/8/8.1/2012/10/2016 + DOS 7.xx/8.00 ©Tricks + Secrets Files [W95-11D.EXE], FREEware.

    Jump to [separate pages]:

Contents: [new ©tweaks added at the TOP]

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OSR 2.x + DOS 7.10 ©Tricks + Fixes

• 2-9-00 OSR2 ©Trick in OSR2TIPS.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


IO.SYS FIX


Courtesy of Robin.

"This is a BUG found only in international Windows 95B OSR 2.0 and 2.1 releases other than U.S. English.
IO.SYS (a required system file found in the root directory of the boot drive/partition, usually C:\) forces HIMEM.SYS (the Microsoft default extended memory manager, mandatory for loading Windows) to occupy about 40 KB of low DOS memory, instead of 1.1 KB in normal situations.
But this can be fixed by typing these commands at any DOS prompt, and then pressing Enter after each line (from C:\ root!):

ATTRIB IO.SYS -H -R -S
DEBUG IO.SYS
E 52F6 58
W
Q
ATTRIB IO.SYS +H +R +S

Reboot when done, but don't forget to BACKUP your IO.SYS file FIRST!"

FYI: If you're not comfortable with modifying IO.SYS this way, download the "official" Microsoft OSR2 FIX (free) for your particular language version.

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• 9-1-98 Updated OSR2/Win98 ©Trick in OSR2TIPS.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


DUAL-BOOT IN OSR2/WIN98
[UPDATED 9-1-1998]


Under Windows 95B/95C OSR 2.x or 98/98 SE(U) you can boot to the previous MS-DOS version 6.xx for only ONE (1) time, after which you'll find impossible to boot back to OSR2/Win98, UNLESS you apply one of these "patches"!

EXPLANATION: The Win98/OSR2 version of IO.SYS places its mark into the boot (first physical) sector of the primary boot drive/partition, when you first install Win98/OSR2 on a "clean" hard disk (without a PREVIOUS Operating System), not allowing the dual-boot procedure anymore. This is a protection method built into these Operating Systems by Microsoft, because of the implementation of the new FAT32 File System support. FAT32 is NOT "understood" by ANY Windows/MS-DOS version prior to Windows 95B OSR 2.0!
This workaround replaces the Win95B/95C OSR 2.x boot code with the older Win95 retail or Win95a OSR1 (95 retail upgraded with SP1) boot code, to reenable dual-booting.
The dual-boot feature is available on Win95/98/ME systems ONLY IF MS-DOS 6.xx is installed PRIOR to installing Win95/98/ME!

WARNING: This dual-boot "fix" and Win95/98/ME dual-boot capability work ONLY IF your primary boot drive/partition is partitioned with FAT16, because MS-DOS 6.xx and older versions DO NOT recognize ANY other File System (FAT32, NTFS, ext2 etc)!

NOTES:

To find out exactly which version of Windows 9x/OSR2 you are using:
  1. With Windows GUI started, right-click on "My Computer", click Properties and select the General tab. If it says (example):

    System:
    Microsoft Windows 95
    4.00.950 B

    you are using OSR 2.0.
  2. Or run this command at any DOS prompt:

    VER

    OSR2 returns a message like this (example):

    Windows 95. [Windows 4.00.1111]

This means your OS is Windows 95B OSR 2.0 [4.00.950B].
To RESTORE the dual-boot capability under OSR 2.x/Win98, FOLLOW THESE STEPS EXACTLY:

  1. Install MS-DOS 6.xx (6.00 up to 6.22): reboot FIRST with your MS-DOS 6.xx bootup floppy, pop in your 1st MS-DOS 6.xx Setup floppy diskette, and then run SETUP from drive A.

  2. Install Windows 95B/95C OSR 2.x or Windows 98/98 SE, and make sure to answer YES when prompted to BACKUP your old Operating System files, respectively MS-DOS 6.xx + Windows/WfWG 3.xx!

