Comments for How do I tell Windows where my I386 folder has moved?

Comment from Daddy Dude on 2009-01-13

2009-01-14T04:21:46Z

I found I was gettign that error also after i got Trojan downloader virus. It rewrote my reg source path to D so I could not get on microsoft.com and kept getting that anoying message. I renamed the path to C and all is working fine again. thanks to finding this page! not for the reason he said but knowing Path should be C by default was a great help.

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Comment from BAW30s on 2009-01-05

2009-01-05T13:12:19Z

I was trying this today and initially failed because I didn't know that it was necessary when editing the registry to put file paths in inverted commas whenever a space is present. I had copied my I386 directory to C:\Win2kP setups and the space had prevented the registry change from being effective; I then found in a blog on this subject http://raywoodcockslatest.blogspot.com/2007/07/error-copying-file-or-folder-system.html
that I should have written "C:\Win2kP setups" .

Now SFC works properly. So either don't use a file or folder name with a space or put the path in inverted commas.

I hope this helps someone.

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Comment from jitspoe on 2008-12-15

2008-12-16T04:55:39Z

Simply changing SourcePath isn't sufficient if SP2 is installed. I had to change ServicePackSourcePath as well. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SourcePath may also need to be changed, but I'm not sure (I changed them all at the same time).

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Comment from Morgan on 2008-12-09

2008-12-09T15:38:51Z

Hi Leo,
found this article on my travels and it worked for me. Hope it will help others in the same boat.
If posting this link here is out of order I'm sure you will delete it and I apologise but as I say it worked for me and my SR is now working again.

http://bertk.mvps.org/html/reinstall.html

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Comment from Morgan on 2008-12-09

2008-12-09T14:32:33Z

Failing that is there somewhere I can download "system restore" from and just re-install it on my PC?

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Comment from Morgan on 2008-12-08

2008-12-08T14:54:11Z

Hi Leo,
I changed the source path back to C:\ but get the same result when running sfc/scannow. ie it tells me to insert my xp disc!!
Now I'm lost, still without system restore and frightened to do anything on my PC untill I have SR restored to it's proper self! Any ideas please?

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Comment from cedarmoose on 2008-12-07

2008-12-07T10:48:06Z

I have tried everything here and nothing seem to work because I am still prompted to insert the CD even after rebooting and double checking my entries in registry
questions does it matter if there is 2 partitions on my drive
and is there a log file anywhere where I can see the progress to see if it is directed at the right spot in the sequence
thanks

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Comment from Morgan on 2008-12-06

2008-12-06T15:20:49Z

Hi Leo
I followed the instructions above as my SR has simply dissappeared!
When i do the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup\SourcePath. search I find my "source path" is shown as D:\ when, having searched, it (I386 folder) is actually in C:\ I have no idea why the discrepancy as I certianly didn't move it!

My question is, in order to fix my problem do I simply change the source path back to C:\ (as per instructions above) and then reboot and run SFC/SCANNOW?
I hope so because other wise I'm lost!

A few details missing from what you've posted, so I can't be 100% certain, but sure - shouldn't hurt to try.

- Leo
06-Dec-2008

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Comment from Victor on 2008-10-29

2008-10-30T04:28:39Z

How can I recover Regedit if it was omitted from Windows Installer? I really need this one Thanks

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Comment from Gloria Elliott on 2008-10-11

2008-10-11T21:57:54Z

I followed the link you provided all the way to Setup, there is no Source Path. What do I do now?

I'm trying to let Windows know where i386 is so SFC won't keep asking for the CD.

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Comment from Jonathan Eccles on 2008-10-10

2008-10-10T15:34:13Z

I am running WindowsXP Sp2 and am getting the error reported at the head of the page under "Windws File protestion" having moved c:\i386 to c:\windows and having altered the registry as instructed. What is being done wrong?
Kind regards, Jon

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Comment from John Jenkins on 2008-09-05

2008-09-06T00:31:58Z

Another web "author" that doesn't take the time to develop the site correctly. I went to print these instructions out and the right margin was clipped...can't do it right just get out of the business.

Yeah, I know I'm pretty clueless on this whole web/computer/printing thing. I mean doing it for only 30 years means I'm pretty much a newless cluebie, right? :-)

Perhaps what you're seeing is that the right navbar/column is intentionally not printed since you can't click links on paper. Ads are also not printed. I've spend some time crafting the print experience on the site. It ain't perfect, but its good.

If you're actually seeing clipping, then: Why is only the left hand part of my page printed?

-Leo

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Comment from PTabor on 2008-08-04

2008-08-04T14:30:20Z

I need to run sfc on a second hard drive installed in my system. The dribe is labeled f:. Is it possible to run sfc on the F drive?

SFC doesn't run "on a drive", it runs on your system. That means it checks the Windows installation in use wherevere it might have been installed.

-Leo

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Comment from Mark S on 2008-06-08

2008-06-08T14:48:36Z

I have a somewhat related problem. I inserted a card into a hub/combo card reader and windows crashed and then rebooted. Since then, all my USB devices have been acting erratically. I've tested them with another computer and they work fine. My guess: some files were corrupted in the crash. I got the "Files that are required to run..." Windows properly error box that you reference above. However, it demands an XP Professional SP2 CD rom. I upgraded to SP2 over the web. I have no CD rom to give it. It doesn't care about my original windows Home disk.

