No MSDOS option???

[propflux01]

Hello, trying to get a Windows ME computer to boot up. It only gets to the splash screen for a second, then goes straight to option of Windows Safe mode, giving me four options to work with:

Normal
Logged
Safe
Step-by-step confirmation


Does not have a 'Boot in MSDos" mode, therefore cannot get there...

I was trying to do a scanreg /restore, but dont know how to get it.

It also says that there is a registry problem, and to use scanreg. However, if there is no MsDos mode, how do I do it? I downloaded a startup disk from teh web, used it, somehow managed to get to a A prompt, however, tried to get it to scanreg, all I got was

D:/ disk not ready: abort? retry? fail?

Operated normally until trying to install MS office, computer hung up, I tried to restart it, and got the above description. I have no OEM recovery disks ( I do have an older Win98 OS disk). This is not my computer, but was trying to repair it for them. Now it is fooked worse that before!! HELP!!!

[glc]

Will it get to Safe Mode? ME has no DOS mode. If it will get to Safe Mode, you will see a link for System Restore on the safe mode desktop.

[propflux01]

No, it will not get there. No matter what option I select, it will just hang up.

[propflux01]

Update. tried to turn on machine this AM, now it wont do squat. Just has compac screen, and a big blinking cursor on the right hand side of screen. I cannot even get into bios...Startup disk does not work, even tried booting off of Win98 disk, just goes to same Compac screen. Any help?

[propflux01]

Bump - OK, got into DOS prompt. However, tried FDISK, got "bad command or filename" Tried scanreg /restore...Got the same. Tried to go to C:/ drive...says no such animal. The only one it responds to is B:/ drive, and does the same things when I try to scanreg or fdisk (BTW, boot disk is in floopy drive). I also did Fdisk /mbr, but it just went back to teh A:> prompt. I am afraid to shut it back down for fear it won't come up again...won't anyone please help? thanx in advance..

[GaryRouth]

A couple of things:

1) Are there files on that computer that are irreplaceable? (or at least important to save & are not on any backup media?). If so, before trying any further repairs, you might want to try and save the files. You can try slaving the drive and a well-protected 2nd computer [but only do this if you feel confident of all the details involved, or you can end up with two infected & non-working machines, if a virus/worm is involved, or you make a configuration error & lose data] -- here's a link: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=106182 Once the drive is clean, you can copy files onto removable media (USB drive, DVD/CD R/RW, extra hard drive, etc).

If several infections are found and cleaned during the process, you can try to boot from the drive once back in it's original case, but it's likely you'll need to reinstall a bit.

2) There may be a hardware failure along with software trouble. The fact that you are not able to enter Bios Setup is a real problem. Do you hear the bios beep tone at the end of the Power-on-Self-Test (POST)? [Should be just one single beep if it has made a successful post]. If you can hear the successful POST beep, but still can't enter Bios Setup: try a different, (preferably a plain non-wireless non-USB) PS/2 keyboard & see if you have better luck. If you can get to the Bios Setup, check the settings in there against a manual for that system to see if things are properly set.

3) If the machine isn't making it through POST, see Hal's troubleshooting procedure for that: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=12753 (the thread says "for new builds", but the procedure is the same for old builds that won't post).

4) If the machine makes it through POST, and you can enter Bios Setup & confirm the settings: try to see if the machine will boot to a floppy diskette (write protected, preferably). You can use a WinMe disk from http://www.bootdisk.com to try this. The fact that your previously working floppy is no longer working might mean either that it too is now infected, or a hardware failure has occurred.

5) If you can boot from a floppy, you can run some hardware diagnostics. MemTest86 ( http://www.memtest.org ) can test the memory, and a diagnostic from the hard drive manufacturer can test the hard drive (the downloads usually make bootable floppies).

