i am running win98 se on an amd-k6 500MHz. my bios is award plug and play 2m.
on starting up this is what happens:

verifying dmi pool data...
disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter

i can then get cd-rom support and the ramdrive with a windows boot disk but then no joy. sys c: executes correctly but still no joy.

if i then type c:\windows\win i get this:

...
Registry file not found. registry service may be inoperable for this session.
XMS cache problem. registry service may be inoperable fo this session.
...
VFAT device initialisation failed

a device or resource required by VFAT is not present or is unreachable. VFAT cannot continue loading.
system halted.

if i get a windows cd what can i do then? is this a virus?
the computer had been up for most of the day and some installing had been done. tweakall and nero. it crashed suddenly while running mirc, outlook express, bulletproof ftp.
apparently the computer blue-screened when a picture file was loaded.

thankyou for your time

I had similar probs with an AMD K6 500mhz cpu. I would check the voltage selection, make sure fan is working.
Other lesser possibility is Hard Drive mode settings.
AMD cpu's are known to be a little sensitive - I would reckon its not a virus prob. You may need a fresh install of windows now if certain critical files have been corrupted by the crash.
Hope this helps.

thankyou for the feedback, demac, but i don't know how to check the chip voltage or hard drive mode settings.
and a fresh install of windows? sounds horrible. can't i just install over the top?
this computer is incredibly sensitive i'd certainly agree there. is it really a hardware problem?

I get this error (DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER) when I try to boot from the start-up disk supplied with 98SE! I've run through the cycle several times (insert the disk, press ENTER, wait for the error message again). Any ideas?

I get exactly the same problem on a k6-3 450 cpu. Email me and were find an answer!

Phil

I am getting the same error. Some research has yeilded the following suggestions:

1) Reset the bios to default

2) Remove battery, wait 2 min, reinstall

3) Put all harddrives on autodetect

4) Reflash the bios with current or newer version.

well I hope that helps. Unfortunately I disconnect all peripherals and still get this error. I'm stumped. Can't even boot to floppy. *sigh*

Wow you got the exact same error ive gotten. But here is my story-
One day my desktop freezes. I restart the computer but it wont load windows, instead it says "Disk I/O error, replace the disk and press any key". All the time this happens my harddrive is making strange clicky noises. All of a sudden the floppy stops working and detecting boot up disks. So i determine i have a bad harddrive so i send it off in warranty and WALLA, it gets lost in the mail. So today i bought a new HD and plugged it in. I still cant do anything because the floppy doesnt see boot up disks. it gives me the error you guys were talking about. Does this mean i have to go buy a floppy or is there something wrong with my motherboard? ::sigh::