Ensuing Coo

OS- Window's 98© When I boot up it says Error loading operating system.

koala

Check the boot order in BIOS, and make sure there's no CD inserted.

Is the hard drive listed in BIOS? Have you checked the IDE/SATA cables?

Have you made any recent hardware changes?

Is this a new Windows installation?

Ensuing Coo

Hard drive is listed. Whats a IDE/SATA? and no hardware changes and no new installation. PLEASE help (my other computer not this one.) if you want a pic ask i got a new camera =]

koala

What's the boot order in BIOS? Is it 'CD First' and is there a CD inserted? Or is it set to 'Floppy Drive First' and is there a floppy inserted?

Is the hard drive in BIOS set to auto-detect or manual? Is its size being reported correctly?

IDE or SATA are the type of hard drive you one. You will be using one or the other. The IDE data cable is a wide grey ribbon and SATA is a thin black cable. Make sure the connectors are firmly inserted into the drive and the motherboard.

Download and run the diagnostics disk from your hard drive manufacturer's website. This will test the hard drive and try to fix any errors it finds.

If the boot order in BIOS is set to CD or Floppy First and there's no CD or floppy inserted, change it to 'CD First', insert your XP CD, save settings, exit and run XP Repair.

OldGrayGary

Hi all


Koala has pointed out that this error can occur when a PC is set to look in the floppy drive or optical drive for a bootable disk - before moving on to looking for Windows 98 on the hard drive. So -- make sure that you have no disks in your floppy drive or optical drives (CD/DVD drives), and try again.

Your older Win98 PC probably has a floppy drive, so you can find diagnostic utilities that run from floppies, just as koala mentions. You can likely find downloads for your hard drive from the list at the following site --- http://tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287 You might also want to test the system memory: a good tool for that is MemTest86+ --- http://www.memtest.org --- These diagnostic tools are free.

We've mentioned your PC's Bios. You can enter the Bios Setup for your PC by pressing the key mentioned in either a banner message or a splash screen as your PC is powering on: "Press F1 (or F2, F10, Del, etc.) to Enter Setup". While in Setup, check to see if the system time/date has slipped backwards several years ... if so, the CMOS battery is probably too weak to hold the settings & needs to be replaced [they generally last about six or seven years... and most Win98 machines are older than that]. The 3v coins batteries only cost about $1.50 each, so it's a cheap repair. After replacing the battery, you need to find a system manual & enter the correct settings for the hardware in your PC. Good general instructions for replacing a CMOS battery are on an Hp/Compaq guide --- http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...&product=94878 --- You can usually find a system manual at the support website for your brand of PC, or from the support website of the manufacturer of your motherboard.

Should the hardware pass diagnostics, you can try an inplace reinstallation of Windows 98 - though I would recommend that you clean the hard drive on any malware infections first. You can use a bootable CD with antimalware tools on it for this [since you have a Windows XP system as well as a Windows 98 system, you can create & use a "Ultimate Boot CD for Windows" & use their antimalware scanners to clean the Win98 PCs hard drive --- http://www.ubcd4win.com

Here are instructions for an in-place reinstallation of Windows 98 (also called an 'over-the-top' reinstall)
_______________
Windows 98/Me "Over-the-top" Reinstall

Sometimes an over-the-top reinstallation of Windows can be a timesaver. On most recent computers the whole procedure can take as little as 30 or 40 minutes. A nice feature of this procedure is that your programs do not have to be reinstalled, and your data is not lost. You likely will need to visit Windows Update when finished, though, to download and reinstall some of the Security Updates. [Windows Update still works for Windows 98/Me, even though its period of active support by Microsoft expired in mid-2006 (all the updates up to that point can still be found there)].

Beforehand:

You may need to temporarily disable the Bios virus protection that is found on some motherboards (if your motherboard does not have this feature, you can skip this step). Enter Bios Setup by pressing the key displayed during startup, and somewhere on the first or second menu should be an item to Enable or Disable Bios Virus Protection (might be called BiosShield, or VirusGuard, or whatnot) ---> then, when you're finished with your reinstallation of Windows, re-Enable the Bios protection feature.

During the reinstall, it is also a good idea to be entirely disconnected from any networks, wired or wireless (unplug ethernet cables, disable wireless), and to be disconnected from printers, scanners, cameras, multifunction devices, fax machines, PDAs, memory card readers, USB flash drives, external USB/Firewire/eSATA drives, etc.

Over The Top ReInstall:

Place your Windows98/Me CD in the CD/DVD drive (or be ready to point Windows to the place on your hard drive where your Windows 98/Me installation files are stored).

Boot with a bootable floppy (or CD - "with CD-rom support"), and from the command prompt in DOS rename the win.com file to win.bak. Like this

C:
cd \Windows
rename win.com win.bak

If you have the Windows 98/Me CD in your CD/DVD drive, you can then switch to the drive letter of your CD drive [often drive D:], simply by typing the drive letter followed by a colon ( for example - D: ) at the command prompt. You can then start setup by typing setup from the command prompt.

