Question

Invalid system disk, replace the disk, and then press any key

Asked by: selachii00

Help. My girlfriend was reformatting a floppy when our Dell with Windows 98 went wacko. All we can get when we try starting it up is- " Invalid system disk, replace the disk, and then press any key." We have tried restarting the computer while holding down different keys (control, esc, F8, and shift). All this does is get us to this "event log messages, enter set up to view error 0210:stuck key 03dy." I went into set up and changed the boot sequence every which way I could. What do we do now? If we have to reinstall the system, will all the information on the hard drive be lost? How can we save what is on the computer? My girlfriend has tons of valuable information on it. Must get help.

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Asked On
2003-02-12 at 05:57:56ID20510699
Tags

system

,

disk

,

any

,

press

,

key

Topic

Operating Systems Miscellaneous

Participating Experts
6
Points
50
Comments
8

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Answers

 

by: ViTaMiNPosted on 2003-02-12 at 06:13:26ID: 7933679

2 questions

1.  is the floppy still in the drive ?
2.   is she shure that she has formatted a: ?

U can check if any data is on the drive by making a bootflop (download image from www.bootdisk.com)

and acces the c partition when started up


good luck

 

by: ViTaMiNPosted on 2003-02-12 at 06:17:30ID: 7933708

If the c drive is formated you should install win 98 on another partition, if not overwritten data can be recovered with certain tools, should check wich tools are available. let me know if you need a programm

 

by: knoxzPosted on 2003-02-12 at 06:50:32ID: 7933957

I would get a new disk and load an OS (Win 2000 would be  a good one) onto it. Then slave the disk and use a tool as ViTaMiN suggests from there. If you are lucky you may not even need one. It may still contain all the data, but just not thr correct boot files.

 

by: skunkahPosted on 2003-02-12 at 07:00:34ID: 7934024

I suggest you first have to get another harddisk that has at least as much capicity as the harddisk that is currently in your machine. Place that harddisk in the computer but don't remove your 'old' harddisk.
(Make sure to boot from your new harddisk you can adjust this in your bios).
Now start installing your windows on the new harddisk.

If everything is allright you should have a fully functional PC at this time. Now we will start recovering the data from the other harddisk.
I suggest you use 'EasyRecovery' from OnTrack Software.

I free trial can be downloaded at:
http://www.ontrack.com/easyrecoveryprofessional/
(OnTrack is the leader in (harddisk) data recovery software solutions).










 

by: essexterrierPosted on 2003-02-12 at 10:02:34ID: 7935398

If you can get to another system? copy command.com, io.sys, msdos.dos from the windows directory and install them in dos mode and then try to boot up (you need theese 3 files to be able to boot. you could also try copying the autoexec.bat and config.sys as a last resort. other than that the last quote was a good one.

 

by: essexterrierPosted on 2003-02-12 at 10:05:04ID: 7935412

Sorry i ment msdos.sys

 

by: lokeshgm7Posted on 2003-02-12 at 13:25:34ID: 7936932

it could be possible that your master boot record might be corrupted. try booting through a start up disk, check if u can access ur hard drive and do a fdisk /mbr to rewrite ur master boot record. if that doesnt work then follow the option provided by knoxz

 

by: st_stevePosted on 2003-07-30 at 22:36:49ID: 9041479

No comment has been added lately, so it's time to clean up this TA.
I will leave a recommendation in the Cleanup topic area that this question is to:

Accept ViTaMiN's  comments as answer

Please leave any comments here within the next seven days.
 
PLEASE DO NOT ACCEPT THIS COMMENT AS AN ANSWER!
 
st_steve
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20120131-EE-VQP-002

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