[goofygrmom]

I'm very confused again. I keep getting an error message that says 'windows - no disk'. I have to click on it 3 or 4 times to get it to go away. It's very annoying. Also, I am having trouble with my control panel. I've gotten an error message (can't remember what it said) and I have to click on that 3 or 4 times before I can use my control panel. I had had some trouble with my McAfee, but that's fixed now. I have scanned my computer for viruses and ad junk. I think it's been cleaned up. But something is definitely amiss. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

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First of all check there is no floppy disc in the floppy drive and also no CD or DVD in any other drives you may have. If you still get the 'no disc' message then check your BIOS setting for Boot Order. Try changing this to boot from Hard Drive first.
Regarding the error message you get with Control Panel it would be easier to look into if you could provide the full error message you get.

[Les1451]

First of all check there is no floppy disc in the floppy drive and also no CD or DVD in any other drives you may have. If you still get the 'no disc' message then check your BIOS setting for Boot Order. Try changing this to boot from Hard Drive first.
Regarding the error message you get with Control Panel it would be easier to look into if you could provide the full error message you get.

[goofygrmom]

Ok, I looked for anything that said BIOS setting and couldn't find it. What is it and how do I find it?

And here's what the 2 error messages say --

When I first click on the control panel == 'an error occured when windows was working with the control panel file C:\windows\system32\netsetup.cpl

When I click on anything in the control panel, once I get there, == Explorer.EXE - Bad Image == The application or DLL.C\windows\system\tem\ODBCINIST.DLL is not a valid windows image. Please check this against your installation diskette.


I don't have an installation diskette. My computer came with XP already installed.
I have no clue what's happening here. I appreciate your help. Is it possible to chat in real time or do we have to keep going back and forth like this. What about remote access?

Thanks

PS -- no floppy or disk in drives

Edited by goofygrmom, 03 September 2005 - 09:52 AM.

[Les1451]

The error messages suggest some of your Windows files are corrupted. If you had a Windows XP CD the files could be replaced with fresh copies. However as you say your computer came with XP pre-installed we'll have to go a different route. Did the vendor supply a restore CD with the computer ? If so you can use it to revert your computer back to its' as new condition. You will probably lose all your programs and files unless they are on a seperate hard drive (or partition) so you might want to back up anything you can't do without before running the restore CD.
It is possible to chat privately but the idea of a public forum is to offer assistance to everybody, someone else may have the same problem and reading this topic might be useful for them. Also other members may be able to offer different advice from mine which would help you solve your problems quicker.

[gerryf]

When does
'windows - no disk'
occur?

The other errors can be caused by a bad service pack install.

Download the network installation here:

http://www.microsoft...&displaylang=en

and run it from the local harddrive or a cd

[goofygrmom]

I understand that we need to do this in forum style. That way others can benefit, too.

No, I do not have a restore CD. However, I do know how to take this thing back to its original settings. I had to do that shortly after I got it and didn't have proper security. That was almost 3 years ago. I can reinstall most of my stuff from existing CD's, but some things that I've downloaded, I'm not sure about. If I loose stuff, oh well, that's life. Win some, loose some. If that's the only way it's gonna get fixed, then that's what I'll have to do.

Any suggestions on how this happened? Maybe when my McAfee was messed up for a couple days? Any other suggestions on how to fix it will be appreciated. I probably won't get around to fixing it till Monday or Wednesday.

Thanks for your help.

[gerryf]

You do not need a restore cd to reinstall the service pack, as I suggested

[goofygrmom]

Ok, Gerry, I am getting to different answers here. You are telling me that I can install a service pack. Will this override something that may have aready been installed. And should it correct the problem. The 'windows - do disk' occurs when I try to get into my control panel and I noticed it once when I tried to get into a game I download from the net (cost money, too).

I had another error that I didn't notice before -- RUNDLL - error loading C:\program~1\newdot!1\newdot~2DLL - the specified module could not be found. That occured when I booted up this morning.

The other suggestion I got was from LES and he said something about the recovery CD. I guess I should do the service pack install first. Do I have to uninstall the one I already got, or what? I'm a reasonably intellegent person, but I do get confused with this stuff. It's been only 3 years and I'm still learning. And, yes, you can teach an old dog new tricks. It just takes a bit longer for us to learn them.

Thanks

[petedageek]

Many Pc manufactures have a "ghost image " on the HDD for just such occasions when you have to restore to original factory specs. However doing that you lose everything you added since you started using the system.
Thses hidden partitions can be accessed at boot while system is in post by pressing the F11 key or Cntrl-F9. Its best to check with the manufacture before attempting.
Some manufactures will send OS disks for nominal fees if you have legitamite COA on your machine.

PetedaGeek

[goofygrmom]

OK, Gerry, I tried to get to the website you recomended and couldn't. I've also gotten a new reply from Petedageek. I really appreciate all the help, but I am getting more and more confused. I guess I'll just deal with a screwy computer for awhile. It was messed up back in the spring and I thought I had it fixed. Why bother fixing it if it's gonna keep getting messed up. As long as I have accesss to my e-mail I can deal with it. My son is in Korea and it's my lifeline to him.

Thanks again for your help.

[wannabe1]

Hi goofygrmom...

You might also try a system restore to restore your machine to a time before the problem began.

1. Log on to Windows as Administrator (if prompted to do so).
2. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Restore. System Restore starts.
3. On the Welcome to System Restore page, click Restore my computer to an earlier time (if it is not already selected), and then click "Next".
4. On the Select a Restore Point page, choose a checkpoint in the calendar on the left (valid restore points will be bold (go back to a point before your problem began), and then click "Next". A System Restore message may appear that lists configuration changes that System Restore will make... Click "OK".
5. On the Confirm Restore Point Selection page, click "Next". System Restore restores the previous Windows XP configuration, and then restarts the computer.
6. Log on to the computer as Administrator (if prompted to do so). The System Restore Restoration Complete page appears.
7. Click "OK".

wannabe1

Edited by wannabe1, 05 September 2005 - 09:04 AM.