Invalid System Disk, Replace the disk, and then press any key

[janine_bob]

I have a Micron Milleniua computer that had windows 98 on it - someone tried to "help" and reformatted the hard drive and then put a windows xp on the computer but used a laptop version for a desktop computer. when they reformatted they never made a boot disk. i am trying to get rid of what had been done and reload win98 but when i boot the computer i get the following message :"invalid system disk, replace the disk, then press any key"

this is not my computer it i for a friend who cannot really afford to pay someone to fix the problem and his friend that did this gave the computer back and said - sorry i'm not sure what happened - would appreciate any help

[Murray S.]

Howdy and welcome to CTH:

It can be done with a little time but there are a few things you MUST have before we can start..

1: A Win98SE boot floppy
2: A win98/98SE install cd
3: A legal Key Code/Product Code

Do you have all that ??

Murray

[janine_bob]

no to the boot floppy - they forgot to make it...

[Murray S.]

No problem.. Go to www.bootdisk.com and download the self-extracting Win98SE or WinME bootdisk..

Make sure you have a clean formatted floppy in a: drive.. Then, just double click the file you downloaded to extract the required files to the floppy..

Murray

[janine_bob]

floppy all done

[janine_bob]

same error with this disk - "invalid system disk replace the disk, and then press any key"

[Murray S.]

Did you just copy the downloaded file to the floppy or did you RUN it to extrat the files to the floppy??

Is the first boot device in BIOS set to the a: drive??

Murray

[janine_bob]

yes and yes

[Murray S.]

YES: you just put the downloaded file on the floppy or YES: you ran the program and installed the files on a floppy??

Boot into BIOS and tell me what your boot order is set at !!

Murray

[janine_bob]

first boot is cd rom then network then removable then hard drive

from what i can see it is not even reading the floppy - i pulled out the power for the floppy and reseated it - did not work

[Murray S.]

Originally Posted by janine_bob

first boot is cd rom then network then removable then hard drive

from what i can see it is not even reading the floppy - i pulled out the power for the floppy and reseated it - did not work

Right.. so you have to change it.. The manual should tell you how.. OPtherwise, highlight the first boot device option and use the "page Up" or "Page Down" keys to change it..

Murray

[Murf]

"first boot is cd rom then network then removable then hard drive"

It's not reading the floppy becuase it ain't looking for it.

You need to change the FIRST BOOT to FLOPPY Save & Exit.

[janine_bob]

we tried that and got the same error message...

[Murray S.]

You tried what?? If you have changed the first boot device option to the floppy.. and then you "SAVED the change and exited", if you made the floppy properly, you won't get an invalid system disk message" because the floppy has all the files on it that you need to boot with!!

So, either a You aren't making the the floppy the first boot device or; b: you haven't made the boot floppy correctly or c: both of the previous!!!

Murray

Is the following file the one you downloaded from bootdisk.com ??

http://www.redbrick.dcu.ie/~huey/Downloads/boot98se.exe

Murray

[Murf]

To expand on Murray' S post.


You download the file either to your desktop or to your hard drive. Once the file is downloaded, then you put a fresh formatted floppy in the floppy drive.

Now you double click on the down loaded file and a window will come up and it will extract the boot files to the floppy.

Then once you have the computer set to boot from a floppy as the first boot device (SAVE & EXIT THAT CHANGE) you reboot with the floppy.