Win98 Boot problems

[FoneDude66]

when I turn on my PC, it begins the boot process then I get this error:

Searching for boot record from CDRom......Not found
Searching for boot record from floppy.....Not found
Searching for boot record from SCSI.......Not found

Drive not ready
Insert BOOT disk in drive A

I insert a boot disk(from a different pc running win98...does this matter?)then it shows:

Searching for boot record from CDRom.....Not found
Searching for boot record from floppy....OK

when I hit anykey to continue, I get the proverbial:

1) Start pc with CDRom support
2) Start pc without CDRom Support
3) View help file

with the win98 CD in the drive, I choose #1 and it seems to continue booting, but then I get this:

Windows 98 has detected that drive C does not contain a valid FAT or FAT32 partition. There are several possible causes:
1) The drive may need to be partitioned to create a partition on a drive. Run Fdisk from the MS-DOS command prompt.

2) You may be using third party disk partitioning software. If you are using this type of software, remove the emergency boot disk and restart PC. Then follow the onscreen instructions to start your PC from a floppy disk.

3) Some viruses also cause your drive C not to register. You can use a virus scanning program to check your PC from viruses.

The diagnostic tools were successfully loaded to drive C.
MSCDEX version 2.25


At this point, I have no choice but to try to run Fdisk, and when I do, I hear the drive begin working and then it takes me back to the c: and just sits there as if I had never given it a command. Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to be detailed. Thanks in advance.

 

[igortsin]

It is no WIN98 problem, it is Hard Drive problem.
I think you have no choice - just replace you HD.

 

[kippy13]

I concor, sounds like a harddrive.
Although ut may be work creating another WIN98 boot disk from a different source to ensure that the issue is not related to a dodgy floppy disk-(There is a very low chance of this being the issue)
JP

 

[Angelis26]

Hi FoneDude66,

I have had this problem on a number of occasions before also, the best solution i found was to download a software called Drive Fitness Test from:

http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm

Using this software create a bootable floppy. Run this software as it will let you know if you have any faults with your hard drive or not. Saves a lot of trouble specially if the hard drive is not faulty.

Hope this helps.

 

[FoneDude66]

Hey Angel, thanks for the info. Eventhough it didn't help this situation, it is very useful for me, else. Turns out that for some reason, it was not seeing the hard drive, so someone(much MUCH more savvy than myself with PC's) went into the CMOS and did an "Auto Detect"......we rebooted and things are rosy. Thanks to all that put in a response. I'm SURE that you'll see me again in here someday(soon)!