free notebook/paperweight

dwight_m · 11-23-2004, 06:05 PM

A coworker of mine recently was given an old Acer/TI Extensa 390 notebook. he was given nothing but the computer and the power cord. The CD drive is in the only drive bay, and no floppy drive came with it. The hard drive has, apparently, been wiped completely clean. On boot, you can get into the CMOS, but that's all you can do. The only thing it likes to say is Invalid System Disk.

I have a nice legit copy of Win 95 I would like to install for him, but short of finding a floppy bay to install, I'm not sure this is possible.

What are the possibilities here? I have a pair of newer notebooks lying around that work fine. I've worked on plenty of towers but not too many notebooks. Any chance I could put the hard drive into a different notebook for long enough to partition the hard drive and install the CD drivers?

CTSNKY · 11-23-2004, 09:19 PM

If you have access to a CD burner, you can create a Win95/98 bootable CD.

http://www.bootdisk.com

**w00t** · 11-23-2004, 11:03 PM

Or you could install Linux.

But if you wan't windows, can't you just boot off CD (run computer with support from CD-ROM) and FDISK it then run setup(Run SETUP from CD-ROM) (thats what I do when I install 95, because I don't use floppys anymore to install an OS) Try it, it should work.

Volt-Schwibe · 11-24-2004, 02:12 PM

yes wOOt, but not all windows 98se discs are bootable.

and if someone actually wanted to torture themselves with 95 or 98fe, it never is bootable.

**johnwill** · 11-24-2004, 06:04 PM

I'd simply remove the hard disk, and install it into a desktop as a slave using a 2.5" <> 3.5" adapter cable. Then you can make it bootable into DOS, copy the installation files for Windows onto it, and put it back into the machine.

11-23-2004, 06:05 PM	#1 (permalink)
dwight_m Registered User Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 2 OS: XP	free notebook/paperweight A coworker of mine recently was given an old Acer/TI Extensa 390 notebook. he was given nothing but the computer and the power cord. The CD drive is in the only drive bay, and no floppy drive came with it. The hard drive has, apparently, been wiped completely clean. On boot, you can get into the CMOS, but that's all you can do. The only thing it likes to say is Invalid System Disk. I have a nice legit copy of Win 95 I would like to install for him, but short of finding a floppy bay to install, I'm not sure this is possible. What are the possibilities here? I have a pair of newer notebooks lying around that work fine. I've worked on plenty of towers but not too many notebooks. Any chance I could put the hard drive into a different notebook for long enough to partition the hard drive and install the CD drivers?

11-23-2004, 09:19 PM	#2 (permalink)
CTSNKY Knower of all that is MS Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 10,755 OS: (multiple machines) 95, 98, 2K & XP Home & Pro	If you have access to a CD burner, you can create a Win95/98 bootable CD. http://www.bootdisk.com __________________ GO BIG BLUE!!

11-23-2004, 11:03 PM	#3 (permalink)
w00t Chex mix and Cream soda! Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Oahu Posts: 596 OS: Slackware 11.1, Fedora Core 3, K12LTSP, Suse ES 9, Windows 2000sp4, Mac OSX, Knoppix, Mephis	Or you could install Linux. But if you wan't windows, can't you just boot off CD (run computer with support from CD-ROM) and FDISK it then run setup(Run SETUP from CD-ROM) (thats what I do when I install 95, because I don't use floppys anymore to install an OS) Try it, it should work. __________________ Elvis didn't die he just went open source w00tb0t, because you can't make tea with potatoes

11-24-2004, 02:12 PM	#4 (permalink)
Volt-Schwibe Asst. Manager, Automotive Forums; HJT Trainee Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Behind you, watching you as you type. Posts: 7,372 OS: Click "My System" to view details My System	yes wOOt, but not all windows 98se discs are bootable. and if someone actually wanted to torture themselves with 95 or 98fe, it never is bootable. __________________ <signature> TSF is funded by our Admin's pocket, care to help? Power Tip: Subscribe to your thread (Thread Tools) to receive an instant email notification when you get a reply. New Members: Creating a single new thread in the correct section is the best way to assure your thread will receive a reply. </signature>

11-24-2004, 06:04 PM	#5 (permalink)
johnwill Manager, Networking Forums Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania, US Posts: 41,651 OS: Windows 7, XP-Pro, Vista, Linux Blog Entries: 1	I'd simply remove the hard disk, and install it into a desktop as a slave using a 2.5" <> 3.5" adapter cable. Then you can make it bootable into DOS, copy the installation files for Windows onto it, and put it back into the machine. __________________ If TSF has helped you, Tell us about it! or Donate to help keep the site up! Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience