OFF2000: Office Stops During Setup: Troubleshooting Steps on Windows 95

This article contains information about troubleshooting steps to use when you are installing Microsoft Office programs under Microsoft Windows 95 and Setup seems to stop responding (hang) without apparent errors.

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

To troubleshoot the problem of Setup stopping, perform the following tasks. Some items can be combined to save time and effort. Then try Office Setup again.

Make Sure Setup Has Actually Stopped Responding

Setup may appear to be hung but in fact is continuing slowly. Wait longer (about 20 minutes) before ending Setup. Before concluding that Setup is stopped, check the CD-ROM drive light and hard disk light for activity. Also, press CTRL+ALT+DEL and check whether the Office Setup task appears as "Not Responding" in the Close Programs dialog box.

Create a Verbose Log File

If Setup stops and you do not receive any error messages, you can use a verbose log file to determine what action Setup was performing when it stopped. Create a verbose log file by using the following steps:

1. With the Office 2000 CD-ROM in the CD-ROM drive or DVD-ROM drive, click Start and then Run.
2. In the Open edit box, type
   CD-ROM drive letter:\setup.exe /L*v! c:\verbose.log
   This creates a very detailed log file called Verbose.log at the root of the C drive. This file may be requested if you contact Microsoft Technical Support for further troubleshooting help.

For additional information about creating and reading Office Setup logs, please click the article number(s) below to view the article(s) in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Quit All Unnecessary Programs

Quit all unnecessary programs that are running before you run Office 2000 Setup. To do so, use the following steps:

1. Restart your computer. When you see the "Starting Windows 95" message, press the F8 key, and then click Command Prompt Only on the Startup menu.
2. Start Windows 95 by typing win and holding down the SHIFT key for the duration of Windows startup. This prevents any programs from loading automatically at startup.
3. Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE to open the Close Program dialog box.
4. Quit all programs except Explorer and Systray (which are parts of Windows). To quit a program, click the program, and then click End Task.
5. Repeat steps 3-4 until you have quit all programs except Explorer and Systray.
6. Turn off any anti-virus or disk tool programs installed on the computer. For information about how to turn off these programs, see the printed or online documentation for the program.

NOTE: If Setup hangs after you restart Windows, make sure the steps taken to shut down programs would persist on restart. Rather than relying on the steps listed above, see the next section, "Clean Start Windows 95."

NOTE: If a beta version of Office 2000 has been installed, you must uninstall it before installing the final version. Although Setup should prompt you to remove such a pre-release version, the alert may not appear.

For detailed information about this problem and removing the beta installed version, please click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Clean Start Windows 95

If the issue continues to occur, start Windows 95 without loading any TSR (terminate-and-stay-resident) programs or device drivers (this is called a clean boot or clean start).

Setup from a Flat File

If there is enough space available on the hard disk, make a flat file of the contents of Office 2000 CD-ROM disk 1 by following these steps:

1. Create a new folder at the root of a hard disk volume and name it "Flatfile".
2. Copy the entire contents of the CD-ROM disk 1 into the the "Flatfile" folder. In Windows Explorer, click on the CD-ROM icon, and click Select All on the Edit menu. Drag the items thus selected on the right side of the Explorer window to the Flatfile folder on the left side.
   
   If there are errors during the copy, it may indicate problems with the CD-ROM disk, lens, or drive.

You can use this flat file to install from a clean start or in Windows Safe Mode (see next section). Having a flat file makes it unnecessary to enable real mode CD-ROM drivers in Safe Mode. If Setup from a flat file fails in Safe Mode or with a clean start, it is possible there is a problem with the CD-ROM, because a damaged flat file may be created without generating an error message.

Start Windows in Safe Mode

Windows has a built-in troubleshooting mode called Safe Mode. It bypasses startup files and uses only basic system drivers, including basic networking. When you start Windows in Safe Mode, Windows uses only the mouse, keyboard, and standard video graphics adapter (VGA) device drivers. This makes Safe Mode useful for isolating and resolving error conditions that are caused by both real-mode and Windows-based drivers. Windows also has troubleshooting features that may help you identify the problem. To start Windows in Safe Mode and make the additional troubleshooting features available, follow these steps:

1. On the Windows taskbar, click Start, and then click Shut Down. Click Restart and then click OK.
2. Press F8 when you see the "Starting Windows 95" message.
3. On the Windows Startup menu, select option 3 (Safe Mode) and then press ENTER.

