Reinstalling Windows Components in 95/98/ME

Sometimes you will need to either install a Windows component that your computer does not have installed by default or to remove and reinstall a component that is no longer working correctly (such as Dial Up Networking and TCP/IP).

If you have your Windows CD (NOT a "Companion Disk"), then the procedure is simple: Windows will prompt you for the CD during the installation or reinstallation process (NOTE: in order for the original files to be reinstalled after removing a component, restart the computer after the removal of the component and then reinstall). However, sometimes companies do not ship the Windows CD with the computer or the CD is lost.

If you do not have your Windows CD, you might still be able to install/reinstall the component if you have the Windows cabinet files. These cabinet files contain the Windows files in a compressed format, and can be used by Windows for installing Windows files. If the cabinet files have been copied and stored on the hard drive (which is often the case if the company that sold the computer did not include the Windows CD with the computer), they can usually be found in one of these directories:

C:\Win95 or C:\Win98 (depending on the version of Windows)
OR
C:\Windows\Options\Cabs
OR (if you have Windows Millennium Edition)
C:\Windows\Options\Install

You can also search for the cabinet files by clicking on Start, choosing Find, choosing Files or Folders, and conducting a search for files named "*.cab" (without the quotation marks) located in My Computer. For Windows 95/98, the cabinet files are usually in the format

win9x_nn.cab (where x is "5" or "8" for Windows 95 or 98, and nn is a two-digit number)

For Windows ME, the cabinet files are usually in the format

win_nn.cab (where nn is a two-digit number)

Once you know that the cabinet files are present and the directory in which they are located, you can begin installing/reinstalling the component. If at any point during the process, Windows cannot locate an installation file, direct Windows to search in the directory where the cabinet files reside.