Comments for So just what is the I386 directory anyway?

Comment from SalemCat on 2008-12-02

2008-12-02T16:54:30Z

How can I create a Bootable CD from my i386 Folder ?

You can't, really. You might look into BartPE, which can build a bootable Windows CD from your existing installation.

- Leo
03-Dec-2008

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Comment from Lydia Schramm on 2008-11-21

2008-11-21T23:00:37Z

I am running an installation repair for my Windows XP and recovering from CD. In file copy mode, I had a warning: "File c:\i386\apps\app19912\app19912.exe cannot be recovered." I read your answer to what 386 is and it doesn't seem important to the pc function, is that right?

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Comment from Rana on 2008-11-09

2008-11-09T19:43:35Z

Special thanks for you Leo, your explanation helped me in my research project so very much ^_^"

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Comment from ExistenceGuest on 2008-11-08

2008-11-08T18:05:19Z

good explanation

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Comment from Al on 2008-10-09

2008-10-09T19:42:28Z

super explanation about the i386 folder. Thanks so much Leo!

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Comment from Simon on 2008-09-21

2008-09-21T11:21:28Z

Hey Leo. Great article - very enlightening! One question for you.

I installed XP SP1 from CD, right, and I've upgraded to SP2 via download. I came across this page talking about the I386 folder in the root of C:, but when I went to take a look at it, it wasn't there! I installed Service Pack 2 about a week ago, so would it have deleted itself in the meantime? I've shown all hidden & system files, yet it isn't in that directory! I've searched for it, and have found to others in C:\WINDOWS\DRIVERCACHE and C:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles, so I'm not really sure what's going on.

Enlighten me on this! I would like to make a back up of my Windows XP cd, just in case my original copy get damamged somehow, so I'd like to copy the I386 folder to a blank disc. That is possible, right? Maybe, if the folder existed in the root of C:!!

Again, thanks for such great information in the page!

The I386 folder at the root of the c: drive is optional. It may not be there. The other I386 folders are something else.

-Leo

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Comment from Jason Drew on 2008-09-11

2008-09-11T07:00:48Z

If you buy a dell, then odds are your warranty will be slightly expired when you need it anyways. Like he said, get the actual cd's when you purchase a computer. It will save you headaches. Hard drive failures happen a lot more than most people think.

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Comment from Sarah on 2008-06-11

2008-06-11T14:25:04Z

I dunno...I think it might have been that i386 folder that saved my Inspiron 9300's life. My laptop was a mess--weird pop ups were shooting up on the screen all the time due to a corruption in Roxio, not to mention the laptop had gone through a lot in its 3 year life. I decided to reset my laptop to its factory default by pressing Ctrl + F11 in the boot screen with the dell.com text. This enabled a complete renewal of my computer by accessing a partition on my laptop that contains a copy of what was on the computer when I started it up for the very first time. Now, even though I had to go through the whole process of deleting bloatware, downloading some free programs I had, and getting updates for most everything, it was TOTALLY worth it. My computer is cleaner, runs smoother, and no more Roxio pop-ups. After I learn how to make an image of my computer, I'm probably going to start reseting my laptop in this process once a year. I hear it's a good thing to do.

So if this is what the i386 folder does, DON'T get rid of it! I'm sure getting rid of it screws up your warranty anyway.

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Comment from Terry on 2008-04-07

2008-04-07T15:50:49Z

If I understand correctly - I don't have a hard copy of windows, but do have i386 folder, so I can copy that folder to disc and it will be like having an original copy. I would then be able to re-install Windows in the event I replaced the HD?

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Comment from William on 2007-10-07

2007-10-07T17:27:17Z

I am using Fedora 4 and found a file Torrent for downloading Fedora 8 and it is confusing me. Simply, I just do not know wich one to choose from. I have a
933 Mghz Intel Single In-line Socket Connector (non- PGA) w/ 768 sd memory. Tyan 1834 AT mother bord.
***
My qusetion is are file Torrents safe and legal?
Also which should i choose from i386, i686, or x86_64. Here is that url: http://torrent.fedoraproject.org/

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Comment from andrew hamelin on 2007-10-03

2007-10-03T19:52:11Z

i have a i386 folder in a folder named "2aee58f7c2420a9ea05d75" on a hard drive enclosure, if its a back up of the windows cd why would it come on my enclosure? and it doesn't give me rights to the folder so i cant even look in it to varify thats whats in it. any ideas on why it is or why its there? any insite you could provide would be greatly appriciated.