6) If you can boot from a floppy, check with the Directory command (dir) to see if there are the WinME .cab files in a C:\Windows\Options\Cabs folder or not. If yes, you can try an over-the-top reinstall of WinMe & try to save the current installation that way, using those .cabs there on the hard drive. Pay attention to all the details of an over-the-top, especially disconnecting from networks & disabling Bios AntiVirus temporarily. When done, you'll want to re-enable AntiVirus protection - both in the Bios and from within Windows, & have a firewall running before reconnecting to any networks, or to the Internet. First thing you'll do online is to go to Windows Update for the Security Updates. Here's a guide to over-the-tops: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=70846

7) If the .cabs aren't on the hard drive, you'll need a WinMe CD. Some Recovery Disks offer partial reinstalls, some don't = you'll need to know which you have before trying that. See if your friend has either sort of disk available (I know you said you don't currently have one = but replacements can be ordered from Hp/Compaq).

This should be enough to get you started.
Best of luck
. . . Gary

[GaryRouth]

Just saw your recent post:

By all means, don't use fdisk if you have files that haven't been saved yet! [if there are any such files the user wants to keep]. You'll lose all the data if you change the partitions with fdisk.

Try the WinMe disk from bootdisk.com - the one WITHOUT the RAM disk. It sounds like you're using a disk that creates a RAM drive = this changes the drive lettering around a bit.

If you can't see the C drive after booting from the bootdisk.com disk, it sounds like the hard drive has failed, or the IDE controller on the motherboard has failed, or perhaps you've moved a cable or jumper a bit wrong recently, or the Bios Settings are out-of-whack.

You need to be able to see the C drive to get any repairs done. Even if it means replacing the hard drive.

. . . Gary

[propflux01]

Thank you for responding!! Yes, I used the RAM bot disk from bootdisk.com, I will try and use the other one. Since I hadn't gotten any responses before, I went surfing and was reading something about if your stuff don't boot to try and use fdisk /mbr to reset the MBR, and get things going. All the jumpers have been untouched, and when I finally got this thing to go to DOS, I snuck into the bios and things are as they should be. I only changed one thing, that was to start with floppy first. that change helped get me to dos.

[GaryRouth]

Good luck with it - I'll check back again in a bit.

[propflux01]

Well, no luck, I ran a scanreg, said there was no registry backed up. Still shows no C:/ drive. I am beginning to think my HDD has expired..

[glc]

Download the hard drive diagnostics from the hard drive manufacturer.

[GaryRouth]

. . . and right now, the quickest way to tell which hard drive is in there is just to open the case and look on the label on the hard drive. Of course, shut down, power off, and unplug before opening the case.

I'm curious what prompt you started scanreg from?

When you open the case - is there only one hard drive, or perhaps two?

. . . and, see if you can find out if your friend has either the Recovery Disk set or a Windows full installation Cd to work from, if you need to repair with a replacement hard drive. Hopefully they have a copy of their product key otherwise, in which case you can run a clean install on a new hard drive using their original product key - but you'll need an installation disk that matches their Windows version.

Hope it turns out OK
. . . Gary

[propflux01]

the HDD is a Quantum Fireball. 40 Gig.

I could only get it to run from the A:> prompt. It would also allow me to use a B:> promt, but no other letter.

There is only one HDD.

She only has the Windows ME Compac recovery disk. I beleive those will not work with a new HDD. I do, however have a Win98 CD and I guess I could use that.

[glc]

Maxtor's Powermax is used to test Quantum drives.

The restore CD should work with a new hard drive, you may have to prep it with a Softpaq first to write a signature to the drive and set a diagnostic partition, depending on model.

[propflux01]

Well, from what I am getting on the powermax website, since I cannot get to windows, and it will not run from DOS, I cannot really use it.

Also, I am under the impression that recovery disks look for a serial number imbedded in the HDD by the computer manufacturer before the recovery disk will run, basically to keep a person from using them on more than one computer? I am not familiar with 'softpaq'...

[glc]

Step-by-Step Instructions - Downloading PowerMax

NOTE: The PowerMax download is a self-extracting file.

After downloading to your Windows desktop, insert a clean formatted floppy diskette into your A:\ drive.
Double-click on the PowerMax diskette creator icon.
When the Maxtor pop-up screen displays, click on the "Create Floppy" option.

The files will extract on to the floppy diskette, creating a bootable version of the PowerMax utility.

Then boot the computer you need to test with it.

A Softpaq is a Compaq download. Look up your model at the support site and look for downloads. The recovery disk usually looks for a proper bios, not a hard drive serial number.

[propflux01]

thank you, I will try these!