  3. OSR2 USERS ONLY [WIN98/98 SE USERS SKIP TO STEP #6 below!]: Copy ALL files (make sure to include the hidden/read-only/system files) from the root folder (directory) of your boot drive (default is C:\) to any other folder (safe location). Example (press Enter after each line):

    ATTRIB C:\*.* -H -R -S +A
    MD C:\BACKUPS
    COPY C:\*.* C:\BACKUPS

  4. Now you need a startup diskette of the old Win95 retail (1st release) or Win95a OSR1 (Win95 retail upgraded with SP1). Boot from this original Win95 floppy disk, but ONLY if the last time you shut down your machine was from OSR2, NOT from MS-DOS 6.xx! Now run:

    SYS A: C:

    when you see the A:\> prompt.

  5. Copy ALL files you backed up at step #3 above back to C:\ root, and answer YES to overwrite ANY existing system files:

    ATTRIB C:\*.* -H -R -S +A
    COPY C:\BACKUPS\*.* C:\

  6. Finally, reboot one last time. From now on you should be able to dual-boot properly between MS-DOS 6.xx and OSR2/Win98.

NOTE: Win98/ME IO.SYS is renamed to JO.SYS (Win95/OSR2 rename IO.SYS to WINBOOT.SYS) when you are booting to an older MS-DOS version (6.xx) in a dual-boot environment provided by Win95/98 Startup Menu, option 8 on networked or TCP/IP enabled systems, or option 7 without networking or TCP/IP support: "Previous version of MS-DOS".

FYI:

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• 8-11-98 Updated OSR2 ©Trick in OSR2TIPS.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


OSR 2.1 - 2.5 FREE UPGRADES + FIXES
[UPDATED 8-11-1998]


This is a MUST for ALL Win95B OSR 2.0 users! You can upgrade to Windows 95 OSR 2.1 - 2.5 release for FREE. All you have to do is download and install the following system update components on your OSR 2.0 machine:

STAY SAFE: BACKUP YOUR ENTIRE SYSTEM BEFOREHAND!

UPDATE: This refers ONLY to Win95B OSR 2.0 users who are upgrading to OSR 2.1 using USBSUP(P).EXE, AND have already installed and enabled McAfee (Helix) Hurricane 98 components on their PCs:
"When installing USBSUP(P) with Hurricane 98 enabled, the Mode Switch Accelerator must be removed (at least on my system).
There is a significant increase in performance!"
[Thank you Chris!]
In case of errors, just uninstall Hurricane 98.

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• 7-21-98 OSR2/Win98 Registry ©Trick in OSR2TIPS.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


BUS MASTER DMA - Part 4


There are a few more things you can do to fix a buggy Bus Master DMA EIDE driver, especially if you "patched" OSR2's default hard disk controller drivers with Intel's Bus Master (BM) DMA drivers. Download the UPDATE that matches your Pentium or Pentium II/III chipset!

THE BUGS:

  1. Your older IDE/non-IDE hard drive is not recognized by Win95B/95C OSR2, and does not appear on the Device Manager "Disk drives" list.
  2. Your IDE/ATAPI CD-ROM drive is not recognized by OSR2, and does not appear as Device Manager's "CDROM" item.
  3. You cannot enable the DMA transfer option for your hard disk(s)/CD-ROM(s) under OSR2's Control Panel → System → Device Manager → Disk drives/CDROM → Settings → DMA check box.
  4. You have a non-working "Secondary IDE controller" (exclamation sign) under "Hard disk controllers" menu in Device Manager.

THE FIXES:

  1. Download and install the updated Microsoft ESDI_506.PDR IDE driver [154 KB, English] for ALL Windows 95 releases (free).
    Restart Windows.

  2. Run Regedit and go to:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Class\hdc

    Under "hdc" there should be at least three or four keys: from 0000 to 0003.
    Look for the 000x (where x = 0 - 3) keys that have a "DriverDesc" string, which have something like "Primary [Bus Master] IDE controller" or "Secondary [Bus Master] IDE controller" as values (these can usually be found under the 0002 or 0003 keys). In ALL 000x keys that match the criteria above, modify the "PortDriver" string from "IDEATAPI.MPD" to read "ESDI_506.PDR" (no quotes).
    Restart Windows.

