AUGGHHHH! BEWARE! LOTS OF TECHNICAL MUMBO-JUMBO FOLLOWS: I am having problems trying to fix a Compaq Armada 1571DM Laptop. I recently formatted the hard drive and installed Windows 98 (first edition) from scratch (I tried this several times to try and fix the problem). Upon the first boot after setup, the computer freezes. When reading the bootlog.txt file, I found that it failed while trying to initialize "esdi_506.pdr". I found that this is one of two files needed for the Primary and Secondary IDE Controllers. From safe mode, I was able to perform troubleshooting and load updated drivers from Compaq (ComCRAP!), as well as update the ROMPaq (BIOS). The problem seemed to be with the PCI IDE controller "Opti Viper Max Dual PCI IDE Controller" (OVMD). The OVMD is a multifunctional device that is a parent to the Primary and Secondary IDE Controllers. I was able to get Windows to boot in Normal mode if I set the OVMD to "No IDE Channels enabled". This prevented the "esdi_506.pdr" from loading because the Primary & Secondary IDE Controllers were not installed (enabled). Furthermore, when booting in Normal mode with the IDE Channels disabled, the OVMD was disabled because it claimed that it didn't have an IRQ assigned from BIOS. I checked the BIOS and it did, indeed, have IRQ 14 assigned. According to "Microsoft System Information" (msinfo32.exe), IRQ 14 is free. I tried turning off PCI Interrupt Steering, to no avail. I tried removing the CMOS Battery to reset BIOS Settings, no luck. I have a Compaq 1580DMT (a slightly older computer with a VERY similar configuration) that I have been using as a test subject. I installed Win98 on this computer (from formatted HD) and had no problems (IRQ 14 IS assigned to OVMD and all is well). Am I dealing with a hardware problem, or is this a software or driver issue? If hardware, which hardware? Any insight is GREATLY appreciated! Thanks Darkshadeau

did u format c:/u

Laptop drivers are tricky as they aren't as easy to find and harder to find documentation. If you're daring, copy the registry from the working laptop to the problem laptop. (On the problem laptop, in dos, attrib the user.dat and system dat -s -h -r and then delete before copying the new registry.)This often provides miracle cures when working with two similar systems.

I agree with Pete... maybe you should do an unconditional format.