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I've had this old laptop for a while and thought i would try to get it working.
The problem is that i cant get any OS installed. During POST the CD rom (actually i think it is a DVD) is detected but when i put a cd in it and try to boot to it to install the OS it says drive "D" not ready. I've tried booting straight to Win XP cd and have also tried loading a 98 boot disk to try to load win 98. Either way, the drive is not ready. Like it doesnt exist or is defective. But during the POST it is there. What am i overlooking?
Its an older laptop WinBook SI. I just looked and it IS a DVD.Thanks,
Joe
Just because it's recognized by the BIOS does not mean it's without defect - possibly a dirty lens, but it could have some other (less repairable) problem.
You might try a lens cleaning kit
There are ways to install 98 without a working CD drive, by transferring the files to the hard drive by one means or another - I'm not so sure how feasible that is with
XP (and you'd still be hampered by not having a CD drive)We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true
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Thanks for the info. the guy that gave me this laptop also gave me a usb cdrom. So i'm guessing the dvd may have been bad to start with. too bad the HD has been formated.
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your not going to get any where with that USB cd-rom try finding A bootable floppy with cd-rom support.well ill get back to u on this becuase im getting help with kinda the same problem
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I know the USB wont be there until i install an OS. I was just making the observation that the laptop came with a USB cdrom, meaning the dvd was prob bad to start with.
I have a 98 boot disk and it seems to load everyhting including the generic cdrom drivers. But when i put in the 98 cd to install is when i get the error "disk not ready".
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Sure, it'd just be a matter of finding & loading the right DOS USB driver and perform the install (98 anyways)
For the DVD drive, it's worth trying one of those cleaners - 'drive not ready' could just be a dirty lens. Are you able to tell if that drive spins at least? A dead drive motor is pretty hopeless
We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true
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Hi, I never saw a bootable 98/98SE install CD except the ones I make. The 98 boot floppy disk loads the CD drivers. If the CD wont go then it's probably bad. If you can setup a net between the laptop and a working machine you can copy the install CD to the Laptop's HD as already suggested. You could also move it from one machine to yours on floppys, flash drive or etc. You only need the Win98 Folder to install. Good Luck, Jim
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Your limited experience notwithstanding, they do exist.
Regardless, if the DVD drive is bad or dirty, it's not going to work - in order to use the USB CD drive by booting from a Win98 floppy, that will have to load the correct DOS USB drivers.
There are other options - nice of you to reiterate
We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true
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.. funny - could've sworn *you* were the juvey here, "J"
Feel free to continue summarizing the contributions of others - everyone's good at something, after all (even you)
We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true
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