How to troubleshoot an "Incorrect Dos Version" error message.

Formatted my hard drive, I have no system disks. I have the upgrad CD of Win98 which will not work as my system is clean. Installed what portion of Win98 that I had which does not have the format command on it, so that I can delete that portion and start from scratch, which is Win3.1, upgrade to Win95, upgrade to Win98. Tried to install Dos Ver.6.2 which installed, but anything I try to install now gives me the message.,"Incorrect Dos Version".

At this point, not I can't even get to my C:\ prompt.

I really need a lot of help!!

Thanking you in advance for what ever light you can shed on this disaster.

Ann

This question was answered on June 8, 2005. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

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Unfortunately the question you posted was not clear and I’m not sure at this point what you would like to do I will provide you with as much information as possible to get you started.

To resolve the “Incorrect Dos Version” error message, rename the MS-DOS command in the root folder of your C drive To do so, use the following steps:

1 Click Start, point to Find, and then click Files or Folders

2 In the Named box, type the name of the MS-DOS command you want to run, and then click Find Now

3 Right-click the file (after you verify it is in the root folder of your C drive), and then click Rename

4 Rename the file to a .old extension, and then press ENTER

5 Quit the Find Files Or Folders tool

Here are some additional tips to follow:

If you are setting up Windows 98 over MS-DOS or a previous version of Windows, such as Windows 3.1:

1 Quit Windows

2 If you are setting up from floppy disks, insert Setup Disk 1 into the floppy drive, and then type the following at the command prompt:

a:scandisk.exe /all

where "a" is the drive that contains the Windows disk

3 If you are setting up from a CD, insert the CD, and then type the following:

d:\win98\scandisk.exe /all

where "d" is the drive that contains the CD

4 Follow the instructions on your screen, and fix any problems that ScanDisk finds

5 Start Windows, and then run Setup again

If you are setting up Windows 98 over a previous version of Windows 98 or Windows 95:

1 Quit Setup

2 On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click ScanDisk

3 Check your hard disks and any host drives you have for errors, and repair any problems found Be sure to do a complete surface scan on all your drives, or Setup may still find errors

Problems Running ScanDisk:

There are certain cases where ScanDisk may not be able to fix an issue or is producing errors

You are Running DriveSpace 3 Compression:

If Drvspace3 compression is installed on your system, you may be low on conventional memory To free up memory, you may try the following:

1. If you are running MS-DOS 6.x, you can run Memmaker.exe to free enough memory for ScanDisk to complete

2. See "INSTALLING WINDOWS 98 FROM MS-DOS" on how to perform a clean boot with more memory

3. Check your drives while running Windows 95

If you still don't have enough memory, or if you have other problems while Setup is running ScanDisk, you can bypass ScanDisk in Setup by running Setup with the /IS option To do this, type the following command:

setup /is

NOTE: Bypassing ScanDisk during Setup is not recommended If you do, there may be problems with your hard disk that could cause Windows 98 not to install or run correctly.

Creating a Windows 98 Startup Disk:

Create a Startup Disk by using the bootdisk.bat utility

1 Boot to an MS-DOS prompt

2 Change directories to your Windows\command directory

3 Run the Bootdisk.bat program that will prompt you to create a Startup Disk

This disk contains generic real-mode CD-ROM drivers that may be useful when running Setup again.

GOOD LUCK!

About the author

Posted by Kisha of Katharine Gibbs School - New York on June 8, 2005

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