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Have I stuffed my Laptop? 2

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starman1

starman1

Technical User
Joined
Dec 15, 2003
Messages
6
Location
AU
Hi I was wondering if I have stuffed my IBM Thinkpad. I upgraded the bios to be W2K compatible and all I get now is an error stating that "invalid System Disk, Insert Boot Disk and Press any Key". Does this mean the bios is now corrupt and that I have to get another M/Board?

Worried.
 
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You didn't leave a diskette in the drive, did you? If not, check BIOS boot options (a.k.a. boot order) and ensure that your hard drive is listed.
 
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Your description is very incomplete...

Please check your manual to see if you can access your BIOS when you turn on your computer , if you can do that then please check you drive settings in BIOS....

You haven't stated system condition and kind of install prior to BIOS upgrade either....

regards
 
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Hi thanks for your reply. I am still having problems with it so I will tell you everything that I did. I originally had Windows 98SE with BIOS (IEET27WW)running on it and had no problems with it, but I wanted to upgrade it to W2K, as I only have an external floppy and no CD ROM drive, I installed W2K through my Desktop PC, had no problems there, but when I reinstalled the 2.5" drive back into my Thinkpad 560Z I got NO NTLDR press F1 to restart. Frustrated I went to the IBM technical support WEB site and found out that I needed to upgrade the BIOS (IEET29WW) for it to recognise W2K inwhich I did. I downloaded the BIOS update and the install instructions and followed them to the letter. Rebooted the system next and got the Invalid System Disk error - there was no disk in the Floppy Drive and the Boot sequence is Floppy 1, HDD, Floppy 2 (Port Replicator). As I said before I followed the IBM instructions exactly and removed the Laptop from the replicator firmly connected the power supply and had a fully charged battery before doing the upgrade. I was still getting the error so I decided to downgrade the BIOS to the original and go back to running Win98SE but I am still getting the same error. I have run a complete system check through the Easy Setup Utility and it all checks out OK, I then ran DFT Utility that I found on the IBM site that checks the physical condition of the HDD, that checks out OK. Now I am reaching the end of my tether with it and am seeking extra help from anyone who could shed some light on my problem.

Regards,

Starman1 (a.k.a Worried)
 
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Can you boot from a diskette? If so, what does C: show when you do a DIR command? What does a FDISK show?

Pardon my ignorance as I've limited experience with laptops, but I'm not sure what you mean when you say you installed W2K through your Desktop PC, then further on you state that you reinstalled the 2.5" drive. Can you clarify a bit on how W2K was installed?

 
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Hi Freestone, I can boot from a diskette and FDISK shows a valid FAT32 System with C: drive active, C: drive reads as having a Windows installation i.e. Autoexec.bat, Command.com, Config.sys, Frunlog.txt, netlog.txt, MyDocuments directory, Windows directory and Programs directory. I installed W2K through me Desktop PC by using a 2.5" HDD to 3.5" HDD IDE adaptor that allows Laptop hard drives to be used in desktop PC's.

Regards,

Starman1
 
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starman. I'm 99% sure that your motherboard is fine, as is BIOS, so you relax about that. You may want to consider purchasing a CD-ROM drive for your laptop in case a reinstall is necessary, or if you insist on getting W2K installed on the laptop.

With the drive installed in the desktop PC, the W2K install loaded drivers specific for that PC's motherboard chipset, and all of its peripherals, such as a NIC, sound card, etc. Taking that out and placing it in the laptop probably won't work, even if you get it to boot. The hardware just won't match, and likely results will be blue screens and reboots.

What drive letter was assigned to the laptop hard drive when it was in the desktop? And, did you do an upgrade of 98 to W2K or a format and install of W2K?



 
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First of all I think it's a very bad idea to install windows by using another board and system than that on which it is going to be used. There is so many ways this can get to fail...

Secondly , Winddows NT and 2000 and so on is not to be toyed with as they got power to mess up your harddisk on a level most software don't get to.

Though you partition seems OK it might actually not be...

If I were you I would try to remove all partitions (completely clean the drive) with a utility such as AEFDISK ( ) , sometimes also it will be GDISK that will do the trick ( )

After that re-partition your drive and try reinstalling your O.S.

Since it's a laptop I will not have the responsebility of suggesting other solutions now.

Regards
 
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