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howei

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Invalid settings in the MSDOS.SYS file??

When I starting up machine I get this message from DOS black screen:

Invalid settings in the MSDOS.SYS file: ORIG_DIAG_BOOTMENU=<NIL>

This machine is unstable. Sometimes I can proceede and boot to Windows 98 but another time it hangs at Windows 98 screen so I have to power off and go to Safe Mode.

This machine uses 3 serial ports.

What could be wrong and how I could go about fixing this problem?
(I am not knowledgeable in DOS)

Thanks for help.
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kahlean

okay you can obtain a bootdisk from this site www.bootdisk.com If you are runnig win98, obtain only win98 bootdisk.

Change the boot sequence to a: . Now after booting for the bootdisk type sys c: to copy back the system file

Hoep this help

REgards

 
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rin1010

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1. Remove the read only and hidden attributes on MSDOS.SYS in the root directory on your windows drive.
2. Make a backup copy of MSDOS.SYS to MSDOS.OLD.
3. Edit MSDOS.SYS with notepad
4. Find or add a line containing the appropriate settings. These are the recommended values
     a) BootDelay=0, removes the two second delay when the PC starts.
     b) AutoScan=2, automatically runs scandisk when Windows does not shutdown properly.       Only available in Windows 95B(4.00.1111) or later.
     c) DblSpace=0 (do not set to 0 if you are using disk compression), disables automatic loading of the
     DoubleSpace disk compression driver.
     d) DrvSpace=0 (do not set to 0 if you are using disk compression), disables the automatic loading of the
     DriveSpace disk compression driver.
5. Save MSDOS.SYS.
6. The new settings will take effect when you restart your PC.

cheers
andy
Also, you might want to make sure there is NOT a line like this in MSDOS.SYS

BootMenu=*

If it is there, you might need to take it out; I found that even if BootMenu=0, sometimes Windows will display the boot menu BUT will not let you select any of the menu options.

You might need to "sys c:" after taking out this line. Of course, boot your computer from floppy.
try to not remove too much of that file, some older code needs it to have a length, but since it is solely for DOS use, it (file) is not always required.
From my limited knowledge, Windows 98 has an option to dual boot.  But, when you boot into MS-DOS once, you won't be able to boot into Windows 98 again.  This is Microsoft "feature" of Windows 98.  If you really need dual boot, I will recommend to use BootMagic or other boot manager software.
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