Windows Err Msg: Setup Cannot Modify Your SYSTEM.INI...

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Windows operating system versions 3.0, 3.0a

SYMPTOMS

You may receive the following error message during the setup of Microsoft Windows version 3.0:

   Setup cannot modify your SYSTEM.INI. Delete WINVER.EXE and
   re-install Windows

CAUSE

This indicates that SETUP.EXE cannot modify or create the SYSTEM.INI file. However, you can't delete the WINVER.EXE file because it hasn't been created yet. The error message can be caused by the following:

• Making backups (DISKCOPY.COM) off of the original Windows 3.0 installation disks.
• Disk 1 of the Windows installation disks is corrupted.
• The computer system you are installing on has TSR (terminate-and-stay-resident) software, an improper configuration, or a similar problem.

WORKAROUNDS

Follow these troubleshooting steps:

1. Delete all the related Windows 3.0 files in the directory where Windows was partially installed.

2. Remove any TSR software from the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files.

3. Re-install off of the original disks if the backups were used for the corrupted installation or copy (do not use the DISKCOPY.COM file) the original files to preformatted disks and install from them.

4. If Disk 1 is corrupted, replace the disk and follow steps 1-3. To obtain a replacement disk, call Microsoft Product Support Services at (425) 637-7098.

MORE INFORMATION

The file SYSTEM.SRC is copied from the setup disks and renamed to SYSTEM.INI during Windows setup. If Windows SETUP.EXE cannot update the new SYSTEM.INI file with drivers and parameters, you will receive the above error message.

You can tell that the SYSTEM.SRC file is corrupted when you try to expand the file and get an error message indicating that this file is already expanded. The SYSTEM.SRC file is located on Disk 1 and has a compressed file size of 470 bytes. The expanded size should be 790 to 791 bytes in size.

If you do expand the SYSTEM.SRC file, load this file into a text editor (such as Notepad) and verify that the file is complete with no strange characters or missing sections. It is normal for some sections (such as the Nonwindowsapp and Standard sections) to have no entries under them. It is also normal that some drivers will have no entries for them.