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I have an old Dell 133 with a 7.5 gig western digital hard drive that I'm fixing for someone(too much trouble but they can't aford a new one).
The problem I'm having is that I did format and now the computer will not pick up that a c: drive at all. I checked the bios setings. I put the hard drive in my newer dell (the only place I had to hook it up is where my CD drive is) and it picks it up.
I have windowsXP on my newer comp is there anyway to format and load windows98 on the old drive with my newer pc if so how do I do that and would it being blank or maybe formated wrong have anything to do with the old pc not finding it?
check the hdd jumper settings.. there may be a problem.
rhi.
Frequently encountered computer problems and solutions.
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Hi Denise,
If all you did was format the drive in the old PC, it seems very odd that the BIOS does not see it.
Do you mean that the BIOS does not detect the drive?
Or that it won't boot?
Two very different things.
M2
If at first you don't succeed, you're about average.
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Since this computer is so old, perhaps a drive overlay program was installed on the hard drive so the BIOS could see the drive. If so, this would be gone after the format.
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Gee thanks for the quick replies.
As for the jumpers I tried that.
As for the hard drive not being deteted. I had an old 486 years ago that I reformated all the time with no problem and knew it was odd that it wasn't detecting it. I can use a windows95 start up disk to get to a prompt but when I try to switch from a: to c: it's not there so I asume that means the bios is not picking it up.
As for a drive overlay program. Yikes never heard of one of those. Would that explain why you can't enter the exact setings on the hard drive into the bios i.e when you enter the drive size it changes the cyl head number (I think) to something different than what is on the hard drive sticker?
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What/how did you format the drive?
If you're using a Win95 bootdisk, you should be aware that early versions of that OS would not work with large (FAT32) hard drives. Try a Win98 diskette.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
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.. still, if it's not actually being seen by the BIOS, not much can be done until it is.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
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It had windows98 I went to a comand prompt and typed format.
The pc didn't come with any disks so i used one of my old 95 start up disks to get to the prompt. I thought about the fat32 but thought it should still let me switch to a c: prompt. Didn't the old pcs just read the drive size wrong but still detected them?
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Hi Denise,
When the dell starts to boot and you get the POST screen, press PAUSE and see what the BIOS reports for drives.
M2
If at first you don't succeed, you're about average.
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Yes - first order of business is to ensure that the drive is 'seen' in the BIOS.
Depending on the 95 version, if you boot with and *old* Win95 floppy (95A) then it will not see any FAT32 (> 2Gb) partitions.
Bootdisks for all occasions are readily available online - although you could have (should have) made one before formatting
Sure, there can be BIOS issues with larger HDDs on older systems
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
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It reads:
Drives
Primary
Drive 0:Type Cyls Hds Pre Lz Sec Size
Auto 916 255 -1 916 63 7534
Sticker reads: 14610cyls 16hds 63spl
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Yes, well, it is being seen by the BIOS then - sometimes the numbers will differ due to 'translation'
Size: 7534 ... seems about right (Mb)
Recommend you try a Win98 bootdisk and see if things improve
(*run* the downloaded file to create the actual diskette)
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
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The pc was getting an explorer exe error when I got it so windows was useless and I couldn't get a start up disk. Someone got the computer from someone else and don't know anything about it. I figured I would format it and start over that way I would know exactly what was on it. I have all my disks from win 3.1 and 95 upgrade and 98 upgrade CD. I have my xp cd with newer pc but old one aparently only has 16mb ram so
don't think I can use xp wish I had full 98 instead of upgrade but right now I would settle for being able to get to c:prompt.Where can I get startup disks that work? I've searched and tried a few but they didn't work that's why I'm using old 95 startup disk
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"Where can I get startup disks that work?"
What do you mean? They are literally *everywhere* - click on the aforementioned link, run the file to create the disk.
With only 16Mb of RAM, 98 will run poorly - that's the absolute minimum - even 95 won't perform all that well.
Forget about XP completely - you're not even in the ballpark
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
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Hi jboy,
Yup. Just did the math.
BIOS 14715540
label 14726880M2
If at first you don't succeed, you're about average.
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I get an error :Floppy can't be acceded.
