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Old WIN 98 computer won't oot all the way

jt3219 tompkins 0 Reputation points
2025-09-03T03:34:49.8833333+00:00

I'm downsizing so I went down to the basement to toss things I haven't touched in yrs. I came across a old PC with WIN XP and it was upgrades to WIN 10. I also found a old drive with WIN 98 on it. My plan is to pull off pictures and some documents.

The PC has not been turned on for about 8yrs. I turned it on but no boot. No beep. Nothing. I took out the cmos battery and it did boot. I remembered something like this on a computer I had 20yrs ago and it did the same.

I got what I wanted off the drive and decided to put in the old 98 drive. It boots but says "The Windows registry or System.INI file refers to this device file but the device file no longer exists". I'm missing a vredir.vxd and dfs.vxd file. I can't get it to boot from the 98 disk. The CD does not run.

I can boot to safe mode but I'm lost there. I have the motherboard disk. Any suggestions?

Thanks

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Performance and system failures
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  1. Hendrix-V 5,330 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2025-09-03T08:19:56.62+00:00

    Hi jt3219 tompkins,

    Thank you for sharing the details of what you’ve tried so far, that was a great effort on your part! I understand how important those old photos and documents are, and I’m here to help you get through this smoothly.

    From what you described, the missing vredir.vxd and dfs.vxd files are part of Windows 98’s networking components. When they’re missing, Windows tries to load them and throws the error you’re seeing. The good news is that since you can boot into Safe Mode, we have a few options for you to try:

    If your main goal is to recover files, you don’t need to fully repair Windows 98:

    • Use a USB-to-IDE adapter or connect the drive to another PC to copy your files.

    If you want Windows 98 to boot normally, please follow these steps carefully:

    1 - Remove Broken Network Components

    • In Safe Mode, go to Control Panel → Network.
    • Remove Client for Microsoft Networks (if listed), then reboot.

    2 - Restore Missing Files

    If your CD drive works, boot with CD-ROM support and extract the files:

    • Enter these lines into the DOS prompt:

    extract /y X:\win98\win98_XX.cab vredir.vxd c:\windows\system

    extract /y X:\win98\win98_XX.cab dfs.vxd c:\windows\system

    (Replace X: with your CD drive letter.)

    If the CD doesn’t work, copy the Win98 folder from the CD to the hard drive using another PC and point the extraction there.

    3 - Disable References (Temporary Workaround)

    • Edit System.ini in Safe Mode.
    • Add ; at the start of any line referencing vredir.vxd or dfs.vxd.
    • Reboot.

    I look forward to receiving your update and I'm willing to collaborate with you till we resolve the issue. Please keep me informed.

    Best regards,

    Hendrix Vu | Microsoft Q&A Support Specialist

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