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Methods of extracting files and cabs: |
There is no easy way to make a copy of the .cab files from the CD to a diskette. The .cab file is approx 1.7 Mb, while a 3.5" floppy normally holds only 1.44Mb. Microsoft uses a proprietary method (called MDF) to write the larger file size to the 3.5" diskette. So we on the outside are stuck. All is not lost, however, you can copy all the .cab files from the Win95/98 CD to a directory on your hard disk and run setup from there. It runs faster that way too.
METHOD 1:
1. Copy Extract.exe to C:
2. Create new directory c:\Cabs In the Window Explorer.
3. From Windows Explorer click view\options\file types tab,
click the New type button, edit under:
4. Description of type: Cab Files
5. Association extension: Cab
6. Click the New button and edit under:
Action : Open and edit in (Application: c:\extract.exe /e /L c:\cabs)
7. Then Click OK, close, close.
All you have to do to extract a cab just double click the .cab file
and it will extract to c:\Cabs
METHOD 2:
To Extract One File Or Use Wild Cards i.e.; *.
To extract from CD, 1st Change Directories to the X:\WIN95> prompt,
where X is your CD-ROM's drive letter.
Then type the following:
Example:
EXTRACT /A /L C:\Windows\System WIN95_02.CAB KERNEL32.DLL
You can substitute WIN95_02.CAB with PRECOPY1.CAB.
I always send my extracted files to a directory I created called C:\INSTALL.
So the above line:
EXTRACT /A /L C:\Windows\System WIN95_02.CAB [filename]
would read EXTRACT /A /L C:\INSTALL WIN95_02.CAB [filename]
Your line for extracting would be
X:\WIN95>EXTRACT /A /L C:\Windows\System PRECOPY1.CAB [filename]
For your future reference you can do this one time and have a text file
with all you CD's files, and where they are. This will create a directory
called C:\EXTRACT. You can save the text file and delete the Directory.
BAT FILE TO EXTRACT TO TEXT ALL THE FILES IN .CAB's
@C:
@CD\
@MD \EXTRACT
@FOR %%x IN (E:\WIN95\*.CAB) DO EXTRACT /D %%x >> C:\EXTRACT\LISTCAB.TXT
@EDIT C:\EXTRACT\LISTCAB.TXT
If you have about 30MB of hard drive space to spare, you may wish to copy the Windows 95 CAB files from the installation CD to your local drive. That way, you won't need the CD to make changes (such as installing a component).
The one annoyance with that is every time Windows 95 wants the CD for
something, it will prompt the user to enter the correct path. You can resolve
this problem by editing the Windows 95 Registry.
(As always, back up your Registry files--User.dat and System.dat, both
hidden files in the Windows folder--first.)
Open the registry Editor (select Start, Run, type
regedit
and click OK).
Navigate your way to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup. In the right pane, next to SourcePath, you'll see the path D:\win95 (or wherever you installed Windows from originally). Change it to the folder to which you copied the CAB files--right-click SourcePath, select Modify, type the correct path on the Value data line, and click OK. Reboot your system, and Windows 95 will never complain that it can't find the CD again.
More on .cab files
Without sacrificing much more space on your hard drive--32.2 MB, as opposed to 29.6 MB--you can copy the entire Win95 folder, including the setup files, from the CD to a local drive. This can be done on computers that have multiple drives, storing the Win95 folder on a drive other than the one where Windows is installed (in my case, C:\). Then, any reinstallation of Windows is a breeze. I just 'format /s' the C drive and run setup.exe from the Win95 folder (on the other drive). No CD-ROM is necessary, and the installation is really fast. (For best performance, I try to keep my C drive as clean as possible--I install programs and store data on drives other than C.)"
Note: This tip is intended for advanced users only. I don't recommend this reinstallation technique unless you really know what you're doing!
How to reinstall the Windows 98 updates downloaded from the Windows Update Page. By Tom Porterfield - tpp@m9.sprynet.com
As you know, when you download an update from the Windows update page, it installs automatically after the file has finished downloading. But what if you want to install that same update on another PC. Or what if you want to save the files that were downloaded so that you can reinstall them later if need be without having to download them all over again. This can be done with a little planning.