Check another application don't use itThat's what I get when I try to create startup disks with programs from above. I tried windows 98 oem and custom
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"Floppy can't be acceded.
Check another application don't use it"??
New one on me. Should have made one first (of course)
Are you attempting this on an XP machine?
Have to go out and play in the snow(!) for a bit, I'll check back later
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
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Hi Denise,
Is it:
Floppy can't be acceSSed
?
Make sure the floppy is good and not write-protected.
M2
If at first you don't succeed, you're about average.
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Yes I'm trying to make the disk with xp.
I assume it meant accessed but I typed exactly what it said above. It's not write protected I transfered a gif image to it and then deleted it to make sure
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Here is the explanation of the error. Correct it and try again:
"Floppy can't be acceded. Check another application don't use it"
Problem: When writing a diskette from a disk image file, such as for a setup diskette or Flash BIOS update diskette, you get the following error message:
Error
Floppy can't be acceded.
Check another application don't use it
[OK]Explanation:
The self-extracting diskette image progarm could not write to the diskette. This can have one of several causes:* Your virus scanner is preventing direct write access to the floppy disk drive. Temporarily turn off your virus scanner to create the diskette. Make sure to reenable it afterwards.
* The diskette drive is open in Windows Explorer. Make sure your Explorer windows are closed or are pointing only at folders on the hard disk.
* Your floppy disk drive is a removable disk drive on a notbook computer that is not compatible with this program. Try creating those diskettes on a desktop machine.
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You need to download a boot disk for the OS you want to install. Go to Bootdisk.com and download then unpack the files to a floppy disk. To use the upgrade Win98 CD all you need to do is present the Win95 CD at the appropriate time and you will be able to install using that upgrade disk.
Boot to the Floppy and use Fdisk to delete any partitions and recreate using all space and say Y to use large disk. Then format and reboot to the Floppy again, selecting install Win98 from the CD.
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Hi smith,
Thanks for that.
New one on me.
M2
If at first you don't succeed, you're about average.
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Cripes. Surprised me that a boot disk supplier(?) was so clueless about English (Check another application don't use it, instead of "doesn't" use it). No matter obviously but it "do not" inspire confidence LOL.
Derek.W
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Yeah,
That 'acceded' makes no sense in English or computerese.
M2
If at first you don't succeed, you're about average.
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ok finally got the startup disk created. I guess *run* means run at a prompt? or atleast that's how I got it to work.
When I put the disk in old pc it says diskette read failure. oh and by the way for some reason the setup now reads 32mb ram?
I don't understand the startup disk not working. Does it matter if you use 98oem or 98 custom?
Thanks alot for all the help :0)
Denise <-------Is getting a headache and wishing she could just go buy them a new computer
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Hi Denise,
Try to boot the newer PC on the floppy to make sure it's good.
M2
If at first you don't succeed, you're about average.
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ok tried to boot new pc with diskette and did'nt work so made the 98 custom disk and that worked in new pc but old pc said diskette drive 1 seek failure or something like that.
Thanks,
Denise <-----Is about to get a free ride to the nut house :o)
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Hi Denise,
You might get by with reseating the floppy cable.
More likely you will need to clean the FDD.
Worst case, the FDD may be shot and need replacement.
M2
If at first you don't succeed, you're about average.
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Yesssssssssssssssss
Ok tried diskette drive from new computer and it worked. Had tried that before and didn't get anywhere. But between that and the windows startup disk and a lot of peoples help I now have a c:prompt..it aborted the installation hopefully because I have the cd rod unhooked.
Now if I can't get win98 installed I know where to come....THANKS ALOT YOU ALL :O) :O)
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Freaky error message, for sure.
Glad that things appear to be working out.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
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I'M SO HAPPY about my comand promt that if my house wasn't so small I would probably do cart wheels :o)
by the way since when does a pc name a cd rom drive r: ? the only way I found it was by opening edit and seeing r in the list of drives.
Boy that thing is slow don't know if I wait on setup files being copied I don't remember my cd rom or pc being that slow in 1995. It's amazing how that not noticed until you try something new :O)
Thanks,
Denise
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Sure, those particular bootdisks assign "R:" as the CD drive - should have been an indication of that onscreen, during the boot.
