Error Message When You Upgrade to Windows Me: "The Following File Is Missing or Corrupt" (268980)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
This article was previously published under Q268980

SYMPTOMS

When you upgrade your computer to Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me), at the end of the file copy portion of Setup, you receive the following error message:
The following file is missing or corrupt: Command.com. Type the name of the Command Interpreter.

CAUSE

This may occur when the Wininit.ini file is not processed.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this behavior, follow these steps:
  1. Restart your computer by inserting a Microsoft Windows 98 or more recent Emergency Boot Disk (EBD) in the floppy disk drive of your computer.
  2. Change to the C drive, and then at the MS-DOS prompt, type the following:

    cd windows

  3. Press Enter.
  4. At the MS-DOS prompt, type the following

    edit wininit.ini

    to verify that there are still items in the Wininit.ini file that are unprocessed.
  5. Press ALT, and then use the arrow key to choose Exit from the File menu, and then press Enter.
  6. At the MS-DOS prompt, type the following

    wininit

    and then press Enter.
  7. You should receive the following message on your computer screen: 
    Please wait while setup updates your configuration files. This may
take a few minutes ...<BR/>
Completed updating files, continuing to load windows.
  8. Remove the Emergency Boot Disk from the floppy disk drive.
  9. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart your computer.

    The Setup program proceeds normally.

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Millennium Edition do not allow a .dll file to be replaced if the .dll file is currently loaded into memory. To solve this problem, Setup must copy the new .dll files to the your computer, giving each new .dll file a temporary name that is different from that of the corresponding former .dll file. Setup must also copy a file, called Wininit.ini, to your computer. The Wininit.ini file is processed by the Wininit.exe program when the system is restarted, before any .Dll files are loaded. The Wininit.ini file specifies the destination path and filename for each new .dll file.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:1/14/2006
Keywords:kbprb KB268980
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