SO... I bought a new notebook in September and as you know, they don't come with floppy drives anymore. My 7 year old Gateway didn't support my flashdrive stick thing so in order to get my thousands and thousands of files from my laptop to my new notebook, I was taking it to the library and using floppy disk drives in the library computers along with my flashdrive. I've spent hours and hours working on this and still I haven't even transferred 30% of my files. SOOOOO now I try to turn my old Gateway on and this is what it says...

"VMM32.XD is required to run Windows. If this filw is not in your PATH, you may need to reinstall Windows."

I've had this thing for 7 years and I've never had this problem. I don't know why it did it, but what can I do??? I need those files before I reinstall Windows to get the laptop to turn on. BOOOO!!!

That's a pretty bad error but, if it really is only that file that it's having trouble with, then it could be relatively easy to fix. The error is actually referring to VMM32.VXD. Start the laptop from your Windows 98 Startup Disk (floppy) and choose the option to start the PC with CDROM support. At the command prompt, try typing copy a:\vmm32.vxd c:\windows and then press Enter. After that, repeat it with copy a:\vmm32.vxd c:\windows\system (because it's so long since I've done anything with Windows 98 that I can't remember where it is supposed to be copied to!).

If you get an error saying that the VMM32.VXD file cannot be found, then my guess that it's on the startup disk was wrong and we'll have to give you some different instructions.

Let us know how you get on

uuh. will that erase my files?? and umm haha what if i can't find my startup discs?? i think i lost those years ago. i'm probably screwed. is there a way to remove the hard drive and put it on another computer to remove my files??

No, that won't erase any of your files. If you don't have the Windows 98 Startup Disk on floppy disc, do you have the Windows 98 CD? Some of those are bootable.

You can fit the hard drive as a "slave" drive in another PC. You may have to configure the BIOS in the other PC to detect the second hard disk but, after that, Windows is likely to see the slave drive straight away, unless the other PC is running Windows 95 or some non-Windows operating system like Linux.

Oooh boy. So I found my Windows 98 cds and I tried copying the vmm32 file... that did not work. The file could not be found on any of the cds that I tried.

I actually found a bunch of sites on google about this and I tried all of those mentioned self-helps and they didn't work either. I hope reinstalling Windows isn't my only remaining option because I'll lose everything.

There isn't a way to copy files from a folder to a floppy while in ms-dos mode, is there?? IF it's like copying the vmm32 file, I would probably have to know the name of all of the files, right?... which I don't cuz there's hundreds of them.

Thank you so much for all of this btw.

Unfortunately, the VMM32.VXD is "built" dynamically when you install 98. It is also updated as you load software, drivers, etc.

NOTE: We will be using DOS to gather information about the problem system. DOS is very particular on syntax. You must use all spaces etc exactly as described or it will not work.


There are a few things to try, and somewhere along this process you will most likely need a 98 bootdisk. If you don't have a 98 bootdisk you can get one from my webspace; Win98SE Boot Disk*

Keep in mind this is for 98SE, and it's best if I know what version you're running. The date/time stamp on the majority of system files will be;

98FE = 11/24/1998 8:02 AM

98SE = 4/23/1999 10:22 PM

(c:\command.com and c:\io.sys being two of these files.... At the C:\> prompt type in dir/a/o/p and check the date and time stamps on these two files. This can be done from a MSDOS Prompt window.)

Please post this information.

If you are running 98FE, (or 98SE) and you have the CD as mentioned, (using a working Windows 9x machine) put the CD in the drive and navigate to

x:\tools\mtsutil\fat32ebd

and run the fat32ebd.exe file.

I have tried (successfully) to create a 98FE self extracting bootdisk file, however the Winimage software is trial only and I'd be violating laws by uploading it to my webspace for you to download. So, if you need a 98FE bootdisk and you somehow can't make one, you'll have to download one from either http://www.bootdisk.com or http://www.allbootdisks.com/index.ph...r&filecatid=10.

Onward.... Start your machine, it's understood you're getting the VMM32 error. The machine should end up at the C:\> prompt. Type in dir/a/s/p vmm32.vxd and hit Enter. The screen will pause between screens if required. If it finds the file on the machine it's most likely the path statement in c:\msdos.sys (or alternatively c:\autoexec.bat) is incorrect.

Type in edit msdos.sys and hit Enter. The files contents should look as follows (or very similar);

[Paths]
WinDir=C:\WINDOWS
WinBootDir=C:\WINDOWS
HostWinBootDrv=C

[Options]
BootMulti=1
BootGUI=1
DoubleBuffer=1
AutoScan=1
WinVer=4.10.2222
BootMenu=0
;
;The following lines are required for compatibility with other programs.
;Do not remove them (MSDOS.SYS needs to be >1024 bytes).
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxa
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxb
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxc
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxd
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxe
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxf
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxg
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxh
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxi
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxj
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxk
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxl
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxm
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxn
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxo
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxp
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxq
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxr
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxs

It's the [Paths] section we're interested in. If yours does not match what is listed above therein lies the problem.

You won't be able to change the file contents at this point if it's required. To exit the edit program, hit the Alt key (release), then the F key(release), then the X key(release), then the Enter key. You should be back at the C:\> prompt.

If you need to alter the msdos.sys contents the attributes must be changed first to allow this;

At the C:\> prompt, type in attrib -h -r -s msdos.sys and hit Enter.

Next, reopen the file again as described above and make the changes. Exit the file as described above.

Then type in (at C:\>) attrib +h +r +s msdos.sys and hit Enter to reset the attributes.

Post back your results to this point.




*The above bootdisk image file is a self extracting file and has to be executed (run) from a running Windows(9x) machine in order to create the actual startup diskette on one of your floppy disks. (This image file produces the same bootdisk which 98SE creates.) This downloaded image file will format the floppy disk to ensure its integrity, write the files to the disk, then verify the file write, so it'll take a minute or three to create the bootdisk.

Ensure the floppy drive is set as the first boot device in the bios. http://www.d-a-l.com/articles/library/23.html

NOTE: When you boot a machine with this boot floppy, it creates a RAMDRIVE in system memory to contain DOS system tools/drivers. Thus it will move your "normal" CDROM device/drive letter "up" one level. (If your CDROM is normally E: it will be F: when booting with this bootdisk.)

The path to the found CDROM will be set with the bootfiles, so entering A:\>f:\setup is the same as entering A:\>setup at the A:\> prompt. There is no need to include the cdrom drive letter. The CDROM device letter will be assigned near the end of the floppy boot process, right after MSCDEX is loaded.

Thanks Dan