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Comment from Farid on 2007-09-29

2007-09-30T05:14:48Z

i m running a windows xp home edition. And i have c:\i386 in hard drive and i have only one partition in my hardisk that is C:
Can anyone tell me that how can i create a CD from "CD image" or from c:\i386

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Comment from Shoaib Raza Khan on 2007-08-04

2007-08-04T08:48:43Z

Hi leo, thanks for providing such a great information about i386, actually i got a live CD of UBUNTO Linux but when i tried to boot from it , a message appeared saying that c:\i386 folder doesn't exist, hope ur suggestion will work.
hey man i too want to know about OS architecture(WIN XP) plz send me related comments on my email ID: [Email Address Removed]

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Comment from Ken on 2007-07-08

2007-07-08T15:52:37Z

Just a comment - I have just been reinstalling from my MDG XP discs and the thing glitched when seeking i386 files (iExplore actually) saying it wasn't there. In fact it was but, after a lot of confusion, time and tentative fiddling, is on Disc 1 (no change prompts were received after the previous 'change to disc 2' instruction).

Now the cynical among us might think MDG had done this deliberately to confuse the not very experienced and somewhat faint hearted system re-installers among us, thus prompting a service call! Surely not ?

Ken

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Comment from chillios on 2007-06-18

2007-06-18T14:14:15Z

hi can i clean the i386 folder and what will happen if its full .will it slow my pc down or will it still function normal if i delete the files in it

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Comment from Jeremy Mawson on 2007-06-10

2007-06-11T04:11:23Z

If you don't have a physical installation media, and you lose your Windows install then take heart ... you're in luck! You can download Ubuntu or any other user-friendly O/S and say goodbye to Windows once and for all. Unless you use Windows for gaming you'll find the Linux alternative to be more performant, stable and best of all, free of charge.

PS, thanks for letting me know what i386 is all about Leo!

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Comment from Richard on 2007-05-08

2007-05-08T15:28:38Z

Hey Leo, i386 takes up nearly 1gb on my hard drive! Could I copy it to a CD then delete it from my computer?

Thanks!

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Comment from Nicolas on 2007-04-29

2007-04-29T17:54:49Z

600MB of wasted hard disk space for pure convenience? You might as well copy absolutely all the CDs you have into .iso files on your hard disk and use a program like Alcohol 120% or Daemon tools, right? And it's not like the Windows XP install CD is something people will need very often, at least compared to games they play a lot or something like that.

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Comment from JJordan on 2007-03-09

2007-03-09T18:52:21Z

Hi, I have a copy of Windows Media Center on my second hard drive and I'm not sure how to install it properly on drive c. It's in a folder that says i386 and in that folder its in a rar file that says MEDIACTR so I was hoping that you could instruct me on what to do. Thank You!

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Comment from Michael S. on 2006-12-05

2006-12-06T04:52:02Z

Hi Leo,

I am trying to load Windows XP on a formatted hard disk which originally had Windows 98. Each time i am getting the same error "File \i386\biosinfo.inf could not be loaded.
The error code is 32768"
Kindly let me know the reason.

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Comment from Dri-Anna on 2006-10-27

2006-10-28T06:01:59Z

Leo: eMachines seemed to conviently ignore every request I made for a CD of my XP Home that they installed on my machine at the factory. Ya. NO CD.
I was able to find C:/I386 and copied it to a CD. Thank you for the information about I386.
Now my question. Can I386 be used to create a "Slipstream" DVD which also includes SP2?
If so, how would one turn this into a boot disc?
Or, am I way out there in the Ozone somewhere even thinking this is possible?
Thank you for your time Leo
Dri-Anna

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Comment from John on 2006-07-30

2006-07-30T12:05:31Z

Hi Leo

I've been trying for a week now to install windows xp pro on my old pc. I originally had xp on it. I decided to back up my files and format, to reinstall. I'm using the original cd and cd key but i'm getting the following error: "An error occurred copying file cdrom.sys to C:\$WIN_NT$.~BT\cdrom.sy_.

Incorrect function"

Then there were three options to skip file copy, retry or to exit setup.

I also had a problem in the beginning saying NTLDR is missing. So i installed Windows 2000 Professional. There was also another error much earlier in the boot sequence saying:
"File \i386\biosinfo.inf could not be loaded.
The error code is 32768"

I would gladly appreciate your help

John
Port ELizabeth
South Africa

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Comment from Hans on 2006-07-08

2006-07-09T00:33:05Z

I often do exactly what you describe. If you copy, and then install from that copy, rather than from the CD, things often just work from then on. If you install from CD, and then copy the CD to the hard drive, the first time it asks for the CD, you can ok or cancel (I forget which), and it will then prompt for the location of the file. Point it at the directory thta you copied the CD to, and it should remember that thereafter.

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Comment from Larry on 2006-07-03

2006-07-03T19:35:08Z

Leo,
I am rebuilding a laptop for my daughter. When Windows98 was the recent operating system I used to build systems by copying the 98 installation cd to C:\windows\options\cabs directory so when the the system needed a file it went directly to the installation source, I used to do this with NT40 also, but am having difficulty doing it with XP pro. The reasoning is when she is away at school if the system needs a file it goes directly to the source of the installation. So can you suggest anything?

