chickenbone
asked on
Need help getting my old computer fired up.
I'm trying to get my old computer fired up again. It is an Acer w/ a Pentium 90mhz. The HD is a 2GB Mitsumi. It no longer has a CD-rom in it and the Hard Drive is apparently not installed in the BIOS.
I can boot to the A: drive. But I can't get anywhere from there. Trying to get to the C: drive gives me a "Invalid Drive Specification" Message.
I have the WinNT 4.0 3.5in Installation Disks but during the hardware dection phase, it informs me I have no CD-rom and stops the install and I have to exit. My Win95 disk is on CD.
I guess my question is, how do I get my HD noticed by the bios.
Oh, one more thing. My keyboard which normally works, beeps like crazy and only half the keys register. So I cannot seem to get to the CMOS/BIOS. I don't know if this is because I don't have a HD recognised or the keyboard acting funky.
Thanks,
CB
I can boot to the A: drive. But I can't get anywhere from there. Trying to get to the C: drive gives me a "Invalid Drive Specification" Message.
I have the WinNT 4.0 3.5in Installation Disks but during the hardware dection phase, it informs me I have no CD-rom and stops the install and I have to exit. My Win95 disk is on CD.
I guess my question is, how do I get my HD noticed by the bios.
Oh, one more thing. My keyboard which normally works, beeps like crazy and only half the keys register. So I cannot seem to get to the CMOS/BIOS. I don't know if this is because I don't have a HD recognised or the keyboard acting funky.
Thanks,
CB
Have you tried another keyboard? Check, too, to make sure the keyboard is plugged in well. After that, boot off A: again and see if you can get into the Setup then. Once in setup, you can either have the BIOS auto detect the hard drive or you can put the cylinders, heads sectors and all that jazz yourself. Many times this information will be printed on the top of the hard drive.
Was this hd successfully working in this machine before?
Renee
Was this hd successfully working in this machine before?
Renee
And don't forget, once you've set the cylinders/heads/tracks/sec
ericpete
Why would chickenbone want to FDISK and format the hard disk ?
This will lose all his data of his disk, he might want to see what is there first.
Why would chickenbone want to FDISK and format the hard disk ?
This will lose all his data of his disk, he might want to see what is there first.
pwoolford. Good point -- it's too damn early in the morning here.
On the other hand, if his hard drive is configured accurately in the BIOS, and yet he's getting an "invalid drive" message, it's possible that the hard drive has been completely wiped clean. We just did that with a bunch of used computers we sold. We supplied a boot floppy so people could repartition and reformat the hard drives to their own liking, since we weren't selling them with operating systems installed.
On the other hand, if his hard drive is configured accurately in the BIOS, and yet he's getting an "invalid drive" message, it's possible that the hard drive has been completely wiped clean. We just did that with a bunch of used computers we sold. We supplied a boot floppy so people could repartition and reformat the hard drives to their own liking, since we weren't selling them with operating systems installed.
First question that needs to be answered by chickenbone regards the original hardware setup when the computer was working. You said that there is no longer a CDROM. How was it connected? Was it a slave to the hard drive? If so, you must first change the jumpers on the hard drive to "single" or "stand-alone" before any BIOS change would make a difference.
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Hi,
Have we met, I'm the village IDIOT!!!!!!
Thanks for the help everyone....mostly you fifer. For if not for your detailed answer, I would not have figured out the problem so fast.
Just to give you all a little closure and to point out just how much of an IDIOT I am......The whole problem was solved by checking my cables and PLUGGING THE RIBBON CABLE IN THE CORRECT WAY!!!!!!!!!! Sheesh....
I'll turn my Wanna be computer geek card in at the desk on my way out :P
Thanks again all,
CB
Have we met, I'm the village IDIOT!!!!!!
Thanks for the help everyone....mostly you fifer. For if not for your detailed answer, I would not have figured out the problem so fast.
Just to give you all a little closure and to point out just how much of an IDIOT I am......The whole problem was solved by checking my cables and PLUGGING THE RIBBON CABLE IN THE CORRECT WAY!!!!!!!!!! Sheesh....
I'll turn my Wanna be computer geek card in at the desk on my way out :P
Thanks again all,
CB
Hey, it happens to all of us! This does point out a real need for this site, some way to post or develop trouble shooting check-lists, maybe one per category, that can weed out possibilities and provide a clear indication of what information the person asking the question should provide.
Sometimes, if it was only a list of what to provide, the process of getting the information would trip up the answer. You might have hard drive trouble similar to yours and while going through the list of what to provide, you may be asked whether the drive is set to “Master” or “Slave”. This alone may be the answer.
Any way, glad we could be of help! Keep coming back!!
Sometimes, if it was only a list of what to provide, the process of getting the information would trip up the answer. You might have hard drive trouble similar to yours and while going through the list of what to provide, you may be asked whether the drive is set to “Master” or “Slave”. This alone may be the answer.
Any way, glad we could be of help! Keep coming back!!
1. Buy / borrow a keyboard.
2. Boot up and go into the BIOS.
3. If your BIOS has auto, try that. If not, look at your HD and get the brand and model. Go to the website of the manufacturer, and look up the Tracks, Cylinders, and Sectors. Then enter the HD type as User and use the info from the website to fill in the rest.
4. Next your CD. If it shares the same cable as the HD, go to the bios and set the Slave drive of the Primary interface to auto. If it has it's own cable, set the primary drive of the secondary interface to auto instead.
5. Save the bios settings, and then re-try your install. This may be enough for WinNT. If you have problems with NT, try Win98 (auto sets up the CD for most). After the Win98 install, you can install Winnt over it.
Good Luck