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Q101958: Reinstalling MS-DOS 6 Upgrade When Using Stacker Version 3.1

Article: Q101958
Product(s): Microsoft Disk Operating System
Version(s): MS-DOS:6.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): 
Last Modified: 26-NOV-1999

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system version 6.0 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 <xxxxxxxx> in drive C:

where <xxxxxxxx> 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.

RESOLUTION
==========

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:

1. 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

2. 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" (without the quotation
  marks) at the MS-DOS command prompt and then press ENTER.

3. 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" (without the quotation marks)

4. 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" (without the quotation marks)

5. 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" (without the quotation marks) at the MS-DOS command prompt
  and then press ENTER.

6. Rename the Stacker version of DBLSPACE.BIN on the host drive. For example,
  type "ren h:\dblspace.bin stacker.bin" (without the quotation marks) at the
  MS-DOS command prompt and then press ENTER.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. Rename the Stacker version of DBLSPACE.BIN (currently called STACKER.BIN on
  your system). For example, type "ren c:\stacker.bin dblspace.bin" (without
  the quotation marks) at the MS-DOS command prompt and then press ENTER.

10. Restart the computer to load the Stacker version of DBLSPACE.BIN.

11. Copy the DOS directory from the host drive to the DOS directory on drive C.
  For example, type "copy h:\dos\*.* c:\dos" (without the quotation marks) at
  the MS-DOS command prompt and then press ENTER.

12. 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" (without the quotation marks)

13. Delete the DOS directory on the host drive. For example, type "deltree
  h:\dos" (without the quotation marks) at the MS-DOS command prompt and then
  press ENTER.

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" (without the quotation
  marks) 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" (without the quotation marks) 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:" (without the quotation marks) at the
MS-DOS command prompt and then press ENTER.

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

MORE INFORMATION
================


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" (without the quotation marks) 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:" (without the quotation marks) 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          :  
Technology        : kbMSDOSSearch kbMSDOS600
Version           : MS-DOS:6.0

=============================================================================
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