Cabinet A file that contains one or more files, usually compressed.

Folder A decompression boundary. Large folders enable higher compression, because the compressor can refer back to more data in finding patterns. However, to retrieve a file at the end of a folder, the entire folder must be decompressed.

The Windows 98 distribution disks use distribution media format (DMF), which is a special read-only format for 3.5-inch floppy disks that permits storage of 1.7 MB of data.

The file structure introduced in Windows 95 has changed slightly in Windows 98. In Windows 95, most of the files were contained in a Win95#.cab structure. The rest of the files were included in the Base#.cab, Catalog.cab, Driver#.cab, Mini.cab, and Precopy#.cab cabinets.

Windows 98 instead groups CAB files by function. The following table summarizes the cabinet files and their contents.

Cabinet file

Base#.cab 2 Files necessary for the first boot.

Catalog3.cab 1 Catalog files necessary for driver certification.

Chl99.cab 1 Offline channel Web pages for the Channel bar.

Edb.cab 1 Various utilities.

Mini.cab 1 Mini Windows, which is used for setting up from MS-DOS.

Precopy#.cab 2 Setup and INF files.

Win98#.cab 44 Windows 98 files.

Base4.cab through Base5.cab

Driver11.cab through Driver21.cab

Net6.cab through Net10.cab

Precopy1.cab through Precopy2.cab

Win98_22.cab through Win98_69.cab

Organizing the CAB files in this manner allows for easier extraction and a smoother setup. For example, if the computer does not have a network card, the Net#.cab files are not moved to the user's computer during setup.

In Windows 98, you can view and extract CAB files using Windows Explorer. In Windows 95, you had to use the command-line Extract program to extract CAB files.

Click the Start button, point to Programs, and then click Windows Explorer.

In the left pane, click the letter that represents the drive where the CAB files are located.

Navigate to the folder containing the CAB file you want to view.

On the right pane, double-click the CAB file you want to view.

The contents of the CAB file appear in a separate window.

Follow the instructions for viewing the contents of a CAB file.

In the window displaying the contents of the CAB file, double-click the file you want to extract.

The Browse for Folder dialog box appears.

Click a folder in which to save the file you are extracting, and then click OK.

You can also extract files by using System File Checker, as described in Chapter 27, "General Troubleshooting." With System File Checker, you do not need to know which CAB file contains the file you need.

The Extract program supports command-line extraction of files from the CAB storage format on disk. Extract does not support any other compression system (that is, it is not backward-compatible with any previous Microsoft disk utilities).

The Extract program (Extract.exe) can be found in the \Windows\Command directory or on the Windows 98 installation media.

Important In general, use the Extract program only if your product support representative indicates that using the Extract program is necessary to retrieve a compressed file from the Windows 98 cabinet files.

Under normal circumstances, you should use the Add/Remove Programs or Network icon in Control Panel to install and uninstall components, applications, and support software from the Windows 98 installation media.

If system files are missing or damaged, run Windows 98 Setup from the Windows 98 installation media, and choose the option to validate and restore files.

extract [/y] [/A] [/D | /E] [/L location] cabinet_file [file_specification ...]

extract [/y] compressed_file [destination_file]

extract [/y] /C compressed_file destination_file

/A Process all files in a cabinet set, starting with the cabinet_file. Follow cabinet chain.

/C Copy source file to destination (to copy from DMF disks).

/D Display cabinet directory. Do not extract.

/E Use instead of *.* to extract all files.

/L location Use the directory specified by location, instead of the current directory, as the default location /Y Overwrite files in the destination without prompting. The default is to prompt the user if the destination file already exists, and to allow one of the following:

Overwrite the file.

Skip the file.

Overwrite this file and all subsequent files that may already exist.

Exit.

This is a CAB file that contains a single file (for example, File1.ex_, which contains File1.exe). If destination_file is not specified, the file is extracted and given its original name in the current directory.

This can be either a relative path (.:, .., C:File1, and so on) or a fully qualified path. It can specify either a file (or files, if wildcards are included) or a directory. If a directory is specified, the file name stored in the cabinet is used. Otherwise, destination_file is used as the complete file name for the extracted file.

