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Q133175: Troubleshooting DriveSpace in Windows 95

Article: Q133175
Product(s): Microsoft Windows 95.x Retail Product
Version(s): 2.0,95
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbtool kbtshoot win95
Last Modified: 13-MAR-2002

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Windows 95 
- Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95 
- Microsoft Windows 95 OEM Service Release, version 2.0 
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SUMMARY
=======

This article describes how to troubleshoot the following problems with
DriveSpace in Windows 95:

- DriveSpace displays an error message

- Your computer stops responding (hangs) during compression

- Your computer does not boot properly after compressing a drive

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

DriveSpace Displays an Error Message
------------------------------------

If you receive an error message while running DriveSpace, check the Microsoft
Knowledge Base for existing articles about that error message. Some of the most
common errors are:

  Q124558 DriveSpace Err Msg: Mini.cab File Is Missing or Damaged...

  Q132883 Err Msg: Drive C Contains Errors That Must Be Corrected...

  Q123441 Windows 95 DriveSpace Err Msg: Windows Cannot Perform...

  Q154839 Err Msg: Windows Has Detected a Compressed Drive Access Error

  Q134859 DriveSpace VxD and Real-Mode Driver Are Mismatched

  Q142919 Error Message: ID Number DRVSPACE125

  Q155689 Error Message: Mini.cab Is Missing or Corrupt

Computer Hangs During Compression
---------------------------------

If your computer hangs while DriveSpace is running, follow these steps:

1. If DriveSpace stops when it is 25 percent finished, see the following article
  in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q136830 DriveSpace May Fail to Start in Mini-Windows Mode

2. If DriveSpace stops when it is between 25 and 100 percent finished, see the
  following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q136899 DriveSpace Restartability in Windows 95 and MS Plus!

3. If DriveSpace stops while you are uncompressing or resizing a compressed
  drive, follow these steps:

  a. Start your computer with your Windows 95 or Microsoft Plus! Startup disk.
     When you see the "Starting Windows 95" message, press the F8 key, and then
     choose Step-By-Step Confirmation from the Startup menu. Press N when you
     are prompted to load the DoubleSpace or DriveSpace driver.

     NOTE: If you did not create a Startup disk during Windows 95 Setup, or you
     did not update your Startup disk during Microsoft Plus! Setup, you can
     create a Startup disk manually.

     For information about creating or updating a Startup disk, please see the
     following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q138991 Problems Using Windows 95 or Microsoft Plus! Startup Disk

  Q136900 Manually Updating the Startup Disk After Installing Microsoft Plus!

     IMPORTANT: If your computer uses software that translates disk geometry
     (such as OnTrack Disk Manager or Micro House EZ-Drive), make sure to load
     the translation software when you start your computer with the Startup
     disk.

  b. Verify that you have the correct DriveSpace and ScanDisk files on drives A
     and C.

     Check the Startup disk for the correct Drvspace.bin and Scandisk.exe files
     with the following commands:

  dir /a a:\drvspace.bin
  dir a:\scandisk.exe

     NOTE: The Startup disk does not contain a Dblspace.bin file. The
     Drvspace.bin file should have the file size and date noted below,
     depending on whether or not Microsoft Plus! is installed. If you did not
     install Microsoft Plus!, the Scandisk.exe file should be 134,738 bytes in
     size. If you installed Microsoft Plus!, the Scandisk.exe file should be
     137,836 bytes in size.

     If you do not have the correct versions of these files, extract new copies
     from your original disks or CD-ROM to the root folder of drive A.

     For information about using the Extract tool, please see the following
     article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q129605 How to Extract Original Compressed Windows Files

     Make sure that both the Drvspace.bin and Dblspace.bin files exist in the
     root folder of drive C. To check for these files, type the following
     command:

  "dir /a c:\d??space.bin" (without the quotation marks)

     If you did not install Microsoft Plus!, you should see the following
     files:

        File name      Date/Time            Size
        ------------------------------------------
        Drvspace.bin   07-11-95 9:50 A.M.   71,287
        Dblspace.bin   07-11-95 9:50 A.M.   71,287

     If you did install Microsoft Plus!, you should see the following files:

        File name      Date/Time             Size
        -------------------------------------------
        Drvspace.bin   07-14-95 12:00 A.M.   64,135
        Dblspace.bin   07-14-95 12:00 A.M.   64,135

     If you are using Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2, you should have the
     following files whether or not Microsoft Plus! is installed:

        File name      Date/Time             Size
        -------------------------------------------
        Drvspace.bin   08-24-96 11:11 A.M.   65,271
        Dblspace.bin   08-24-96 11:11 A.M.   65,271