  3. Remove ALL hard and CD-ROM drives from OSR2 Device Manager's list and restart Windows. They will be redetected by the Hardware Wizard (and hopefully correctly configured) the next time you start Windows 95.

  4. If you have one or two hard IDE/EIDE drives connected to the primary IDE port on your motherboard (E)IDE controller, and an ATAPI/IDE CD-ROM drive connected to the secondary IDE interface, it might help if you configure your CD-ROM drive as slave, even if it is the ONLY drive on the secondary IDE port. To do this, power off your PC, open the case and reset the jumpers on the back of your internal IDE/ATAPI CD-ROM drive to "slave", following the instructions in your provided CD-ROM manual. Reboot, access your CMOS/BIOS Setup, and reconfigure the Secondary IDE port to match your new hardware settings: CD-ROM as slave. Save your changes and reboot.

STAY SAFE: BACKUP YOUR ENTIRE SYSTEM BEFORE MAKING ANY CHANGES!

A MUST: See "IDE BUS MASTER DMA FIX", also in TIPS98.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE], for more FIXes!

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• 6-7-98 OSR2 ©Trick in OSR2TIPS.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


OSR2 CD-ROM FREE INSTALL


This OSR2 tip appears courtesy of The Captain.

"If you have a Windows 95 beta, retail, or OSR1 based computer with no CD-ROM drive, and you have a Windows 95 OSR2 CD-ROM, you can still install and upgrade to Win95 OSR2 onto the computer without the CD-ROM, as long as you can get access to a computer running any version of Windows 95 that has a CD-ROM drive. All you need to do is setup a direct cable connection and share the CD-ROM drive on the computer that has one.

To do this, follow these instructions. Make sure you have installed Direct Cable Connection (it is usually located in Start, Programs, Accessories). If it's not installed, you can install it from your Windows 95 floppies or CD-ROM. Just go to Start, Settings, Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, Windows Setup, Communication. Make sure Direct Cable Connection is installed.

If it is installed, or once you have installed it, open it on both computers. You will need to have the computers connected with either a serial or a parallel cable which you can obtain from any computer store for under $10.00.

Go into the control panel on the computer with the CD-ROM drive and click on "Network." Click on "File Printing and Sharing" and make sure an "X" is in "I want to be able to share my files with others."

Open Windows Explorer on the computer that has the CD-ROM drive. Right-click on your CD-ROM drive after you place the Windows 95 OSR2 CD-ROM into the drive. Click on "Sharing" from the menu. Put a dot in "Shared as" and name it "CD-ROM" and set the access type to "Read-Only." Do not set a password. Click on "Apply," then "OK." Minimize Windows Explorer.

On the computer without the CD-ROM drive, open Windows Explorer and make a folder to store the setup (.cab) files from the CD-ROM. I suggest C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS. Minimize Windows Explorer.

In Direct Cable Connection now, on the computer with the CD-ROM drive, choose "Host" (it has the resources you want to access). On the computer without the CD-ROM drive, choose "Guest" (you want to use it to access the resources on the other computer). On the host click on "Listen" and on the guest click on "connect."

It should now connect and on the guest computer it will show a window containing a folder named "CD-ROM" which is actually the CD-ROM on the host computer. Open it and you will see a folder named "Win95." On the guest computer, maximize the Windows Explorer again and drag and drop all the files from the Win95 folder on the host to the folder you made on the guest. Once that is done, you can close Direct Cable Connection and shut down the host computer if you want.

On the guest, shut down the computer and reboot to the Command Prompt Only. Delete C:\WINDOWS\WIN.* (all files named "WIN" with ANY extension - such as "WIN.COM, WIN.INI" etc). Navigate to the folder where the OSR2 setup files are located and type in "SETUP.EXE" or "OEMSETUP.EXE" and it will install Windows 95 OSR2 over the top of your old Win95 version. Congratulations, your non-CD-ROM equipped system is running Windows 95 OSR2."

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• 4-1-98 OSR2/Win98 Registry ©Trick in OSR2TIPS.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


BUS MASTER DMA - Part 3: MORE BUGS + FIXES!