With 16Mb in Win98, better get used to 'slow' - personally I wouldn't go any higher than 95 with those specs - if possible, add more RAM.
Progress, anyways
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
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The reason (not that it matters to you) is that the bootdisk temporarily takes your normal CD drive letter and uses it for what is known as a RAM drive. It will normalize once Windows is installed.
When you use a Startup Disk made with Windows it just moves the CD drive up one letter. R is commonly chosen as CD drive with downloaded bootdisks.
Derek.W
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Jboy. The pc now says it has 32mb ram not sure why it said 16 earlier and don't know what caused it to change. I hated windows95 like the devil when I had so trying to stay away from here. I'm still waiting for 98 setup to finish installing and it is taking forever so it better work if not I'm moving all my breakables right now. lol
If anybody else has an old 133 they won't fixed I'm going to play stupid don't know anything about computers. That old is just not worth the trouble.
Now I have to get a floppy drive from someone at work and install it because they can't have my new drive not that I have ever used it with xp on new computer until now.
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Ok - well, 32Mb is certainly an improvement, although still a little less than ideal.
Aw, those old machines aren't always so bad, but you need to start out with the right bootdisk (and functioning hardware).
Replacing the floppy drive is dead easy in itself, and a 2nd hand one should be inexpensive
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
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ok now the setup is say estimated time 531 minutes...yikes I have never had to intall windows 98 but am thinking something is wrong there that is over 8 hours errrrrrr glad I moved the breakables. Anybody know what the deal with estimated time could be?
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Denise,
When I installed 98se on my 133Mhz/32Mb laptop over a serial connection it only took just over 30 hours.
You're speeding right along.
I've also seen 8 hour install times when the onboard cache memory was disabled in bios...happened to me about two weeks ago on a K6-2/400 Gateway machine. That was one slooow rig until I found the problem.
At least you're finally installing...keep us posted.
Skip
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Not really - that's far too long, perhaps there are other hardware issues (possibly memory)
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
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Is that right Skip? I'll take your word for it - just seemed excessive, but I've never shoehorned 98 onto that minimal a system
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
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The itronix 6250 laptop is a pretty ok machine...just no cd-rom, floppy, or USB.
I could have installed from a pcmcia type III viper drive but wanted to see how Direct Cable Connection would work.
I'd previously installed 98se and office pro 97 on a 100Mhz/24Mb Toshiba 205CDS laptop for a friend and it all ran OK.My laptop runs OK with 98se and Office but I certainly do some waiting for word and excel pages to load. I use this old thing because of the greyscale display. It's perfectly visible in bright sunlight...the only laptop display I've found that'll do that.
The K2-6/400 machine with the 8 hour install was a different story. I received it with a hdd full of porn, virii(?), and malware. It had been to a couple of local shops and at some point the cache had been disabled in bios just to get the thing to boot into windows. I didn't notice it and proceeded with the Gateway recovery disk and reinstall of 98fe...after the 8 hour install, it would run 98 but it was click, get a cup of coffee, click, get another cup of coffee.
Point of this long winded post is that many things can cause os install problems and with me, it's usually something I never dreamed of.
Oh!, final resolution with the Gateway was to underclock it to 300Mhz (motherboard shaky with leaking/bulging caps and a 90w psu ain't a good combo) and reenable the motherboard cache. Runs like a watch now but I don't know when the self destruct sequence will complete.
Once Denise gets 98 installed and running, maybe she can tell us how it's working and we can help more. Never had a bsod with the Gateway...just horribly slow.
Skip
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I would think that the computer must still have some kind of problem. I have installed 98 fe on some old 133mhz's with between 32 - 48 megs of ram and it never took any longer then 1 hr mabey 1.5 hr's tops.
I would have used a win 98se boot disk, and fdisked it then rebuilt the partitions before formatting, but that's just me. Then i'd run scandisk from floppy prompt or let windows setup do it for me.
I also like copying the cab files from the 98 cd to the hard drive for fast installs.
Mabey the cd rom is going bad too or on the same ribbon as the hard drive causing such a slow install.
ASUS A7V8X
AMD XP 2700+ 2.17ghz
768mb ddr 2700
nVidia 128mb FX 5200
WD 80gb SE
DVD R/RW
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