disk 1/0 error. Replace the disk and then press any key

[syd]

hello,

i plead the utmost ignorance in terms of computers. I am a poor uni student who has somehow f***ed his computer and any help would be greatly appreciated. im running win98se on two 1 gig hard drives

Firstly, a virus by the name of NewDotNet got onto my comp via the internet, which caused my comp not to connect to the internet anymore and also caused my antivirus softare to stop working. i decided i wanted to format my entire hard drive. however i did not know how to do this properly and started deleting things from my c: folder in windows.

starting the computer it came up with a message CMOS settings wrong (something like that) press F1 to run setup. so i did that and changed my boot settings around and that seemed to work.

however starting the comp againi got a message saying NTLDR missing. i changed my hard drives around manually unplugging/replugging wires in the computer. but that didnt work so i changed it back the way it was.

but now when i start the comp it says Disk 1/0 error (next line) Replace the disk and then press any key

So... this is where im at. this is my first time posting on a tech support site. im sorry if my message is too long. if any body can help that would be awesome

syd

[GaryRouth]

Hi syd

And Welcome to the PC Mechanic forums.

You've been having quite an adventure - but you must know a few things about computers, or you wouldn't have ventured into the case & flip-flopped your hard drives around. Let's see if we can sort it out:

1) NewDotNet is technically not a virus, but yes, it does arrive via the Internet, often with software such as Kazaa or Webshots. It can actually be removed simply by using the Add/Remove Programs applet in the Windows Control Panel.

2) The probable reason that you lost Internet connectivity is that NewDotNet alters your WinSock setup, and if you tried to remove it manually = Yep, you lose your ability to connect. It probably didn't knock out your antivirus, though some other infection might have. It would have knocked out your antivirus's ability to connect to the Internet for it's virus definitions updates, and the resulting error messages may have led you to believe your antivirus program had been damaged.

3) When you flip-flopped your drives around, and when you went into the Bios Settings & changed things - did you change the boot order? And did this computer ever dual-boot with WinNT or Win2000? [Ntldr is the bootloader for the Windows NT/2000/XP family, and is only seen in Windows 98 on dual boot systems]. The Disk I/O error can mean anything from a bad hard drive, to a floppy or CD left in the removable drives.

What to do?
__________
1) Check to see if you've inadvertently left floppies or CDs in the removeable drives. If you have, remove them.
2) Find a manual for your motherboard/system online & save a copy of it.
3) With the manual in hand, revisit you Bios Setup for the motherboard, following the instructions in the manual. ***Be aware that changing the hard disk type in the Bios can result in the loss of your data*** (this may indeed have already happened, but time will tell)
4) Save & Exit the Bios Setup - and see if your system boots OK.

If the computer still doesn't boot properly:
1) Check your hard drives for the make/model information.
2) Visit the manufacturer's website & download the diagnostic tool appropriate for your model.
3) Run the diagnostics to see if the hard drives are OK physically. All the details on how to do this are usually fairly clearly explained at the website.

If the hard drives test OK:
The cleanest option if you have good backups is to wipe the disks clean (either with a zero-write, using the diagnostic tools - or simply deleting the partitions and recreating with fdisk) and then installing a brand-new installation of Windows 98 from your installation CD.

If you don't have good backups, and hope to save the data on them, you might be able to successfully reinstall Windows 98 "over-the-top" http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=70846 --> you will need a Windows 98 CD or the .cabs on your hard drive to try an over-the-top.

If the drives are infected, an over-the-top isn't likely to remove any infection - for that, a clean wipe or slaving the disks in another computer and using it's antivirus tools will remove infections. Obviously, to save the data, you could also make a copy of it while slaved in the other PC. This procedure is somewhat advanced, so you'll need to pay attention to the details and precautions http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=106182

Following any repair procedure, be sure to have your antivirus and firewall active before trying to reconnect to the Internet. Then you'll want to visit Windows Update immediately, to get the Security Patches.

A reinstall will likely restore your Internet connectivity - however, if it turns out that a reinstall is unnecessary (for example, you just had a non-bootable disk left in a drive, or a few Bios settings off) You'll need to use a few tools to restore that:
1) - Download and run LSPFix.exe from http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm
2) - download and run winsock2fix from http://www.bu.edu/pcsc/internetaccess/winsock2fix.html

For an excellent article on NewDotNet and procedures to deal with it, visit the antisource.com website http://www.antisource.com/article.php/newdotnet

And as a final tip, if you've used Kazaa or Gator products in the past, you might want to avoid them in the future.

