Booting problems with Windows ME

[cstraw]

Hi there,
I am posting here for the first time in search of assistance with my recent computer build.

Over christmas, I built myself my first computer, seemed simple enough. Unfortunately, I didn't have a boot disk (floppy) for Windows ME and I am experiencing trouble getting my computer to work for the first time.

I have attempted many times at loading the OS from the CD, but gave up and formated the hard drive to start fresh tonight (hopefully).

Here is what I am attempting to do and what questions I have:

1. How to create a Windows ME bootdisk?
2. How to use the bootdisk when loading an OS?
3. I may have invertedly altered the original BIOS settings, how do I get them back (the original settings and restore them) Asus A7n8x-x motherboard


Here is a quick parts list so you may have a better understanding.

Asus A7n8x-x
AMD Athlon 2200
512 mb ram
lg cdrw 52x
WD 80GB HDD with 8MB buffer
Panasonic Floppy

I would appreciate any assistance provided.
Thanks in advance

Chris

[DragonNOA1]

Welcome.

First off, there is an option in the BIOS to reset your settings. If that doesn't work there will be a jumper on the mobo for you reset your CMOS.

How are you formating your drive? You should use FDISK and enable large disk support. Format the entire drive and make it active. Then put your ME CD in and install your OS.

Reply back if you need more help and Good Luck!

[Cricket]

The WinME CD is bootable...what kind of problems are you having when trying to load the OS from the WinME CD? Is the BIOS set so that the CD-ROM drive is the first boot device?

Are the IDE cables installed correctly...red stripe to pin 1 on the motherboard and drive? If you're using a 80 wire UltraATA cable, is the blue connector to the motherboard, black to drive you want as master and gray to drive you want as slave? Drives should be jumpered to CS.

If you're using 40 wire IDE cables the red stripe still goes to pin one, but the connectors can go anywhere and the drives are jumpered to master or slave.

You can go to Bootdisk.com for a WinME boot disk.

And here's a good web page with instructions on using FDISK & FORMAT.

Cricket

[cstraw]

Thanks a bunch guys.

I have just downloaded the Windows ME bootdisk .exe from that website provided above (thanks Cricket).

When I formatted the hard drive last night, I did use fdisk to do so and used the instructions I received off the web. They are similar to the link you have provided.

When I restarted the computer after formatting the hard drive, I had it boot with the Windows cd in. It began to run through its process but stopped at:

copying files over to hard drive...

I am unable to get any further.

I will read through the website you provided and attempt those instructions tonight.

Again, I appreciate your help greatly and will reply with status tomorrow.

Chris

[SARGE]

Are you getting an error message? Hopefully you have the correct RAM.

[cstraw]

I haven't received an error message yet.
I'll certainly keep my opens peeled for one.

Chris

[cstraw]

Well I attempted to load the OS tonight but haven't had success yet. As suggested, I used the Windows ME bootdisk, however, I have a question. Do you execute the file so that it writes the neccessary files to the floppy or do you just place the bootdisk executable file directly onto the floppy.

I executed the bootdisk and had the files extracted to the floppy. Again, I got to the step of loading the operating system from the cd. Again, the process stops immediately after the scandisk completes and the following error message appears:

Error loading system.drv

I am stuck and again need your help

Chris