KB190110 - VFAT Initialization Error Message Installing Windows 98

Article ID: 190110

Article Last Modified on 1/23/2007

Microsoft Windows 98 Standard Edition

This article was previously published under Q190110

SYMPTOMS

When you are installing Windows 98, you may receive the following error message:

VFAT Device Initialization Failed

A device or resource required by VFAT is not present or is unavailable.
VFAT cannot continue loading.

System halted.

CAUSE

This behavior can occur if the SystemSoft CardWorks software is installed on your computer during Windows 98 Setup. CardWorks may also prevent Ifshlp.sys from being loaded from the Config.sys file.

The following computers have exhibited this behavior:

IBM ThinkPad model 380 and 385
Toshiba model 465CDX
Toshiba 460CDT Pentium 166
Toshiba Sattelite Pro 460DX

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, uninstall the CardWorks software. For information about how to do so, please contact your computer's manufacturer.

MORE INFORMATION

For more information about VFAT error messages, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

ARTICLE-ID: 139063
TITLE : Error Message: VFAT Device Initialization Failed

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Keywords: kb3rdparty kberrmsg kbfaq kbhardware kbprb kbsetup KB190110