Sue -

> I tried reinstalling windows 98 and I
> cannot. It brings up an error message
> stating that Set up cannot create files on
> the start up drive and cannot set up windows
> 98. Apparently because it says there are too
> many files in the root directory of start up
> disk or start up disk remapped.

Mel is exactly right. The only way to fix this is to do as Mel suggested. (You might get lucky and discover what Jeff did but it's unlikely.) If your system says you have too many files in the root directory a couple of things could be going on.

1. The root directory (C:) allows only 512 entries. (I think that's still the limit in Win 98 since Win 98 actually boots DOS first.) Entries are files or subdirectories. So you could actually have too many files or subdirectories. To check this out, go ahead and boot in Safe mode. Open up an MS-DOS prompt window. At the
C:WINDOWS> prompt, type CD and press enter. This will take you to the root directory. Type DIR and press enter. At the end of the list it will tell you how many entries are in your root directory. If it's 512, you need to do some clean up work. Then you can proceed with Mel's suggestions. Otherwise, you'll have to proceed with step 2 here.

2. More likely is that there are bogus entries because of problems with the hard drive. I don't mean the hard drive per se although that can happen. What happens is that sometimes the directory structure gets hosed. That can be caused by a loss of power, software lock ups, you name it. The way to fix this is run a diagnostic utility like Scandisk or Norton Utilities. You should be able run Scandisk from Safe mode. Double click on the "My Computer" icon. Right click on the C: drive icon. Click on the Tools tab and run Scandisk.

If none of this works you're going to have to get professional computer help unless you know someone.

Rick Smith, "The Net Guerrilla"


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