[bamakodaker]

Compaq 5150, Windows 98. Computer was bought as factory refurb. No original software CD's to restore with. Original hard drive replaced with much bigger hard drive over a year ago, NOT partitioned. No hardware added since.
Don't exactly remember any original problem. Computer will show the Compaq screen then it goes to blinking cursor in upper left, nothing more. Unable to get to Safe Mode. (Would love to access GoBack!)
Using Norton's Rescue Disk's - Rescue Disk > Rescue Recovery > it checks Boot Records > I select Restore Rescue and when it tries to restore info I get an ERROR window saying Error resotring to hard disk.
In some of the other efforts with disks I've seen something like it couldn't find the main disk. While analyzing partition table on hard disk 1 - "Norton Disk Doctor doesn't recognize the drive type on hard disk 1. CMOS drive type may be incorrect or you may be using partition software that "fools" your system into thinking it is a different type of drive". NDD cannot analyze your system corredctly ~ and may cause loss of data.
Unable to advance with NDD disks. Cannot find Windows startup disk.
Any help GREATLY appreciated.
bamakodaker

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Why are you posting in two places at once? You posted here already.

I guess this is the more appropriate forum anyway

OK, let's see if we can fix that up. Go to another computer to do this. Go to http://www.bootdisk.com and get the Windows 98 bootdisk (I think the OEM one should be ok, if not try the others). Run the exe file and save the files to a blank floppy disk. Boot up with that floppy on this bad computer. Load it without cdrom support. Let it load. At the prompt, type in:

fdisk /mbr

and hit Enter key. Now hit crl+alt+del and take out floppy disk. See if it boots into Windows 98 now

[greyknight17]

Why are you posting in two places at once? You posted here already.

I guess this is the more appropriate forum anyway

OK, let's see if we can fix that up. Go to another computer to do this. Go to http://www.bootdisk.com and get the Windows 98 bootdisk (I think the OEM one should be ok, if not try the others). Run the exe file and save the files to a blank floppy disk. Boot up with that floppy on this bad computer. Load it without cdrom support. Let it load. At the prompt, type in:

fdisk /mbr

and hit Enter key. Now hit crl+alt+del and take out floppy disk. See if it boots into Windows 98 now

[bamakodaker]

Sorry about posting in two spots, another of those newbie mistakes!

I appreciate the responses/suggestions. I'll try the boot disk site before I try taking my computer apart though!

bamakodaker

[greyknight17]

No problem. Post back what happened either way so we know

[bamakodaker]

Hello,

Using the Bootdisk.com site suggestion. Made some "floppies" from their site. Started my computer, let floppie load. You say select option #2, something like - Load without CD support. I don't get a prompt to type in anything. It takes me though a "search" of some type. TIt shows a page full of information and tells me my C drive does not contain valid FAT of FAT 32 partitions. It does later say Diagnostic tools have been loaded.

I think at bottom of page where I could select option #2, I think there might have been a line where I could enter a command. Was that where I was to do the Fdisk command?

Umm, is there a short answer to what does Fdisk do?

I greatly appreciate the help.

bamakodaker

[bamakodaker]

While using some option like Prompt at each Confirmation - When it finally got to an area I could prompt (A:\>) the fdisk /mbr brought back this response - the master boot code has NOT been updated.

I hope I'm not going in the wrong direction. I have a day off and I can FINALLY work to clear my computer up!

I greatly appreciate any help or suggestions. Although I am hesitant to take the computer apart!

bamakodaker

[bamakodaker]

Another thought while looking around. Could this have anything to do with a battery that has never been replaced? (6 year old desktop)

While using this boot disks I am being notified that tools have been downloaded. Am I somehow supposed to access and use these tools?

I currently have the computer unplugged. When I pulled floppies out they were feeling rather warm.

I must apologize for my spelling. it is purely coincendental that once I mis-spelled TIt things just seemed to go downhill from there. Yes, I am male but that hos absolutely nothing to do with it!

I need and greatly appreciate any help with my computer bootup problem.

bamakodaker

[greyknight17]

Hi there, I'm not sure why that didn't work. fdisk is a command tool provided in Windows to do several things:

- format your hard drive (you don't want to do this if you didn't backup your data)
- partition your hard drive (same as above, you don't want to do this....)
- other various things...like clearing the master boot record (which you said failed)

I don't think the battery is the problem. Usually these lasts a long time - I'm referring to the bios/cmos battery. And since you get power to bootup there, it can't be the power supply unit either.

