cant start 6 floppy XP startup set from 'start-Up'

[digitalDunce]

i downloaded a 6 floppy start-up disk set from microsoft, it said if i couldnt start them from start-up i would have to change the setting in BIOS.

all i got was black screen with a flashing bar in the upper left corner, if i forget and leave a regular floppy in drive A, i get a black screen that says in white to exect the disk and press any key.

i dont know anything about BIOS, someone told me to press F1 and that took me to 'Plug and Play OS'.. there was a line that said

select 'yes' if you are using Plug and Play/select 'no' if you need to configure non-bootable devices...

it didnt sound like i was booting a device.. didnt want to mess with it.

i have lost '...marscore.dll...' so i cant get into the System Recovery to try to roll back the drivers or into System Restore to roll back the settings.

anybody know how to reset the BIOS so i can start the computer with a disk in drive A..3 1/2"..??

I have an Compaq Presario 2.6MHz IntelCelleron R

i also noticed that in the System Restore in 'System' has the box for restore drivers unchecked.. should that be checked?

thanks for any help....

[GaryRouth]

Have you tried starting your Compaq in Safe Mode & using System Restore from there? Just after turning on power to the computer, while the computer is starting up - start tapping the F8 key & see if you can reach the Startup menu (at the top will be the choice to start in Safe Mode). If you can start in Safe Mode, run the Restore from there.

It's possible that either a virus or a hardware failure has corrupted some of your system files. If you've recently cleaned a malware infection, and you have a clean copy of system files available (& if the computer will boot into Safe Mode, as mentioned above), another option you have is to use the sfc /scannow command to restore protected Windows system files from either .cabs on your hard drive or a Windows installation CD. I believe the particular file you mention is part of XP Help. An in-place reinstall would accomplish much the same repair (using a Windows installation CD). A "Recovery Disk" set can potentially wipe out all data since the computer was purchased, so read up on the options available to you if you decide to try using the Compaq recovery disks.

If your hard drive is still severly infected, you can remove it from the computer & scan it with another PC [either by connecting it as a "slave" drive, or by placing it in an external hard drive enclosure (USB is the most common)] and scanning it from there.

If you absolutely have to use the floppies, look for the item in the Compaq Bios that mentions the Boot Order - and set it to the floppy disk (you might have to go through various sub-menus to find this! . . . such as "removeable drives" . . .) Different Bios versions can vary, so you may have to poke around a while. The floppy drive might simply be referred to in a list as "A" (for example, "A,CDROM,C" would look first in the floppy drive, then the CD-drive, then the hard drive). If you change something by accident, simply exit setup "without saving changes" (you should see an option such as this when exiting). Then try again. [--It sounds like you were indeed in the Bios Setup if you saw the item for Plug&Play OS, so tapping the F1 key sounds like it works to enter Setup for your model]. When you have made changes you want to keep, make sure to save them as you exit Setup.

Best of luck
. . . Gary