Error reading drive A

[jayz]

hi guys need help
when boot pc cant go to windows 98
just error reading drive A
nothing to do plz help thanks

[ComputerNut]

is there a disk in your floppy drive when you open the computer? If there is, take it out. the computer is probably trying to boot from the disk. but since theres nothing to boot from, the computer wont load any further.

HTH,
CN

[jayz]

there no floppy disk in the drive...

[Mesaeus]

Try booting in Safe Mode (press F8 repeatedly when Windows starts booting), I suspect something (maybe in Autoexec.bat) is accessing the floppy and not continuing. Also, try inserting a blank floppy, maybe it will continue. A last possibility is the floppy drive being broken and the bios getting stuck on it while going through the boot order. Get into your BIOS setup (pressing del when booting on most pc's) and change the boot order to hard disk first.

[jayz]

thanks reply but not work
look like this
this verifying DMI Pool data....

Invalid system disky
Disk I/o errory
Replace the disky and then press any key

[glc]

Sounds like your hard drive died.

[GaryRouth]

. . . and to check if the hard drive has died, go to the website of the manufacturer of the hard disk and download the disk diagnostics - these create a bootable floppy from which you can start your computer [in DOS] and test the drive (examples of such programs are DataLifeGuard for Western Digitals, PowerMax for Maxtors/Quantums, SeaTools for Seagates, etc). If you bought the hard drive yourself as an upgrade, it may have come with a disk with these tools on it.
. . . Gary

[jayz]

how do i format my pc with win98 cd?
not sure floppy drive work or not
im newb at dos
any useful tips well help thanks

[GaryRouth]

Sorry it's taken a while for me to get back to you - I've been busy.

I think you'd benefit from some of the articles available from the pcmech.com home page. You can look under the various categories that you have questions on. The Build Your Own section should be particularly helpful if you are wondering about how to format and such.

What exactly is your project at the moment? Are you restoring an older computer? And is this just a learning adventure, or a pressed-for-time repair?
. . . Gary

[rjfvillarosa]

Formating your PC in windows 98 is very easy but are you sure thats what you want to do? you realise that if you format your hard drive you are going to loose all of your files on that hard drive. Try a few other things first, GLC suggested that your hard drive could be faulty, can you borrow another one just to test that it is the hard drive. Gary also suggested downloading diagnostic software to test your hard drive, personaly I think you should start swapping a few things out, start with a spare hard drive and then a spare floppy and finaly IDE cables, these guys know what they are talking about so try some hard drive tests first, remember format should be your last option because once its done all your data is gone.