reloading win95

[maddy]

I want to reload w/95 and after the computer does a system check it says "unable to determine CDRom model". We put in a new CDRom Drive and installed it using the installation floopy and it seemed to install properly but my computer isn't recognizing it. Why is it doing this and what can I do?

[Wils]

try to select add/remove programs in your control panel. maybe the drivers for the new printer may seemed like it's set after you installed the printer but sometimes, the PC has the last word.

[maddy]

Okay, I did the Add/Remove way in the Control Panel and nothing
changed. I did however notice under Properties in the Device
Manager Tab that "no driver files are required or have been loaded
for this device" Does that have anything to do with it? I'm not
a computer whiz and learn as I go along. By the way, you keep
saying "printer"--is this a general term for the CDRom drive?

[Rayista Geoff]

Maddy,

Unless something really weird is wrong, the lack of driver files is definitely related to the problems you're having. Instead of add/remove programs, you might try Add New Hardware from the Control Panel. (Btw, I'm sure wils meant CDROM. I think printer is a typo.)

Geoff

[Paleo Pete]

If you're trying to install Win 95, the best way is to format the drive and start over, installing on top of an existing OS will more often than not cause more problems, or bring old problems with it. A clean install means that your Win95 Device Manager will have nothing to do with the CD ROM, since Windows will not be there during the install.

You'll have to install DOS CD ROM drivers to do the install with, and some have said that a win98 start up disk will work too. The win98 Start up disk has generic CD ROM drivers, and if you use the Start With CD ROM Support option in the boot menu it will install CD ROM drivers into a temporary ramdrive to get Windows installed. Ther Windows installation should find and install your CD ROM.



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[maddy]

Let me start over: The initial reason why I wanted to reload Win/95 is because the command.com file is missing or corrupted--when I start my computer now I have to start it up from the DOS prompt. Windows came already loaded onto my computer when we bought it. I do have the recovery floppy and cd to correct any problems or reload windows. BUT I can't do this until the system is able to determine what CDRom model I have. Besides fixing the command.com problem (maybe it won't fix by me reloading windows?) I have tons of junk and incomplete files on the computer and would like to start a clean slate. Am I going about these problems the right way? I REALLY appreciate everyone's input so far. Thank-you, tons.

[fraelorn]

Like Paleo said, the best way is to get your hands on a Win 98 Startup Disk. This disk is available to anyone who has a blank floppy and can get to a system with Win 98 on it. All you have to do is go under Add/Remove Programs, Startup Disk, then click 'Create disk'.

Then boot up your system with the 98 startup disk and boot with cd-rom support, which will install the generic drivers for the cd-rom, and you can go about formatting the hard drive and installing Win 95.

Hope this helps... http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

[Lynnguist]

Maddy,
Either your CDROM is not ATAPI (so basic drivers for it will not be found on a startup disk)or your BIOS does not support ATAPI. You will have to install your CDROM in DOS first for it to be recognized.

If COMMAND.COM is corrupted and you cannot load windows automatically then them problem can be fixed with a good startup disk. The files needed in your root directory are:
COMMAND.COM (which includes the necessary IO.SYS and MS.SYS)
CONFIG.SYS
AUTOEXEC.BAT

Good Luck,
Lynn



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Lynn

[Paleo Pete]

OK, for the CD ROM problem, open the case and check to see if the CD ROM is plugged into a controller on the motherboard, or a controller card with the hard drive(s), or if it's connected to a controller on the sound card.

If it's connected to an IDE controller, no problem, it's ATAPI. If it's connected to the sound card, it's not ATAPI, it's a Panasonic interface, which means it has to be controlled by the sound card, which in turn means the sound card drivers have to be loaded before the CD ROM will work.

The command.com issue can be easily resolved by booting to a win95 start up disk and at the A:\> prompt type:
sys c:
This will transfer the system files to the hard drive, making the drive bootable, or replace them if they are missing or corrupted.

Get a win 98 start up disk, boot to that and choose the Start Computer with CD ROM Support option, and see if it works, put any data CD into the CD ROM drive and try to pull a directory on it, to see if it actually will install and read the CD ROM by this method. If so, then you can format and reinstall windows. The installation should install the CD ROM along with everything else.

The only problem I can see is if it happens to be a Panasonic interface, you might need to install sound card drivers first, then the CD ROM drivers, which means the win98 boot disk method would be a waste of time. Since the CD ROM would be installed and working, then you would:

1. Format the drive: format c: /s after booting to a win95 start up disk
2. Install the sound card drivers
3. Install the CD ROM drivers
4. Copy the win95 installation files to a folder on the hard drive (optional)
5. Install Windows from either the CD ROM or the install files you just copied in the above step.

