Thanks to all of you who helped me with the Windows 95 problem, glad it's solved.

Here's a new problem:

I successfully installed Windows 98 on a Compaq Desktop with 600 megahertz Intel Pentium III, 512 Megabytes Installed Memory and 40 GB hard drive. Next I went to Microsoft Update site and downloaded the critical updates. So far so good until I downloaded the 1 driver update it recommended. The computer stopped downloading and came up with a message to insert the Intel Pro Adapter CD ROM or floppy disk. I didn't have one and tried to get out of the download. 2 messages came up:

"The file on WOL558.vxd on Intel Pro Adapter CD ROM or floppy disk cannot be found. Setup could not find a file on thr specified path. If the path appears below make sure it is correct. Click OK to try copying again. C:\WINDOWS\CATROOT"
==========================================
"Copying files
source
scanning
destination
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\net82557.din"
==========================================
I aborted the operation the best I could and got out of the mess. When I went to restart the computer, I got the message:

"Cannot find a device file that may be needed to run Windows or a Windows application.

The windows registry or SYSTEM.INI file refers to this device file but the device file no longer exists.

If you deleted this file on purpose, try uninstalling the associated application using its uninstall or setup program.

If you still want to use the application associated with this device file, try reinstalling that application to replace the missing file."
==========================================
Next I typed "Intel Pro Adapter WOL558.vxd" and found this at DriverQuide.com:
Fujitsu Intel® PRO/10+ PCI Adapter Driver
Driver for CP021060-1, Intel® PRO/100B PCI Adapter (TX), Intel® PRO/100B PCI ... I was after the WOL558.vxd file that it contains, to fix my mysterious ... http://members.driverguide.com/driver/deta...?driverid=17616

I download and installed the program, went back to Windows Update and their driver update installed with no nasty messages and I got a message saying the program was installed. Now if I type WOL558.vxd in Find and search the C drive I get:

Name In Folder Size Type Modified
wol558.vxd C:WINDOWS\... 10KB Virtual device driver 7/29/98 10:56 AM

My problem now is that in spite of doing all this I get the same message as before when I go to start the computer:

"Cannot find a device file that may be needed to run Windows or a Windows application.
The windows registry or SYSTEM.INI file refers to this device file but the device file no longer exists. If you deleted this file on purpose, try uninstalling the associated application using its uninstall or setup program.If you still want to use the application associated with this device file, try reinstalling that application to replace the missing file."

I'm able to push a button and the message goes away and Windows starts up ok but I'd like to know how to fix this correctly and get the message to go away permanently. Does anybody know how to solve this problem? I'd be most appreciative.

I remember this error. You must download the latest driver update for your product from the intel website. I could give you a link, but I down't know what product you have. www.intel.com is the site.

The Windows Update driver does that for some reason.

the_guy

Thanks for responding. I just got your message but everything's ok with that problem now.

Last night I decided to dump the whole system and start over. So I used
http://www.putergeek.com/downloads/#win95b_boot
http://www.shaneo.com/bootdisks/
together (putergeek to erase the C drive and shaneo to boot 98). After I had an online connection hooked up again I went straght to to Windows Update website and tried the driver update again. Turns out the WOL558.vxd file was 1 of dozens the update wanted. I put a blank disk in the A drive and in place of the "Intel Pro Adapter CD ROM or floppy disk" and everytime it said that file couldn't be found on the disk I went to the internet and put the name of the file in the search browser and looked for the files individually, It wanted dozens of files. Everytime it asked for one I located it and put it on the floppy in the A drive then it would ask for another one. I kept adding files to this floppy not knowing if it would really work. I found a lot of the files for the Intel Pro at http://silentdragon.com/download/NICs/pro100/ and downloaded them one by one. Some of the other ones were at other websites. After one of the files downloaded the whole screen went blank and I thought for certain everything was wiped out. I had to unplug the computer to get it to turn off. Amazingly it rebooted ok after the Scan Disk ran, I thought for sure it would come up with some sort of error but luckily not. I went back to Windows Update and clicked to install the driver again. It seemed to pick up again where I left off. Then it wanted me to put my Windows 98 CD in for more files. I did that and it said it couldn't find them. I knew they must be on that disk somewhere if the Intel update was asking me to go there but the install program couldn't find them. Since the Windows 98 had installed ok, I assumed the files also had to be in my C drive. So I went to Start, clicked find and put the file names in there and bingo it found them. I did a right click on the file after I found it and clicked "send to" and sent the file to the floppy in the A drive and the install program was then able to retreive them there. Eventually a message came up saying the installation was successful and I was pretty amazed. There's an icon now that says Intel® Graphics Technology on my bottom toolbar and when I went to Windows Update it didn't come up saying I needed a driver update. I went ahead and installed the 20 critical updates it suggested including Service Pack 1 for Windows. I didn't have any problem doing that and didn't expect any since I had done it before. This Intel driver thing was important to me because after I install Windows 98 It's got only the Standard PCI Graphics VGA Adaptor with 2 colors. and AOL wants more. Now the AOL 9.0 is working ok. I didn't have the 256 colors before, just the 16. I thought AOL wanted 256 colors so I set it there but the display still wasn't right. The new Intel graphics adaptor gives me another option I didn't have before True Color (24bit). I called AOL and was told to set it there. After I did that everything displays correctly now so all of this was worth it. Actually I'm thinking about going with different ISP but that's another issue and it's good to know my system is upgraded.

I do have a new issue to resolve. I ran AOL Computer CheckUp and it came up saying I needed to defragment the disk and to go to Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Disk Defragmenter. I've done that and it says there isn't enough available memory to defragment and to close some programs and try again. I've shut down everything else and even gone to Task Manager and shut down everything I can and it still won't let me defragment. I was advised to try this in Safe Mode and I did that but still get the same message. Does anybody know what I need to do to defragment?