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I cannot change the bot sequence in the bios. It has the diskette booting first. It's a DELL Dimension XPS M233s. For some reason I can't change the boot sequence. Any ideas????????Any help would be appriecated.Yes this related to my previous post.
Scott
Maybe you could try this web site:
http://support.ap.dell.com/ap/en/kb/document.asp?DN=TT1032262#TRDV
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Is your c: drive listed in the BIOS?
What are you trying to change the boot sequence to - until you install Win95, you need to boot from the floppy, and even after it's installed, it won't hurt to leave the sequence that way (just take out the floppy disk)
Win95 won't boot from the install CD (if that's what you may be trying to do)
Thinking - it's a habit.
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The C: is not listed in the BIOS. I figured if I coul change the boot sequence to CDROM it would load Windows 98. I can't make that change...it won't let me. It stays on DISKETTE. All I want to do is load Windows 98 but i keep getting down to the A> prompt with that message. Any ideas would be great!
Scott
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"The C: is not listed in the BIOS"
That's the problem - you can't install anything to a hard drive that's not recognized by the computer's BIOS. Likewise you can't boot from a drive that's "not there"
It would seem that either the drive has failed or isn't cabled or jumpered correctly.
Have you had the machine opened up and changed anything around recently?
Thinking - it's a habit.
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Ok i get that. How do you explain before I formatted it. There was Windows 95 on it before that. This all happened after the format. I have not done anything to the machine lateley. Is there a way I can chack to see if the drive is any good? Thanks for you help!
SCott
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Well, it does seem odd if you haven't actually had it apart - although drives can just fail.
Without being recognized by the computer, it's pretty difficult to do much of anything, although some hard drive diagnostics can check out unrecognized disks.
Might need to open up the computer, check that all cables are snug - can you hear the drive spin up? If not, try a different power plug on the drive.
Thinking - it's a habit.
0
I take it you've tried more than one bootdisk and you still get the request for the command interpreter? If so the problem should either be with the floppy drive or the bootdisk. Make sure the floppy drive is identified properly in cmos. Open the case and make sure the connections are tight. If you still have problems with the bootdisk, try creating one on a different computer than the one you're using now.
I'm not sure about the hard drive. You can't do anything with it until the bootdisk properly loads. When it does load OK, run fdisk, Y to large disk support, then option 4. Exactly what does it say?
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Well, if there's no BIOS entry for C: then everything else is moot.
Also - check the BIOS and ensure that the primary IDE (hard disk) controller is enabled.
Thinking - it's a habit.
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I wasn't sure if he meant c: wasn't listed in the boot sequence or if it wasn't being recognized at all. I think the Dell's bios boot sequence only refers to the 'fixed disk' or 'hard disk' and not a specific drive letter.
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Ah, good point, there is some ambiguity.
Previous post seemed to indicate he was unable to access c:"I've tried to get to the C: drive but I can't."
... which led me to suspect no entry in the BIOS (and would explain some of the issues).
Thinking - it's a habit.
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Hi guys. I just came from the other posting and was on my way up the page when I saw this posting. In the other, I've just given Scott something to try at the command error. I also suggested (as DAVEINCAPS did here) that the floppy drive may be the culprit.
And reading this posting, I was wondering if he's looking specifically for something listed as C in the bios.
If Scott can get past the command error, the fdisk listings would help a lot.
Scott, on your POST (Power On Self Test) is the hard drive listed in the main screen? (The screen right after it says "Hit Delete to enter setup" or something similar.) This screen lists your drives, ports, memory, etc.
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Dan Penny...
Here is what it shows in the BIOS:
Drives:
Primary
Drive 0 Auto cyls=0 Hds=16 Sec 63 Size 4335
Drive 1:NONE
Secondary: Drive 0: Auto CRD-8482B
When I fire up the machine here is what it shows:Hard Disk 0 installed IBM-DCAA-34330
ATAPI Device Installed CRD-8482B.I fI keep re-booting the computer with the Startup disk I sometimes I can get to the spot where it gves you three options:
CdRom Support,W/O Cd Support, Help Me file.
I have tried both with cd and without cd rom support and I get error meeages that I'm missing files and it goes back to the Command Inerpreter message. Any help would be great!Scott
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It's seeing your hard drive OK. So the problem has to be with the floppy disk or floppy drive.
You could try the bootdisk in another computer to see if it'll boot to an a:\> prompt. If it does then the problem with the ailing machine must be the floppy drive. If it doesn't the problem is with the disk.
I could email you a bootdisk if there's any question about the one you have now being bad.
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Hi Scott - hey Dan penny, everyone
Ok - drive 0 is your C: drive however, the entry:
cyls=0
seems a little odd
Your hard drive does appear to be recognized after all - didn't mean to point you in the wrong direction.
If you can't get any boot disk to work, you may well have a bad floppy drive or controller.
Does the floppy drive show up correctly as 1.44Mb in the BIOS or at the POST screen?
Does typing in
a:\command.com
help when prompted for the command interpreter?
Thinking - it's a habit.
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Yeah, that 0 cyclinders is odd. If it's set for AUTO I don't think anything should show--hds and sectors should also be zero.
But the fact that it identifies the drive specifically on the posting screen indicates it is an AUTO setting.
It shouldn't affect the floppy booting issue but are you sure the settings you posted are correct?
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Hey DAVE - yes, it struck me as peculiar, I checked one machine set at 'auto' and all the fields were zero - but you never know.
Thinking - it's a habit.
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Yeah, I checked it on another computer too. But it may be just the way his bios does things.
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http://support.ap.dell.com/docs/storage/80403/Specs.htm
shows that the drive is ID'd correctly. 4.3 GB.
I'm really beginning to suspect the floppy drive, or its controller. The fact that he's getting somewhere, sometimes, with it points in that direction.
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Hello Again..
I changed the floppy Drive and everything is loading great. Thanks for all you all help!Scott
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 Restore to factory settin...
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no sound
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