I have heard that it is possible to copy cabinet files from Windows OS CD-ROMs to your hard drive, so that it is not necessary to put the Win CD back into the computer every time you want to adjust system files. Can anyone describe how that is done?

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With the Windows CD in the drive , open Windows 
Explorer and drag the win98 folder from the CD
onto the "C" drive.....
Some folks make a special folder for it beforehand...
Mine is called WinCabs....
You could then drag the win98 folder into that , and 
it will copy all the cab files there for you.

The next time you need to access the win98 cd for
something like adding a windows component or
setting up some new hardware , when windows asks
for the disk ,you just use the "Browse" button and
piint it to that folder on your hard drive.
After doing this once ,Wndows will remember the 
location ,and go there automatically the next time.









On Wednesday, April 24, 2002 at 2:34 pm, Dale Mirenda wrote:
>I have heard that it is possible to copy cabinet files from Windows OS CD-ROMs to 
>your hard drive, so that it is not necessary to put the Win CD back into the computer 
>every time you want to adjust system files. Can anyone describe how that is done?
>

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if you want windows to go directly to the folder with the cabs instead of asking you where they're located, you'll need to edit the registry (start -> run, type in regedit and hit enter).

hkey_local_machine|software|microsoft|windows|currentversion|setup

change the data of the sourcepath value to reflect the new location of the cabs (such as c:\win98\).

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Thank you so much for your reply. That worked great. Also, a co-worker yesterday told me that he had noticed that Windows seems to have a "default" storage location for cabinet files, "\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS\" Sure enough, I checked my computer and it was there. Also, I discovered that you can save some disk space by doing a file search for *.cab on the CD, then select all and click-drag the search result to your CABS folder. This will make life so much easier!


On Wednesday, April 24, 2002 at 2:47 pm, Galaxy Master wrote:

>With the Windows CD in the drive , open Windows 
>Explorer and drag the win98 folder from the CD
>onto the "C" drive.....
>Some folks make a special folder for it beforehand...
>Mine is called WinCabs....
>You could then drag the win98 folder into that , and 
>it will copy all the cab files there for you.
>
>The next time you need to access the win98 cd for
>something like adding a windows component or
>setting up some new hardware , when windows asks
>for the disk ,you just use the "Browse" button and
>piint it to that folder on your hard drive.
>After doing this once ,Wndows will remember the 
>location ,and go there automatically the next time.
>
>
>
>
>

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That works wonderfully, Amaralliya! I expect I could use that registry key to point to a network share as well.


On Wednesday, April 24, 2002 at 8:26 pm, amaralliya e. thenardier wrote:
>if you want windows to go directly to the folder with the cabs instead of asking
>you where they're located, you'll need to edit the registry (start -> run, type in
>regedit and hit enter).

>

>hkey_local_machine|software|microsoft|windows|currentversion|setup
>

>change the data of the sourcepath value to reflect the new location of the
>cabs (such as c:\win98\).

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I expect I could use that registry key to point to a network share as well.

it works for me (for what it's worth, i tested with \\win98sevm\cabs\). as always, your mileage may vary.

fyi, \windows\options\cabs\ is generally created by oems (compaq, hp, dell, etc). an install with a retail windows install disc will not produce this directory (if windows is installed from a directory on the hard drive, the sourcepath is automatically that of the install directory - no modification needed unless the directory is modified).

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That certainly makes sense. Many of the desktop systems here are "off-the-shelf" Dells and Brios.


On Thursday, April 25, 2002 at 2:46 pm, amaralliya e. thenardier wrote:
>

I expect I could use that registry key to point to a network share
>as well.

>it works for me (for what it's worth, i tested with \\win98sevm\cabs\). as always,
>your mileage may vary.

>fyi, \windows\options\cabs\ is generally created by oems (compaq, hp, dell, etc).
>an install with a retail windows install disc will not produce this directory (if
>windows is installed from a directory on the hard drive, the sourcepath is automatically
>that of the install directory - no modification needed unless the directory is modified).

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