"abbagabbitz" <abbagabbitz@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:4881633A-20B9-4CA6-81DC-85D1BE55B273@microsoft.com...
>I am attempting to restore files backed up using the Windows 3.1x backup
> utility. I'm running XP Pro now. I've found an old version of the
> "backup"
> utility, that loads, but then says it is configured incorrectly, that
> there
> must be a certain line in the system.ini file "Windows System"
> directory--then the computer must reboot for the change to take effect.
>
> There is such a directory, but there was no system.ini file in it when I
> went there. I put the file in the directory, with the device drivers
> "fvintd.386" named, with the proper path, etc. Problem is, seems
> rebooting
> does no good, since XP Pro doesn't even look for this file when it boots.
> I
> suspect it's a registry problem, but sorting that out is beyond anything I
> can manage.
>
> Anyone have any suggestions?

Not all win 3.x apps are XP or NT compatible.

Set up a system that temporarily runs the required OS, and restore the
files. This will likely be the fastest and most reliable approach.

You don't need much of a system to do this, and in the worst case, you can
get a small hard disk and pop it into your XP system as the primary drive -
remove the XP drive. This should cost you under $50, and should work as
long as your system doesn't have SATA drives; Win 3.x won't have the ability
to load the drivers you might need. You may be able to shift the SATA
controller to a "legacy" mode in the BIOS and get past this.

You *might* be able to do this in a virtual machine - I've never tried this.

HTH
-pk