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invalid drive specification
Name: k3_4life Date: September 26, 2004 at 15:08:00 Pacific OS: windows 98 second edtitio CPU/Ram: not sure
Comment:
I have a windows 98 second edition computer and when I turn it on I get a message "invalid drive specification" and it just tells me to press any key and after this the computer restarts all over again and the process keeps on repeating.
Name: DAVEINCAPS Date: September 26, 2004 at 15:41:32 Pacific
Reply:
Turn on the computer. Before the OS would normally start to load, start tapping the F8 key. A boot menu should come up. At the c:\> prompt type:
type c:\autoexec.bat
and enter (be sure to include the word 'type'). Post back what it says.
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Response Number 2
Name: T-R-A Date: September 26, 2004 at 20:59:16 Pacific
Reply:
Sounds more like a BIOS/CMOS which has lost it's settings, or a drive that has completely turned to toast. See if you can get into the computer's setup and see what it says.
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Response Number 3
Name: Mechanix2Go Date: September 26, 2004 at 22:52:40 Pacific
Reply:
I like DAVEINCAPS' idea.
T-R-A, there are no drive letters until the OS loads.
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Response Number 4
Name: DAVEINCAPS Date: September 26, 2004 at 23:04:34 Pacific
Reply:
In my post above I forgot to say, "Choose 'command prompt only' from the menu."
Sorry about that. You'd think as many times as I've recommended the procedure I'd get it right.
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Response Number 5
Name: T-R-A Date: September 26, 2004 at 23:39:54 Pacific
Reply:
Mechanix2Go:
Where does Kat say anything about seeing drive letters or a command prompt??? An "Invalid Drive Specification" is what you would expect when the system can't communicate with the drive...
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Response Number 6
Name: DAVEINCAPS Date: September 27, 2004 at 00:14:59 Pacific
Reply:
Since 'invalid drive specification' is the exact message dos gives when you try to access a non-existing drive I assumed that was the case here. The only dos commands that would normally load on a windows bootup come from autoexec.bat.
I don't recall ever seeing that message as a bios error and I figured if it did happen to be a bios error there would have been an accompanying recommendation to enter cmos/bios setup.
It doesn't seem like that error would cause the system to reboot but I thought a look at the file might reveal something.
Also, Kat, how much RAM do you have? In some systems a gig or more of RAM can cause continuous rebooting.
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Response Number 7
Name: Mechanix2Go Date: September 27, 2004 at 08:23:05 Pacific
Reply:
ditto
Invalid drive is a DOS msg.
I can't wait for flimflam or somebody to jump in and say there ain't no DOS in w9x.
But hey, flimflam, why does w9x need io.sys msdos.sys and command.com to run?
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