I imagine you might have some questions, feel free to ask away.
Best of luck
. . . Gary

[syd]

hello gary,

thankyou very much for your lengthy reply to my dillema!

first thing's first. (1) i did remove the newdotnet using add/remove applet. however i was still unable to connect to the internet even after many unproductive phone calls to my ISP.

2) you are probably right about the antuivirus' VDU'S. i was using avast and some other antispy software that i got off the net.

3) i did change the boot order in bios because as stated in my original post when i tried to start my comp three messages came up each relating to the CMOS settings, and prompted me to press F1 to go into setup to fix the problem. so naive little syd went into bios and changed around the boot order i think to boot (1) floppy (2) ide 0 and (3) cd rom. this seemed to fix the problem of the CMOS error messages. however then i get the disk 1/0 message. maybe i am getting this message because of the floppy (like you said disks in removable drives). however the floppy that is in a: when i start the comp is my win 98se boot disk. i didnt think that would cause a problem i thought it would just get me to ms-dos at least.
2nd section of your number 2) i think my freind did try and setup up my computer with a dualboot with win XP, i remember talking to him about it but im not sure if he attempted to do it. i know it was certainly never properly done.

ok what to do...

how do i find out what kind of motherboard or system i have to locate a manual for it online? remember me dumb dumb.

your right i have probably already lost data on my hard drives from changing the hard disk type in bios.

finding the manual is my first step... i will ask my flatmate if he knows how to find out the mother/board system type, however if you or anybody else knows that would be awesome.

thankyou so much for trying to help me out!!! i truly appreciate it. i have thought about caving in and just taking it to a computer shop, but as i said i am well skint and it doesnt seem justified for a 2Gb dinosaur :P

thanks again

syd

[GaryRouth]

Hi again

Well, a few things:
1) If you have data on your drives that you absolutely need, a friend can help by copying that data while the drive(s) are slaved in theirr computer. You'll want to scan the drive first with the host computer's antivirus and antispyware programs before copying the data. (the how-to info is in a link in my first reply)
2) If you have backups of that data - no worries: you can use free tools to clean the drive, & then run a clean installation. It's time-consuming, but should work, if the hard drives are OK.

After you've got your most-prized data in a safe place [or if there isn't anything you critically need on the old drives]:
1) By all means, might as well test the drives to make sure they are OK. The make/model is on a label right there on the hard drive. Remember that moving cables around changes things - depending on how the hard drives and optical drives are set-up, where a drive is plugged into the cable, and which plug on the motherboard is used = can be very important. If you want to learn a little about it, check out the tutorials available from the PC Mechanic home page [you can browse the topics by clicking on the various tabs along the top of that homepage: like "Drives", "Operating Systems", etc].
...a) go to the manufacturer's website to download the diagnostic utility. Usually, the file you download will create a bootable floppy: you use the floppy to start the computer in a clean DOS - and the diagnostics start automatically (you see a menu of choices just after you boot). If your drive is a Maxtor or Quantum, you'll want the Powermax utility (if Western Digital = DataLifeGuard. if Seagate = SeaTools. if IBM=IBM Enhanced Diagnostics, etc).

If the drives test OK:
1) I'm guessing that you don't have any Recovery Disks for your computer. If I'm wrong, and you do have such a set --> these can save you a lot of time. If you have a Recovery Set:
...a) Recovery sets work best with the original equipment the computer came with. If the video card, hard drive, or (especially) the motherboard have been changed since - they often have great trouble, or don't work at all.
...b) Even with mostly original equipment, remember to unplug from networks, unplug printers, cameras, memory card readers, scanners, etc - while running the recovery.
...c) Some Recovery sets will offer a menu of choices, some won't. If you have the option for a partial recovery - you can try that first, especially if you have data still on the drive that you haven't been able to save yet. Running a full Recovery usually completely erases the drive, all prior data is lost, the drive is repartitioned and reformatted, and the operating system and applications are reinstalled to the same condition the computer was in when it first came home from the store.
...d) Before starting the Recovery, yes: it would be best to make sure that the Bios Setup for your system is OK (by finding a manual, and checking the settings).


To find your motherboard make/model:
1) You can simply open the case (with the power off & unplugged, of course!) and with a flashlight & magnifying glass, look for the make/model silkscreened somewhere on the motherboard. (can be anywhere from between the PCI slots, to next to the AGP slot, to a tiny area at the edge of the board).
2) If the computer was a major-brand (and still has the original motherboard) - look for a model # sticker on the case, then go to the manufacturer's website for parts info and manuals. [For example, if it was a Dell, you'd start at dell.com and head to the support sections]

If the drives test OK, and the Bios Setup has checked out OK, and you don't have a Recovery set, and you've saved the data you need safely somewhere, and you have a Windows 98 or Windows 98se CD (and the product key!), then you can consider a clean install.

