problems creating a boot disc

[WendiM]

Hi folks

I have several probs with my PIII computer - so am trying to address them one by one.

1. The first problem is - when I got my PC I had W98 SE on it - got a virus last year, and the people who repaired my PC have put ordinary W98 I think. I have both disks (W98 (from my old computer) & W98SE) but am not sure how to tell which version I'm on even.

When I look in Explorer/Help menu, it just says Windows98 (so think I'm on the old version). Any other way to check this?

2. The second problem is - I'm having difficulty making a boot disk (which I need because I have BIOS issues - a message saying Drive C is using MS DOS compatibility mode file system - reduces overall performance - but that's another issue!!! which I'll address at a later stage).

Am getting all sorts of messages when trying to make the boot disk - e.g. that 'Files Not Found' - eg Setup could not finish copying a file -
Source File: 'drvspace.bin' Destination file: 'C:\WINEBD0.400\EBD\drvspace.bin=' (plus same for nearly every other file it looks for to make a boot disk).

Any suggestions on addressing this? Sorry to be a pain - am really a novice and trying to get max performance out of my PC. Any help greatly appreciated

[RJ]

Hi,

1. if you want to check your Win98 version, rightclick on "My Computer", select Properties. If you have the second edition then there it says so, besides the number is 4.10.2222A.
Anyway, it doesn't matter for the boot disk. You can use whichever you want, or - what I recommend - boot from your Windows 98 CD.

2. Before trying to make the boot disk try to boot from CD. Just make sure that boot sequence is set to CDROM first and maybe you have to set the drives in "standard cmos setup" to auto.
If you can boot from CD then you won't need a disk.

In case you need the disk:
How do you make a boot disk ?
The simplest way is to get into dos any type "SYS A:". This would make an empty boot disk. You can boot into dos mode and that's it. No drivers loaded and no extra programs on it, just boot.
The full boot disk can be made by going to "Start" > "Settings" > "Control Panel", "Software", "Boot disk" tab or be downloaded from www.startdisk.com

RJ

[Hpro]

I will answer you the question for the hard drive which seems to run in compatibility mode or Ms-Dos mode.. Steps to take

Before you do the STEP BY STEP beneath make sure to copy the Win98 folder from the CDROM to the hard drive - you will need only the WIN98 folder othing else.! Then shut down and do as I listed below

1.Start your computer and Press and Hold the SHIFT button down while it is booting - this will enter SAFE mode
2.Once in SAFE MODE [b]right click MY Computer[/b}
3.Select properties and then click on Device manager
4.Scroll down and look for Hard Disk Controllers - double click
5.Delete the controller there all of them
6.Shut down Windows and restart (cold boot) using the power switch to restart .
7.Open the Cdrom drive bay and insert the Windows 98 Cd either will do .
8.Use the Browse Button to direct the installer (setup wizard) to the copy of Win98 you made earlier to the hard drive.
9.Windows will install the drivers for you you may have to restart several times anyway at least two times and then you should be back to normal..

If this doesn't cure it then you should let us know what kind of computer this is and what Mother board it uses -
If you don't know how to determine this let us know..

As for the boot disk you will need the Win98 Cdrominserted in your drive - but if the hard disk controller is running in Ms-dos mode then I hardly can believe that your Cdrom will work.

One more thing - rename Config.sys and Autoexe.bat to Config.old and Autoexec.old don't worry this is only a precaution for not to have accidentally loading some REAL MODE DRIVERS, this would then interrupt the Setup wizard and you would be back where you are now