How to access CDROM drive without Windows
Microsoft Windows 95,98
To access your CD-ROM drive when you cannot start Windows, change the "shell="
line in the System.ini file. To do so, use one of the following methods:
Windows 98 Only
Start your computer using your Windows 98 Startup disk. This disk is created
during Windows 98 Setup. You can also create this disk by clicking Start,
pointing to Settings, clicking Control Panel, double-clicking Add/Remove
Programs, clicking the Startup Disk tab, and then clicking Create Disk. When you
use the Startup disk, choose the appropriate startup method from the Startup
menu.
Windows 95 and Windows 98
1. Restart your computer. For Windows 95, when you see the "Starting Windows 95"
message, press the F8 key, and then choose Command Prompt Only from the
Startup menu. For Windows 98, press and hold down the CTRL key after your
computer completes the Power On Self Test (POST), and then choose Command
Prompt Only from the Startup menu.
2. Type each of the following lines, pressing ENTER after each line
cd\<windows>
edit system.ini
3. Press ALT+S, press F, type the following line in the Find What box, and then
press ENTER:
shell=
4. Change the line to read as follows:
shell=winfile.exe
5. Press ALT+F, press S (to save), press ALT+F, and then press X (to exit).
6. Restart your computer.
7. Use your CD-ROM to extract files, if necessary, or reinstall Windows or
Internet Explorer 4.0.
8. On the File menu, click Run, type "sysedit" (without quotation marks), and
then click OK.
9. On the Window menu, click System.ini.
10. Change the "shell=" line to read as follows:
shell=explorer.exe
11. On the File menu, click Save, and then click Exit on the File menu. This
step restores the Windows Explorer shell.
12. Restart your computer.