The booting reaches the point where it says "Verifying DMI Pool Data" and right after that it says "DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER". When I boot with a Windows 98 boot disk, it does not detect my C or D drives but gives this message "INVALID DRIVE SPECIFICATION" instead.
HELP!!!

What happened just before this started? Was any hardware or software installed? Drivers, games, screensavers? Did you have a thunderstorm? Power surge or lose power while the computer was running? Modem left plugged into the phone line during a storm? Possible virus? Someone go into BIOS and change something?

Did this happen ON the 26th? The CIH (Chernobyl) virus activates on the 26th of each month. A friend here got it. CIH can overwrite the BIOS. Do you have an emergency boot disk for your antivirus program? That's what it's for. If you have one, by all means pop it in and try to boot the machine. If CIH or anything else is present it should find it. Let's hope the DAT files are reasonably current...

Sorry I have all questions and no answers, but to have a clue how to deal with this problem we need to know everything possible about the conditions immediately preceding it.

Some system info might also be helpful, but mostly we need an idea what might have happened to cause it.

------------------
Support the right to keep and arm bears.
Note: Please post your questions on the forums, not in my email.

Computer Information Links (http://www.geocities.com/paleopete/)

My problem did began on Sunday, the 26th. Therefore it might be CIH. Does that mean all my data are lost? Btw, my CMOS settings remain the same as the day I bought my PC.

However, I forgot to mention that this problem occurred because my cable wasn't properly plugged into the main power supply when I was booting my PC.