Hi, hopefully someone can help me before I go through with formatting my disk. I was using EasyCleaner to delete duplicate/temp files, and I foolishly let it delete many before I had a good look at them. In the process it must have deleted some boot sector or startup files, because when I restart now, I get the "invalid system disk" message. I have already tried all the various methods for restoring the system listed on this site (using a boot floppy and "sys c:"; trying system restore, etc.), but none work. I also cannot just reinstall windows as it cannot get all the way through the scandisk section of installation (even when I've booted to a DOS prompt). The latter problem is because of a corrupt file I have that I have no idea how to get rid of (it has a very long file name and says it's about 60 gigs big!). Saying all that, I have now booted from a seperate hard disk running Win2000, so I am able to save all my data if need be. My question is: before I go through with the tedious process of wiping my Win Me disk, is there any way I can repair it fully, or just enough to just reinstall windows on the original disk i.e. with some boot sector repair software? Sorry this is long-winded, but I am not sure what is the best way to approach this as I don't know what files are missing in the first place. thanks

Invalid system disk is pretty straightforward - it usually means the DOS boot files are damaged or missing and can be fixed by the well known sys c: ... from a floppy bootdisk of the same version of DOS/Win. The basic files are IO.SYS and COMMAND.COM (and to a lesser extent, MSDOS.SYS) or their equivalents. If you were succfessful, there should have been the message: 'system transferred' Did that happen? A 60Gb(!) 'corrupted file' sounds very much like an indication of serious disk problems - you should probably try (from a bootdisk) performing the DOS Scandisk on this drive. Another thing that (probably) won't hurt is to (again, from a bootdisk) try entering fdisk /mbr .. to see if restoring the master boot record makes any difference Computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and perhaps only weigh 1 1/2 tons. - Popular Mechanics, 1949

Hi, thnaks for the suggestions but I've already tried all those based on previous posts. When I enter "sys c:", I get a message saying the original files are not in the right location on the drive or something of that nature. and as you say: A 60Gb(!) 'corrupted file' sounds very much like an indication of serious disk problems - you should probably try (from a bootdisk) performing the DOS Scandisk on this drive. The irony is that that file/directory, or whatever it is seems to be keeping scandisk from finishing or actually fixing the problem. There is nothing actually in the problem directory now, but it can't be deleted. I'm not sure what else to do...

Right - you didn't get the 'system transferred' message, so it "didn't work". "... or something of that nature. " Exact error messages are more helpful - can't say as I've heard anything even close to that one - you are booting to a: from a WinME boot floppy before attempting the fix? "There is nothing actually in the problem directory now, but it can't be deleted. " Kind of what makes it a "serious error" - you will likely get conflicting information regarding the state of the drive until (if possible) it's fixed. Might be prudent to get your data off and then fdisk the drive (remove & recreate the partition). If there are still problems, might check out the drive manufacturer's or other diagnostic or even 'zero fill' the drive. Computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and perhaps only weigh 1 1/2 tons. - Popular Mechanics, 1949

Hi, re: sys c: -sorry for not being more specific-the error msg I get is: " Cannot find the standard locations on drive C:....Run Windows setup to make drive c: bootable" ! Well that clearly wasn't going to work. But in the meantime, having restarted under Win2000 on a different HD, it did its own error check on the disk at startup and amazingly was able to fix all the drive errors that were preventing a full ScanDisk.... So at this point I am able to reinstall WinMe and hopefully that will fix any startup errors! This is a rather clumsy solution, I wish I'd been able to figure a slicker way of fixing it, but thanks for the suggestions, it was looking pretty hopeless otherwise.

Ah, yes, that's a good one - that has come up before - see this solution and the M$ resolution Still, making the drive bootable won't correct the file corruption issue - you may well need to wipe the drive and start over (but no harm in trying other options first) Computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and perhaps only weigh 1 1/2 tons. - Popular Mechanics, 1949

Oh yeah (I should really be more attentive), that's great then. If the original disk error was only a 'logical' one, and not due to a damaged drive, you should be fine Computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and perhaps only weigh 1 1/2 tons. - Popular Mechanics, 1949