     IMPORTANT: Drvspace.bin and Dblspace.bin are the same files with different
     names. Copy the Drvspace.bin file to Dblspace.bin on the Startup disk with
     the following commands before you proceed:

  attrib -s -h -r a:\drvspace.bin
  copy a:\drvspace.bin a:\dblspace.bin
  attrib +s +h +r a:\d??space.bin

  c. Make sure that either a Drvspace.ini or Dblspace.ini file exists in the
     root folder of drive C. To check, type the following command:

  "dir /a c:\d??space.ini" (without the quotation marks)

  d. If neither a Drvspace.ini or Dblspace.ini file exists on the hard disk,
     create one using the EDIT command from the Startup disk. To do this, type
     "edit c:\drvspace.ini" (without the quotation marks), and then press
     ENTER. Then, save the Drvspace.ini file and close the editor.

  e. Restart your computer and do not press the F8 key. The computer should
     boot into Windows 95 and the contents of the compressed drive should be
     available.

     Check for a Restart.drv file in the root folder of drive C or its host
     drive by typing the following command:

  "dir /a <drive>:\restart.drv" (without the quotation marks)

     This file is required by DriveSpace to restart a failed operation. If the
     Restart.drv file exists, copy the Config.pss and Autoexec.pss files from
     the Failsafe.drv folder to the root folder of the physical boot drive by
     typing the following commands at a command prompt:

  "copy <drive>:\failsafe.drv\config.pss <drive>:\config.sys
  copy <drive>:\failsafe.drv\autoexec.pss <drive>:\autoexec.bat"
  (without the quotation marks)

     Then, edit the Drvspace.ini or Dblspace.ini file and place a semicolon (;)
     before the "ActivateDrive" line for compressed drive C (if it is being
     mounted). For example,

  ";ActivateDrive=H,C0" (without the quotation marks)

     This causes the computer to boot to the physical boot drive containing the
     Failsafe.drv folder and the Restart.drv file.

     NOTE: If there are multiple "ActivateDrive" lines that reference drive C,
     place the semicolon before the line that ends with "C0." The Drvspace.ini
     file is a hidden, system, read-only file stored in the root folder of the
     physical boot drive. To edit the file you must first remove the Hidden,
     System, and Read-Only attributes. To do so, type the following line at a
     command prompt:

  "attrib -s -h -r <drive>:\d??space.ini" (without the quotation marks)

     Restart your computer and DriveSpace should try to complete the failed
     operation in mini-Windows mode.

  f. If the Restart.drv file does not exist, DriveSpace cannot restart the
     failed operation automatically. Format the drive and restore data from a
     recent backup, or contact Microsoft Technical Support for additional
     assistance.

     NOTE: It may be impossible to recover data at this point. It may be
     necessary to format the drive and restore from a recent backup or to
     reinstall Windows 95.


4. If you are troubleshooting a problem with one of the following DriveSpace
  operations that was not completed successfully, these operations can be
  continued after the underlying problems are resolved (provided you have not
  made manual changes to the DriveSpace configuration, such as changing an .ini
  file setting or renaming a CVF):

   - Compressing an existing drive

   - Uncompressing a DoubleSpace or DriveSpace drive

   - Creating a new, empty DriveSpace drive

   - Changing the size of a DoubleSpace or DriveSpace drive

   - Changing the estimated compression ratio (ECR) for a DoubleSpace or
     DriveSpace drive

   - Mounting a DoubleSpace or DriveSpace drive

   - Upgrading (converting) a DoubleSpace or DriveSpace drive to DriveSpace 3

5. If you are not troubleshooting a problem with one of the DriveSpace
  operations listed above, verify that the compressed drive is mounted by
  trying to access the drive letter that was created when you originally
  compressed the drive.

  For example, if you compressed drive C and DriveSpace created drive letter H
  for the host drive, type "h:" (without the quotation marks) and press ENTER.
  If you receive an "Invalid drive specification" error message, the compressed
  drive is not mounted.


6. Use ScanDisk to repair or mount the unmounted CVF. To do so, type the
  following line:

  "scandisk <drive>:" (without the quotation marks)

  where <drive> is the letter of the compressed drive if it was mounted in
  step 5, or type

  "Scandisk /mount=<YYY><drive>" (without the quotation marks)

  where <YYY> is the extension of the unmounted CVF and <drive> is
  the drive containing the CVF.

  When you are prompted to check the host drive first, do so. Perform a surface
  scan on all drives, and fix any errors found.

