CD- ROM is missing, am i screwed?

[kelvin.sg]

hi i'm a novice and i think i screwed up my pc bigtime. my cd-rom has vanished and i have compatibility mode paging reduces overall system performance.and drive a & c using ms-dos compatiblity mode file system.i also have yellow exclamation marks in the device manager over my standard floppy disk controller as well as my primary and secondary ide controller(dual fifo).would appreciate all the help i can get.
I've asked for help and tried unchecking 'force compatibility mode disk access' =failed(got a blue screen -OE at Vxd )
scanreg/restore =failed(failed to restore)
I suspect it had something to do with me checking(or unchecking)
something called DMA on my hard disk in the device manager.
Was trying to speed up performance.did i screw up bad?

O/S=win98se
intel celeron 300mhz/192ram

[Chuckiechan]

Welcome to Techimo!

First go into safe mode and try taking the HDD off of DMA.

Also, some CD roms will throw bad files if set to DMA. (My sony drive will).

Try that first. Just in case I think safe mode is F-6 or F-8 during boot up.

[Bill in SD, CA]

Welcome to TechIMO!!

If it were me I would remove (in device manager) all of the items with exclamation points and re-boot.

Windows will detect and re-install them.

You will want to have your 98 CD handy just in case.

Wait for confirmation on this as I haven't used 98 in about 3 years and I have a hangover from last night.

Bill

[Bovon]

I use Win98SE as well, and holding the control key during boot gets me into Win in safe mode. Usually, after using a lot of different hardware, I will go into Device Manager in safe mode, highlight and remove everything that has more there than it should (i.e. 5 cd rom drives?..highlight and remove them all). reboot and let Windows redetect and reinstall..yes..do have the Win98SE setup CD handy...probably will not need it, but the OS can get onery sometimes. If by some stroke of bad luck, you don't have the 98 setup disk, try pointing the wizard to C:\Windows\System(and then sometimes\Iosubsys

[kelvin.sg]

i've managed to get my cd-rom back and fix the compatibility problem by deleting the enum key on the registry.(under hkey_local_machine)
However, the device manager now shows multiple devices listed along with an alarming exclamation mark at my DMA controller( i have two listed) Should I remove it?
Thanks again for your help guys!

[Bovon]

AFAIK you can remove anything shown in Device Manager, and if it is a currently needed and/or attached device, on a reboot...Windows will redetect and reinstall it for you. Last year, I had so many glitches happening that I deleted almost everything from Device Manager (I was at the point of a new install by then anyhow). On reboot, Windows found and reinstalled everything. You must do this in safe mode..that is the only way to actually see all the crap that Windows has kept assigned...has something to do with certain .INF files that are setup when a hardware device is connected... and Win98's inability to properly control such as this.

You will need to assign device drivers for all those exclamation points. That's the joy of deleting the ENUM key from the registry.

The DMA controller should be from the chipset drivers for your mobo. Get on your mobo mfr's website and d/l the latest drivers and install them. Same w/ sound, video, audio, NIC/Modem, and anything else you might need.

[kelvin.sg]

ok... erm.. novice question: How do I get info on my mobo's mfr?
Do i have to open the case?

Will try Bovon's tips and post back with results.

Thanks!

[kelvin.sg]

oh... I got another one... I can see this line when i boot up.
it goes something like HDD S.M.A.R.T. disabled.
what is it? and should i enable?
looking forward to advice and thanks in advance!

[Bill in SD, CA]

S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) is implemented into all of the modern hard disks. A special program inside the disk constantly keeps tracking the condition of a range of the vital parameters: driver, disk heads, surface state, electronics, etc.

Bill