ARCHIVED: In Windows 95 or 98, how do I access my CD-ROM drive under safe mode?

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Note: UITS recommends that you use a current version of Windows on computers connected to the Indiana University network; see Recommended Windows operating systems at IU.

Ordinarily, when you boot your Windows 95 or 98 computer into Safe Mode, you will be unable to use the CD-ROM drive. However, you may find it useful to have access to the CD-ROM drive while in Safe Mode, so that you can troubleshoot problems installing Windows from CD-ROM, for example, or to try to determine if CD-ROM problems also occur in Safe Mode. For more information about booting into Safe Mode, see the Knowledge Base document ARCHIVED: How can I run Windows 95, 98, or Me in Safe Mode?

To make your CD-ROM drive accessible in Safe Mode, you will need to install real mode CD-ROM drivers and invoke them during Safe Mode startup. However, be aware that the real mode drivers may not allow CD audio for connected sound cards.

The following instructions assume you have not yet installed real mode CD-ROM drivers on your computer. If you have already installed real mode drivers, skip to the section below labeled Invoking real mode drivers in Safe Mode.

You will need a Windows 98 startup disk. This is a disk containing the necessary files to start Windows with a command prompt. It also contains a set of generic real mode drivers that you can use to run many CD-ROM drives in DOS or Safe Mode. The Windows 95 startup disk does not by default contain these real mode drivers, so you must use a Windows 98 startup disk or modify a Windows 95 startup disk. For information on how to create a Windows 98 startup disk, see the Knowledge Base document ARCHIVED: In Windows 95, 98, or Me, how do I make a startup (system recovery) disk? For information about modifying a Windows 95 startup disk, see article 138991 in Microsoft's knowledge base.

Testing the real mode drivers on your computer

Follow the steps below to test your system to make sure that it can use the real mode drivers provided by Microsoft on the Windows startup disk:

  1. Restart your computer by using the Windows 98 startup disk. On the Startup menu, choose Start Computer With CD-ROM Support. The CD-ROM drive will usually be mapped to the letter after the normal letter (e.g., if the CD-ROM drive is normally drive D:, it may be mapped as drive E:). This information will be displayed near the end of the boot process as "MSCDEX driver mapped to drive X," where X is the temporary drive letter.
  2. Insert a CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive, and at the command prompt, enter the following:
      dir drive_letter:
    Replace drive_letter with your computer's actual drive letter.
  3. If you can retrieve a directory of the CD-ROM, the real mode drivers work with your CD-ROM drive. If you cannot retrieve a directory, you must use the drivers that are included with your CD-ROM drive, or download them from the manufacturer's web site, if they are available.

If the test went successfully, then follow the directions below to copy the real mode drivers to the hard drive so they can be made available to Safe Mode:

  1. If you have not already done so, restart your computer by using the Windows 98 startup disk.
  2. Create a new folder on your hard drive, then copy files to the new folder. To do so, type the following lines, pressing Enter after each line:
      c: 
      mkdir rmcd 
      cd rmcd 
      a: 
      copy aspi2dos.sys c:
      copy aspi4dos.sys c:
      copy aspi8dos.sys c:
      copy aspi8u2.sys c:
      copy aspicd.sys c:
      copy btdosm.sys c:
      copy btcdrom.sys c:
      copy flashpt.sys c:
      copy himem.sys c:
      copy oakcdrom.sys c:
      copy c:\windows\command\mscdex.exe c:\rmcd
      c:
      dir
    There should be 11 files in the new folder.
  3. Make backup copies of your autoexec.bat and config.sys files (if they exist). To do so, type the following lines at the command prompt, pressing Enter after each command:
      c:
      cd \
      copy autoexec.bat autoexec.sav
      copy config.sys config.sav
  4. Open the autoexec.bat file by entering edit autoexec.bat, then add the following line to the file:
      lh c:\rmcd\mscdex.exe /d:mscd001
  5. From the File menu, select Save, and then again from the File menu, select Exit.
  6. Open the config.sys file by entering edit config.sys, then look for a line that includes "himem.sys". If such a line does not exist, add the following line to the file:
      device=c:\rmcd\himem.sys /testmem:off
  7. Add the following lines to the config.sys file:
      device=c:\rmcd\oakcdrom.sys /D:mscd001
      device=c:\rmcd\btdosm.sys
      device=c:\rmcd\flashpt.sys
      device=c:\rmcd\btcdrom.sys /D:mscd001
      device=c:\rmcd\aspi2dos.sys
      device=c:\rmcd\aspi8dos.sys
      device=c:\rmcd\aspi4dos.sys
      device=c:\rmcd\aspi8u2.sys
      device=c:\rmcd\aspicd.sys /D:mscd001
      device=c:\rmcd\flashpt.sys
      files=10
      buffers=10
      dos=high,umb
      stacks=9,256
      lastdrive=z
  8. From the File menu, select Save, and then again from the File menu, select Exit.
  9. Remove the startup disk and restart your computer normally.

Invoking real mode drivers in Safe Mode

To invoke the real mode CD-ROM drivers while in Safe Mode, follow the instructions below:

  1. Restart your computer and get to a command prompt. To do so in Windows 95, when you see the "Starting Windows 95" message, press F8, and then choose Command Prompt Only from the Startup menu. To do so in Windows 98, when you restart your computer, press and hold Ctrl, and then choose Command Prompt Only from the Startup menu.
  2. At the command prompt, enter the following:
      win /d:m

The information in this document was adapted from Microsoft knowledge base articles 194846 and 190303.

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Last modified on 2018-01-18 13:26:52.