Fdisk /mbr does seem like the best option, assuming the drive isn't setup as a multi boot system or requires an overlay to use its full capacity. ("note the forward slash") 'Goback' isn't installed on this machine is it? Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience

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Hi again Ok you can boot with a boot disk and view files. This suggest no overlay is installed. You haven't mentioned multibooting, so its safe enough to assume you don't. This said, you should be able to safely use the command fdisk/mbr Fdisk/status should give info about both C:and D: When you use sys command it places the dos io.sys and msdos.sys in their correct places in the partition. You will then need to place a windows msdos.sys over the top of the dos one. The error message you recieved, resulted most likely from using sys c: from a c: prompt. You need to do it from a system diskette(eg boot floppy). OK summing up :: Boot floppy use the fdisk/mbr command Quit and see if there is a change. NO? ok then again boot with floppy -- fdisk /status Make sure the correct partition is marked as active. Report what's stated in a post here. Side note to using sys c: A copy of attrib (from c:\windows\command\) on your boot floppy makes replacing msdos.sys easier. Before using sys -- go to root of c: unhide msdos.sys [attrib -s -h -r msdos.sys] copy msdos.sys to msdos.bak then use sys command. Then if you have access to another 98 computer copy the msdos.sys file to diskette or yu could just create a text file and copy only what is in the shaded area to a text file. Microsoft link with msdos.sys text So ie. boot your floppy c: attrib -s -h -r msdos.sys copy msdos.sys msdos.bak a: sys c: copy (a known good version of msdos.file_extension) c:\msdos.sys

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OK - I will try this and come back to you.

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Hi, Right... after fdisk/mbr there is no change. After fdisk/status I see the following table: Fixed Disk Drive Status Disk Drv Mbytes Free Usage 1 4887 100% C: 2047 D: 2840 (the spaces have disapeared - '1' is in the Disk column and 'c' and 'd' are in the drive column) For some reason I thought I should see an 'A' for Active somewhere. Do I have a problem here? I was able to unhide msdos.sys but in edit I already saw it was over 1024 bytes. Also, after getting the 'system transferred' message from sys c: I rebooted but still get the same error message on startup. Any ideas ?

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Hi again Ok if you have faithfully recorded all text, no * or A under status columb, near the c drive, you have No active c partition. Use fdisk It will give you 4 options. One of them is set an active partition [option 2] You need to make c active. OK another thing. You now have refreshed system files. You will now need to put the win msdos.sys file over the top of the new msdos.sys file in the root of c drive.

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OK - Just a (silly) question - As I'm not creating or changing a partition, just making active, there is no danger or losing the data I have on the C drive right?

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Hi No just a simple matter of tagging that partition active. All data with the partition will not be affected.

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The plot thickens... It seems fdisk/status does not show as much info as fdisk itself. Once in fdisk I can see that C: IS active. (apologies for the confusion) It looks like this but with the spaces: Partition Status Type Mbytes System C: 1 A PRI DOS 2047 FAT16 2 EXT DOS 2840 I also ran scandisk on the C: and after a while it gave me this message: "detected an invalid long filename entry on this drive but was unable to fix it. Run scandisk for windows" I am still seeing the "No operating system found" message on every startup.

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Hi Sorry about that, an oversight about the status option. Forgot again (banging fist to forehead) - I don't know how many times I've said ahh! when /status kicks back just the limited partition info. OK its certinly odd you still get the same message on bootup. You could try slaving the hard drive in someone elses system and runing scandisk to fix the long file problem, but I'd doubt the long file name problem would be affecting bootup. What strikes me is the MBR must not be refreshing properly, which happens time to time. My usual fix involves using another OS to fix that. I've seen plenty of free programs in 9x that wipe just the MBR code (and not the partition table) so you can use fdisk /mbr and be sure it can write to this section of the drive. I can't remember at the moment what they were called or a likely webspace to find them. I havn't tried any of the programs in the links below, but they should be able to verify or refresh the mbr. MBRtool free from DIY data recovery. MBRwizard at Simtel

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Hi Had another look, MBRwizard wont wipe just the MBR code. So this program will be of no help to you. MBRtool looks very promising.

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Thanks. As a last resort I will rip the hard drive out and slave it in a friends PC - as I probably won't be able to do that until after Xmas I will persevere with the MBR. I have the MBRtool on a floppy and will give it a go. I'll let you know what happens. I hope this will allow me to correctly refresh the Master boot record if that's the problem.

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Hi Well the boot procedure is a bit involved, but when the system can not find an os, then there is a problem long before a higher level os is involved. Non active partition or a corrupt MBR would be the obvious culprits. However there are few other problems that crop up, that stop the os loading, but I don't have a list for various error messages generated. I was having a look for error messages generated by PnP disabled in bios and missing mbr signature bytes and found that missing mbr signature did indeed give missing os error message. Use MBRtool to "write MBR signature bytes" Active mbr damaged explanation An interesting but complex link about fat16 I felt worth noting. If refreshing the MBR as well as writing signature bytes doesn't fix the error message, check your bios for odd entries. You never know, it may well be the start of low voltage battery problems.

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