On a Microsoft Windows 98, Windows 95, or Windows 3.x computer, the files named system.— or win.— are backup copies of the files system.ini and win.ini.

The following sections contain information on how to fix boot errors or other computer issues by restoring the previous backed up versions of win.ini or system.ini.

If you are using Windows 3.x and are in Windows

Click File and choose to Exit Windows.

If any installed software does not work after following the following instructions, reinstall that software.

If you are using Windows 95/98 and are in Windows

Click Start. Click Shutdown. Choose to Restart the computer in MS-DOS mode and then click Ok.

Once at the MS-DOS prompt type the following commands to restore the system.ini

cd \windows ren system.ini system.ch

If, after attempting to rename the system.ini you receive File not found, continue to follow the following steps.

ren system.— system.ini

If, after attempting to type the above command you receive File not found, follow the following instructions. If you do not receive a message your system.ini should be restored to its original state.

dir system.*

If you see a file other than system.ch (e.g., system.bak or system.000), follow the instructions above but replace the — with the appropriate extension on your computer.

Once at the MS-DOS prompt type the following commands to restore the win.ini

cd \windows ren win.ini win.ch

If, after attempting to rename the win.ini you receive File not found, continue to follow the following steps.

ren win.— win.ini

If, after attempting to type the above command you receive File not found, follow the following instructions. If you do not receive a message your win.ini should be restored to its original state.

dir win.*

If you see a file other than win.ch or win.com (e.g., win.bak or win.000), follow the above instructions but replace the — with the found extension.

Restore files back

If you encounter additional errors or at any time you want to use the files you renamed you can rename the original files, by reversing the above commands. Below are examples of renaming the files back if you so desire.

ren system.ch system.ini ren win.ch win.ini

Renaming should not be necessary unless you encountered issues while following the above steps or after restoring the original system.ini and win.ini.

  • See the system.ini and win.ini definitions for further information and related links.
  • Microsoft Windows help and support.