This is the only solution that allowed Michael to enable DMA IDE disk transfers on his Win95B OSR2 machine:

"Re: DMA for hard drives problems

Stuck in MS-DOS Compatibility mode, DMA didn't take, CD-ROM lost, and Exclamation points next to all IDE controllers. When rebooting, the following error appears:

Your multi-function device (Standard dual PCE IDE controller) has some child devices using 32-bit drivers and others using compatibility mode drivers.
This configuration is not supported. After you restart your computer Windows will use compatibility mode drivers for each child device attached to this multi function device. If you want to use 32-bit drivers, you may be able to obtain and updated driver for the device that caused the problem by contacting your hardware manufacturer, or you can disable the device.

Here's what to do:

Power down, remove cover, unplug CD-ROM from the motherboard, or sound card if SCSI, that is CD-ROM plugged into the sound card. Next unplug sound card from motherboard, as the on board IDE controller must also be disconnected. Unplug any 2nd hard drives or removable drives from the motherboard IDE connectors. The only thing that can be plugged into the motherboard can be your main drive "C". Make any necessary BIOS settings if needed (only required for additional hard drives), and you may also have to reset jumpers on the primary drive to show primary only.
Restart the computer, but tap on the F8 key until it comes up with the menu screen. Choose Safe Mode.

  1. Click on Start → Run → type in Regedit → go to:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\IOS

  2. On the right hand side you should have some data such as default, static etc. Look for something that says NOIDE. If it is there, highlight it and press the delete key on the keyboard. Answer yes to deleting and then close the Registry editor.

  3. Also while in Safe mode, right-click once on My computer and choose Properties. Then choose Device Manager, and take the plus out of Hard disk controllers, and highlight and remove the setting Standard Dual PCI IDE Controller. WARNING: this may freeze up your system, if so hit the reset button, or Ctrl+Alt+Del, and let the system restart. It will detect your PCI IDE Controller and re-set it up. Then power down and start plugging in the CD-ROM, sound card etc, and let Windows boot back up.

This worked for me, and was much better than reformatting and reloading all the software."

A MUST: See "IDE BUS MASTER DMA FIX", also in TIPS98.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE], for more FIXes!

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• 3-24-98 Updated OSR2 ©Trick in OSR2TIPS.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


BUS MASTER DMA - Part 2: BUGS + FIXES!
[UPDATED 3-24-1998]


Michael sent me the necessary steps to have the Bus Master DMA transfer properly enabled in Windows 95B/95C OSR 2.x Device Manager (on certain systems, anyway). But it seems that the workarounds described below didn't work on Michael's machine, so I've also posted here my (possible) solutions: [lengthy read :(]

Q [Michael]:

"DMA attempt, stuck in MS-DOS compatibility mode?

I tried your DMA for hard drives trick, and now I'm stuck in MS-DOS compatibility mode.
Device Manager says hard drives are not working properly, and I can't get back my CD-ROM. This is the information I got from CyberMax:
  1. Click on Start → Run → type in Sysedit.
  2. The System editor will come up. The first window is AUTOEXEC.BAT.
    Look for a line that has Mscdex in it and type REM at the beginning of the line. Save settings and exit. Then reboot.
If it still doesn't show up...
  1. Restart the computer, but tap on the F8 key until it comes up with a menu screen. Choose Safe Mode.
  2. In safe mode, right-click once on My computer and choose Properties. Then choose Device Manager.
  3. If CD-ROM is listed in Device Manager, highlight it and click remove. Then close device manager and restart the computer from the Shut Down menu.

If it still doesn't show up...
  1. Click on Start → Run → type in Regedit.
  2. This will bring up the Registry editor screen. Take the plus out of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, plus out of System, plus out of Current control set, plus out of Services, plus out of VXD, (double-)click on IOS.
  3. On the right hand side of the screen now you should have some data such as default, static etc. Look for something that says NOIDE.
    If it is there, highlight it and press the Delete key. Say Yes to deleting and then close the registry editor.
    Restart the computer.

