Windows 95 Err Msg: Registry File Was Not Found (116250)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 95
This article was previously published under Q116250

SYMPTOMS

When you try to load Windows 95, you may receive the following error message:
Registry File was not found. Registry services may be inoperative for this session.
After the error message appears, you may be returned to an MS-DOS command prompt.

CAUSE

This behavior can occur if the registry file (SYSTEM.DAT) is missing from the Windows 95 directory or if it is corrupted. The error can also occur if the [Paths] section is missing from the MSDOS.SYS file.

RESOLUTION

  • Add the [Paths] section to the MSDOS.SYS file. For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

    118579 Contents of the Msdos.sys File

    -or-
  • Check your system for an existing SYSTEM.DAT file using the following steps:

    1. In the Windows 95 directory, type the following command to see if SYSTEM.DAT is present:

      attrib system.dat

    2. If the SYSTEM.DAT file exists, proceed with steps 3 and 4; otherwise, skip to step 5.
    3. Use the MS-DOS ATTRIB command to remove the Read-Only, System, and Hidden attributes of the SYSTEM.DAT file:

      attrib system.dat -r -s -h

    4. Rename the SYSTEM.DAT file to SYSTEM.BAD with the following command:

      rename system.dat system.bad

    5. Reboot your computer. During the boot process, if Windows 95 cannot find the Registry file, it uses SYSTEM.DA0. If this file works well, it is renamed to SYSTEM.DAT.
    -or-
  • If the above steps fail, rerun Windows 95 Setup to recreate the SYSTEM.DAT file from the original disks.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:2/8/2002
Keywords:kberrmsg KB116250
©2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.