Why is BANANA.ANI always broken?

[SupernovaNick]

Most Windows NT installations require you to copy files to the hard disk. Most Windows NT 3.x releases need the WINNT method and Windows NT 4.0 build 1141 needs you to copy the I386 folder to the hard disk before running WINNT or else you get a keyboard error. However, literally every single time, BANANA.ANI can never be copied. The OSes run fine without it, but it is literally impossible to use either COPY or XCOPY to copy the I386 files without skipping BANANA.ANI:

It is easy to work around this issue if you have something like WinImage to remove BANANA.ANI from the CD or to copy the files to the virtual hard disk on the host OS. But why is BANANA.ANI always broken in like every single Windows NT build?

[BF10]

The BANANA.ANI problem is actually a conflict with a device driver that is running, which is likely the CD-ROM driver. Using any boot disk that doesn't either doesn't use BANANA.ANI or have it renamed seems to have no problem.

[zde]

Also note that this was discussed long ago. And is even mentioned on Wiki... Sometimes it's good idea to use search...

[SupernovaNick]

Also note that this was discussed long ago. And is even mentioned on Wiki... Sometimes it's good idea to use search...

Yeah, I tried searching but I guess I missed that.

[vlad557776]

That's due to the device driver. Go to autoexec.bat/config.sys and rename the CD-ROM device name from banana to something else (like mscd001)

[BetaNewbie]

I always wonder which DOS boot disk uses this funny CD-ROM device name...

Microsoft mode ones usually use MSCD001 or OEMCD001.

[Overdoze]

I always wonder which DOS boot disk uses this funny CD-ROM device name...

Microsoft mode ones usually use MSCD001 or OEMCD001.

The ones from allbootdisks.com do. Apparently someone there thought BANANA would be a cool device name. I think I've also seen a TOMATO variant somewhere.

[JennyTheOSCollector]

Ugh,what a troublesome cursor file!Can you change the file with other windows's file?

[Schneider616]

I think I've also seen a TOMATO variant somewhere.

95 ones used BANANA, and the 98/98SE bootdisks were the ones to use TOMATO. Not sure but ME might have it too.

[GL1zdA]

I think I've also seen a TOMATO variant somewhere.

95 ones used BANANA, and the 98/98SE bootdisks were the ones to use TOMATO. Not sure but ME might have it too.

There are no official (released by MS) Windows 95 boot discs with MSCDEX configured. Official 98 and 98 SE boot floppies use OEMCD001.

[Overdoze]

BANANA and TOMATO are definitely custom names, as said above, official bootdisks used MSCD or OEMCD instead.

There are no official (released by MS) Windows 95 boot discs with MSCDEX configured. Official 98 and 98 SE boot floppies use OEMCD001.

Well this makes me wonder, if there was a retail CD release of Windows 95 RTM, did it include a floppy bootdisk?

[GL1zdA]

BANANA and TOMATO are definitely custom names, as said above, official bootdisks used MSCD or OEMCD instead.

There are no official (released by MS) Windows 95 boot discs with MSCDEX configured. Official 98 and 98 SE boot floppies use OEMCD001.

Well this makes me wonder, if there was a retail CD release of Windows 95 RTM, did it include a floppy bootdisk?

I've never found one and also haven't found evidence that one existed (I've dug through MS website at archive.org). There was an Upgrade boxed CD release, but you wouldn't need a boot disk for that one, since you were expected to have a CD-ROM configured under DOS for the Upgrade to work. I have several shrink wrapped Windows 95 OEM CD releases and none have floppies inside. I have also found Windows 95 OEM CD packages that apparently should have been customized by the OEM. These contained a sticker for the floppy, so the OEM could cook their own boot disc configured for the computer they have sold. I'm attaching a photo of such release (it's the Polish version).

[Overdoze]

Interesting, I thought so since I haven't been able to actually find one, nor is there a known ProductType for it. I have several 95 CDs myself, and all are either Upgrade or OEM. However, there is the DRVCOPY.INF file which apparently facilitates real mode CD-ROM support for the 2nd stage setup, before the actual Windows driver for it is installed. If this file is missing from the bootdisk or misconfigured, you get the infamous "Insert Windows 95 CD-ROM" error upon reboot.

Anyway, we're going a bit offtopic with this. TL;DR: BANANA.ANI file is perfectly fine, you just need to change the CD-ROM device name to avoid the copy error.

[xelloss]

I've never found one and also haven't found evidence that one existed (I've dug through MS website at archive.org). There was an Upgrade boxed CD release, but you wouldn't need a boot disk for that one, since you were expected to have a CD-ROM configured under DOS for the Upgrade to work. I have several shrink wrapped Windows 95 OEM CD releases and none have floppies inside. I have also found Windows 95 OEM CD packages that apparently should have been customized by the OEM. These contained a sticker for the floppy, so the OEM could cook their own boot disc configured for the computer they have sold. I'm attaching a photo of such release (it's the Polish version).

Correct: boot floppies for Windows 95 CD-ROM OEM do exist, in a certain sense, but as far as I know they come as a "make it yourself" recipe (perhaps a disk image, or a batch script copying files into a floppy). You then had to copy in your CD-ROM driver and edit CONFIG.SYS (and perhaps AUTOEXEC.BAT and even a setup configuration script!) accordingly.

[zde]

I think it's like DR-DOS 6.0 on 360K floppies. It was never sold in shops but if you really needed it - you could order it (if you own the regular version). And it would be mailed to you.

I think story with Windows 95 book disks is the same: if you don't own a working PC (thus couldn't follow instruction) you could order one from Microsoft or OEM and one would be mailed to you. Most likely these are from some support company, not a counterfeit... hard to prove one way or another, though...