hdd problem

[shafiq87]

hi every1,
i am having problems with my hard drive. when i boot my computer
a message appears that "disk boot problem, insert system disk and press enter"
after i insert the windows 98 start-up disk all the defaults are loaded
but then another screen appears that the disk is not partitioned and so i run
FDISK but then another message appears that there is no fixed disk present.
one more problem is that when i boot the computer no pri master is present.
please help me to solve this problem and guide me through the process of installing windows 98 on my system.

[fatboyjim]

Firstly make sure that the drive is plugged into the first plug on the IDE connector (there should be no plugs on the cable in between the drive and the mobo if it's the master)

Check that the drive is set to MASTER or SLAVE accordingly

Check that the BIOS is set to autodetect the drives

Check that the drive has a power cable going to it

Check that the drive has the stripe on the IDE cable in pin 1 (usually pointing towards the power connector)

If you have checked all this and it still fails then the drive has probably an uncountable number of bad sectors and is irrepairable



Jim

[Hpro]

Originally posted by fatboyjim Jim

Firstly make sure that the drive is plugged into the first plug on the IDE connector (there should be no plugs on the cable in between the drive and the mobo if it's the master)

MASTER will always be at the end of the cable..

[morriswindgate]

Also if you have a Western Digital drive, re-format the EZ-Install diskette that came with the drive and use it as a blank floppy. Then FDISK from a standard 98 bootdisk.
I had the same thing happen on a WD when I tried to let their install disk do the work. Ended up putting the HD on another computer, deleting all the partitions and the FDISK and Format from a 98 disk.

[glc]

EZ-Install is fine, but that's not the issue here. Double check your installation (jumpers, cables, etc.). If it WAS working fine and then just died, the drive has probably gone bad. If this is a new install, post your system details, please. (Motherboard model, drive model, 40 or 80 wire cable, etc.)

[fatboyjim]

EZ-install is apparently quite a good utility, partitioning your drive etc etc

But when I tried to install win98se with EZ-BIOS installed it didn't like it one bit!

But glc's right - this isn't the issue here... more details please!

[glc]

EZ-Install does NOT install EZ-Bios unless it detects that your system BIOS cannot handle the size of your hard drive - and if this is the case, you NEED EZ-Bios or a bios upgrade or a controller card with its own bios anyway. If your system bios is fine, EZ-Install only partitions the drive for you and asks for a system disk to sys the drive (or allows you to clone your old drive - a VERY useful utility). It's like doing a fdisk and format in 2 minutes instead of 15.