Before you go to Windows update, empty your internet cache folders.
Right click on the Internet Explorer icon on the desktop and choose Properties. You can also get there by running IE and clicking on View > Internet Options. On the General tab under Temporary Internet Files, hit the Delete Files button. This will make it easier to identify and copy out the files that get downloaded from the update site.
Now, go to the Windows update site and download the updates that you want. During the download, watch the Temporary Internet Files folder. You should be able to tell which files it is downloading to do the updates. They are *.cab files or *.exe files. Once the files have downloaded, copy them to a directory for storage. If you can't find them in the Temporary Internet Files folder, do a search for an msdownload.tmp directory on your PC after they have finished downloading, you may find them there.
The Windows Update will automatically install the files once they are finished downloading. However, reinstalling them is not as automatic is it should be, but we'll find a way around that as well.
For the *.exe files, it is easy to reinstall this update. Simply double (or single) click on the exe file and it will reinstall. For the *.cab files, there is a little more to it. To start with, you will need to extract the contents of the cab file to a temporary directory.
Since cabview is built into Windows 98, this requires nothing more than double (or single) clicking on the cab file, selecting all of the contents, and choose Extract from the File menu. Extract them to a temporary folder.
One of the files that gets extracted is a *.inf (setup information) file. The usual procedure is to right click on the file and choose Install. This won't work on some of the files downloaded from the update page. They are a new type if inf file that we will call an "advanced inf file." These require a little more to install. After digging through some of the dlls on my machine, I found this command will work to install:
RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection <inf file(required)>,<inf section(optional)>
So, to install the advanced inf files, you will need to run this command from a MS-DOS window, supplying the name of the inf file as the first parameter, the second parameter is not needed.
Now for the way to automate this. You can create a simple batch file that will extract the contents of the cab files and install the updates using the inf files. To do this, first copy the *.cab files to a temporary directory. Next, use notepad to create the batch file and copy and paste these two line into the file:
for %%1 in (*.cab) do extract %%1 /E
for %%2 in (*.inf) do RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %%2
Run the batch file in the temporary folder containing the *.cab files and it will first extract everything from the cab file and then install the update using the advanced inf file. You can use this to either reinstall the updates if you ever need to reinstall 98, or to copy the downloaded updates to another machine and install them there without having to redownload the updates.
Microsoft Windows 95
Microsoft Windows 98
Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 4.0, 4.01 for Windows 95
Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 4.0, 4.01 for Windows NT 4.0
Windows 95/98 is available on CD-ROM or floppy disks, both of which contain compressed cabinet files. Internet Explorer 4.0 and later is available on CD-ROM or you can download it from the Web, and it also contains compressed cabinet files. These cabinet files contain the actual Windows or Internet Explorer files. You can use the Extract tool to decompress Windows or Internet Explorer files from the original media, or you can use the new System File Checker or Extract Command Line Helper tool in Windows 98. This article describes how to extract individual files from compressed cabinet files and contains the following sections:
* Location of Cabinet Files
* Extracting Windows Files from an Unknown Cabinet File
* Finding Windows Files
* Extracting Windows Files from a Known Cabinet File
* Listing the Contents of Cabinet Files
* Copying Cabinet Files to a Hard Disk
* Other Optional Switches
The following sections apply only to Windows 98:
* System File Checker Tool
* Using a Windows 98 Startup Disk to Access a CD-ROM and Extract Files
* Using the Ext.exe Tool to Extract Files
The following section applies only to Internet Explorer 4.0 and 4.01:
* Extracting Individual Internet Explorer 4.0 or 4.01 Files
NOTE: Internet Explorer 4.0 and later, and Windows 98, use a new compression
algorithm for compressed cabinet files. You cannot extract files from Internet
Explorer 4.0 or 4.01 or Windows 98 cabinet files using the version of Extract.exe
included with Windows 95. You must use the version of Extract.exe included
with Internet Explorer 4.0 or 4.01 or Windows 98. For additional
information, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
ARTICLE-ID: Q171241
TITLE : Cannot Manually Extract Files from Cabinet Files
To use the Extract tool, first copy the Extract.exe file from disk 1 to the root folder of drive C if you are using Windows 95. Note that you can skip this step if you are using Windows 98 and you have already created a Windows 98 Startup disk. To create a Windows 98 Startup disk, see the "Using a Windows 98 Startup Disk to Access a CD-ROM and Extract Files" section of this article. To copy the Extract.exe file from disk 1 to the root folder of drive C, type the following command at the MS-DOS prompt
copy <sdrive>:\extract.exe <hdrive>:\
where <sdrive> is the drive that contains the Windows 95 CD-ROM or disk and <hdrive> is your hard disk.
