Article ID: 274297 - Last Review: January 29, 2007 - Revision: 2.1

Error Message "This Version of Windows Runs Only on MS-DOS 8.00 " During First Restart

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SYMPTOMS

When you install or upgrade to Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me), you may receive an unrecoverable error during the file copy process. If you restart your computer, you may receive the following error message:
This version of Windows runs only on MS-DOS 8.00
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RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, restart your computer from a Windows Me startup disk, and then follow these steps:
  1. Place the Windows Me Startup disk in drive A, and then press CTRL+ALT+DELETE to restart your computer.
  2. On the Startup menu, click Minimal Boot.
  3. At the command prompt, type sys c:, and then press ENTER. If the files you need are on the hard disk, you receive a "System Transferred" message.
If you receive the following error message while performing the preceding steps, follow the steps listed below:
Cannot find the system file in the standard locations on drive c:\. Sys can only be used on drive c:\ to attempt a repair of an already existing installation of Windows. Use Windows Setup to make drive bootable.
  1. Place the Windows Me Startup disk in drive A, and then press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart your computer.
  2. On the Startup menu, click Start Computer with CD-ROM Support.
  3. At the command prompt, type smartdrv, and then press ENTER.
  4. Type extract /l c:\temp drive\win9x\precopy1.cab winboot.sys, and then press ENTER.

    where drive is the CD-ROM drive letter.

    NOTE: This file can also be extracted from the windir\options\install directory.
  5. After this file has been extracted successfully, type c:, and then press ENTER.
  6. Type attrib io.sys -s -h -r, and then press ENTER.
  7. Type ren io.sys *.bak, and then press ENTER.
  8. Type cd temp, and then press ENTER.
  9. Type copy winboot.sys c:\io.sys , and then press ENTER.
  10. Remove the Windows Me Startup disk, and then press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart your computer.
NOTE: If this procedure does not resolve the issue, restart the computer from the Startup disk, and then run Windows Me Setup from a command prompt.

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MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about how to determine which folder Windows is installed in, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
305792  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/305792/EN-US/ ) How to Determine Which Folder Windows Is Installed In
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APPLIES TO
  • Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
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kbprb kbprod2web KB274297
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Retired KB ArticleRetired KB Content Disclaimer
This article was written about products for which Microsoft no longer offers support. Therefore, this article is offered "as is" and will no longer be updated.
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