This is a CAB file that contains two or more files. If no file_specification parameter is specified, a list is displayed of the files in the cabinet. If one or more file_specification parameters are specified, then these are used to select the files to be extracted from the cabinet. Wildcards are allowed to specify multiple cabinets.

This specifies files to be extracted from the cabinets. This can contain the ? and * wildcards. Multiple file_specification values can be supplied.

The following table provides some examples. Command Behavior

extract filename.ex_

Assuming filename.ex_ contains just the single file Filename.exe, filename.exe is extracted and placed in the current directory.

extract filename.ex_ file2.exe

Assuming filename.ex_ contains just the single file filename.exe, filename.exe is extracted and placed in the current directory in the file file2.exe.

extract cabinet.1

Assuming cabinet.1 contains multiple files, a list of the files stored in that cabinet is displayed.

extract cabinet.1 *.exe

Extracts all EXE files from cabinet.1 and places them in the current directory.

For more information about the Extract program, see Knowledge Base article Q129605, "How to Extract Original Compressed Windows Files."

The following table describes the key files used for Windows 98 Setup. File name

Setup.exe The real-mode Setup component that initializes Windows 98 Setup. If this file is started from MS-DOS, it calls the real-mode stub. If started from within Windows, it is a 16-bit Windows stub.

Suwin.exe The protected-mode Setup components responsible for calling all other dynamic link libraries (DLLs) used in Setup.

Setupx.dll The primary DLL used during the Copy Files phase to perform most of the installation procedures. It is responsible for reading INF files, handling disks, and copying files.

Netdi.dll The module called early in the Setup process to install networking services.

Scanreg.exe The utility that scans an existing registry for errors.

Scandisk.exe The utility that checks local hard disks for errors.

Also, the Wininstx.400 directory is created at the beginning of the Windows 98 Setup process. This directory contains a minimal set of files used during setup and requires about 10 to 12 MB of free disk space. This directory is removed upon the successful completion of Windows 98 installation.

The following figure shows the typical default directory structure created for Windows 98. The bold entries are new entries in Windows 98.

Win98

All Users

Application Data

Applog

Catalog

Catroot

Command

Config

Cookies

Cursors

Desktop

Downloaded Program Files

Drwatson

Favorites

Fonts

Forms

Help

helpdesk

History

Inf

Java

Media

MsApps

msdownld.tmp

NetHood

ol98logs

Pif

PrintHood

Profiles

Recent

Samples

SendTo

ShellNew

Spool

Printers

Start Menu

Programs

Accessories

Internet Explorer

Microsoft NetShow

Online Services

StartUp

Subscriptions

Sysbckup

System

Color

IE4Setup

Iosubsys

Macromed

Setup

Shellext

Viewers

Vmm32

Wbem

System32

Drivers

Tasks

Temp

Temporary Internet Files

Tour

Twain_32

Vcm

Vcm.000

Web

The following table lists the directories where various types of Windows 98 system files and supporting files are stored.

Core Windows 98 files %WinDir%

Shortcuts to applications %WinDir%\Start Menu\Programs

MS-DOS commands %WinDir%\Command

Printer drivers %WinDir%\System

Help files %WinDir%\Help

Font files %WinDir%\Fonts

Setup and device installation files %WinDir%\Inf

PIF files %WinDir%\Pif

Drivers %WinDir%\System

VxDs %WinDir%\System

I/O Subsystem %WinDir%\System\Iosubsys

Viewers %WinDir%\System\Viewers

VxDs added after installation %WinDir%\System\Vmm32

Java files %WinDir%\Java\Classes

Internet Explorer browsing history %WinDir%\History

Shell extensions %WinDir%\System\Shellext

Active Desktop configuration files %WinDir%\Web

Internet Explorer file cache %WinDir%\Temporary Internet Files

Internet Explorer subscription files %WinDir%\Subscriptions

Dr. Watson troubleshooting utility %WinDir%\Drwatson

1 "%WinDir%" refers to the directory that is specified during t

he installation process to contain the Windows 98 files.

The following list shows where key Windows 98 files are stored when Windows 98 is installed on the local hard disk of a computer.

