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i have my bosses puter here and when it starts up it gets to the desktop screen then shuts down...when it does that i cant even turn it off from the front panel button, i have to turn the power supply off then back on. it happens at the same time everytime. i have a 98 cd to reinstall but it wont let me do that either...it says something like "memory allocation error" at this piont i have booted in safe mode but i dont know what to do.
thanks
As regards Windows reload (overlay):
Sadly there is no CD-ROM support in Safe Mode. You need a bootdisk. Did you or your boss ever make a Startup disk (floppy)? If not, on some other machine get one for W98 with CD-ROM support from www.bootdisk.com
You will need to "make" the floppy from the download (on the other machine).
You then put this floppy into the dud machine, power on, then choose "CD-ROM support from the menu". Watch the screen because it will temporarily grab your normal CD-ROM letter for its own use. Usually your actual CD-ROM takes either the next letter or possibly R. Put your W98 CD in the drive.
Assuming it moves D up to E then at the A prompt you type E: (hit Return)
You then type setup (hit Return) and Windows should start re-installing.
Derek.W
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this is what it said: cannot create a temp. directory.
if you have HPFS or NTFS installed on your hard drive, you will need to create an MS-DOS boot partition to setup windows.
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Well, that's shut me up nicely.
You can't load W98 on NTFS which is for other operating systems. Presumably you are certain it was W98 on there?
As for HPFS I'm right out of my depth. There may or may not be some way of installing W98 but I must leave you to hope someone who knows pops by soon.
Sorry I can't help this time.
Derek.W
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The setup process isn't seeing a FAT partition. It doesn't know if you have an NTFS or HPFS partition but is suggesting that as a possibility.
You may have some kind of drive overlay on it that isn't loading because you're not booting from the HD. Under those circumstances the bootdisk sees the partition as 'non dos'.
After booting from the bootdisk type:
fdisk
and enter at the a:\> prompt. Y to large disk support, then option 4. Exactly what does it say?
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When you run fdisk, option 4, you either get a screen listing several things about the drive or you get a screen that says no partitions defined. It's got to say more than just 'current fixed disk drive 1'. It may say that at the top of the screen but it should say other things also.
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does it usually take some time to show up, because there is nothing else there...thats it. its like mabee its freezing at the point when i select option 4.
again...thanks for helping
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It should show up in a second or so. Do you know how large the drive is? If it's larger than 64 gig you'd need the updated fdisk to show it properly. But I don't think a symptom of using the wrong version would be the blank page.
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its a 40 gig...
now when i try to boot back into safe mode its saying no OS found.
thats not a problem but it still wont let me install a new win 98 because there is no fat 32.
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Open the case and make sure the cabling is tight.
As mentioned above, you have to have fat16 or fat32 for windows to run. So either your hard drive is doing some very strange things or there actually is a fat partition there. The only thing I can think of is the fat partition is inside a drive overlay.
If that's the case, when booting normally (without a bootdisk), just prior to windows starting up there would be something similar to 'EZBios loaded, press CTRL for boot options' show up on the screen. When that message (or its generic equivalent) comes up, the overlay is loaded and you have access to the fat partition. You can then put the bootdisk in and choose the option to boot from the bootdisk.
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im at a loss here...guess im just getting tired....i just want to wipe out everything and re install.
thanks
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Did you check to see if that stuff pops up on the screen when booting indicating there's an overlay installed? Did you check the cabling? Also make sure the HD is properly identified in cmos/bios setup--usually as AUTO.
Since you're willing to start fresh, boot with the bootdisk and at the a:\> prompt type:
fdisk/mbr
and enter. This is a safe command unless you have a drive overlay but since a clean install is your goal that doesn't matter either.
Then reboot with the bootdisk, run fdisk again as in #6 above and post back results. If you get the same screen as before try booting with the HD manufacturer's installation disk and perform a diagnostic. Post back the model # of the HD if you don't have the disk and I'll locate what you need.
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tried everything you said to.
now im getting "missing OS"
HD is a seagate model# st340014a
thanks
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Hi
I think time to verify your system memory and the drive itself
First vist Memtest86.com
A good memory tester either bootable floppy created of cd iso available.Run memory test
All ok then diagnose hard drive. Visit Seagate's website and download seatools.
After that is verified, you'll have a solid starting point.
Next you may have to fix the partition table. Ranish is pretty good and will state what mbr type you might have.
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Here's their support page where you can download seatools:
http://www.seagate.com/support/index.html
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DAVEINCAPS
Thx for stepping in. I guess I kinda fell for the trick statement from Windows (#3).
For some reason I've never run into that, so it's worth remembering.
Derek.W
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Yeah, I think I've run into it once or twice--probably due to my own laxness. I think the error is just a default microsoft message that, as usual, isn't very helpful.
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ok im back at it tonight....i have removed the hard drive from the bosses puter and slaved it in my sons puter with ME in it. when i explore the drive it shows it at 7.36 gb and i know it is a 40 gig.
any suggestions on how to format it and bring it back?
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Depending on the bios on your son's computer, it may only be able to recognize that much. Some older bios' couldn't recongize drives that large. If that's the case you don't want to try partitioning or formatting the drive on that computer. Or maybe there's only a 7.36 partition on it.
If you can successfully run fdisk, (Y to large disk support, 5 to change to the second drive, then option 4) you can view the partition size. If you can get that far, post back what it says.
Generally speaking you run fdisk to remove and then recreate the partition(s), then format, then install the OS.
It's impossible to know where the problem is. It could be a problem with the drive or it could be with other hardware in the computer.
Post back the fdisk info. But even if you do get it partitioned and formatted correctly on your son's computer, that won't explain why it's not working properly on your boss's computer.
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I don't know if anyone is still following this post, but isn't the HPFS the place that Hewlitt Packard put the OS files in a compressed partition?
So if he fdisked the remaing space all the drivers and stuff would come from this partion.
I may be remembering wrong though.
Larry
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I think OS/2 is on HPFS partitions. I think his original message about the NFTS or HPFS was a response to windows setup not being able to find a fat partition. But since he could partially get into windows even while he was experiencing the problem, I'm working on the assumption he's got a fat32 partition but there's either some problem with the drive, the partition tables on the drive or he's got a drive overlay on it.
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Makes sense to me.
I'm just going to watch this thread to see what happens.
Very interesting.
Larry
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Hi
seawatch and other interested members, the thread branched out to
I'm hoping pooky has decided to try out a few diagnostics. It would have been a grand exercise to find out what the original problem was.
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