If you don't have a Windows 9x/Me installation CD, but instead have the Windows 98/Me installation files on your hard drive, switch to that location (which is often C:\Windows\Options\Cabs - by typing cd C:\Windows\Options\Cabs ), and start setup (by simply typing the command: setup )

***Important!*** When Windows asks if you want to use the directory C:\Windows.000, instead choose Other and type in C:\Windows (without the .000 following ).

Make sure that you have your antivirus, antispyware, and firewall running before you connect to networks afterward. Don't forget to visit Windows Update ASAP to get the Critical Patches the need reinstalling.
________________________

Best of luck
. . . Gary

Ensuing Coo

Gary,
I wish I could but the problem is on my computer. This is not my computer.

Ensuing Coo

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What's the boot order in BIOS? Is it 'CD First' and is there a CD inserted? Or is it set to 'Floppy Drive First' and is there a floppy inserted?
No
Is the hard drive in BIOS set to auto-detect or manual? Is its size being reported correctly?
Umm Ill check leme finsh this first
IDE or SATA are the type of hard drive you one. You will be using one or the other. The IDE data cable is a wide grey ribbon and SATA is a thin black cable. Make sure the connectors are firmly inserted into the drive and the motherboard.
Correctly in!
Download and run the diagnostics disk from your hard drive manufacturer's website. This will test the hard drive and try to fix any errors it finds.
It wont start up =/
If the boot order in BIOS is set to CD or Floppy First and there's no CD or floppy inserted, change it to 'CD First', insert your XP CD, save settings, exit and run XP Repair.
It's windows 98 on my other computer

Ensuing Coo

This is starting to get in a pain in my but. Suggestions?

Ensuing Coo

Wait! Will Windows Me work it says Windows 2000 pro and windwos 98 and windows nt pro only though

koala

Have you done this yet?

It will if you follow the instructions on the website. You burn the files to CD, change the boot order to CD First, insert the CD and it runs without having to load any operating system or any other files. It's designed for use in these kind of situations.

Ensuing Coo

WMe sorry

Ensuing Coo

Thanks for getting back so quick. Can you help me find the website?

Ensuing Coo

Ok, I got the CD and i saved it and i didnt run beacuse i dont want to screw up this computer and it doesnt work =[] but i'm asking a friend if they have windows 98

OldGrayGary

Hi again

Cho - just to be clear, the repairs that koala & I have suggested are all meant to be performed on the PC that is having trouble -- and that PC is/was running Windows 98 or Windows Me - right?

The diagnostics can usually be created as either bootable floppy diskettes or bootable CDs. For an older PC, the floppies might be easier --- but CDs are convenient for more recent PCs.

You mention that "you got the CD and you saved it" -- which CD are you referring to? We've mentioned a few. If it's a diagnostic CD, and you created it from an ".iso image" that you downloaded & burned as a bootable image to a CD using Roxio or Nero (or other CD-burning program), then you should be able to take that to the problem PC, put it in the CD drive, and start the computer with it -- the diagnostics will start automatically. If it's the "UBCD", you can choose which diagnostic tests to run from a menu.

I'll repeat a few details again about bootable CDs, because they won't work otherwise:
1) You must create the bootable CD using an option in CD-recording software that explicitly states "Burn Image to Disk" (or similiar wording). If you simply copy an .iso image to CD - that won't work. You must use the option from your CD-recording software that is meant to burn bootable images.
2) You must have the boot order set to CD-first in the PC's Bios Setup.

If you are still having trouble using bootable CDs, give the bootable floppy diskette diagnostics a try. They are simple to use - the download usually creates a bootable floppy. To run a bootable floppy, set the floppy drive as the first device in the boot order.

Best of luck
. . . Gary

Ensuing Coo

Windows 98, The diagnostics or w/e home made kind), And is there any way i can get a windows 98 disc for free?

OldGrayGary

Hi again


Cho -

Please try to run diagnostics for the hard drive and for the system memory. That is the most important step at the moment. If either the hard drive or the system memory is faulty, it won't matter what operating system you try to install = none will run well - if at all - on broken hardware.

You need to enter your Bios Setup & do two things:
1) Check the date/time [this will let you know if you have to replace the CMOS battery]
2) Check your boot order ---- I'd suggest using this order: First) Floppy Drive (sometimes displayed as "A") Second) CD-ROM and Third) Hard drive (sometimes displayed as "C").

If you replace the CMOS battery, find a manual for the system/motherboard and enter the correct values (or choose the Bios option to "Set Defaults and Exit").

Your Windows 98 license key might be on a sticker on the computer case. For repairs, it is legal to use a different Win98 CD to repair yours, so long as you enter your same legal license if asked during a repair Setup. The Win98 CD you use to repair must be of the same version to use your old key (Windows 98 original - or - Windows 98 2nd Edition).

Read through the instructions we've posted so far -- print them out if that helps. All the steps and links that you need have been given to you already. Take things one step at a time & you should be fine.

If the diagnostics show that the hard drive or memory have failed, you'll have to decide whether you want to replace them or not (you might be able to find friends with spare parts they'll donate, or you might want to look for used parts with low prices).

Best of luck
. . . Gary

Ensuing Coo

Ok, I give up ty for trying though