  If you receive an error message stating that you cannot use compressed drive C
  because it is not mounted, restart your computer and then repeat step 5.

  NOTE: If there is insufficient memory available for ScanDisk to check the
  compressed drive, repeat the command after modifying your Startup disk to
  load the compression driver in upper memory. To do so, create a Config.sys
  file on the Startup disk that includes at least the following commands

  dos=umb
  device=<drive>:\failsafe.drv\windows\himem.sys
  device=<drive>:\failsafe.drv\windows\emm386.exe noems
  devicehigh=<drive>:\failsafe.drv\command\drvspace.sys /move

  where <drive> is either drive C or its host drive. The Failsafe.drv
  folder is a hidden folder on the physical boot drive that is used by
  DriveSpace to restart interrupted disk compression operations. This folder
  should be available even if your compressed drive is not mounted.

  The Failsafe.drv folder may also contain a Config.emm file that can be used to
  optimize conventional memory. However, you must change the drive letter
  designation on the "device=" and "devicehigh=" lines to reference the host
  for drive C if drive C is a compressed drive that is mounted when you boot
  with the Startup disk.

  IMPORTANT: If your hardware configuration requires upper memory to be excluded
  when using Emm386.exe, include the appropriate "x=mmmm-nnnn" syntax on the
  Emm386.exe command line.

7. Scan your computer for viruses using the latest anti-virus software available
  to you. If you upgraded from Microsoft MS-DOS 6.0 or later and you have
  Microsoft Anti-Virus for MS-DOS installed, run Msav.exe to detect and clean
  all logical drives.

  WARNING: The presence of a computer virus may lead to partial or complete data
  loss when you perform the following troubleshooting steps. For additional
  information about computer viruses, please see the following article in the
  Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q129972 Description of Computer Viruses

8. Perform a thorough surface scan on your hard disk. To do so, follow these
  steps:

  a. Edit the Scandisk.ini file on the Startup disk to include the following
     lines:

  [Environment] ScanTimeOut=On NumPasses=5

  b. Save and close the Scandisk.ini file.

  c. Type the following line to scan the hard disk

  "scandisk <drive>:" (without the quotation marks)

     where <drive> is the compressed drive, if it is mounted. If the
     compressed drive is not mounted, use the host drive letter instead. Note
     that the host drive letter is the same as the drive letter you normally
     use for the compressed drive (when you are not having a problem with the
     compressed drive).

     When you are prompted, instruct ScanDisk to perform the following actions:

      - check the host drive first

      - mount any unmounted CVFs

      - perform a surface scan on both drives

      - fix all errors found

      - view, and save, a log file

     NOTE: This procedure may take some time, particularly if you have a large
     hard disk or more than one hard disk. To automate this procedure so that
     ScanDisk does not prompt you for instructions, include the following lines
     in the Scandisk.ini file:

        [Environment]
        LfnCheck      = Off
        Mount         = Always

        [Custom]
        DriveSummary  = Off
        AllSummary    = Auto
        Surface       = Always
        CheckHost     = Always
        SaveLog       = Overwrite
        Undo          = Never

        DS_Header     = Fix
        FAT_Media     = Fix
        Okay_Entries  = Fix
        Bad_Chain     = Fix
        Crosslinks    = Fix

        Boot_Sector   = Fix
        Invalid_MDFAT = Fix
        DS_Crosslinks = Fix
        DS_LostClust  = Fix
        DS_Signatures = Fix
        Mismatch_FAT  = Fix
        Bad_Clusters  = Fix
        Bad_Entries   = Delete
        LostClust     = Save

     Then, run ScanDisk using the following command:

  "scandisk <drive>: /custom" (without the quotation marks)

     ScanDisk creates a Scandisk.log file that you can examine to determine
     whether ScanDisk fixed any problems on the drive. The problem should now
     be resolved unless you are troubleshooting a failed DriveSpace operation
     that is restartable. If this is not the case, you may want to review the
     troubleshooting steps.

Your Computer Does Not Boot Properly After Compressing a Drive
--------------------------------------------------------------

A compressed drive may not be mounting correctly. To troubleshoot this problem,
follow steps 5-8 above.

If the compressed drive is mounted correctly but Windows 95 still does not load,
see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q136337 Troubleshooting Windows 95 Startup Problems and Error Messages

Additional query words:

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbtool kbtshoot win95 
Technology        : kbWin95search kbGamesSearch kbPlusSearch kbOPKSearch kbZNotKeyword3 kbPlus95
Version           : :2.0,95
Issue type        : kbhowto

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

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