Setup switches for WIndows95/98

Windows98/95 Setup Switches

Setup Parameter Switches for Win98

To use the following switches either open a DOS command prompt, or go into DOS mode during bootup by pressing F8 immediately after seeing the "Starting Windows 98" prompt (also called "real mode"). At the prompt, switch to the directory that contains setup.exe and enter one or more of the following parameters immediately after and on the same line as setup.exe. For example, to execute setup and skip the "create an emergency startup diskette" screen, you'd enter:

setup.exe /ie at the prompt.

These switches also work with Windows 98 Second Edition, and likely with Windows Millennium Edition as well

Parameter	Function
/?	Provides a list of the setup switches (not always complete)
/d	Tells setup to NOT use the current version of Windows on the hard drive (if one exists) to execute the Windows 98 setup routines. Can only be used if you run setup.exe from a "real mode" DOS prompt. This is useful if the current version on the hard drive is corrupt.
/id	Tells setup to skip checking for enough disk space for the installation.
/ie	Setup will skip the emergency startup disk creation.
/ih	Setup will only run the "consistancy checks" on the Registry, no other portions of the Windows 98 installation will execute. Useful if you think you may have a registry problem.
/il	Loads the Logitech mouse driver. Use this if you have a series C Logitech mouse.
/im	Tells setup to skip the RAM check
/in	Tells setup to skip the Networking setup screens.
/iq	Tells setup to skip checking for cross-linked files
/ir	Tells setup to not update the Master Boot Record.
/is	Tells setup to skip running SCANDISK on your hard drive prior to beginning installation
/iv	Skips the graphics that change every few minutes during the file copy phase of the installation
/IW	Skips the Windows 98 Licensing screen (note that this must be in capital letters)
/nf	Windows 98 Setup will skip the prompt to remove the floppy disk from the disk drive - useful if installing from a bootable CD-ROM.

Windows95 Setup Switches

Windows 95 has several switches you can use when executing Setup. You can also specify a filename (.inf) with setup, that contains information on exactly what to set up.

Parameter	Function
/?	Provides a list of the setup switches (not always complete)
/id	Tells setup to skip checking for enough disk space for the installation.
/in	Tells setup to skip the Networking setup screens.
/iq	Tells setup to skip checking for cross-linked files
/is	Tells setup to skip running SCANDISK on your hard drive prior to beginning installation
/iw	Skips the Windows 98 Licensing screen

Special reviews and download files

by Mark Rode