You receive an "Unpacking Vmm32.vxd, library invalid or wrong version" error message when you start Windows 98 (296579)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition
  • Microsoft Windows 98
This article was previously published under Q296579
If this article does not describe the error message that you are receiving, view the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article to view more articles that describe error messages:

315854 Windows 98 and Windows Me Error Message Resource Center

SYMPTOMS

When you start Microsoft Windows 98, you may receive an error message similar to the following:
unpacking Vmm32.vxd, library invalid or wrong version
c:window\system\vmm32\vmm.vxd failed packing vmm32.vxd
library is invalid

CAUSE

This behavior can occur because of an improperly written statement in the Autoexec.bat .file

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, follow these steps:
  1. Restart your computer: Press and hold down the CTRL key until you see the Windows 98 Start menu, and then click Safe Mode Command Prompt Only.
  2. Type each of the following lines, and press ENTER after each line

    c:
    cd\windows
    edit c:\autoexec.bat

    where windows is the name of your Windows folder.
  3. Disable the following lines in the Autoexec.bat file by typing rem at the beginning of each line:

    if not exist %winbootdir%\system\vmm32o20 copy %winbootdir%\system\vmm32.vxd %w
    devlib -u vmm32.vxd
    replcldr %winbootdir%\system\vmm32\vmm.vxd %winbootdir%\system\vmm32.vxd
    devlib -p vmm32.vxd

    For example, when you are finished, the preceding lines should appear as follows:

    rem if not exist %winbootdir%\system\vmm32o20 copy rem %winbootdir%\system\vmm32.vxd %w
    rem devlib -u vmm32.vxd
    rem replcldr %winbootdir%\system\vmm32\vmm.vxd %winbootdir%\system\vmm32.vxd
    rem devlib -p vmm32.vxd

  4. Press ALT, press F, and then press S to save your changes. Press ALT, press F, and then press X to exit the Autoexec.bat file.
  5. Restart your computer.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:12/20/2004
Keywords:kberrmsg kbprb KB296579
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