SiegeS
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get missing operating system after erasing and reformating disk
i recently got a computer with with windows 98 and i used killdisk to erase the hard drive anew, then i reformatted the hard disk to a FAT32 and restarted the computer. I had made a boot disk in advance so that i could reboot the system. then i went to the boot screen and it said "missing operating system", when before i reformatted it said"loading windows 98... la,la,la" this sucks cuz i tried loadng the boot disk and it just sdays missing operating system, please help maybe i have to hit a key to access the A; drive i dont know help thank you :)
ASKER
well what happened is the system stopped responding after i thought i formatted it so i typed in A;restart, and it did and then when i went to load windows 98 it said missing operating system
If it's not initially reading from your A:\ drive you may have to go into your BIOS before your computer loads and then make the proper adjustments so that it reads from the Floppy (or A depending on Bios). You'll still need an operating system cd to get an install going, because your reformat has erased everything. Agreeing with burneweb, who posted earlier, the boot disk will NOT contain any O/S info other than basic drivers to get an install going.
If it's not initially reading from your A:\ drive you may have to go into your BIOS before your computer loads and then make the proper adjustments so that it reads from the Floppy (or A depending on Bios). You'll still need an operating system cd to get an install going, because your reformat has erased everything. Agreeing with burneweb, who posted earlier, the boot disk will NOT contain any O/S info other than basic drivers to get an install going.
you need to set the system to boot from teh floppy in the BIOS before it will look there.
Press Del to get into the bios (it will tell you when) which is shortly after the system is turned on. Look in there for a setting to choose the boot sequence. change it to make the floppy the first boot device.
From here, your floppy will boot, you can fdisk the harddrive, format, then install.
Press Del to get into the bios (it will tell you when) which is shortly after the system is turned on. Look in there for a setting to choose the boot sequence. change it to make the floppy the first boot device.
From here, your floppy will boot, you can fdisk the harddrive, format, then install.
ASKER
how do i get inot BIOS, ok this is what it says after stating all the comp's specifications:
Searching for boot record from IDE-0..OK
Missing Operating System_
how do i get to the other parts like BIOS
Searching for boot record from IDE-0..OK
Missing Operating System_
how do i get to the other parts like BIOS
ASKER
give me a second let me try
Once you get to the boot section where it's going through your system clock, memory check etc... (or if you have a brand name system there will be a logo) at that screen you want to hit F2, F10 or F12 depending on the make of the machine. That will get you into the BIOS to change settings. Once you adjust your settings to boot from FLOPPY (A drive) make sure you save your changes.
ASKER
ok now it says CDR101 Not ready reading drive E, Abort Retry Fail ? what do i do now
Do you have the actual operating system in the disk?
And did you boot from the Floppy drive?
If you are booting from a Windows 98 disk you should be prompted to 1. Boot from CD 2. Boot from hard disk 3. Dos Prompt. Make sure the CD rom is in there also so that it has a source to read from.
And did you boot from the Floppy drive?
If you are booting from a Windows 98 disk you should be prompted to 1. Boot from CD 2. Boot from hard disk 3. Dos Prompt. Make sure the CD rom is in there also so that it has a source to read from.
ASKER
ok i booted to floppy and all seemed well, it said wait while windows starts your computer, then it tested the cd drive and said they passed and then then it said A;/ like i need to type something to get windows onto my comp
help lol
help lol
ASKER
rather lets go back to where the choices are start with cd drive, or no drive which ?
ASKER
i have A:/, i type in EXT, then i type in the cd drive E:/win98 and then all for the files and then D:/ as my destination, and it loads but then it says no files
ASKER
i appriciate all's help i am gonna retry the whole process using what i leaned and see where it takes me
ASKER
ok i reformatted and all i have on the screen is A;/. I have the cd and the boot disk and i need guidance
thanks
thanks
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ASKER
lesgetdown, that's exactly what i ended up doin... by accident !! thank you so much for you suggestions and anyone else who helped me out thank you all :)
Burneweb