For example:
copy a:\extract.exe c:\
The Extract tool has only a command-line interface (that is, there is no GUI interface). Because Windows does not allow you to delete or overwrite a file that is in use, you may have to restart your computer in Command Prompt Only mode before you can use the Extract tool. If you receive an "Access denied" error message when you try to delete a file before using the Extract tool, or when you use the Extract tool to overwrite an existing file, follow these steps to restart your computer in Command Prompt Only mode and then use the Extract tool:
1.Click Start, and then click Shut Down.
2.Click Restart or Restart The Computer, and then click OK or Yes.
3.If you are using Windows 95, when you see the "Starting Windows 95" message, press the F8 key, and then choose Command Prompt Only. If you are using Windows 98, when you restart your computer, press and hold the CTRL key until you see the Windows 98 Startup menu, and then choose Command Prompt Only.
LOCATION OF CABINET FILES
From a CD-ROM:
If you are extracting Windows files from a CD-ROM, all of the cabinet files are located in the Win95 or Win98 folder. For example, if you want to extract a Windows 95 file from the Win95_02.cab file, and the CD-ROM drive is drive D, use the following <cabinet> parameter for the EXTRACT command:
d:\win95\win95_02.cab
From Disks:
If you are extracting Windows 95 files from disks, use the following table to determine which disk contains the cabinet file you want:
Cabinet File Disk
-----------------------
Mini.cab Disk 1
Precopy1.cab Disk 1
Precopy2.cab Disk 2
Win95_nn.cab Disk nn
For example, if you want to extract a file from the Win95_10.cab file on a disk in drive A, insert disk 10 in drive A and use the following <cabinet> parameter for the EXTRACT command:
a:\win95_10.cab
EXTRACTING WINDOWS FILES FROM AN UNKNOWN CABINET FILE
Extracting a Single File:
If you do not know which cabinet file contains the Windows file you want to extract, use the following command to search all the cabinet files in sequential order and then extract the file once it is found:
extract /a <cabinet> <filename> /l <destination>
For example, to extract the Unidrv.dll file from disks in drive A into the Windows\System folder on drive C, use the following command:
extract /a a:\win95_02.cab unidrv.dll /l c:\windows\system
The /a switch causes the Extract tool to search all the cabinet files starting with the first cabinet file mentioned on the command line (in this example, Win95_02.cab). Insert the disk containing the first cabinet file mentioned in the appropriate disk drive. You will be prompted to insert additional disks as they are needed. If you are extracting from a CD-ROM you must modify the <cabinet> parameter accordingly to reflect the actual location of the cabinet files.
NOTE: In Windows 98, you should use the Base4.cab file in command lines with the /a parameter.
If the Extract tool cannot find the specified Windows 95 file in any
of the cabinet files, the file may be located in the Mini.cab, Precopy1.cab,
or Precopy2.cab cabinet file.
Use the following two commands to search these cabinet files:
* extract /a a:\precopy1.cab <filename> /l <destination>
* extract a:\mini.cab <filename> /l <destination>
NOTE: The first command searches the Precopy1.cab and the Precopy2.cab cabinet files. The second command searches the Mini.cab cabinet file. If you are extracting from a CD-ROM, you must modify the <cabinet> parameter in these commands accordingly.
Extracting Multiple Files:
To extract multiple files, use the same syntax as above, but use a wildcard designation for the <filename> parameter. For example, to extract all the Windows 95 files with a .txt extension from disks in drive A to the Windows folder on drive C, use the following command:
extract /a a:\win95_02.cab *.txt /l c:\windows
Note that if you are extracting from a CD-ROM, you must modify the <cabinet> parameter in this command accordingly.
