The following is from the Microsoft Knowledgebase:  Article ID: Q139063
found at http://support/microsoft.com

When you start Windows, you may receive the following error message on a
blue screen:


   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 error message can occur when any one of the following conditions
exists:

* The Ifshlp.sys file is missing from the Windows folder.

* The Config.sys file contains a line pointing to a previous version of the

  Ifshlp.sys file.
* The following Ifshlp.sys statement was deleted from the Config.sys file
after
  reinstalling Windows:

         DEVICE=<DRIVE>:\<WINDOWS>\IFSHLP.SYS

  where <drive> is the drive containing Windows and <windows> is the
  Windows folder. For example, if Windows is installed in the WINDOWS folder
on
  drive C, the line will read:

         DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\IFSHLP.SYS

* The [Paths] section in the Msdos.sys file is incorrect.
* A Winboot.ini file from a previous incomplete installation is present in
the

  root folder of the boot disk.

It goes on to list possible solutions in some detail.  If you don't have
internet access, let me know and I'll email you
the entire article, or I believe you can email support at microsoft and they
will forward the article to you.  I'm not sure
of the exact syntax to send them, but I'm sure someone else on the list can
provide the details.
Dan Shaughnessy
    -----Original Message-----

        When I try to load win98, it balks during the splash screen and
gives me this blue-screen error:

    VFAT Device Initialization Failed

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

    System Halted.

    The only thing I can do is use the boot disk to get to the dos prompt.
Safe Mode will not work. Any suggestions on how to fix this, or is the drast
ic option of reinstalling windows 98 needed? And if it is needed, can I
install it over the old setup, and retain my settings, registry etc? Thank
you.

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