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Windows 98 Problem solving for the Windows 98 Operating System

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  #1  
Old September 11th, 2005, 05:42 PM
maku maku is offline
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2 hard drives on computer but the hard drive with os does not work?

I have windows 98 on my main hard drive. I also have a secondary hard drive on the computer for storage. The main hard drive crashed (again ). Is there a way to put windows on the secondary hard drive and boot from that?
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  #2  
Old September 11th, 2005, 08:32 PM
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Jintan Jintan is offline
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Howdy maku,
Before we discuss some options, please only post your request once to avoid confusion and get you the clearest solutions. Having said that, please post back with info related to the following ideas:
1 - Get CTH assistance with the problem you are having with your primary drive "crash". If so, please post back any changes prior to the event, descriptions of what happended (especially the exact wording of error messages) and what steps you took so far, OR
2 - You have determined your primary drive is bad, and you want to setup the secondary as the master drive and clean install 98 on it (this will erase all data on the drive). For this, you will need to change cabling and jumper settings, have a 98 startup floppy (can be downloaded free) and an original 98 cd copy, OR
3 - The same as option 2, but you want to save the data currently on the secondary drive. For this, you will need to purchase a third party utility (Partition Magic or Acronis Disk Suite or other known programs) to repartition the drive, and the cables/jumper settings and the 98 cd.
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  #3  
Old September 11th, 2005, 10:12 PM
maku maku is offline
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Hello again,

I am assuming the primary drive is bad because when I boot the computer I get nothing but the first screen that says windows on it and then nothing. I went out and purchased a windows XP disc and tried to install that but again.......nothing. I thought that if I could switch the drives and use the secondary one for the main one and vise-versa, I still might be able to retrive some of the things I had on the original hard drive(accessing it through the switched drive, if that makes sence.) I'd appreciate any assistance you can offer.

Thanks sooooooo much,
Maria
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  #4  
Old September 11th, 2005, 11:05 PM
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Jintan Jintan is offline
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Here are options if your attempt to install XP didn't add to the problem, also antivirus software often loads where you experienced the hang:
1 - Tap F8 at startup, and select Safe Mode from the menu. If this works, skip step 2.
2 - F8, select Command Prompt Only. At the C:\> prompt, type
scanreg /restore (space after scanreg)
Select a date before the problems began (with Started next to it).
When completed, restart. If Windows does not load normally, repeat step 1.
3 - Goto Start-Settings-Control Panel. Click on System, then the Device Manager tab. Look for device conflicts (?, !, X marks). Post back what you find.
Now that you invested in XP, if you can repair this drive you will be able to choose your next steps the way you would like.
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  #5  
Old September 13th, 2005, 05:06 PM
maku maku is offline
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Hello,

I tried to hit f8 but it didn't work. The computer just gave me a message that said, "Disc boot failure, insert system disc and press enter." I have no idea what to do now? Any assistance would be great... Also, where do I find and download the windows 98 startup floppy that you mentioned earlier?

thanks,
maria

Last edited by maku; September 13th, 2005 at 07:02 PM.
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  #6  
Old September 13th, 2005, 08:06 PM
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Jintan Jintan is offline
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As you have invested in the XP CD, at this point you might consider going with your plan to establish what had been your data/second drive as a master drive loaded with a new XP install. Here are two more steps available for the current situation:
1 - Go Here and download the 98 (no Ramdrive) bootdisk creating file. Save it to a folder on your computer. Load a blank floppy disk, then click on the file and it will create a bootdisk on the floppy. Load this floppy into the problem pc, startup, select Without CD-ROM Support, then at the A:\> prompt, type
fdisk /mbr (space after fdisk)
hit Enter, then type
sys C:
hit Enter.
Remove the floppy and restart and try to access Windows.
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  #7  
Old September 13th, 2005, 08:21 PM
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Jintan Jintan is offline
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Forgot step 2.
After step 1, and no access to Windows, again insert the boot floppy and restart. At the A;\> prompt, type
scandisk /restore
Of course, this is back to the beginning, so if you then get the dated options, follow the instructions I posted earlier on.

If using the bootdisk did not allow you to access the A:\> prompt, then you might want to use a free utility to check this hard drive and make sure you will be able to retrieve info off of it. Go Here and download the Seatools program. Again, load a blank floppy, use the Seatools program to make a utility program on the floppy, load the floppy into the problem pc, then restart.
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  #8  
Old September 13th, 2005, 10:35 PM
maku maku is offline
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Well, I've tried everything so far and nothing has worked so, as you said, I think I should do what you suggested and go with changing the hard drives. I have no experience with this at all. If you could explain all the steps I need to do to accomplish this, I would be forever greatful. I also have one more question. Assuming I get this to work, when all is done can I access the old drive and get some things off it that I wanted to save (ex: pictures, documents, etc...)? Thank you so much for being patient with me and for all your help.

thanks,
maria
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  #9  
Old September 14th, 2005, 03:05 AM
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Jintan Jintan is offline
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I do hope you used that Seatools utility to check if the drive is okay. At this point I am going to refer to others for the next best steps. Although i have done and resolved all the steps you will need to change your drives and load the new OS etc., there are some unique factors involved with an XP install that would best be addressed by someone with more XP experience than me. I will refer this to one of the CTH moderators.
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  #10  
Old September 14th, 2005, 01:09 PM
maku maku is offline
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thank you, I look forward to hearing what to do.
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  #11  
Old September 14th, 2005, 01:46 PM
modmidget modmidget is offline
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The message you got, "Disc boot failure, insert system disc and press enter." often times means the disk drive had died. I could be wrong, but chances are you will not be able to save anything off of that drive. I would replace just that one drive with a new on and leave the second drive as a slave. By doing that you can still get to all of your files on the second drive. New disk drives come with complete instructions which will tell you how to set the disk to 'master', format it, and begin the XP installation. After you've installed the new disk you can set the old (bad) disk jumper to 'slave' and temporairily install it in the PC to see if you can get the files off of it.

Good luck.
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  #12  
Old September 14th, 2005, 02:07 PM
maku maku is offline
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Since I don't need the two hard drives I already have in the computer I would like to save moeny and use the one that is there already (not the master drive but the slave one). Is it possible to give me directions on how to switch the drives so I can use the slave as a master and vise-versa? I would like to put windows XP on the drive that I am switching. (I don't know if the directions are different for 98 and XP)

thanks,
maria

Last edited by maku; September 14th, 2005 at 03:51 PM.
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  #13  
Old September 15th, 2005, 12:53 AM
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Jintan Jintan is offline
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This tutorial provides all the steps necessary to approach that second drive as a new master drive.

However, anything beyond this would be meaningless if your current problem drive has failed, or if other issues such as RAM or motherboard problems are involved. Again, the Seagate Seatools utility floppy would be your next step before any changes. It is self explanatory - run all tests listed.
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  #14  
Old September 15th, 2005, 12:10 PM
maku maku is offline
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Hi,

I downloaded the seagate seatools to my computer and then burned it to a disc. I put it in the computer that is having problems and I got the message "no disc drives found." YIKES..........what do I do now? Am I up a creek without a paddle?????

HELP PLEASE!!!!

Last edited by maku; September 15th, 2005 at 06:24 PM.
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  #15  
Old September 15th, 2005, 11:03 PM
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Jintan Jintan is offline
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Given your original problem and the info from the utility, it does look as if this hard drive is damaged. For the moment, you should put it aside and attend to establishing a working system. Then, once set up, you might run another check slaving the bad drive, but admittedly it may prove useless. I would like to suggest you consider either modmidget's idea above, or take the other drive and follow the tutorial instructions to set it upand install XP.
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