I ran the system file checker and it too asked me to insert the SP2 Pro disk I don't have. So apparently there are some files that need to be fixed or replaced. But I have no way to do this.

Any tips, other than buying another copy of Windows? Thanks in advance.

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Comment from Kim Fox on 2008-05-23

2008-05-23T19:20:15Z

Thanks.

But it appears a reboot isn't necessary, once the registry entry has been changed.

After editing my registry, I immediately called "sfc /scannow" and it began running properly.

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Comment from Craig Davidson on 2008-03-22

2008-03-22T18:40:19Z

I've moved my I386 file from my C drive to my E drive (my second hard drive). Now whenever I try to copy the I386 file to a dvd, it won't let me. I haven't deleted the file from my C drive yet (basically I have an I386 on both my C and E drives), and neither will copy to a dvd. I get the message "Windows has encountered a problem when trying to copy this folder. What do you want Windows to do?" -Retry- -Skip- -Cancel- I don't want to delete it from my C drive until I have a physical copy, in case there was a problem. What can I do?

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Comment from Tracie on 2008-02-12

2008-02-12T19:38:39Z

I'm having problems with Explorer crashing about once a day. It happens at different times while running different programs. I want to use sfc/scannow but as I own a Gateway I only have a Recovery Disk not an actual Xp disk which scannow doesn't understand and won't use as is. How do I replace my (as yet unknown) corrupt system files using the disk I have and scannow? Is there another option short of the dreaded reinstall?

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Comment from John Federhofer on 2008-02-09

2008-02-09T12:32:09Z

I cannot locate the I386 directory on my root C drive.

I reformatted my drive after a system crash and reinstalled windows and all software. But there is not I386 in the C root.

I tried sfc/scannow, but it won't run.

Anything I can/should do?

Jack Federhofer

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Comment from PC Resolver on 2008-01-14

2008-01-14T09:40:06Z

I changed the sourcepath but it didn't work. I had to change ServicePackSource and Installation Sources. I changed them both at the same time so you may get by just changing one of them.

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Comment from Leo A. Notenboom on 2008-01-13

2008-01-13T20:25:42Z

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The location you specify is wherever you copied the I386
folder of your installation CD.

Leo

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Comment from Karen James on 2008-01-11

2008-01-12T07:41:53Z

Ok, I have found out that my sourcepath was pointed at my e drive which is my DVD burner/player. I changed it to my C: drive but not sure what else I need to do. I see in your example you have \\freenas\notemax\machine_specific\leo. How do I find out what my server and share are?

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Comment from Karen James on 2008-01-10

2008-01-10T11:32:37Z

I can not find the Source Path on my Registry Editor, now what do I do. I am having the same problem mentioned here with not having desktop icons, task bar or startup menu. I hope you can help me.
Karen

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Comment from Amit, NYC, NY on 2007-12-15

2007-12-15T21:35:49Z

Thanks for the info. This will help me tremendously. Thanks again.

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Comment from Leo A. Notenboom on 2007-08-19

2007-08-19T19:51:34Z

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I would leave the contents of the I386 folder alone. It represents a snapshot
of the I386 folder from your install CD. If things are updated, they'll be
reflected in other directories (like the SP2 related I386) elsewhere on your
machine. I would expect modifying the contents of I386 to have unpredictable
results.

Leo

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Comment from Larry on 2007-08-17

2007-08-17T23:50:10Z

The new Secunia Personal Software Inspector (www.secunia.com) is a program that looks for old versions of programs that have been superceded and contain holes that can be exploited by virii or malware. It reports old versions with known holes in my i386 folder (such as an old Flash player). I know that I'm not running these versions from i386 on a routine basis, but I would like to delete them to prevent them from being loaded in the future, or prevent the module from being loaded by a malevalent program. However, removing them (assuming that I could find them among the compressed files in i386) might cause errors that could prevent Windows from using other information in the i386 folder. Any advice?

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Comment from Leo A. Notenboom on 2007-08-05

2007-08-05T15:17:50Z

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David:

My general philosophy is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". :-)

But you point out something I overlooked in the article: the SourcePath can
often be pointed a the CD or DVD drive, and hence requires you to insert the CD
or DVD on which you have Windows. Pointing it at C:\I386, **if it's the same
as on your CD** is a convenience to avoid having to load the CD when it's
needed.

But I'd leave it alone until or unless it became a nuisance.

Leo

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Comment from ratikanta.baliarsingh on 2007-08-04

2007-08-04T09:56:21Z

thank you for solution about ur i386 suject

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Comment from David Goulding on 2007-08-04

2007-08-04T07:16:36Z

After reading the article, I checked my Registry to find that although the I386 folder is definitely located on the C:\ drive, the SourcePath is recorded as F:\, which is my DVD drive! I don't experience any errors, so should I edit this to read C:\ or leave well alone?
Thanks.

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A comment on: How do I tell Windows where my I386 folder has moved?

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