If it still doesn't show up...
  1. Look in Device Manager under hard disk controls and see if you have any yellow circle with an ! in the middle of it. If there is, highlight it (them) and click remove. Close the Device Manager and restart the computer.
  2. It will redetect hardware as it reboots, just let it run the Wizard.
The above didn't work. :(

I have a Western Digital 2.5 GB IDE hard drive for drive "C" and an old Samsung 420 MB hard drive for slave drive "D", and an 8x Creative Labs CD-ROM plugged into the AWE32 sound card.
Pentium class motherboard with a Cyrix 686 200 MHz chip with 32 MB of RAM. I think I shouldn't, or no one should try this unless all the drives are IDE. As the first errors I got where:
Your multi-function device (Standard dual PCI IDE Controller) has some child devices using 32-bit driver and others using compatibility-mode drivers.
This configuration is not supported.
After you restart your computer, Windows will use compatibility mode drivers for each child device attached to this multi function device. If you want to use 32-bit drivers, you may be able to obtain and updated driver for the device that caused the problem by contacting your hardware manufacturer, or you can disable the device.
I tried reinstalling Win95B, to no avail, sure wish I had kept a backup copy of my Registry files.

I'm off to surf the net for drivers? I thought last night I was going to have to fdisk and reformat this am, but it seams to be working except for no CD-ROM?"

A [MDGx]:

"Re: DMA attempt, stuck in MS-DOS compatibility mode?

My advice is to upgrade your MSHDC.INF file (located in the C:\Windows\Inf folder), if you haven't already done so, with the Intel INF file Update, and only after that install Intel BM DMA driver v3.02 for Windows 95/OSR1/OSR2 [593 KB].
Do NOT install BM Driver 3.02 on laptops/portables!

Other resources for DMA/BM drivers, problems + solutions:

As mentioned in "BUS MASTER DMA - Part 1", the requirements for the DMA transfer enhancement to work are:

DMA = Direct Memory Access.

PS: A CD-ROM drive connected to a sound card IDE/ATAPI interface (like the Creative Labs AWE32/AWE64), does NOT support DMA transfers (the AWE interface is IDE ISA 16-bit, NOT EIDE PCI 32-bit).
You have to hook up your IDE/ATAPI CD-ROM drive to the motherboard EIDE controller (which has to support the DMA transfers), to be able to take advantage of this OSR2 enhancement.

PS2: To my knowledge, the Mscdex line (or/and Smartdrv) in AUTOEXEC.BAT should NOT interfere with 32-bit Fast Disk (virtual protected mode VXD disk and file transfers) proper operations in Win95 (any Win95 version), IF your hard disk AND CD-ROM drives are connected to an EIDE (PCI 32-bit) interface, preferably the one on the motherboard. It never did on my last 3 Pentium systems. I didn't experience MS-DOS compatibility mode in any of these releases: Win95 retail, Win95a OSR1, Win95B OSR 2.0, or Win95B OSR 2.1 on any of my drives:But I always hooked up my CD-ROM to the motherboard EIDE interface, while ALWAYS using the MSCDEX line in my AUTOEXEC.BAT.
I was/am using:My old/new IDE/ATAPI internal CD-ROMs:

PS3: Also, your CD-ROM must be 100% ATAPI/IDE compliant, which means it must support DMA transfers, at least mode 1."

A MUST: See "IDE BUS MASTER DMA FIX", also in TIPS98.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE], for more FIXes!

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• 3-10-98 Updated OSR2 ©Trick in OSR2TIPS.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


BUS MASTER DMA - Part 1
[UPDATED 3-10-1998]


Do you have...If you answered "yes" to the questions above, you're in for a treat.
You can tell OSR2 to handle ALL 32-bit bus master (BM) (E)IDE drive transfers through the DMA (Direct Memory Access) controller, and thus save your CPU some processing time and power for more important tasks.

COMMENT: "Careful here! I tried this twice and ended up with my FATs trashed. This bug seems to occur only on Fujitsu drives on an overclocked bus (83 MHz). I have a Pentium 166 MMX overclocked to 2.5 * 83 = 210 MHz."
This comment courtesy of Yuri.

NOTE: Make sure you have installed the ORIGINAL DMA EIDE bus drivers that come bundled with Win95B OSR2 for this to work!