If you're using win95 in a FAT 16 environment, you could also install DOS before step 2. To find out, boot to the start up disk and run fdisk, use option 4, view partition information. In the info listed it will say either FAT 16 or FAT 32. DOS 6.x or earlier will not run in a FAT 32 environment. Only DOS 7, included with win 95/98 will run under FAT 32.

If you're running in FAT 16, I would install DOS, then sound card and CD ROM drivers. Assuming, of course, it's a Panasonic drive. If it's ATAPI the win98 start up disk should find a driver for it, and you can continue.

If you need more specific instructions concerning the installation, let us know. Hope this can clear up some of the confusion, and maybe get the CD working...

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[maddy]

Hi, just to let everyone who has made suggestions know what's going on, the Device Manager in my computer lists the cdrom as "ATAPI CDROM YC5000". That has to be the new one we installed because the original one was a "Goldstar". I will be getting my hands on a w/98 start-disk and then follow your instructions. Thank-you again to everyone for your help and will let you know how I make out.

[maddy]

http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/mad.gif I e-mailed the manufacturer of the new CDRom we installed and they told me that I don't need a drive in order for my computer to recognize it, even when using Windows. I only need the driver when using DOS without windows. I did boot up to a win/98 start-up disk and NOW after choosing "Start computer with CD ROM support" it won't go any further because of new error messages. They are HIMEM.SYS and CONFIG.SYS files are either missing or corrupted. All I want to do is reload the Windows and start with a clean slate!! I'm thinking maybe I should take it in and get someone to fix it for me? My computer knows the ATAPI device is in there but want's to know the model. Why is this so difficult?

[Rayista Geoff]

Just as an aside, I'm sure when the tech support people said that your CDROM didn't need a driver in Windows, what they meant was that Windows has drivers for it in its standard library. All devices need drivers whether in DOS or Windows.

I'll have to defer to older and wiser heads here, but you may be having problems trying to install Win 95 by booting up from a Windows 98 startup disk. I only use Windows 95, so I'm not sure if the "versions" of DOS are the same. Do you have an emergency/setup disk from your original Windows 95 installation? You will need to add your CDROM driver file to it, plus the MSCDEX.exe program. I'd give you a sample contents list, plus what the autoexec.bat and config.sys files on the boot disk should look like, but I'm at work now and not at home. Perhaps someone out there can do it from memory.

As to why everything's such a hassle, it's mostly 'cause computer programs basically don't work, in the sense of doing 100% of the things they're supposed to in the way they're supposed to. They're orders of magnitude more complicated than any other structures humans have ever tried to build, and we're just not very good at that kind of stuff. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/frown.gif

Geoff

[This message has been edited by Rayista Geoff (edited 10-13-2000).]

[Paleo Pete]

OK, if you're going to reload Win95, it's always best to format the drive first, otherwise you bring old problems along, if you simply try to overinstall on top of an existing Windows installation. That's probably the reason for the config.sys error message. The win98 boot disk should have its own autoexec.bat and config.sys files to use, and on a freshly formatted drive it always works fine for me. Try taking a look at Boot Disk (http://www.bootdisk.com) They have some good info about bootdisks, and I think they also have a universal bootdisk that works on 95 or 98 and inlcudes CD ROM support. Note that the downloaded file is an image, not the actual bootdisk, so you'll have to extract it. They also have instructions to make a bootdisk yourself.

The win98 start up disk should work for 95 just fine, they both use DOS 7.
DOS 7 Commands (http://www3.sympatico.ca/rhwatson/dos7/)

Hard Disk Partitioning and Formatting Procedure (http://www.pcguide.com/proc/setup/hdd-c.html) from PC Guide.

Quick Guide to a win98 Fresh Start (http://www.hardwarehell.com/fdisk.htm) Win 95 works the same way.

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If you had everything...Where would you put it?

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[maddy]

By some stroke of luck (and to make a long story short) I was able to get in contact with a "computer guru" over the phone and after taking me through a few steps on my computer he has concluded that I CANNOT fix my computer on my own. The whole missing command.com issue is what's causing all the problems and he is able to fix it for me--free of charge. Soooooooooo to everyone who took time out to reply to me and unselfishly offer their help I am very grateful to you. I did pick up a few tips along the way and will keep this forum as THE only one I go to for help. Thanks guys!