The MSCDEX program that I am running in DOS is producing error messages or hanging up

The MSCDEX program that I am running in DOS is producing error messages or hanging up

Explanation: You are running MSCDEX to set up the CD-ROM drive as a drive letter under DOS but it is either hanging the system or producing an error message.

Diagnosis: MSCDEX is the file system extension that allows you to use a CD-ROM drive as a regular driver letter under DOS or Windows. It should not be used when you are running Windows 95. It will fail to load usually when there is a configuration problem, or when it cannot see the CD-ROM driver in memory.

Recommendation:

Make sure that the CD-ROM driver is loading. If it isn't loading then there may be a problem with the drive or its configuration. Look here to troubleshoot this. Without the CD-ROM loaded, MSCDEX will never work.
Make sure that the CD-ROM driver's command line and the MSCDEX command line have identical, matching "/D:<xxx>" parameters; otherwise MSCDEX won't be able to find the drive.
There are different versions of MSCDEX, as it has been updated over time. You may need a newer version than the one installed on your system. Watch out for outdated install disks that come with CD-ROM drives. Some of them contain positively ancient versions of MSCDEX. Microsoft's web site should have the latest version.
One tricky problem has to do with the availability of drive letters. MSCDEX must be able to find an available drive letter to set up the CD-ROM drive. If for some bizarre reason the letters are all used up (never seen this happen, though I've seen systems that went up to S:) then MSCDEX will fail. More common than a full system is the use of the LASTDRIVE command in the CONFIG.SYS file. If you see a command there that says "LASTDRIVE=x" where "x" is a drive letter, no drive letters will be assigned by DOS above that one. If you have two hard disk volumes and "LASTDRIVE=D" then MSCDEX will not be able to install the CD-ROM. Remove the LASTDRIVE command (or set it to "Z") to solve the problem and make your life a lot simpler.

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