To find out what kind of Bus Master Controller is installed on your OSR2 system by Win95B/95C, right-click the My Computer icon, select Properties, click the Device Manager tab, and finally (double-)click on "Hard disk controllers".
It should list 3 or 4 items. Here they are on my Intel Pentium P55C MMX 233 MHz, Triton II HX machine, equipped with an Intel 82371SB PIIX3 dual Bus Master EIDE/IDE Controller:If you also have an ISA 16-bit bus sound board (like the Creative Labs Sound Blaster AWE64/AWE32 PnP), then you also show a 4th item on this list, because this type of sound card has a built-in IDE controller for a CD-ROM drive hookup: "Generic/Standard IDE/ESDI controller" (or similar).
The IDE Bus Master Hard Disk Controller numbers may be different on your system, if your motherboard is equipped with a different chipset, but the list should be similar.
Now all you have to do, is:

  1. Right-click on My Computer icon.
  2. Select Properties.
  3. Click the Device Manager tab.
  4. (Double-)click your "CDROM".
  5. (Double-)click your CD-ROM drive name.
  6. Select the Settings tab.
  7. Check the DMA box.
  8. Click OK.
  9. Click OK again.

You will be prompted to restart your computer. Don't do this yet. Repeat the above steps for EACH of your installed IDE hard disks:

  1. Right-click on My Computer icon.
  2. Select Properties.
  3. Click the Device Manager tab.
  4. (Double-)click your "Disk drives".
  5. (Double-)click your "GENERIC IDE DISK TYPE47" (or whatever other name was assigned to your hard disk/s).
  6. Select the Settings tab.
  7. Check the DMA box.
  8. Click OK.
  9. Click OK again.

When you're done enabling DMA transfer for ALL your EIDE/IDE drives, go ahead and restart your system.

REQUIRED READING from MicroSoft Knowledge Base (MSKB):

ADDENDUM: Another EIDE Bus Master driver compatible with the DMA transfer setting under OSR2 is Intel Bus Master IDE Driver v3.02 for Windows 95/OSR1/OSR2 [593 KB].
Do NOT install BM Driver 3.02 on laptops/portables!

Other resources for DMA/BM drivers, problems + solutions:

A MUST: ALWAYS BACKUP your ENTIRE SYSTEM BEFORE making ANY CHANGES!

UPDATE: "Your Win95 system might benefit greatly (and could avoid nasty disk crashes) by installing this Intel PCI chipset INF update, if your machine has an Intel Pentium HX/TX/VX chipset!"
This update courtesy of Henrik.

WARNINGS:
  1. Owners of Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 (ASP), Vibra (16), AWE32 or AWE64/AWE64 Gold ISA sound cards may encounter a Windows Protection Error (WPE) because these boards automatically assign I/O Base Address (BA) 620 to the Creative Wavetable Synthesizer, which is also used by the Intel Bus Master DMA Drivers 3.0x, especially if connecting 2 IDE devices (2 HDs or 1 HD + 1 CD/DVD drive) to the motherboard primary IDE interface (IDE1).
    To avoid this: open Control Panel → System → Device Manager tab → Sound, video and game controllers → Creative Wavetable Synthesizer → Resources tab → uncheck "Use automatic settings" box → Select "Setting based on:" → "Basic configuration 0001" [I/O BA 640] → click OK twice → reboot.
  2. Users of Quarterdeck MagnaRAM 97, QEMM 9.0, Sincronys Windrenalin and/or McAfee (formerly Helix) Hurricane 98 v1.0x may experience CONFLICTS OR LOCKUPS with OSR2's DMA setting enabled for your fixed/removable drives, available from: Control Panel → System → Device Manager tab → Disk Drives/CDROM → your drive name Properties → Settings tab → DMA check box, ONLY IF these 3rd party retail products' application acceleration/faster loading features are enabled!
    In case of errors, just uninstall Hurricane 98.

A MUST: See "IDE BUS MASTER DMA FIX", also in TIPS98.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE], for more FIXes!

