I believe that cmdninst.exe is corrupt and I want to replace it. Can anyone tell me where to find it. I have tried to extract it from my restoration cd and have tried to find it via google to no avail.

I doubt that cmdninst.exe would be corrupt (and not a lot of other files also) and is causing a problem itself. But if you insist on replacing it, just EXTRACT a copy from the C:\Windows\Options\Install folder file WIN_16.CAB. Browse to that compressed Cabinet file and locate cmdninst.exe and right click on it and select the EXTRACT option. Then extract it to the C:\Windows\System folder. Most problems with cmdninst.exe hanging are caused by hardware failure or Plug and Play setup problems. Often the BIOS DMI data is corrupted or wrong as a result of the hardware change(s) not being detected. First boot in to the BIOS CMOS Setup and in the PnP/PCI Configuration section, Enable the Reset Configuration Data option (DMI or ESCD) and save the changes. cmdninst.exe just uses what it reads from the BIOS DMI setup data file on the system board, and what it reads from the hardware devices and uses this to setup the system. If the BIOS PnP Setup table is bad/wrong/corrupted and/or the information read from some hardware device is bad/wrong/corrupted, then it can not complete the plug and play setup of that device(s) and of course not finish and exit, and appear hung waiting on hardware that will not respond as expected.

I had the same problem installing my printer. I keep getting that cmdninst error message. I tried following these directions but when I am in BIOS there isn't anywhere that says DMI or ESCD, or PnP/PCI configuration, I can't find it anyway.Under peripheral configurations it lists legacy usb support which I enabled and the others all have to do with parallel support.Nothing changed, where do I go to find this PnP configuration? Thanks