boot up problem

[rodeci]

I just received a hand me down, 300 MHz 486 AMD K6 from a friend of mine. The system worked fine for several weeks. However two days ago I had went to turn the pc on and it wouldn't boot up. It makes it pass the BIOS and PnP screens just fine. Then it gets to "Verifying DMI Pool Data......." and I get an error message saying "DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER" I have another PC and made a boot disk from that one and inserted it into the floppy drive of the nonworking pc. I get "Starting Windows 98" it continues to "Microsoft Windows 98" and all I get is an A:\> prompt and it stops. Can you help me (in layman's terms please)?

[Randy_tx]

Well sir...I promise it isnt a 300 mhz - 486 computer !!! but I dont know really what it is (maybe a 686 socket 7 amd k6-300) ...however, in LAYman's terms you probably have a dead Hard Drive. The way to find out is to put a start up disk in the computer and boot it....then at the A: prompt type FDISK C: ....IF it doesnt find a C:.........you have a dead hard drive in all likelyhood. A further check is to push the DEL (delete key) right after turning on the power....then arrow over to the option that says something like "Detect Hard Drive" or "Auto Detect Hard Disks"...if it doesnt detect anything..... still greater chance you have a dead hard drive. If you are determined to know....unplug the power from the computer.....open up the case and check the cables (or have someone) from the motherboard to the hard drive to be sure they are in securely (you know they are on right because it worked for several weeks. If they are in securely and it still doesnt pass either of the above tests...IT IS DEAD!!

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When all else fails...start parts swapping!