I would suspect a hardware problem - most likely the FDD - if possible, try another. Might not hurt to doublecheck your BIOS settings though I'm not insensitive, I just don't care.

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Here are the excat settings in the BIOS: Disk A: 1.44 Disk B: None IDE 0 Master (C: 4327 MB) IDE 1 Master (none) IDE 2 slave (none) Boot: A: the C: Is it possible -- and I guess I may know the answer to this -- for an FDD to be so pecular in the way it breaks? I mean this FDD has been reading disks the last 3 days. As I said, I can get through some of the boot sequence at certain times. Matthew

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Update... I'm convinced it is not the FDD. Just to be sure, I took drive out, cleaned contacts, etc. Tried again, no go with DOS 6.22 or Win98 boot disks. However, if I put in disk 1 of 6 for the XP setup disk it DOES start the load process. Because I tried loading XP once, is it looking for some different file as part of the boot disk? There has to be something I (we) am missing. Matthew

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Another Update... HOLY CRAP... I'm jumping up and down over here. My last update about "is it looking for some other file because of XP" sparked a thought... I looked at the XP Disk 1 and there were only 4 files on it. One of the files was BIOSINFO.INI. So I copied that file to one of the Win98 boot disks I've been trying. IT WORKED!! As we speak, my c: drive is 55% reformatted from a "format c: /s" command. I'll let you know what happends...

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You say it starts the XP process - it doesn't finish though, does it? The FDD seems to be the problem - there's more that can go wrong with one beyond being dirty. It could be something else entirely, from bad RAM to a failing or misconnected HDD crossing up the system. "Because I tried loading XP once, is it looking for some different file as part of the boot disk?" Ok - look: Booting an OS from a floppy is a self contained process, independant of the hard drive - your HDD could have Linux Mandrake on it for all the difference that would make I'm not insensitive, I just don't care.

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The biosinfo.ini file shouldn't have made a difference. It's probably a text file. Can you post back it's contents?

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I agree with posts 11 and 12. It could also be a head alignment problem on the floppy drive.

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I'd posted before reading his last message. This makes the kind of sense that's not - but whatever, I suppose. I'm not insensitive, I just don't care.

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Hi All, First, thanks for the help and interest in my situation. Second, I have no idea why it would actually make a difference. What I *do* know is that all 5 of the boot disks that I tried gave the same "OS not found" while the WinXP floppy (1 of 6) got at least as for as the install screen. Yes, that BIOSINFO file is all text commands, but it is very long. I'm not sure if it would be appropriate to make such a long post. I'd be more than happy to email it to anyone who wants. Also, you can download the same files that I did at: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&familyid=e8fe6868-6e4f-471c-b455-bd5afee126d8 Finally, I had to stop starring at my laptop for today. However, when I left it, it was bootable to c: with just the command prompt. Good ole format /s worked. Now I just have to copy over the CD-ROM drivers and install Win98 -- not XP :-O Again, I'll let you know what happens. Matthew

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I downloaded the bootdisk file and created the first disk. The file name was biosinfo.inf. 98 uses a biosinfo.inf also but it's not on the bootdisk. I don't have a computer with that problem so I couldn't confirm if that's a fix. I did add it to a 98 bootdisk and there was no difference when using the file compared to when I didn't. I ran the MEM command. Memory usage was the same both ways. The booting process took the same amount of time, indicating the file wasn't being read. I didn't think a normal dos boot would automatically read an .inf file anyway. The only thing I could think of was if io.sys or maybe command.com would run the file if it detected it's exact name. But that doesn't seem to be the case. Also as I suspected having biosinfo.inf by itself on a floppy disk did not make it bootable. So I have no idea why adding that file to a bootdisk would be the single thing that makes it bootable on your system. Maybe others will post in with ideas.

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The word 'fluke' comes to mind (also 'coincidence'). Intermittent problem with the floppy drive maybe. I'm not insensitive, I just don't care.

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Yeah, I think that'll turn out to be the most likely explanation. I was intrigued with the possibility that adding that file would fix some of the inexplicable bootdisk problems that crop up every now and then.

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Ah, well - those may remain inexplicable for a little while longer. Seems like that'd be contrary to the series of events that are the boot process. I'm not insensitive, I just don't care.

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Well, thanks again for the help. It may well be a fluke, but it worked. Something to keep in the back of your mind in case someone else does something dumb as I did. You all know way more than me about this sort of thing, and also see/hear about more problems than I do. Who knows, maybe someday will happen again. Thank you all, Matthew

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Matthew, we're glad you got things going, but there is just no way adding an XP ini file to a 98 bootdisk would have any effect whatsoever. It doesn't work that way I'm not insensitive, I just don't care.

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The Boot Process A bit dated, but it covers the basics. I'm not insensitive, I just don't care.

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