I need Help!

[pinupgirl76]

I was just given an older computer that had Win95 on it. (Compaq) I could not install my DSL (no TCP/IP stack configured), my tech support from SBC was no help fixing it.So I got a WIn 98 CD and decided to reformat. THUS my nightmare has begun. I've changed my boot sequences, but I can NOT get windows to install- THEN my 2 year old ran off with the boot disc!!! SO now all I have is the WIn98 disc to help me! I get "disc failure" or stuck on "verifying DMI pool", depending which sequence I use. Can i even accomplish this without the boot disc???

[John Prophet]

Welcome to the forum!

Can you make it boot off the cd?

Did you already get it formatted?

You can always just download a win98 bootdisk from www.bootdisk.com

JP

[pinupgirl76]

It will not boot off the CD - just yells FAILURE at me.

I'm downloading the boot disc now off that site! Ahhh thank you -I hope this works

[John Prophet]

"failure"? what EXACTLY does it say? You have it set to boot off cd first? Does your laptop have cd and floppy available at same time?

[pinupgirl76]

I'm not in front of the computer (at work) but it says system disc failure when I'm trying to boot off the CD first. It asks me to reinsert the disc and press any key- which does not work. It's not a lap top - but yes it has CD and floppy available.

Is it an original CD or a copy? Could be bad media. Or, that drive may not be able to read the disk if it's a copy.

[John Prophet]

ohhhh, ok. Sounds like it isnt set to boot off the cd at all. "System boot failure" almost sounds like the hard drive died and it isnt set to boot off the cd.

When you get in front of it, go into the bios and look at the boot order. Also you can look and see if it is recognizing the hard drive during bootup....if it sort of "hangs" for a while when it says "detecting IDE drives" it may be trying to detect a dead hard drive.


Also you could try this...see if it will boot off of the floppy...if it does, let it boot and then run "fdisk"....if it says "no fixed disk present"...then either the hard drive is dead or maybe the power cable or ide cable is loose or something of that sort.

JP

or, as Rick said, it might not be able to read the cd if it is scratched or burned copy etc...especially if it is an olddddd cdrom drive.....if thats the case and you cant get a better cd..you could try a newer cdrom drive...like a cdrw...they have better reading capabilities and can read burned cd's better etc.

[pinupgirl76]

Its an original CD - I'm going to try your suggestions- thank you SO MUCH!!! I'll let you know what happens!

[DallasDon]

I did it once, but I don't know how. I remember "boot from CD" as the first boot device, when it asked to insert a boot disk in drive "a", which i did not have, I just ignored the prompt and hit enter.

The Cd started setup, and prompted about twenty DOS commands, one at a time. Something like"do so and so" Y=enter, and a No option.

In frustration, I just did the default "enter" on all the prompts, and it loaded, and worked just fine!

[John Prophet]

Don..that sounds like you were using the "step by step confirmation" bootup option....where you answer "y" or "n" to each step....that can be useful if it is hanging, cuz you can sort of take your time and try to see EXACTLY which step it is hanging at.