# 486 has missing DOS files, win 3.1



## angelface5 (Oct 29, 2002)

I am working on an old computer for a guy. It is a 486 IBM, 16mb RAM, 250mb HD. He says it is running Win 3.1. When I boot up it only boots to DOS. Abourt 6 of the files are mising or bad including the himem.sys file, so the cd-rom will not work. 
Can I put these files back on or do I need to reinstall DOS and then Win 3.1? Can I put Win 95 on it? Any ideas?


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## Lurker1 (Jan 30, 2001)

Hi angelface5

If the guy is used to running windows 3.1 you might as well stay with it. Windows 95 will just make things slower. 
Are you sure that HIMEM.sys is gone? Possibly only the path statement is bad. Try searching for it using the command DIR HIMEM.SYS /S
That command will search the entire drive for HIMEM.SYS and show you where the file is located. 
If you can't find the file try reinstalling DOS. Its probably easiest to install all the dos files at once. Then see if windows works OK before you reinstall that. BOL


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## angelface5 (Oct 29, 2002)

Yes he is used to it. He only uses thepc for games and things. Anyway it doesn't say the himem.sys file is missing. This is exactly what it says:
Bad or missing C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS

C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE

C:\SB16\DRV\CTSB16

C:\SB16\DRV\CTMMSYS.SYS

C:\SB16\DRV\CCD.SYS

C:\DOS\SETVER.EXE

C:\DOS\POWER.EXE

Bad command or paremeters D:MSCD001/P:220/S1T:1

That last one may not be exactly right I don't have the pc hooked up right now, but I will recheck it. 
Anyway that is all the files that are bad or missing.Also CD-rom not detected.Thanks for your help.


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## brushmaster1 (Jun 15, 2002)

Try changing the reference from C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS to C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS

The copy of Himem.sys in DOS may be corrupt, but there should be another copy in the Windows directory.


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## angelface5 (Oct 29, 2002)

Can I just format and reload windows or do I have to put DOS back on first?


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## brushmaster1 (Jun 15, 2002)

With Windows 3.1, you need DOS 5 or newer. DOS 6 or better is recommended. You HAVE to install DOS before Windows.


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## angelface5 (Oct 29, 2002)

Ok Thank you very much. I thought as much but just making sure, before I went ahead. 
I love this site everyone is so polite. i went on this other help forum and they were so rude, said I was stupid and didn't even need to be touching anyone's computer, let alone fixing one. 
So anyway thanks I will let you know what happens.


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## angelface5 (Oct 29, 2002)

Ok I got the files all back on, but I can't firgure out why the cd-rom won't work. It won't even show that it is installed in the bios. It is the kind that is hooked to the sound card.It is a Creative. if it needs a driver how do you put it on in DOS? I don't know much about DOS.


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## Lurker1 (Jan 30, 2001)

Ok if it is hooked to the sound card it wont show up in the system bios. If you can find the original floppy disks that came with the sound card they should have some kind of install or setup file on them that will install the cdrom drivers and modify the autoexec.bat and config.sys files for you.


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## angelface5 (Oct 29, 2002)

OK I was wondering why it didn't show in bios. I don't have the origanal floppy for the sound card. But I got a driver for a creative cd-rom. Will that work?


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## Lurker1 (Jan 30, 2001)

If the driver is a DOS driver and the correct one. 
You can always try it. You will also need to load mscdex and change the autoexec.bat and config.sys files. This post gives an example.

http://forums.techguy.org/showthread.php?postid=175676#post175676

If you can post the exact model of the cdrom and the sound card (model and type) some one here may be able to find the drivers for it.


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## angelface5 (Oct 29, 2002)

It is a Creative, model No. E2550UA, FCC ID: ADTE2550UA. The soud card is also Creative technologies, CT1745A '92, 9426. I may be able to get a driver, myself. If not then maybe someone here. Thanks.


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## Lurker1 (Jan 30, 2001)

It looks like you can find the cdrom driver here half way down the page. You will probably have to join the driverguide.com site to get the download.

http://www.cdrom-drivers.com/companies/258.htm


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