When you use Safe Mode or when you turn off 32-bit protected-mode disk drivers, Windows does not process protected-mode drivers, the Autoexec.bat file, and the Config.sys file. Therefore, the CD-ROM drive is not available. To use Safe Mode with CD-ROM drive support, determine whether Windows uses protected-mode drivers for the CD-ROM drive. If Windows is using protected-mode drivers, install the real-mode (MS-DOS) drivers for the CD-ROM drive on the computer. The real-mode drivers are usually located on a disk that is shipped with the CD-ROM drive or with the computer. The drivers are installed in the Autoexec.bat and Config.sys files.

For additional information about determining whether Windows is using protected-mode drivers, please click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For additional information about installing real-mode drivers for the CD-ROM drive, please click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Check for a Valid Temporary Folder and Delete Temporary Files

There should be at least 50 megabytes (MB) of free space on the hard disk that contains the temporary folder. To check for a temporary folder and delete excess files from that folder, follow these steps:

1. Close any running programs, and restart your computer by clicking Shut Down on the Start menu and clicking Restart Your Computer. Press F8 when you see the "Starting Windows 95" message.
2. On the menu, select Safe mode command prompt only and press ENTER.
3. At the MS-DOS prompt, type cd %temp% and press ENTER. If you get an error, continue with step 4. If the directory path changes, with the final item in the path showing temp, go to step 6.
4. At the MS-DOS prompt, type set and press ENTER. Note the location of the TEMP variable.
5. Change to the folder you noted in step 4. For example, if TEMP is set to C:\Windows\Temp, type the following line and then press ENTER:
   cd\windows\temp
   If the folder you noted in step 4 does not exist, create the folder. To create a temporary folder, type the following command and then press ENTER:
   md c:\win95tmp
6. Delete any temporary files in this folder. Temporary files have a .tmp file name extension. To delete these files, type the following line, and then press ENTER:
   del *.tmp
   NOTE: Do not delete these files when you are running Windows, because Windows or a Windows program may be using one of these files.

Check the Hard Disk for Disk Errors and Fragmentation

Use the ScanDisk program to check the hard disk for lost clusters and other file allocation table (FAT) errors and to test the hard disk integrity. You can also use the ScanDisk program to repair any of these problems. To run ScanDisk, follow these steps:

1. On the Start menu, point to Programs.
2. Point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click ScanDisk.

Hard disks that are very fragmented can affect the performance and reliability of Microsoft Office programs and other tasks in Windows. To resolve this problem, run Disk Defragmenter to defragment the hard disk. To run Disk Defragmenter, follow these steps:

1. On the Start menu, point to Programs.
2. Point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Defragmenter.
3. Click the drive that you want to defragment in the Which drive do you want to defragment list, and then click OK.

Turn Off the CD-ROM Drive Cache and DMA

If the problem occurs while you are reading from a CD-ROM drive, try turning off the CD-ROM drive cache. This may make the drive more reliable but reduce performance. To turn off the CD-ROM drive cache, follow these steps:

1. In Control Panel, double-click System.
2. Click the Performance tab and click File System.
3. Click the CD-ROM tab. In the Optimize access pattern for list, click to select No Read-Ahead.
4. Verify that the Supplemental cache size slider is positioned in the far left position (the Small setting), and then click OK.

If you are using real-mode CD-ROM drivers, the drive may be cached by the Smartdrv.exe program. If this is the case, remark the line from the Autoexec.bat by typing REM at the beginning of the line.

Also, turn off DMA or Direct Memory Access as detailed in the "Workaround" section of the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

Verify That the Compact Disc Is Clean and Unscratched

If the problem occurs while you are installing from a CD-ROM, verify that the CD is clean by wiping it with a soft, lint-free cloth. Also ensure that there are no large scratches on the CD. If the CD is damaged and unreadable, error messages may appear during installation.

For additional information, please click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Check for a Corrupted Swap File

Setup problems may also occur if your Windows swap file is corrupted. To create a new swap file, restart the computer in MS-DOS mode, delete the Win386.swp file in the Windows folder, and then restart the computer. To create a new swap file, follow these steps:

1. On the Start menu, click Shut Down.
2. In the Shut Down Windows dialog box, click Restart the computer?, and then click Yes.
3. Press F8 when you see the "Starting Windows 95" message.
4. On the Windows Startup menu, select option 6 (Command Prompt Only).
5. At the MS-DOS prompt, switch to the Windows folder by typing the following command:
   cd drive:\Windows
   where drive is the drive letter that contains the Windows folder. Typically, drive is drive C.
   
   NOTE: The swap file exists in the Windows folder if Windows manages virtual memory settings on your computer. If you chose to manage virtual memory settings on the computer, the swap file exists at the root level of the hard disk. To determine whether Windows manages virtual memory settings, right-click My Computer, click Properties, click Performance, and then click Virtual Memory.
   
