Had "invalid Disk Error" and now i have a black screen

[123456programmer]

Hey, i had some problems with my old notebook pc.
the problem was that i always had some invalid disk error, and i couldn t do anything.
i had the same problem as this guy had, and i solved it as they said.

http://www.experts-exchange.com/Operating_Systems/Win98/Q_20317146.html

Now i get a black screen with:

Microsoft (R) Windows 98
(C) Copyright Microsoft Corp 1981-1999
C:\>

Any suggestion so that i can get my old laptop work again?
By the way i lost the cable to connect my cd player to my old laptop... Any suggestion??
thanx in advance

 

[soaplover]

try entering the command WIN
and see what happens .


//Regards Soaplover

 

[123456programmer]

it says "Bad command or File name"
what i did is
c:\>WIN
and i also tried
C:\>windows\win.com
it gave me something like:
CANNOT RUN WINDOWS WITH CURRENT CODE PAGE
Remove COUNTRY command from config.sys and then restart the computer

thanx in advance

PS apparently before the invalid disk error happened someone erased all the program files folder :S

 

[soaplover]

Have you done that??
First make a copy.
C:\>COPY AUTOEXEC.BAT AUTOEXEC.BCK

C:\>EDIT AUTOEXEC.BAT

ut a REM command before the:

MODE CON CODEPAGE PREPARE= .....
MODE CON CODEPAGE SELECT= .....



//Regards Soaplover

 

[Rob2806]

Win98 does not need config.sys and autoexec.bat to start. You can rename them from the c prompt to, say, config.old and autoexec.old and reboot.

windows should start up.

 

[123456programmer]

Thanks a lot for your replies but the computer still doesn't work.

hum the thing is that when i do
c:\>copy autoexec.bat autoexec.bck
it says
"File not found - autoexec.bat
0 file(s) copied"

i even tried

C:\>cd WINDOWS
C:\WINDOWS\>
C:\WINDOWS\>COPY autoexec.bat autoexec.bck

thanks in advance

 

[soaplover]

they are in Cbut possibly with read only attributes on them)
type in
ATTRIB -h -r C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT
ATTRIB -h -r C:\CONFIG.SYS




//Regards Soaplover

 

[123456programmer]

thanks a lot for your fast reply but unfortunately nothing works.
i tryed what you just suggested, but end up with no result.

i still get
File not found -autoexec.bat
0 file(s) copied

humm do i have any chance to get my computer back to work properly?

thanks a lot.

 

[soaplover]

in c:do a dir command
you can save it as a text file using pipe parameter.
eg at a floppy .
post the result.
c:\>dir > a:\dir.txt


//Regards Soaplover

 

[123456programmer]

Volume in drive C is WIN98SYSTEM
Volume Serial Number is 3628-0BEE
Directory of C:
COMMAND COM 93,890 04-23-99 10:22p
WINDOWS <DIR> 06-20-99 4:32a
MYDOCU~1 <DIR> 06-20-99 5:00a
1 file(s) 93,890 bytes
2 dir(s) 1,147,760,640 bytes free

 

[soaplover]

There should be a MSDOS.SYS file in your C:try to unhide with
ATTRIB -H C:\MSDOS.SYS
clear readonly
ATTRIB -r C:\MSDOS.SYS

It should have the following content:

[Paths]
WinDir=C:\WINDOWS
WinBootDir=C:\WINDOWS
HostWinBootDrv=C

[Options]
Autoscan=0
BootGUI=0
BootKeys=1
BootMenu=1
BootMenuDefault=1
BootMenuDelay=5
BootMulti=1
BootWin=1
DblSpace=0
DisableLog=1
DoubleBuffer=0
DrvSpace=0
LoadTop=0
Logo=1
Network=1
SystemReg=0
WinVer=4.90.3000

;The following lines are required for compatibility with other programs.
;Do not remove them (MSDOS.SYS needs to be >1024 bytes).
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxa
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxb
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxc
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxd
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxe
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxf
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxg
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxh
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxi
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxj
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxk
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxl
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxm
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxn
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxo
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxp
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxq
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxr
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxs



//Regards Soaplover

 

[123456programmer]

is my computer blank or wot??? :S
Thanks a lot for your reply.
but still i get these messages
c:\>attrib -h c:\msdos.sys
not resetting sustem file c:\msdos.sys
c:\>attrib -r c:\msdos.sys
not resetting hidden file c:\msdos.sys

thanks a lot

 

[soaplover]

Files under root needed to boot windows 98.
IO.SYS (hidden)
MSDOS.SYS (hidden)
COMMAND.COM
AUTOEXEC.BAT
CONFIG.SYS


if you did what was on the other site ( sys a: c: )
you might need to replace this files .
They can be copied between systems running same os (just unhide the hidden ones)

Note ! in the MSDOS.SYS content posted
Bbootgui=0 ( means boot to dos prompt 1=windows)

//Regards Soaplover

 

[123456programmer]

Hey thanks for your help.
I searched on the net, a site that distribute these files... But couldn't find any.
Can anyone tell me where i can get these file from?
cheers

 

[Bigpom1]

It may be as simple as a bad connection to the HDD, it happened to me once!