DR DOS Policy and Workaround: Fault in MS-DOS Extender Error (83331)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 3.1
This article was previously published under Q83331

SUMMARY

This article discusses the use of Microsoft Windows version 3.1 with Digital Research DOS (DR DOS).

Microsoft can only ensure the stability of Microsoft Windows running on MS-DOS or PC-DOS versions 3.1 or later. Digital Research has released a software update for running Windows with DR DOS. Microsoft neither endorses nor ensures the stability of Microsoft Windows 3.1 running on DR DOS with or without the Digital Research software update.

Microsoft Windows version 3.1 may give the following message when it enters the graphical user interface (GUI) mode of Windows Setup:
Standard Mode: Fault in MS-DOS Extender
The error is caused by one of the following:

  • Attempting to set up Windows 3.1 on an operating system not formally tested by Microsoft, such as DR DOS.
  • The virtual control program interface (VCPI) server being used does not implement VCPI completely or correctly. (An example of a VCPI server is EMM386.EXE.)
Microsoft Windows 3.1 enters protected mode operation using DOSX.EXE during Setup. An operating system or VCPI server that is incompatible will cause DOSX.EXE to load improperly, thus causing Setup to fail and report:
Standard Mode: Fault in MS-DOS Extender

MORE INFORMATION

If this occurs when you are attempting to upgrade from Windows 3.0 to Windows 3.1, you will be unable to use Windows. The following set of instructions will allow you to return to a functional Windows 3.0 installation after a failed installation of Windows 3.1.

NOTE: These steps do NOT work if you have successfully completed the installation of Windows 3.1 or you have attempted to install Windows 3.1 more than once.

  1. Restart the computer to clear the machine state.
  2. Rename all the .INI files and .GRP files in the Windows directory to .INN and .GRN. For example, type the following at the MS-DOS command prompt:

    rename *.ini *.inn
    rename *.grp *.grn

  3. Delete the file WINVER.EXE from the Windows directory. This will allow Windows 3.0 to update all of the Windows files.
  4. Reinstall Windows 3.0 to the Windows directory with the configuration options used previously when you attempted to install Windows 3.1.
  5. Do not select any of the options in the graphics mode of Windows 3.0 Setup (that is, Printers, Setup applications, Read documents, modify CONFIG.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT).
  6. Copy all the .INN files and .GRN files to the same name with the original extensions (.INI and .GRP.), by typing the following at the MS-DOS command prompt:

    copy *.inn *.ini
    copy *.grn *.grp

  7. Copy SYSINI.W31 and WININI.W31 to SYSTEM.INI and WIN.INI, respectively, by typing the following at the MS-DOS command prompt. The .W31 files are the backup. INI files Windows 3.1 created during the attempted upgrade to Windows 3.1.

    copy sysini.w31 system.ini
    copy winini.w31 win.ini

All OLE functionality will be intact for pre-Windows 3.1 OLE applications such as Microsoft Excel 3.0 and Microsoft Word for Windows 2.0.

You should find a file named W8D40P2T.A4G in the Windows directory. This file is used by Windows 3.1 to start the graphics mode of setup. This file can be deleted.

NOTE: The SETUP.INF file for Windows 3.0 may need to be temporarily adjusted to allow Windows 3.0 to set up on a system with limited hard drive space. Copy SETUP.EXE and SETUP.INF from Windows 3.0 Disk 1 to a separate directory on the hard disk. Use an MS-DOS based editor to edit the [DATA] section of the SETUP.INF for Windows 3.0, as follows: 
   [DATA]
      neededspace386=6300000
      space386upgrade=2000
      neededspace286=4500000
      space286upgrade=1000
Set the values for both neededspace386 and neededspace286 to 1.

Run Setup from the directory with the adjusted SETUP.INF. After Setup is complete, copy the Windows 3.0 SETUP.INF from Disk 1 to the Windows 3.0 SYSTEM directory.

For additional information on making DR DOS compatible with Windows 3.1, or to obtain the DR DOS software update, please contact Digital Research. DR DOS is a registered trademark of Novell.

REFERENCES

Windows Resource Kit 2.0, page 15
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:10/1/1999
Keywords:KB83331
©2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.