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• 2-25-98 OSR2 ©Trick in OSR2TIPS.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


HARDWARE DIAGNOSTIC


There is a cool tool included on your Win95B/95C OSR 2.x CD-ROM, ya know.
If you ever needed a good diagnostic tool, look no further. Try HWDIAG.EXE, the HardWare DIAGnostic utility located in the \Other\Misc\Hwtrack folder on the OSR2 Setup CD-ROM.
When you run it (either from the CD-ROM or from your hard drive, where you can copy it), it displays a load of information about your system.
Then scroll down and take a look at all HwDiag entries (that list is huge!).
HwDiag lists all entries/keys in a color coded style:

Maybe now you can finally track back those annoying GPFs/lockups to some hidden Registry errors... (?!)
And it gets better: HwDiag works great with ALL Windows 9x/ME releases.

TIP: HwDiag writes a "Hwdiag" subkey to ALL detected hardware Registry entries, the first time you run it, which adds up to your Registry database size! But you can delete all these "Hwdiag" Registry keys: run Regedit → click Edit → click Find or press Ctrl + F → type Hwdiag in the text box → delete all Hwdiag instances found.
I suggest you MAKE A FULL REGISTRY BACKUP FIRST!

Download the OSR2 HwDiag tool [34 KB, free].
Have fun!

FYI: If using Windows 98/ME see "HARDWARE INFORMATION", also in TIPS98.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE].

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• 2-25-98 OSR2/Win98/ME ©Trick in OSR2TIPS.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


BYPASS AUTOSCAN


Windows 95B/95C OSR 2.x + 98/98 SE come with a built-in "improvement" (read "annoyance"): every time you are forced to punch the Reset button on your computer case (cold reboot), or if you have to apply the "three-finger-salute" (Ctrl-Alt-Del, warm reboot) to regain control of your machine, and if there are any errors (lost clusters) on your boot fixed disk/partition (default is C:), the OS insists on running ScanDisk upon bootup. :(
Windows ME does this differently: it launches the GUI version of ScanDisk (SCANDSKW.EXE) each time upon the next reboot after an improper shutdown.
But you can get rid of this annoyance: run MSCONFIG.EXE → Advanced tab → check the "Disable Scandisk after bad shutdown" box → reboot.
Although Windows 98/98 SE launches the MS-DOS mode version of ScanDisk (SCANDISK.EXE) to check the boot hard disk/partition for errors, you can get rid of the Autoscan "feature" in a similar fashion: run MSCONFIG.EXE → Advanced tab → check the "Disable Scandisk after bad shutdown" box → reboot.

Windows NT4/2000/XP/2003 take an entirely different approach of this issue: see this MSKB article for details.

What does really happen "behind the curtains" in Windows 95B/95C/98/98 SE?
Let me explain...
This default action can be easily changed. All you have to do is edit MSDOS.SYS, a Read-only, Hidden, System file located in C:\ root, and change the line:

AutoScan=1

found under the [Options] section, to read:

AutoScan=0

Save your work and reboot. From now on you can go back into OSR2/Win98 without going through the annoying (and time consuming) ScanDisk routine anymore.
To edit MSDOS.SYS, first you need to strip it of its Hidden, Read-only and System attributes. Just run SYS95.BAT [part of W95-11D.EXE] to do this automatically. SYS95.BAT also calls the MS-DOS Editor (EDIT.COM) to edit MSDOS.SYS. You can make your changes, save and exit. SYS95.BAT terminates by restoring the MSDOS.SYS default attributes.
Below are listed the 3 possible switches available to AutoScan, which by default (AutoScan=1) allows OSR2 and Win98 to automatically ScanDisk the boot drive after improper shutdown:

FYI:

UPDATE: Gary reminded me of this TweakUI Power Toy feature, which allows for customizing the "Autoscan" parameter:
"The Microsoft TweakUI tool has a drop down window on the Boot tab, labeled "Run Scandisk", and the selections are: Never, After Prompting and Without Prompting. Selecting Never will bypass Autoscan."