Do you have another computer which you can use and open? If you do, I want you to take out this hard drive you have and mount it on the other computer as a slave drive. Just connect the IDE/gray-colored cables and the power/colorful cable to the hard drive. Power on and look in My Computer. There should be a new drive letter for your hard drive. Copy the files over to that computer and burn it on a CD (or leave it on that computer for the time beind ).

Then I suggest trying to format this hard drive after you are sure you backed up all those files to the other computer.

[bamakodaker]

Moving hard drive, copying files -
My other home computers - Mac G3 laptop for my job. My son has a brand new Compaq laptop. I don't think the Mac will help. My son's laptop? Can't touch that one!

I've run some DOS tests - scan, surface integrity. Is there any other way to tell if I've had a hard drive crash?

From your earlier suggestion I was wondering if I was following your directions correctly. Why is there needed to be an update - the one that is missing when it won't do the fdisk? Perhaps you didn't give enough step by step directions for newbie? Years ago I changed the hard drive and got it up and working. I'm willing to dive into things with directions but I still consider myself a newbie, not a real tech head. I tried a few other things and wrote all I did. Were you able to access all my thread? I don't know if it would offer any clues or not.

Otherwise - it sound like I guess I'm going to have to open the tower and try that moving the jumper around!

bamakodaker

[bamakodaker]

Umm, a question and maybe a problem?

How do I tell my computer which drive to fdisk? It prompts A"/> if I follow with the fdisk command is it trying to use A drive?

I put in A:/>fdisk /mbr:C
I now have a lot of words - your computer has a disk larger than 512 MB. This version of Windows includes improved support for large disks ~ allowing disks over 2 GB to be formatted as a single drive. (I believe when I installed this drive is was formatted as a single drive/only one partition. I hope I'm using the right terms.) If you enable large disk support and create any new drives on this disk, you will not be able to access the new drive(s) using other operating systems, including ~ earlier versions of Windows and MS-DOS.
~ disk utilities that were not designed explicitly for the FAT32 file system will not be able to work with this disk. If you need to access this disk with other operatin systems or older disk tilities, do no enable large drive support.
Do I wish to enable large disk support? (Y/N)

My computer makes periodic noises as we wait to go to the next step.

bamakodaker

[greyknight17]

The fdisk tool should be in your bootdisk (the flopy disk you installed the boot files into). I suggest not using fdisk (except for resetting the master boot record). Do you mind losing your data? If not, then go ahead with fdisk. You can try formatting and installing a fresh copy of windows. But make sure you don't need your data before doing this because it will wipe them out.

Say yes to enable large drive support.

Periodic noises? Not normal ones? Screeching?

If you want to keep the data, you have to find some way to get this hard drive onto another computer so you can copy the data over. This may be a failing hard drive. Since you have a laptop, why can't you touch it? If you get a USB Enclosure Drive (search on Google or eBay for it - you should find a 3.5" one), you can use that as an external drive. No need to even open up anything.

[shard92]

You mentioned goback. if you have that on the computer and it is messed up ( and it sound like that could be the problem ) you will either need to reinstall go-back ( the exact same version ) or use a data recovery program such as getdataback for FAT file system. IF you have to use a data recovery program you will have to put that hard drive in another system with enough space on the it's hard drive to transfer your files to.

[bamakodaker]

Yes, GoBack was part of the Nortons SystemWorks that is on the computer BUT I can only access DOS. I don't guess there any way it can help as it seems my problem is on bootup.

I'll try some more with the boot disks - putting in support for larger disks - before I go to taking the tower apart and moving those jumpers.

bamakodaker

[shard92]

Actually if go back was installed and active the boot disk will not help you at all. You might want to check out any go back tech support but from my experience in the past you either needed to restore the exact copy of goback or you need to use a data recovery software as your boot sector/masterboot record is under gobacks control...

[bamakodaker]

Why would you say it appears my boot sector is under GoBack control?
During startup the first thing I've always, and still currently see, is the COMPAQ logo. I can't remember what used to come up next. Now it just goes to black with blinking cursor at upper left.
I haven't tried but I don't believe I can type any commands in at that point. I have to use a boot disk to get to any point where I could type in DOS commands. I believe GoBack is part of the Nortons SystemWorks CD I have. I've used it as it opens in DOS but I don't remember anything that would let me reinstall software from it so I'm confused as to how I can get help from this CD.

I have the computer case open and was going to try that jumper thing somebody had mentioned earlier. I thought they wrote of using jumpers on the mother board. I guess I don't know what the mother board is because I see NO jumpers on the largest board. I seem to remember some jumper wires when I installed a larger hard drive but I don't see how those would effect anything.

I appreciate the help.

bamakodaker