I formatted a computer with win 3x on it because i wanted to change the os to win98. Well when i turned it back on it said Non-system disk.. i put in the win3x os disk and it said the same thing.. well now whenever i start it up it says drive not ready insert bootup disk in drive a: press any key when ready.. i copied the command.com file in win98 but it says the same thing.. i noticed when it says the stuff about the drives on a: it said 1.2mb 5 1/2" and for b: it said 1.44mb 3 1/2" when i looked it up in bios the settings were the opposite like they should be.. that could be why the drive is not ready.. when i reversed them to the wrong settings it showed up correctly .. what's wrong? and how do i fix it?
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messed up bios settings i think 1
- Thread starter kell3625
- Start date
You may need more than just command.com on the disk to make it bootable. If you've got your DOS disk one boot from it. If your bios allows for it I'd set one of your boot devices to your CDROM, you should be able to boot from the WIN98 CD to install. If you have access to another computer you could create a bootable system disk from the DOS prompt.
C:\> format a: /s
C:\> format a: /s
You may need more than just command.com on the disk to make it bootable. If you've got your DOS disk #1, boot from it. If your bios allows for it I'd set one of your boot devices to your CDROM, if so you'd be able to boot from the WIN98 CD to install. If you have access to another computer you could create a bootable system disk from the DOS prompt.
C:\> format a: /s
Even after you get a bootable system disk you'll need to do more to get access to your CDROM to execute the setup.exe to perform your install.
Hope this helps.
C:\> format a: /s
Even after you get a bootable system disk you'll need to do more to get access to your CDROM to execute the setup.exe to perform your install.
Hope this helps.
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1
- #4
CitrixEngineer
Technical User
Or you can create a boot disk under Windows 9x, by double-clicking My Computer, right clicking the a: drive icon and choosing format. Select the copy system files option.
To ensure you get full CD-ROM support, download a file called sscdrom.sys. Any search engine should find this file, it is a superb generic cd-driver.
Copy it to the floppy disk.
Next, copy these files to the floppy disk from c:\windows
himem.sys
emm386.exe
smartdrv.exe
Then copy these from c:\windows\command
fdisk.exe
format.com
mscdex.exe
Now create a new text file in Notepad, and, choosing the Save As Any File Type (as opposed to *.txt, which is default), save the file as a:\config.sys
Enter these lines (or copy and paste them)
DEVICE=A:\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=A:\EMM386.EXE NOEMS
DOS=HIGH,UMB
DEVICEHIGH=A:\SSCDROM.SYS /D:MSCD0001
Save the file.
Now create another text file, saving it as autoexec.bat (remember to change the file type again!).
Enter these lines:
LH A:\SMARTDRV.EXE 4096
LH A:\MSCDEX.EXE /D:MSCD0001 /M:12
A disk made following these steps should start virtually any Intel-based PC, laptop or server.
If you can't access a Windows 9x machine, copy the above named files from C:\DOS, and create the config.sys and autoexec.bat files using edit.com (at the C:> prompt, type edit a:\config.sys or a:\autoexec.bat).
I hope this information is uesful.
To ensure you get full CD-ROM support, download a file called sscdrom.sys. Any search engine should find this file, it is a superb generic cd-driver.
Copy it to the floppy disk.
Next, copy these files to the floppy disk from c:\windows
himem.sys
emm386.exe
smartdrv.exe
Then copy these from c:\windows\command
fdisk.exe
format.com
mscdex.exe
Now create a new text file in Notepad, and, choosing the Save As Any File Type (as opposed to *.txt, which is default), save the file as a:\config.sys
Enter these lines (or copy and paste them)
DEVICE=A:\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=A:\EMM386.EXE NOEMS
DOS=HIGH,UMB
DEVICEHIGH=A:\SSCDROM.SYS /D:MSCD0001
Save the file.
Now create another text file, saving it as autoexec.bat (remember to change the file type again!).