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• 2-11-98 OSR2 ©Trick in OSR2TIPS.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


OSR2 INSTALL FIX


This is PJ's solution to allow installing Win95B/95C OSR 2.x over Win95 retail or Win95a OSR1, normally not permitted. :)

"There's a faster way to install OSR2 over Win95/OSR1 (found this on ZDNet).

Step 1: Start the Win95B/95C Setup from Windows. Stop at the dialog box that reads License Agreement. Don't click on Next.

Step 2: Press Ctrl-Esc to open the Start Menu and select Run. Type NOTEPAD and press Enter. Browse to the WININST0.400 folder (default) created during OSR2 installation and open the SETUPPP.INF file. Type OEMUP=1 as a new line below the [data] heading:

[data]
OEMUP=1

Step 3: Save your changes and close Notepad. Press Alt-Tab to return to the OSR2 install window. Next you must type in the 20 digit PID serial number found on the Certificate of Authenticity on the front of your Win95B/95C manual to complete Setup."

Another solution for Win95/OSR1 owners to install OSR2 as an upgrade:

  1. Copy ALL files from the \WIN95 folder on your OSR2 Setup CD to your hard drive (eventually preserving the directory name), by using the Windows Explorer right-click Copy/Paste menu, or just drag \WIN95 to C:\ root.

  2. Open Notepad and copy/paste the 3 lines below into the text area:

    [Setup]
    ProductType=1
    ; Empty line! Leave blank!

    More info.

    Save this as SETUPPP.INF [or MSBATCH.INF] into the new \WIN95 folder on your hard disk/partition.
    The third empty (blank) line above is MANDATORY! Without it you may get a "Data Control Corrupt" error message!

  3. Run Setup from your hard disk to install OSR2.

FYI: See "95/98/ME SETUP SWITCHES", also in TIPS95.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE], to learn about the Windows 9x/ME undocumented SETUP parameters, and install your Windows OS the way you want.

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• 1-26-98 OSR2 ©Trick in OSR2TIPS.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


OSR2 LOGO.SYS


If by accident (or voluntarily) you have deleted the default OSR2 LOGO.SYS (Win9x boot bitmap) file from the root folder of your boot drive (C:\ is default), you can always get it back by simply extracting it from your Win95B/95C OSR 2.x Setup CD to C:\ root, and then renaming it to LOGO.SYS, so Windows OS can recognize and use it as startup logo next time you (re)boot.
After making sure the OSR2 Setup CD is in your CD/DVD drive, shell out to any DOS prompt and run these commands (hit Enter after each line):

C:
CD\
EXTRACT LOGO_02.SYS D:\WIN95\WIN95_04.CAB

Change the CD/DVD drive letter to match the one on your PC if different.
Then rename LOGO_02.SYS to LOGO.SYS by running:

IF EXIST C:\LOGO.SYS REN C:\LOGO.SYS LOGO.ORI
REN C:\LOGO_02.SYS LOGO.SYS

Your original C:\LOGO.SYS (if any) is renamed to LOGO.ORI.
Reboot.
Done.

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• 1-12-98 OSR2 ©Trick in OSR2TIPS.TXT, part of W95-11D.EXE:


WIN-WIN SITUATION


Windows 95B/95C OSR 2.x is meant to be installed ONLY on a new PC, WITHOUT ANY pre-existing operating system.
Therefore, by default, the OSR2 CD-ROM Setup won't let you install it over ANY OTHER preinstalled OS. :(
But wait, there's a FIX. :) All you have to do is start a search throughout ALL your hard drives/partitions for ALL instances of WIN.COM and rename them.
The easiest way to do this is to run the small batch file [part of W95-11D.EXE] called FIND!.BAT (from any DOS prompt), for each hard disk/partition in your system.
See "FIND FAST", also in MYTIPS95.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE], for complete FIND!.BAT details.

Search the entire C drive for WIN.COM using FIND!.BAT (example):

FIND! WIN.COM

Rename ALL WIN.COM files you found to something like WIN.CO@.
To rename a file from any DOS prompt, run for example:

REN WIN.COM WIN.CO@

from within each folder where WIN.COM resides.
This "fix" fools OSR2 Setup into thinking you don't have a previous copy of Windows installed. ;)

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