Please help. I am a techie myself, but can not get past this... I have a Windows 98 SE machine that we run our CAD on. The HDD failed, and as it was still covered under Maxtor's warranty (yep, a long one), got an RMA. I have received the new drive now, and connect it to the machine. I have it jumpered as the master (though I've already tried CS), and it posts and is listed in the BIOS. The machine is set to the following boot order: Floppy, CD-ROM, HDD. When I start the machine to install Windows 98 on this drive, I get the error "Boot Failure: System Halted". I get this error with nothing in the floppy/CD-ROM, a Win98 boot disk and the Win98 CD-ROM, or all combinations of that. Please help me, as I have tried everything I know of. Thanks, Doug dmayer [at] flooringsystemsinc.net

Hi Doug Have you fdisked and formatted this new drive? Did you back up all your CAD stuff? You prob get a boot failure message because the hdd can't see anything. There's nothing there to see. Get a 98 boot disk, load it then install 98 from there. PS also don't bother booting, in future, via floppy,cdrom,hdd just stick to hdd On a hot summers night would you offer your throat to the Wolf with the Red Roses?

Go to another computer and make another 98 boot floppy. Change all boot orders to floppy drive just for giggles. It will not boot to the 98 cd but should boot to a 98 setup disk. Make sure the floppy drive is good. May it be said when I die, He was a man of integrity.

Whether or not the harddrive is formatted the computer should still boot to a setup disk and then allow you to partition and format the drive. Correctly stated above in the future only set to boot to harddrive as first boot device. Speeds up the booting process. May it be said when I die, He was a man of integrity.

Doc The way I read Dougs post is that he has tried to boot straight from a brand new hdd, to quote: "I get this error with nothing in the floppy/CD-ROM, a Win98 boot disk and the Win98 CD-ROM, or all combinations of that". On a hot summers night would you offer your throat to the Wolf with the Red Roses?

He has tried to boot to all combinations. No floppy in drive and a floppy in the drive as well as a 98 cd. Which isnt going to matter about the 98 cd because it aint going to boot anyway. Neither is the harddrive if it has no boot record but the setup disk should have booted but he does need to change the first boot device to floppy until he gets the floppy booted and the drive formatted and 98 installed. Then go back and change to harddrive as first boot device. May it be said when I die, He was a man of integrity.

Doug you dont even need a harddrive in the computer for it to boot to a floppy drive. You need to be working on why it will not boot to a 98 setup disk. If you create a known good 98 setup disk and keep the first boot device as floppy and crank it up with it in there. It should boot too it. If it isnt suspect a bad floppy drive or ribbon to floppy crossed or defective. If you ever stick a good 98 setup disk in a floppy drive that the ribbon is on the floppy drive crossed the wrong way it will destroy the data on the floppy and therefore you will need to go make another setup disk. Just for your future refferance. May it be said when I die, He was a man of integrity.