Cannot boot my Window 98 computer help

By p_sincere
in Hardware Hangout

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Neowinian

p_sincere

Posted
Posted

Hi I have a Gateway Computer with windows 98. Recently it would not start. It show the Gateway logo when I turn on the computer then it say:

Drive not Ready

Insert Boot diskette in A:

Press any key when ready

I got a boot disk that I download online but when I insert it, it does a lot of things then it say the following.

Window 98 has detected that drive C does not contain a valid FAT or FAT32 partition. There are several possible causes.

1) The drive may need to be partitioned. To create a partition on the drive, run FDisk from MS-DOS command prompt.

2) You may be using third-party disk-partitioning software. If you ar using this type of software, remove the Emergency boot and restart your computer. Then, follow the on-screen instructions to start your computer from a floppy disk.

3) Some viruses also cause your drive C to not register. You can use a virus scanning program to check your computer for viruses.

To get help, type HELP and press enter

a:\>

When I type Fdisk.exe at A prompt it says "Error reading fixed disk" the goes back to a prompt.

I have also did a viruses scan and it does not find anything wrong.

I have also tryed the CD boot disk and I have try to re format the C drive and nothing is working. Please if anyone can help write me back.

my aol screen name is slimshadypope

my email is slimshadypope@cs.com

PLEASE HELP!

Mentor

Sporkguy

Posted
Posted

Mate.. sorry to say this but it looks like your hard disk is terminal.. dead.. gone.

Try doing a thorough scandisk from the dos prompt and see what the condition of the disk is.

It may be time to 1) buy a new hdd 2) buy a new comp

Either way, I would recommend upgrading to XP unless your system seriously can't take it.

HTH

Enthusiast

sebastian_insua

Posted
Posted (edited)

I have asimilar problem when sometimes just after the first BIOS screen I get a single message saying "operating system not found" does anyone know what this is.

I know it must be a hardware problem but I don't know what is causing it as it only appears 1 in 10 boots...

The next time I reboot my pc after getting that message I see another message saying Bios settings updated (or something like that ?) and then I t continues on Ok until next time.

This is on my OLD PC...

Ps. who's arse is that sporkguy?!

Edited by sebastian_insua
Contributor

davs

Posted
Posted
  sebastian_insua said:
I know it must be a hardware problem but I don't know what is causing it as it only appears 1 in 10 boots...

if you know your motherboard brand, go to their website and look for an updated bios. a lot of times that will fix the problem.

Mentor

Sporkguy

Posted
Posted
  sebastian_insua said:
I have asimilar problem when sometimes just after the first BIOS screen I get a single message saying "operating system not found" does anyone know what this is.

I know it must be a hardware problem but I don't know what is causing it as it only appears 1 in 10 boots...

The next time I reboot my pc after getting that message I see another message saying Bios settings updated (or something like that ?) and then I t continues on Ok until next time.

This is on my OLD PC...

Ps. who's arse is that sporkguy?!

lol my ex-gfs

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