Enter these lines:
LH A:\SMARTDRV.EXE 4096
LH A:\MSCDEX.EXE /D:MSCD0001 /M:12
A disk made following these steps should start virtually any Intel-based PC, laptop or server.
If you can't access a Windows 9x machine, copy the above named files from C:\DOS, and create the config.sys and autoexec.bat files using edit.com (at the C:> prompt, type edit a:\config.sys or a:\autoexec.bat).
I hope this information is uesful.
To answer your question , you probably have swap drives set in advanced settings of you bios. That will make the drive be the opposite of what they are on the cable.
But I hope you've already figured it out.
Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.
Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.
But I hope you've already figured it out.
Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.
Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.
He does need more than COMMAND.COM, he also needs IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS. You have to make sure that they are both from the same version of DOS or you're in for more frustrating-to-the-bone headaches.
Now I have a question:
I wanted to see if IE5 for 3.11 also introduced a new shell for 3.11 because on MS's web site, they mentioned something about IE5 being a great upgrade path for 3.11 users to follow if they are considering upgrading to 9x. Now I figured I could try this thing out, because I still have my old 3.11 installation disks that I copied to my HD (you can never trust floppies to hold stuff for that long). I installed it, updated the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT with the stuff that 3.11 needs. Then I disabled the BOOT_GUIC in the MSDOS.SYS and attempted to run 3.11, but it gave me the an error message that it was trying to start a version of Windows that wasn't compatible with my version of DOS. So then I tried to do it through Win9x by creating a PIF with its own AUTOEXEC and CONFIG settings. I ran the PIF, Win9x restarted the computer and when 3.11 was about to load, I got the same error message. After pacing around the room and swearing for a good five minutes, I thought about trying to use SETVER.EXE to trick 3.11 into thinking that I'm still running 6.22, but still, no dice. Can anybody help shed some light on my problem? I know I'm going through stress I could really do without but to tell the truth, I miss 3.11 but I don't wanna give up 9x "enhancements". I just wanna see if it replaces Program Manager as the shell. If anyone has attempted and and successfully done this (like a 3.11 user maybe), does it change the shell? Thanks in advance for whatever information you can provide.
Now I have a question:
I wanted to see if IE5 for 3.11 also introduced a new shell for 3.11 because on MS's web site, they mentioned something about IE5 being a great upgrade path for 3.11 users to follow if they are considering upgrading to 9x. Now I figured I could try this thing out, because I still have my old 3.11 installation disks that I copied to my HD (you can never trust floppies to hold stuff for that long). I installed it, updated the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT with the stuff that 3.11 needs. Then I disabled the BOOT_GUIC in the MSDOS.SYS and attempted to run 3.11, but it gave me the an error message that it was trying to start a version of Windows that wasn't compatible with my version of DOS. So then I tried to do it through Win9x by creating a PIF with its own AUTOEXEC and CONFIG settings. I ran the PIF, Win9x restarted the computer and when 3.11 was about to load, I got the same error message. After pacing around the room and swearing for a good five minutes, I thought about trying to use SETVER.EXE to trick 3.11 into thinking that I'm still running 6.22, but still, no dice. Can anybody help shed some light on my problem? I know I'm going through stress I could really do without but to tell the truth, I miss 3.11 but I don't wanna give up 9x "enhancements". I just wanna see if it replaces Program Manager as the shell. If anyone has attempted and and successfully done this (like a 3.11 user maybe), does it change the shell? Thanks in advance for whatever information you can provide.
- Thread starter
- #7
CitrixEngineer
Technical User
One of these should provide it for you - and a wealth of other CD driver related stuff. The sscdrom.sys driver is pretty much generic, but you may find a driver that is specific to your drive - good luck!
Try they have all flavors of Bootdisk images with cdrom support.
Richard Baker
RFBaker@BTInternet.com
Richard Baker
RFBaker@BTInternet.com
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