Member Avatar for osa

Hi,
tried several times to install Win 98 SE on an 'old' Compaq portable PC :mad:
But I keep receiving all following messages:
1) vredir.vxd is missing
2) dfs.vxd is missing
3) msup32.dll is missing
Then it is asking to copy files from Win 98 SE CD (which is in the disk drive)
4) is missing
5) is missing
6) is missing
7) is missing
8) ksuser.dll is missing
9) is missing
10) ess.sys is missing
11) ipcfgdll.dll is missing

I would greatly :D appreciate if somebody could point me out to where should I get these files from

thanks !
ciao
Daniele

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Short summary and context.

The error list that saw (vredir.vxd, dfs.vxd, msup32.dll, the various ks*.ax / ksuser.dll files, ess.sys, ipcfgdll.dll) is classic for either a damaged/non‑readable install CD or a non‑retail (OEM/restore) image that doesn’t include every retail CAB/driver. Copying the Win98 installation files to the hard drive and running setup from there — the approach reports — is a well‑known, reliable workaround when the CD drive or disc are the problem. (windowsreinstall.com)

Practical checklist (minimal, immediately useful).

  • Try a different optical drive or clean the drive lens; a slow/failing drive often drops files during setup.
  • If the Win98 CD is available, copy the CD’s WIN98 folder to the hard disk and run setup from that folder (this removes the CD read dependency). (windowsreinstall.com)
  • To restore just the missing network VXD files, extract them from the Win98 CAB using the built‑in extractor. Example (replace X: and the CAB name as appropriate):
    extract /y X:\win98\win98_XX.cab vredir.vxd c:\windows\system
extract /y X:\win98\win98_XX.cab dfs.vxd c:\windows\system

    Microsoft’s guidance shows this approach when the installer can’t read files from CD. (learn.microsoft.com)

What the specific filenames usually mean.

  • vredir.vxd / dfs.vxd are part of Windows 98’s networking stack (Client for Microsoft Networks); restoring them from the CAB or removing the broken network entry in Control Panel -> Network fixes those boot messages. (learn.microsoft.com)
  • ksproxy.ax / ksuser.dll are kernel‑streaming / DirectShow (DirectX) components used by multimedia drivers; missing copies usually come from DirectX or the hardware vendor’s multimedia package. (learn.microsoft.com)
  • ess.sys is an ESS audio device driver (OEM audio); if it’s missing the OEM or card driver pack is the right source. (soundcard-drivers.com)

Safety and final notes.

Avoid downloading DLLs or SYS files from random “DLL download” sites — they’re often unsafe or incompatible; prefer the retail Win98 SE media, the hardware vendor’s driver pack, or the official DirectX installer. If the immediate goal is file recovery rather than repair, mount or attach the old drive to another machine (USB‑IDE adapter or secondary bay) and copy files off before reinstalling. (lifewire.com)

(References above point to community and Microsoft guidance that cover extraction, copying the WIN98 folder to the HDD, kernel‑streaming components, and safe recovery practices.)

Recommended Answers

All 3 Replies

Member Avatar for richh0323

Are you using a Windows 98SE disk or the Compaq restore disk? It does sound like you may have a bad disk. Let me know what one you are using.

Member Avatar for osa

Hi,
following some suggestions... :idea: I did the following:
- formatted C:
- then copied from the CD to the hard disk the Win98 folder
- then run the install directly from the hard disk

In this way the installation went perfectly ok: probably the CD reader is somehow faulty or slower than it should.

thanks anyway for the inputs! :mrgreen:
Daniele

Member Avatar for prof.thakur

Hi

1. i think that OS CD is not the original one if its original than it wont do like that. Original CD is a bootable one and it directly installs the OS
if ur disk is not installing the OS directly then probably its not the bootable one.Even it is bootable and if u r required to move to particular path and then say the command "setup" then its also is not a original CD.
U may have done it the following way

2. if it is copied to the CD from the other dump... then
this problem definately comes
u can install OS through it but after first boot it will check its default drive location and ie.. ur cd drive say "d:\". but if u copied entire OS in particular folder in the cd say "d:\newfolder" then during first boot
setup will automatically check its default drive and if it dont find any valid setup files then it will prompt u if u say cancel still it will continue
but problems will arise like what u said.

the best solution to this first copy entire OS into the HDD then
boot through bootable floppy or disk...
then go to that folder then type "setup"
installation will continue with out prompting any more errors for ever

after the complete installation install all those drivers and softwares
that came with ur system and other removable devices..

restart the system


the problem which u got before is that u skipped some drivers and cab files during installation. therfore u got thoase problems


any further help:::::::::

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