1) A zero-write with the diagnostics tools will wipe the drives most thoroughly = no malware can survive - the drive is blank when done (as blank as when it was manufactured).
2) Set your boot order to the CD-ROM as the 1st Boot Device. [If this isn't possible, set it to the floppy & use a your Win98 floppy]
3) Boot from the CD, and select "start computer with CD-ROM support"
4) From the prompt, type "fdisk" without the quotes.
5) Choose option 1, to Create a Primary DOS Partition
6) If asked to enable Large Disk Support, say yes.
7) Let fdisk use all available space on the drive for the partition.
8) When asked if the partition should be marked "Active", say yes.
**If you decide to clean BOTH hard drives, only mark ONE drive "Active". The one with the "Active" partition is the one you want to install Windows 98 onto, and the one you will be booting with. This drive is best connected to the Primary IDE controller (plug on the motherboard marked IDE0, sometimes IDE1, sometimes "Primary") and best jumpered as "Master" (the jumpers are little caps that fit on the little pins on the back of the hard drive - jumpering information for your drives is available on the same website you downloaded your diagnostics from) [newer systems usually use "Cable Select" & newer cables - but I imagine with the age of your system, you don't need to worry about that].
9) When the drive(s) is(are) partitioned OK, you can then let Windows 98 Setup format them.
10) Put your Windows 98 installation CD in the CD-ROM drive.
11) Reboot, and let Setup format the drive. Follow the prompts, and in about 45 minutes you should have a working Win98 system again.

You'll need to get an antivirus program onto the system before reconnecting to the Internet. I recommend that you switch to AVG 7 from http://www.grisoft.com for a Windows 98 system. I like avast! very much (it's installed on the XP Pro system that I'm typing this from) - but it is really too much for Win98 to handle well. Save avast! for a newer system, running XP.

Try to be behind at least a software firewall, too - for a Windows 98 system, it really helps to have a hardware firewall, since the software firewalls place serious resource demands on the system. ZoneAlarm, Kerio, and various others offer free-for-personal use software firewalls = there's an entire section at download.com for these.

Sorry this is such a long reply - see if you've some spare time to browse the tutorial for parts that you're not familiar with, and it's not a crime to ask a technically savvy friend to help [however, the friend who attempted to put XP as a dual-boot might not be your first choice = your machine is fine for Windows 98, but likely doesn't have the space, system memory, or processor oomph to bother with XP]

Best of luck - It's not as hard as it sounds - but do be careful and pay attention to details. If you have good backups, or have means to re-create your data without great ado - no worries = you can make mistakes right and left, and still be able to just start over from scratch = which is what you'll most likely be doing.
. . . Gary

[GaryRouth]

Hi all -
I'm going to quote some information and questions syd passed along, and then reply here - so that others in the same dilemma might find the same cures.
_____________________________________________________________
In a recent message, syd writes:

1) when the computer 1st boots it comes up with the stats (if you can call it that) of my comp. so i noted those all down, i'm not sure if i need all this stuff or not but i thouhgt i should kind of know what kind of comp ive got talking to you :P
2) i also went into bios and noted down all the settings that are currently, well set, to my comp. again im not sure if this was necessary.

another thing i noted down was the boot stats (what the comp puts up when it boots) and in terms of booting up: -

when i boot without the win98se startup disk it says: -
loading boot record from floppy..
loading boot record from ide-0.. ok
NTLDR missing
press any key to restart
(and when i press any key those prompts come up again)

however when i boot using the win98se startup disk it says: -
loading boot record from floppy.. ok
disk 1/0 error
replace the disk, and then press any key
_____________________________________________________________

My reply:

While I still think it's a good idea to test the hard drive, and check on the Bios Setup - you might be Ok if you're just faced with a bad floppy disk, and a somewhat befuddled NT bootloader confusing things. I can't imagine that your friend's attempt to load Windows XP got very far, heavens knows it would be a space-challenged installation. Hopefully, he cancelled things before he filled up the hard drive.

If you are feeling longshot-lucky, and want to try for a sizable longshot quick fix:
1) go to http://www.bootdisk.com and download a bootable diskette that matches your version of Windows 98.
2) use the bootdisk.com floppy to boot your computer.
3) if you get an I/O error while trying to boot from that floppy (just like you did with your original floppy) you might have the cable for the floppy a bit wrong, or you could have the floppy setup wrong in the Bios. It's not all that likely that you have two bad floppy disks (although that too is possible). Eliminate any doubts about diskette conditions by using a known good floppy.
4) If the bootdisk.com floppy boots OK: from the command prompt type: "fdisk/mbr" without the quotes. This isn't likely to work, but what it will do is place a Win98 "Master Boot Record" in place of the WinNT bootloader (the "NTLDR"). All this will do, really, is give you a chance to see if there's any bootable Win98 still on the drive, and in an undamaged enough condition to start (not terribly likely, but someone has to win the lottery!).