Real-mode operating system and system detection Io.sys Root directory of boot drive 1

Command-line processor Command.com Root directory of boot drive

Real-mode stub to start Windows 98 Win.com Windows

Protected-mode Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) Vmm32.vxd Windows\System

Registry System.dat Windows 1

Registry backup files Rb001-5.cab Windows\Sysbckup

Registry when first created by Setup System.new Root directory of boot drive 2

User registry User.dat Windows 1

User registry first created by Setup User.new Root directory of boot drive 2

Log of the Setup process Setuplog.txt Root directory of boot drive 1

Hardware detection log Detlog.txt Root directory of boot drive 2

Log of Windows 98 startup process Bootlog.txt Root directory of boot drive 2

Real-mode network configuration Protocol.ini Windows

Boot configuration file Msdos.sys Root directory of boot drive 1

Registry created by Setup completion System.1^st Root directory of boot drive 1

System initialization file System.ini Windows

Customization settings file Win.ini Windows

Shell executable file Explorer.exe Windows

Compression support file Drvspace.bin Root directory of boot drive 2

1 This is a hidden file.

2 This file is visible in the root directory only when the Windows 98 installation has failed. When setup completes, System.new is moved and renamed System.dat. User.new is moved and renamed User.dat.

The Windows 98 Startup Disk has changed significantly for Windows 98. The following has been added:

Multi-start menu for booting your computer with or without access to the CD-ROM.

Real-mode IDE CD-ROM support ��.Real-mode SCSI CD-ROM support

The Edb.cab File The Edb.cab file contains several utilities. It is a compressed file whose contents are expanded during the startup process. The following table lists the contents this file.

Attrib.exe Add or remove file attributes.

Chkdsk.exe Simpler and smaller disk status tool.

Debug.exe Debug utility.

Edit.com Real-mode emergency text editor.

Ext.exe File extract utility.

Format.com Disk format tool.

Help.bat Launches the readme.txt for the startup disk.

Help.txt Text document with information for troubleshooting Windows 98

Mscdex.exe Microsoft CD-ROM file extension for MS-DOS.

Restart.com Restart your computer.

Scandisk.exe Disk status tool.

Scandisk.ini Disk status tool configuration file.

Sys.com System transfer tool.

Uninstal.exe Returning it to its previous state.

The following table lists the contents and describes the function of each file in the Startup Disk.

Note The files contained in the Startup Disk are copied to the \Windows\Command directory only if the user chooses to create a Windows 98 startup disk during Setup. This happens during the first phase of the Startup Disk creation process. If you create a startup disk from Control Panel (From the Startup Disk property page in Add/Remove Programs) and the startup disk files are not in the \Windows\Command directory, you will prompted for the Windows 98 compact disk. A startup disk will be created but its contents will not be copied locally when you use this method.

Aspi2dos.sys Real-mode Adaptec CD-ROM driver.

Aspi4dos.sys Real-mode Adaptec CD-ROM driver.

Aspi8dos.sys Real-mode Adaptec CD-ROM driver.

Aspi8u2dos.sys Real-mode Adaptec CD-ROM driver.

Aspicd.sys Real-mode Adaptec CD-ROM driver.

Autoexec.bat A batch file that configures your computer when you boot it.

Btcdrom.sys Mylex/BusLogic CD-ROM driver.

Btdosm.sys Mylex/BusLogic CD-ROM driver.

Command.com Command interpreter.

Config.sys Loads the device drivers.

Drvspace.bin Microsoft DriveSpace compression driver.

Edb.cab Cabinet file containing extract utilities.

Ebd.sys A file that identifies the disk as a Windows 98 startup disk.

Extract File to expand the Ebd.cab file.

Fdisk.exe Disk partition tool.

Findramd.exe Utility to find the RAM drive during startup.

Flashpt.sys Mylex/BusLogic CD-ROM driver.

Himem.sys XMS Memory Manager.

Io.sys System boot file.

Msdos.sys Boot option information (paths, multiboot, and so on).

Mode.com Lets you change display parameters such as number columns.

Oakcdrom.sys Generic device driver for ATAPI CD-ROM drives.

Ramdrive.sys Creates a Ramdrive during startup.

Readme.txt Text document with information about the Windows 98 Startup Disk.

Setramd.bat Searches for first available drive to be a Ramdrive.

Sys.com System transfer tool.