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Comment from Carol on 2006-06-22

2006-06-22T10:12:56Z

Question. Can I delete old files from the i386 directory? And if so, how do I know what files to delete???? I know I have many many unnecessary files saved onto my computer...virus scan tells me over 160,000!! I still have a lot of free space on my c-drive but the computer runs much slower than it did when I bought it and seems to be "dragged down" and heavy. Thanks!! Carol

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Comment from Toneo on 2006-04-22

2006-04-22T13:13:10Z

i am a comp-pro, been running repairs upgrades for a time but this errror is quite unique and i need help,when i tried to upgrdade a mate`s pc from win98 to xp it says setup cannot copyi386\mfc42.dll to c:i tried cleaning he disk its fine,even tried it on another machine was good, i manually copied the cd to a folder, tried installing from the drive still it says setup cant copy the file , i cant suspect the cd nor the rom can i , i need help sir
yours looking forward

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Comment from Anne W. Berkowitz on 2006-01-28

2006-01-28T17:41:35Z

I have purchased a dell Inspiron 9300. I am getting NO HELP FROM THEM WHATSOEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!I NEED TO INSTALL WINDOWS XP AND I AM GETTING THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE:
File \i386\ntkrnlmp.exe could not be found. The error code is 7. Setup cannot continue. Press any key to exit.

I have the installation CD from Dell for Windows XP that they mailed to me. I have tried to use other Windows XP discs, Pro and Home and still get the error message. HELP!

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Comment from Leo on 2005-12-15

2005-12-16T05:24:26Z

Thats this article: http://ask-leo.com/why_does_my_system32_folder_open_when_i_log_in.html

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Comment from Diane on 2005-12-09

2005-12-10T05:53:02Z

Could you please tell me why when I turn on my computer the system 32 box keeps coming up? Is that a problem or more of an inconvience. It just started doing it about 2 weeks ago.
Thank you for any input you may have. I am not computer sauvy.

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Comment from Leo on 2005-11-22

2005-11-23T04:48:25Z

Ron: OpenOffice.org

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Comment from Alex Lehaen on 2005-11-19

2005-11-19T11:54:15Z

Thans Leo, I'm learning again.
Oeps, now there is commming up a question from me for you to.
I love to work with servers and server 2003, do you know where i can vind a simple explenation how to set up an active directory from zero step by step (dhcp, dns and so on), with a commentation about why i have to make a step and what it does?
When i'm searching the website of microsoft everything is there but all in small peaces, and for me in a not logical way, it's like having 3 puzzles but don't wich peace belongs where, when i could make a good start simply explained i could help myself the rest of the lurning process because i am a kwik learner.
I have server 2003 standard installed and now working with a workgroup well, but i want to learn more more more.
Can you help me?
Thanks and best greeting from belgium.
Alex.

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Comment from Ron Barker on 2005-11-19

2005-11-19T09:48:53Z

Hi leo

I can't seem to get your search engine to work. I was looking for the free office programme. I have seen it on your site but I don't know how to find it again.

Cheers

Ron Barker

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Comments for So just what *is* the I386 directory anyway?

Comment from SalemCat on 2008-12-02

Comment from Lydia Schramm on 2008-11-21

Comment from Rana on 2008-11-09

Comment from ExistenceGuest on 2008-11-08

Comment from Al on 2008-10-09

Comment from Simon on 2008-09-21

Comment from Jason Drew on 2008-09-11

Comment from Sarah on 2008-06-11

Comment from Terry on 2008-04-07

Comment from William on 2007-10-07

Comment from andrew hamelin on 2007-10-03

Comment from Farid on 2007-09-29

Comment from Shoaib Raza Khan on 2007-08-04

Comment from Ken on 2007-07-08

Comment from chillios on 2007-06-18

Comment from Jeremy Mawson on 2007-06-10

Comment from Richard on 2007-05-08

Comment from Nicolas on 2007-04-29

Comment from JJordan on 2007-03-09

Comment from Michael S. on 2006-12-05

Comment from Dri-Anna on 2006-10-27

Comment from John on 2006-07-30

Comment from Hans on 2006-07-08

Comment from Larry on 2006-07-03

Comment from Carol on 2006-06-22

Comment from Toneo on 2006-04-22

Comment from Anne W. Berkowitz on 2006-01-28

Comment from Leo on 2005-12-15

Comment from Diane on 2005-12-09

Comment from Leo on 2005-11-22

Comment from Alex Lehaen on 2005-11-19

Comment from Ron Barker on 2005-11-19

Comments for So just what is the I386 directory anyway?