FINDING WINDOWS FILES
Finding a Single File:
You can use the Extract tool to determine which cabinet file contains a particular Windows file. When you use this syntax, the Extract tool searches the cabinet files but does not extract the file once it is found:
extract /a /d <cabinet> <filename>
For example, to find the Windows 95 Unidrv.dll file, starting with the
Win95_02.cab file, using disks in the A drive, use the following
command:
extract /a /d a:\win95_02.cab unidrv.dll
Finding Multiple Files:
To find multiple files, use the same syntax as above, but use a wildcard designation for the <filename> parameter. For example, to find all the Windows 95 files with a .txt extension using disks in the A drive, use the following command:
extract /a /d a:\win95_02.cab *.txt
EXTRACTING WINDOWS FILES FROM A KNOWN CABINET FILE
Extracting a Single File:
If you know which cabinet file contains the file you want to extract, use the following syntax to extract the file:
extract <cabinet> <filename> /l <destination>
For example, to extract the Windows 95 Unidrv.dll file from the Win95_10.cab file on a disk in drive A to the Windows\System folder on drive C, use the following command:
extract a:\win95_10.cab unidrv.dll /l c:\windows\system
Extracting Multiple Files:
To extract multiple files from a cabinet file, use the same syntax as above, but use a wildcard designation for the <filename> parameter. For example, to extract all the Windows 95 files that have a .txt extension from the Win95_06.cab file on a disk in drive A to the Windows folder on drive C, use the following command:
extract a:\win95_06.cab *.txt /l c:\windows\system
LISTING THE CONTENTS OF CABINET FILES
You can use the Extract tool to list the contents of cabinet files without actually extracting any files. To display the contents of a cabinet file, use the following syntax:
extract /d <cabinet>
To display the contents of all the cabinet files in a cabinet chain, starting with the specified cabinet file, use the following syntax:
extract /a /d <cabinet>
For example, to display the contents of all the Windows 95 cabinet files using disks in drive A, starting with the Win95_02.cab file, use the following command:
extract /a /d a:\win95_02.cab
NOTE: The /a switch causes the Extract tool to list the contents of all the cabinet files in the cabinet chain, starting with the first cabinet file mentioned.
COPYING CABINET FILES TO A HARD DISK
Although you cannot make copies of the original Windows 95 floppy disks using the utilities that are included with Windows 95, you can use the Extract tool to copy cabinet files from a CD-ROM or floppy disk to your hard disk. To do so, use the following syntax:
extract /c <cabinet> <destination>
For example, to copy the Win95_02.cab file from a disk in drive A to the Windows folder on drive C, use the following command:
extract /c a:\win95_02.cab c:\windows
NOTE: You cannot use the /a and /c switches at the same time. Therefore, you cannot copy all the cabinet files using a single command.
OTHER OPTIONAL SWITCHES
* Use the /y switch to cause the Extract tool to not prompt you before overwriting an existing file. If you use this switch when you are extracting a file, any file in the destination folder with the same name as the file you are extracting is automatically overwritten.
For example, to extract the Unidrv.dll file from the Win95_02.cab file on a disk in drive A to the Windows\System folder on drive C and automatically overwrite any existing Unidrv.dll file that is already there, use the following command:
extract /y /a a:\win95_02.cab unidrv.dll /l c:\windows\system
* Use the /e switch in place of the "*.*" wildcard designation when you are extracting or finding multiple files. For example, to extract all the files from the Win95_06.cab file on a disk in drive A to the Windows folder on drive C, use either of the following commands:
* extract /e a:\win95_06.cab /l c:\windows
* extract a:\win95_06.cab *.* /l c:\windows
For a complete list of the command-line switches for the Extract tool, type "extract" (without quotation marks) at a command prompt.
SYSTEM FILE CHECKER TOOL
Windows 98 includes a System File Checker tool. You can use this tool to verify the integrity of your operating system files, to restore them if they are damaged, or to extract compressed files from the Windows 98 CD-ROM. To use System File Checker to extract a compressed file from the Windows 98 CD-ROM, follow these steps:
1.Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Information.
