Windows98 setup

Exploring the latest secrets and tips for using Windows 98 This month, IDG Books Worldwide released More Windows 98 Secrets, the eighth book I've authored or co-authored on Microsoft Windows. This all-new 800-pager includes everything my co-author, Davis Straub, and I have learned about Windows 98 since Windows 98 Secrets was published last year -- and that's a lot. For more, go to www.idgbooks.com/mw98s.

I plan to give away the top 10 secrets in this and upcoming columns. Here goes:

Undocumented Setup switches. Anyone can find out the documented Setup switches for Windows 98 and Windows 95 by going to support.microsoft.com/search and searching for article ID Q186111(NOTE: I have pasted this below!). However, there are two undocumented switches that you won't find there: Setup /NTLDR and Setup /nm.

Setup /NTLDR eliminates Windows' identification of previously installed versions of the OS. This can help you if you're stuck with a PC maker's crippled OEM/VAR Windows CD-ROM that will set up only on a new PC with no version of Windows installed. The switch ignores this limitation, enabling you to re-install Windows if necessary.

Setup /nm installs Windows, regardless of the "adequacy" of the processor. In other words, you can use this to install Windows on PCs that Microsoft has deemed "too old" (a 386 or a 486SX, for example).

Another documented but little-known switch is Setup /p f (the space between "p" and "f" is necessary). This builds a new Windows Registry. Running Setup with this switch deletes existing settings that may have been in the root branch of your Registry. For this reason, Setup /p f is useful only if your Registry is hopelessly corrupted and you cannot fix it with a backup. But in that event, this switch can be very, very useful indeed.

Our thanks to Anthony Kinyon for digging up this information.

Description of the Windows 95 and Windows 98 Setup Switches

The information in this article applies to: bullet Microsoft Windows 98 bullet Microsoft Windows 95

SUMMARY This article describes switches you can use with the Setup program in Windows 95 and Windows 98. Note that some of the switches can be used with both Windows 95 and Windows 98, and some can be used only with Windows 98.

MORE INFORMATION Windows 98 Only /m - This switch bypasses the playing of the Setup sound (.wav) files.

/na - This switch bypasses the program check and can use the following values:

        0: default
        1: No Windows-based program check, but MS-DOS-based program are
           blocked.
        2: No MS-DOS-based program check, Windows-based programs are
           blocked.
        3: No Windows-based or MS-DOS-based program check.

/nd - This switch ignores the presence of a Migration.dll file and is used

     to force Windows 98 to overwrite newer files.

     NOTE: Files that use the ",,,32" flag in the .inf file still
     force Windows 98 Setup to keep the newer files.

/nf - Do not prompt to remove the floppy disk from the drive (for bootable CD-ROMs)

      - Same as if there is a file named BOOTCD in the cabinet folder.

      - Same as if there is a "BootCD=1" line in the Msbatch.inf file.

/nh - This switch bypasses running the Hwinfo.exe program at 0 percent

     files and RunOnce. 

/nx - Do not check the version of Setupx that is running.

/ie - This switch bypasses the Windows 98 Startup Disk wizard screens. If

     this switch is used, the Windows\Command\EBD folder is not created.

/iv - This switch bypasses displaying the Setup screens during an upgrade

     within Windows. 

Windows 98 and Windows 95

/? - This switch provides a brief summary of the available Setup switches

     and the correct command-line syntax to use them.

/c - This switch bypasses running SMARTDrive.

/d - This switch bypasses using your existing Windows configuration

     (such as your current Win.ini and System.ini files).

/l - Use this switch if you have a Logitech mouse and want it enabled during Setup.

/n - This switch causes Setup to run without a mouse.

-s - Use this switch to use an alternate Setup.inf file.

/t:<dir> - This switch lets you specify where Setup copies its

          temporary files. WARNING: Any existing files in this
          folder are deleted. 

/ig - Allows Setup to run on some older Gateway and Micron computers with an early BIOS. /ih - This switch causes Setup to run ScanDisk in the foreground.

/im - Causes setup to ignore the conventional memory check. /iq - If you use the /is switch to bypass ScanDisk or ScanDisk fails,

     Setup checks your drive for cross-linked files. The /iq switch
     prevents Setup from doing this. 

/is - This switch causes Setup not to run ScanDisk. /it - This switch bypasses checking for the presence of "dirty" or

     "deadly" terminate-and-stay-resident programs (TSRs) that are known
     to cause problems with Windows Setup. 

/p - This switch causes Setup to pass string(s) directly to Detection

    Manager (or Sysdetmg.dll). Setup does not interpret the content of
    the string. The string can contain one or more detection options.

    The /p switch is not used by itself. For more information on
    the /p switch, please see the "/p Detection Switch Option String
    Defined" section below. 

/p Detection Switch Option String Defined bullet The string can contain one or more detection switches separated by a semicolon (;). For example, if you want to use "/p f" and "/p i" you type "setup /p f;i" (without quotation marks).

bullet Some switches are simply On/Off switches. The absence of the switch implies Off; the presence of the switch turns it On. A minus sign (-) appended immediately after a switch turns it Off.

bullet Some switches take parameters in the form of <c>=<params>. If there is more than one parameter to a switch, the parameters are separated by a comma (,).

bullet There must not be any spaces in the detection option string.