It's really more likely that you'll need to perform some amount of reinstall, whether "over-the-top" or "clean". And if there are WinXP folders on the drive, they're going to need to go! Just not enough room.

If you end up doing a clean install, you'll likely need to round up a few drivers afterwards (though, if you're on a lottery-lucky streak still, most of your drivers will be on the Win98 installation CD). Should you need to find drivers, we can help with that, too. You'll need to find out if the hard drives are still any good before getting to that point.

Keep at it: you are learning some useful things - Repair.101
. . . Gary

[syd]

fdxg

[syd]

hello again,

aaargh i just wote a really long post and it didnt work so here i go again

i went to the seagate website to downlaod seatools because i have that kind of hard disk. i tested them and they are fine.

i need to check the bios setup is ok. so i looked inside my computer case and saw these labels. i wasnt sure which one is my motherboard make model so here they are: -
1) VIA - II, VT82C42N
2) AMIBIOS, 586(C)1985-95
3) WINBOND, W83877F
4) INTEL, PCI-SET
5) PT 2007, T7T 209-1

i can only take a guess at which is my motherboard make/model. and my guess is the AMIBIOS one.

however i did try to do the zero-write. i set my boot order to boot from the cd-rom only with the win98se cd in there. but it said it could not boot from that. (sorry about the vagueness it is rather late and i am at an internet cafe. i cant remember the actual error message). also i cannot boot from the win98 boot disk because it just says ntldr missing.

so im guessing i have to fix my bios setup.

if you can make any sense of this it would be great. if you need more specifics let me know.

hmph computers are tricky

cheers
syd

[GaryRouth]

Hi again

As far as looking into your Bios Settings, here's a link to the manual for your motherboard. It's an FIC PT-2007, a socket 7 Intel 430TX chipset design: ftp://ftp.fica.com/mirror/fict/mothe...T-2007A0Fu.zip
Should any of the guidance in the FIC manual seem hazy, you can double-check for Bios settings information with Adrian's famous Bios Optimization Guide at http://www.rojackpot.com [there is an advanced version for a small fee, and a free version = you should just look at the free version - that motherboard is too old to bother with Adrian's latest & greatest guide: it will just have options that that motherboard doesn't have]
If you have any trouble opening the files for the manual, you'll need either Adobe Reader (also a free download) or a Word viewer.
___________________

Probably the most important thing you need to worry about at this point, is whether there is any data on the drives that exists no where else, and which you which to save before proceeding further. If so, have a knowledgeable friend "slave" the drive in their system & copy the files, & place them on a removable medium (burned to a CD, or written to a floppy [if only a few text files]). Scan the drives for viruses and spyware before copying.
___________________

Once that's done, if you don't see a "zero write" or "low-level format" option available in the SeaTools program that you used to run diagnostics for the drives, then use the "zero write" (might also be called "zero-fill", "write zeros", or "low-level format") from the Seagate Disk Wizard "Starter Edition" http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/...s/discwiz.html [the download, available at the Seagate site, creates a bootable floppy = you boot the computer with that floppy & erase the drives]. NO DATA AT ALL IS LEFT on the drive after a zero-write. It's entirely blank. The reason we are using the zero-write approach is that it will ensure no malware survives, and no odd partitioning errors remain.

(I've rarely had to run SeaTools, so there may be a zero-write utility on there, too -- I just haven't used it in a long time. I'm certain that there's a zero-write option on Disc Wizard Starter Edition. Both these utilities are from Seagate.)

When the zero-write is complete, go through steps #1 through #11 (in my 2nd reply - #1 starts with zero write & #11 ends with "Reboot, & let Setup format the drive...") to setup the drives and clean install Windows 98.

Best of luck!
. . . Gary

[*** REMEMBER -> to run the zero-write, you must boot the system with the Disk Wizard diskette (or the SeaTools diskette, if it also has a zero-write utility). These versions of the utilities do not run in Windows.]

P.S. -- just looked at the manual: it's in the Adobe .pdf format - so, yes, you'll need a version of Adobe Reader (doesn't have to be recent). Unfortunately, FIC put those older manuals into several files - the Table of Contents in one file, & each chapter and appendix in their own pdf files. So you have to keep closing & opening the different files to move through the manual. The Bios Setup is in Chapter 3.