2.On the Tools menu, click System File Checker.
3.Click "Extract one file from installation disk," type the name of the file you want to extract in the "Specify the system file you would like to restore" box, and then click Start.
4.In the Restore From box, type the path to the Win98 folder on the Windows 98 CD-ROM, type the destination folder in the Save File In box if necessary, and then click OK.
5.Click OK, click OK, and then click Yes when you are prompted to restart your computer.
NOTE: If you do not specify a source cabinet (.cab) file in the Restore From box, System File Checker first searches for the file you are extracting in the specified folder (outside of a cabinet file). System File Checker then searches all cabinet files, sorted by MS-DOS directory order, in the specified folder. System File Checker extracts the first instance of the file it finds. To determine the order in which System File Checker searches cabinet files, type "dir" (without quotation marks) at a command prompt in the specified folder.
USING A WINDOWS 98 STARTUP DISK TO ACCESS A CD-ROM AND EXTRACT FILES
When you install Windows 98, you are prompted to create a Windows 98 Startup disk. A feature included in the Windows 98 Startup disk is support for CD-ROM drives. This may be of benefit if you need to extract a file from the Windows 98 CD-ROM but you are unable to use System File Checker (for example, if your computer does not start properly).
NOTE: The Windows 98 Startup disk provides support for most types of CD-ROM drives, including IDE and SCSI CD-ROM drives, but it may not support your particular CD-ROM drive.
A Windows 98 Startup disk is required to perform the steps in the following sections of this article. If you do not have one, you can create one using any Windows 98-based computer to which you have access. To create a Windows 98 Startup disk, follow these steps:
1.Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double- click Add/Remove Programs.
2.Click the Startup Disk tab, click Create Disk, and then follow the instructions on the screen.
How to Start Your Computer with CD-ROM Support and Then Extract Files:
To start your computer with CD-ROM support and then extract files, use the following steps:
1.Insert the Windows 98 Startup disk in drive A, and then restart your computer.
2.When the Microsoft Windows 98 Startup menu appears, choose Start Computer With CD-ROM Support.
3.Insert the Windows 98 CD-ROM in the CD-ROM drive.
4.To extract files at the command prompt, you can use the information provided earlier in this article, or you can use the Extract Command Line Helper tool. To use Extract Command Line Helper, type "ext" (without quotation marks) at the command prompt, and then follow the instructions on the screen.
USING THE EXT.EXE TOOL TO EXTRACT FILES
The Ext.exe tool builds a command line for the Extract.exe tool. It is located on the Windows 98 Startup disk.
To extract a file from a .cab file, run the Ext.exe program from your Windows 98 Startup disk, and follow the instructions on the screen to extract the file you want.
EXTRACTING INDIVIDUAL INTERNET EXPLORER 4.0 OR 4.01 FILES
Internet Explorer 4.0 and 4.01 files are stored in cabinet files within cabinet files. Individual files are stored in the Ie4_1.cab through Ie4_5.cab files for Windows 95 and Ie4nt_1.cab through Ie4nt_5.cab files for Windows NT. The Ie4_1.cab through Ie4_5.cab (and Ie4nt_1.cab through Ie4nt_5.cab) files are included in the Ie4_s1.cab through Ie4_s5.cab (and Ie4nt_s1.cab through Ie4nt_s5.cab) files. To extract individual files, you must first extract the Ie4_<n>.cab (or Ie4nt_<n>.cab) file. To do this, type the following command at a command prompt, and then press ENTER
extract ie4_s<n>.cab /e
where <n> is the number of the cabinet file you want to extract.
To extract individual Internet Explorer 4.0 or 4.01 files, follow the
appropriate Windows 95 procedure listed earlier in this article using the
Ie4_<n>.cab files.
Cabinet files are compressed packages containing a number of related files. The format of a cabinet file is optimized for maximum compression. Cabinet files on the Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows 98 Second Edition CD-ROMs contain the actual Windows files.
You can extract individual files from the cabinet files to replace missing
or corrupted files.