Valid Detection Switches: a - This switch enables safe detection. It tells each detection module

   to try safer detection methods. Safer detection methods may not
   detect devices correctly.

   The default during Setup is enabled. The default in other cases is
   disabled.

   Example: setup /p a

b - This switch enables Prompt Before mode. It prompts you before a

   detection module is called so that you can step through each
   detection module manually and decide if you want to skip it.

   The default is disabled.

   Example: setup /p b

c - This switch enables class detection. Class detection is a mechanism

   for finding hints for a certain class of devices. For example, adapter
   class detection looks for hints in the Config.sys and System.ini files
   for CD-ROM drivers. If it does not find any, Setup displays a CD-ROM
   check box asking if you have a CD-ROM drive.

   The default during Setup is enabled. The default when you use the
   Add New Hardware tool and docking/undocking detection is disabled.

   Example: setup /p c

c- - Setup /p c- disables safe class detection. For example, this switch

    tells Setup to always search on all network adapter cards, sound
    cards, and CD-ROM drives.

    Example: setup /p c-

d=<name> - This switch detects the listed detection modules only, where

          <name> is a detection module name or a device class name.

          Detection module names (such as DetectPIC and DetectAHA154x)
          are found in the Msdet.inf file. Device class names can be
          SCSIAdapter, net, and so on.

          Example: setup /p d=detectpic

e - This switch enables Setup mode detection.

   The default during Setup is enabled. The default in other cases is
   disabled.

   Example: setup /p e

f - This switch enables Clean Registry mode. It forces Detection to

   clean the root branch of the registry before starting. This switch
   is ignored when Setup is run in the Windows 95/98 graphical user
   interface (GUI). 

   The default is disabled.

   Example: setup /p f

g=<n> - This switch specifies the verbose level, where <n> is 0 to 3.

       This switch controls how verbose the built-in progress bar is. At
       maximum level (3), it shows all the resources of the detected
       devices along with the progress bar. This switch can help to
       identify which detection module causes a certain problem. For
       example, if your mouse stops responding (hangs) during detection
       but the system continues, there is no way to determine from the
       log files which module hung the mouse. By turning this option on
       and constantly moving the mouse during Setup, you can determine
       which module is running when the mouse hangs.

       The default is disabled (0).

       Example: setup /p g=3

i - This switch tells Setup not to report the existence of a Plug and

   Play BIOS. It is useful on computers that have a Plug and Play BIOS
   that is not reported in the Machine.inf file 

   Example: setup /p i

j - This switch tells Setup to undo the results of the "Setup /p i"

   switch. This switch should only be used after a computer that required
   "Setup /p i" has updated its Plug and Play BIOS.

   Example: setup /p j

   NOTE: In Windows 98, the "/p j" switch is required to enable ACPI
   support. Windows 98 maintains a BIOS list for ACPI computers, so as
   BIOS manufacturers create a new valid ACPI BIOS, this is the mechanism
   for causing Windows 98 to recognize it.

l=<n> - This switch specifies the logging level for Detlog.txt, where

       <n> is 0 to 3.

       The default is maximum logging (3).

       Example: setup /p l=0

m - This switch enables Mini-windows mode.

   This is enabled only when Setup is run under MS-DOS.

   Example: setup /p m

n - This switch enables No Recovery mode. This option can be used to

   turn off the Windows 95 Setup recovery mechanism (for example, this
   switch prevents the creation of the Detcrash.log file).

   The default is disabled.

   Example: setup /p n

o=<traceoutput> - This switch specifies the trace output. The information

                 is written to the Tracelog.txt file in the current
                 directory.

                 This option is available only in the Debug version of
                 Sysdetmg.dll.

                 Example: setup /p o

p - This switch enables performance logging. It writes performance

   timing information to the DETLOG.TXT file.

   The default is disabled.

   Example: setup /p p

r - This switch enables Recovery mode. It causes Detection to use the

   Detcrash.log file, if found, for recovery. If this switch is not
   enabled, Detection ignores and deletes Detcrash.log even if it is
   found.

   This switch is used if Safe Recovery is selected during Setup,
   otherwise it is not used.

   Example: setup /p r

s=<name> - This switch skips the listed detection modules or classes of

          detection modules, where <name> is a detection module name or a
          device class name.

          Detection module names (such as DetectPIC and DetectAHA154x)
          are in the Msdet.inf file. Device class names are SCSIAdapter,
          net, and so on.

          Example: setup /p s=detectpic

t=<n> - This switch specifies the trace level, where <n> is 0 to 9.

       The default is disabled (0).

       This option is available only in the Debug version of
       Sysdetmg.dll.

       Example: setup /p t=9

v - This switch enables Verify Only mode. Detection has two stages:

   1. Verify existing devices in the registry.

   2. Detect new devices.

   This switch tells Detection to perform only stage 1. This switch is
   used by the PCMCIA Wizard to verify legacy devices in the registry.

   The default is disabled.

   Example: setup /p v

x=<res list> - This switch excludes the listed resources from detection,

              where <res list> is one of four possibilities:

               - io(xxx-yyy,xxx-yyy,...)

               - mem(xxxxx-yyyyy,xxxxx-yyyyy,...)

               - irq(x,y,z,...)

               - dma(x,y,z,...)

               This switch protects resources so that no detection
               modules can access them.

               Example: setup /p x=io(300-30f,240-24f)