   
6. To delete the swap file, type the following:
   del Win386.swp
7. After you delete the swap file, restart the computer.

Check for Software Updates

Outdated and incompatible software may also cause Setup problems. Check with the manufacturer of the computer for various software updates, such as BIOS updates, OEM Windows updates, and hardware driver updates such as CD-ROM and DVD-ROM, video, and printer drivers. If you are using third-party partitioning software--for example, EZDrive or Ontrack Disk Manager--verify that you have the most recent version of these products.

Scan the Computer for Viruses

If a virus is present on your computer and has damaged some files, problems may appear when you run Setup. Scan the hard disk and floppy disks with a virus detector. If the virus detector finds a virus on your computer, remove the virus before you run Office Setup again.

NOTE: Do not run a virus detector terminate-and-stay-resident (TSR) program while you run Setup. Run a virus detector before you run Setup and then turn it off.

Check for Registry Corruption

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

When you start Windows in Safe Mode, Windows does not read the entire registry. Therefore, damage to the registry may not be evident when you run Windows in this mode. It may be necessary to replace the existing registry (System.dat) with a backup to determine whether the problem is caused by a damaged registry. To troubleshoot a damaged registry, follow these steps:

1. Restart the computer. When the "Starting Windows 95" message appears, press F8.
2. On the Windows Startup menu, select option 6 (Command Prompt Only).
3. To remove the file attributes from the backup of the registry, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
   c:\windows\command\attrib -h -s -r c:\system.1st
4. To remove the file attributes from the current registry, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
   c:\windows\command\attrib -h -s -r c:\windows\system.dat
5. To rename the registry, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
   ren c:\windows\system.dat *.dax
6. To copy the backup file to the current registry, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
   copy c:\system.1st c:\windows\system.dat
7. Restart the computer. If the Windows Startup menu appears, select Safe Mode, or Safe Mode with Network Support if you need network connectivity.

NOTE: The System.1st file is a backup of the registry that is created during the final stage of a Windows installation. Therefore, the Running Windows 95 for the first time banner appears, and Windows finalizes settings as if you reinstalled it.

If replacing the System.dat file with the System.1st file resolves the issue, the problem may be related to registry damage. Note that you may have to reinstall programs and device drivers that you installed after you installed Windows to update the new registry.

If the issue is not resolved, restore the original registry. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Restart the computer. When the "Starting Windows 95" message appears, press F8.
2. On the Windows Startup menu, select option 6 (Command Prompt Only).
3. Type the following commands:
   c:\windows\command\attrib -s -h -r c:\windows\system.dat
   
   copy c:\windows\system.dax c:\windows\system.dat
4. Restart the computer.

For additional information about resolving registry errors, please click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Check Hardware

If you exhaust all other troubleshooting steps and you still receive error messages, it is possible that one or more pieces of your hardware are incompatible with Windows or are damaged. To identify a problem with your computer hardware, contact your computer vendor.

Badly seated memory or bad memory has been reported to cause Kernel32.dll error messages. Switching memory around in the motherboard memory banks has been known to correct some of these issues.

It has also been reported that running the Atron 380 Bus Mastering Ethernet Card can cause Kernel32.dll errors. Removing this card from the computer may resolve these error messages.

The third-party products that are discussed in this article are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.

Microsoft provides third-party contact information to help you find technical support. This contact information may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this third-party contact information.

For information about how to contact the companies mentioned in this article, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

Reinstall Windows in a New Folder

Use this method only after you try all of the other troubleshooting steps in this article. If you reinstall Windows in a new folder, you must reinstall all Windows-based programs under the new Windows installation.

For additional information, please click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Turn Off Enhanced BIOS Features

Most computers have several enhanced settings that allow the computer to fully use the computer hardware. These high-speed settings can cause the system to become unstable; turning off these features may make the computer more stable. Contact your computer manufacturer for information about entering the basic input/output system (BIOS) and changing the BIOS settings. You can enter the BIOS on most systems immediately after turning on the power. Usually a keystroke (such as DEL) is required to enter the BIOS. Below are the common features that can interfere with Microsoft Office programs:

• Memory Shadow RAM
• Video Shadow RAM
• Internal Cache
• External Cache
• Built-in Virus Protection

Newer chipsets may have more advanced features, such as memory wait states, that may cause errors. Most BIOS installation programs have an option for loading the BIOS default settings. This option usually turns off all advanced features.

WARNING: Incorrectly altering hardware BIOS settings can cause serious problems that may cause your computer to fail to start or function properly. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems that result from the incorrect setting of hardware BIOS options can be solved. Alter the hardware BIOS settings at your own risk.