Works 3.0: Setup Error Messages and Solutions (108598)



The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Works 3.0

This article was previously published under Q108598

SUMMARY

The following list contains possible error messages that may be encountered during the setup of Works for Windows 3.0, along with possible solutions to correct them.

ERROR MESSAGES

The following error messages can be caused by a missing or corrupt SETUP.STF file:

  • Setup Parse Error in Initialize Pass, Object ID 0: Syntax Error in List of Obj Ids.
  • Processing Top Level Information Failed.
  • Setup status has become corrupted. Please run Setup again from copies of your original installation disks.
  • Setup is unable to open the data file C:\MSWORKS\SETUP\SETUP.STF. Please run Setup again from where you originally ran it. (This error will be followed by the Processing error below.)
  • Processing top level information failed.
  • Setup Parse Error in Reading Table File Object ID 27: Invalid Description Field Choose This... (This error will be followed by an OK button or a Close button).
  • The Setup table file version is incompatible with this version of Setup.
  • Invalid maintenance table file.
  • Bad Setup Version field.

SOLUTION

The above nine error messages can be caused by a corrupt or missing SETUP.STF in the Works for Windows 3.0 Setup directory. Delete the SETUP.STF file from the Works 3.0 Setup directory. Once you've deleted the file, you need to reinstall Works.

For information about how to delete a file in Windows, refer to the chapter on File Manager in your "Microsoft Windows User's Guide."

Additional Error Messages

Message 1:
Could not find file named: 'C:\MSWORKS\SETUP\SETUP.INF.'
Solution:

This error message may also occur with other Setup files. This occurs because Works 3.0 Setup could not locate this file in the current 3.0 Setup directory or the file has become corrupt. Delete or rename the file that the error message refers to from the Works 3.0 SETUP directory. Once you've deleted the file, you need to reinstall Works.

For information on how to delete or rename a file in Windows, refer to the chapter on File Manager in your "Microsoft Windows User's Guide."

Message 2:
While registering OLE servers, Setup had a problem with REG.DAT, SHELL.DLL, or disk space.
Solution:

Under Windows 3.x, this can be caused by an invalid WINDIR setting, an invalid path command in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, a corrupt REG.DAT file.If the error is caused by a REG.DAT file, you'll need to rename the file and re-register the MSWORKS3.REG and OLE2.REG.

If you are using Windows 95 and receive this error, you may have a damaged Registry. For additional information, please see the following article(s) in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

132332 How to Back Up the Registry

WINDIR is an environment variable set by Windows, based on the path in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. If the PATH statement in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file includes the Windows program directory without the drive (for example, "\WINDOWS" instead of "C:\WINDOWS"), Windows may set the WINDIR variable incorrectly. If the WINDIR setting is incorrect, Works will not be able to find the Windows 3.x REG.DAT file to correctly register the information.

To determine what WINDIR is pointing to:

  1. Double-click the MS-DOS Prompt icon (usually located in the Main group).
  2. At the MS-DOS prompt, type "set" (without the quotation marks).
The Set command will display all Set statements, the Path statement, and the WINDIR setting. WINDIR should point to a logical Windows directory. For example, if Windows is on drive C and installed in a directory called WINDOWS, then the WINDIR setting will read as follows:
   WINDIR=C:\WINDOWS
				
If the information after the equal sign does not show a logical drive, contains anything other than a "\" or a ":", or does not say the actually directory for Windows, then the Path= statement is incorrect.

NOTE: This step must be done by shelling to MS-DOS while Windows is running, not by exiting Windows and typing "set" at the MS-DOS command prompt.

For steps to correct the invalid path or corrupt REG.DAT file, query on the following keywords in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

invalid and path and REG.DAT and corrupt


Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:2/26/2002
Keywords:kberrmsg kbprb kbsetup kbusage KB108598