Why don't my boot disk work

[Pete Burke]

I can't get my computer to read a windows 98 boot disk.
or any other disk. When I turn on the pc
the A drive reads the disk but I get;
"Invalid system Disk. Replace the disk, and then press any key"

I do this but still nothing. I set the BIOS to the hard drive
and enabled the A floppy. What am I doing wrong? I can't get an MSDOS
disk to read either. HELP!!

[tjaymadison]

Well, Pete, in a sense the disk is being read -- that's why you're getting the error message. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif The boot disk must be missing some necessary files. The bare minimum is two hidden files, IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS, and COMMAND.COM to get the system boot. Of course you won't be able to do much after that. If the PC you're using to get here is a Windows/DOS machine, you can make a bootable start-up disk in Control Panel. Click Add/Remove Programs, then click the Startup Disk tab, and follow the instructions. Good Luck! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

------------------
"When I nod my head, hit it with the hammer."
(Moe, holding nail, to Curly, holding hammer)

[sea69]

lol tj.. or also he could go to http://www.bootdisk.com/

and get one as well. But I always make one from- the machine I may need it for.

additionally, I would be sure to have a CLEANLY FORMATED disk. and then LOCK it.

------------------
pending

[This message has been edited by sea69 (edited 04-23-2001).]

[Pete Burke]

Originally posted by tjaymadison:
Well, Pete, in a sense the disk is being read -- that's why you're getting the error message. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif The boot disk must be missing some necessary files. The bare minimum is two hidden files, IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS, and COMMAND.COM to get the system boot. Of course you won't be able to do much after that. If the PC you're using to get here is a Windows/DOS machine, you can make a bootable start-up disk in Control Panel. Click Add/Remove Programs, then click the Startup Disk tab, and follow the instructions. Good Luck! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

I have made another start up boot disk from my PC (Win 98)
It wont take ANY disk I insert in the A floppy as a system disk.

[sea69]

sorry, you need to into BIOS and set it to default, save exit and reboot.. try that.

or set it to : read A, then your CD drive, and then C drive.

------------------
pending

[This message has been edited by sea69 (edited 04-23-2001).]

[Pete Burke]

Originally posted by sea69:
sorry, you need to into BIOS and set it to default, save exit and reboot.. try that.

or set it to : read A, then your CD drive, and then C drive.


I did go into BIOS and set it. When I turn on the PC with out a boot disk I get;
"CMOS checksum failure"
Thank you for the reply.

[sea69]

lololol.... you need to replace your battery.. thats it http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

------------------
pending

[tjaymadison]

You may well have a weak or dead CMOS battery. See this section (http://pcguide.com/ts/x/sys/booterrGBER08-c.html) of The PC Guide Troubleshooter for some ideas.

There may still be a problem with the floppy drive, even after you replace the battery. If so, take a look here (http://www.pcguide.com/ts/x/comp/fdd/fail_Drive.htm). Make sure you have a good battery first though.

------------------
"When I nod my head, hit it with the hammer."
(Moe, holding nail, to Curly, holding hammer)

[This message has been edited by tjaymadison (edited 04-24-2001).]

[Paleo Pete]

Yes, change the CMOS battery, that should clear up the Checksum error message.

In BIOS:
Make sure you have it set for the correct size and capacity floppy drive. Usually 3 1/2"-1.44MB.
Swap Floppy Drive should be disabled, that swaps the drive designations, making the computer see A as B and B as A.

Floppy 3 Mode Support should be disabled, that sets it for Japanese floppy drive configuration.

Boot Up Floppy Seek is usually redundant, since setting the boot sequence to A;C makes it check it twice, but you can enable it for troubleshooting. Disabling it will make no difference in whether the drive actually works or not. The drive should work either way, if it works at all.

If those don't help,

Inside the case:
The ribbon cable could be defective, or could have a bad connection, check the connections at both ends of the cable or try another cable.

Check the power cable, and make sure it has a good connection or swap to a different cable. Adapters are available at computer shops to fit the smaller plug.

If all of the above does not get results, try a different, known good floppy drive, yours could be dead.

------------------
So many idiots, and only six bullets...
Note: Please post your questions on the forums, not in my email.

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

[sea69]

hehe http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif.. what Pete said.

he is so much more thourough than me.. (and completely correct)..

as soon as I saw that error Message.. I just knew immediately that there was the reason for that message.

How did I know this you ask ??

I learned it HERE.

among much else of what I have learned in the past year.

from people LIKE Pete, Ghost Hacker, BB_66, Reid, mjc, and all the others (too many to mention).

so sometimes I get excited when I realize I have learned things and know answers to things intuitively, which prior to being a 'regular' on this site, I had NO clue. hehe

thanks to all. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif


------------------
pending

[This message has been edited by sea69 (edited 04-24-2001).]

[sea69]

lord.. how did I forget RANDYTX ????? http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/eek.gif !

------------------
sea1_69@hotmail.com