View Full Version : Win98SE - Booting Problem
BUMPFF
13th Dec 2003, 17:51
Occasionally (and irritatingly) on initial boot-up, the message 'Disk or System Error. Insert system disk and press ENTER' The trouble is that Win98 was pre-installed by the manufacturer (Evesham Micros) therefore I don't have a Win98 disk.
My rig is ancient at two years old and perhaps I should have known better than to buy Evesham as when I asked if an engineer could visit to effect a fix I was told that there are no engineers around who are trained to work on it and that my hard disk is faulty.
Where can I get a Win98 disk? Microsoft don't want to know.
(The problem is usually cured by a reset).
Evesham - surely they are duty-bound to provide you with an OEM licensed copy?
rickity
14th Dec 2003, 06:12
Bumpff.
Have a look for a folder called options on your system (use explorer tools and find) In the folder you will probably see loads of files called ".cab"s and with a bit of luck a setup.exe. This is usualy a copy of the win98 and the drivers for your system along with all the other preloaded software.
If you can copy the folder off to a cd if you suspect a dodgy disc or if you're feeling really brave run setup from the options folder and re install windows on top. Doing the back up is throughly recommended though.
This is certainly true for quite a few machines such as Dell and Packard bell, that come in pre installed, I suspect that evesham either use the same technique may be with different names. once you have found loads of .cab s you have found the windows setup.
Good luck
Rickity
If it is a floppy boot disk then I can send you mine if you want. Let us know via PM or e-mail. The old '98 cd I have is registered to me but you can try that if you think it will help.
It's a BIOS message - nothing to do with whether or not you've got a Win98 CD. It's failing to "see" the hard disk for some reason and so it's attempting to boot from floppy.
If it all works fine otherwise there's probably not much you can do. I'd check the cables are all well seated and I'd poke around in the BIOS setup to see if it's set to "Hard disk auto-detect". It might be worth turning that off and entering the actual hard disk spec there instead - but this all depends on the BIOS.
"Ancient at two years old"??? Bet you don't think of your aircraft like that...
Naples Air Center, Inc.
14th Dec 2003, 12:51
BUMPFF,
Rickity, 25F, and TCS all have great suggestions. If after trying their suggestions, you still think it is the hard drive, I recommend getting a copy of Norton Ghost, or my personal favorite - Acronis True Image (http://www.acronis.com/products/trueimage/).
The beauty of True Image is that it lets you backup straight to USB 2.0 and Firewire drives. All from Windows and without rebooting!
You could get a new hard drive and run either Ghost or True Image and clone your old hard drive. Then you can replace the old drive with the new drive and continue where you left off with your computer.
Take Care,
Richard
BUMPFF
14th Dec 2003, 20:48
Thank you, thank you all. To me, valve timing a Merlin would be easier but I'll attempt your suggested fixes in order.
BRL, thanks also for your offer of a Win98 floppy - I may well be in touch.
Brgds
curmudgeon
15th Dec 2003, 20:59
BUMPFF
I used to get this on my old W98 machine (Compaq, 400Mhz). The way I fixed it until the next time was to take the case off, remove the cable from the motherboard to the HDD, put it back on exactly the same way, and hey presto the machine booted up again immediately.
I know this is a bit of an unsatisfactory fix, but if its the same problem as mine, this could help if you need to get the machine booted up quickly.
cur
RomeoTangoFoxtrotMike
15th Dec 2003, 21:38
curmudgeon,
I know this is a bit of an unsatisfactory fix, but if its the same problem as mine, this could help if you need to get the machine booted up quickly.
Not as unsatisfactory as you may think... in the days when a single computers came in multiple boxes big enough to climb into (that dates me :uhoh: ) part of the quaterly maintenance cycle involved replacing all the cables between the drive enclosure and the CPU enclosure :ooh: Themal creep of the cable connectors is not that uncommon...