[wannabe1]

That'll work, though I'll be in and out so some replies may be delayed a bit.

For my own clarification, you are formatting the machine you are using now, correct? If this is the case, we'll have to get it right the first time. I'd like to check a couple of things before you go so I can tailor my instructions for your situation.

First...reboot with the floppy in the drive to make sure you get the screens I mentioned. If yes, remove the floppy disk and press Ctrl + Alt + Delete two times to reboot.

Second...put the installation cd in the cd-rom drive, right click on the drive in "My Computer" and choose "Explore". Is there a file or icon named setup.exe in the first window?

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i reely killed my comp.. now i need some serious serious help...whatever virus i had has killed my comp and i dont no how 2 fix it.. i tried juss reformating tha way i normally do but whatever happened completly killed my C drive.. and wen i try 2 format it.. it sez.. it cant cuz its busy reading drive D... how do i fix that??

[da_badest_chick]

i reely killed my comp.. now i need some serious serious help...whatever virus i had has killed my comp and i dont no how 2 fix it.. i tried juss reformating tha way i normally do but whatever happened completly killed my C drive.. and wen i try 2 format it.. it sez.. it cant cuz its busy reading drive D... how do i fix that??

[wannabe1]

Hi da_badest_chick...

First, make sure there is no cd in the cd-rom drive. Put the Win98 startup floppy in the floppy drive and reboot. Does it boot to the floppy? You should get three options for starting the computer...don't choose any of those. Instead, press Shift + F5 to get command prompt. Can you get to this point?

wannabe1

[da_badest_chick]

yeah i can get 2 tha command promt part.. and wen i type d:/... it comes up 2 D:/ and wen i type "format C:".. it sez "not ready.. reading drive D".. and then i can do anything

[wannabe1]

When you get to the A\ prompt, type fdisk and press "Enter". On the fdisk Options screen, type 4 and press "Enter".

List the partition information here for me.

[da_badest_chick]

well i have no way 2 tell u wat happens because im at a relatives house just for tha weekend.. once i get home i have no way 2 get any info

[wannabe1]

Ok...

I'll post you instructions to get your machine back up and running on Win98...I'll try to anticipate any problems you may run into, but you just never know....

This will take me a bit...

[da_badest_chick]

ok thank you very very very mucch

[wannabe1]

da_badest_chick...here you go...Good Luck!

Restart with the Win98 Startup disk in the floppy drive. When presented with the Options Screen, press Shift + F5 for Command Prompt. You will see the A:\ prompt...type fdisk and press "Enter".

On the next screen type Y to enable large disk support.

In the "FDISK Options" screen, use option 3 to delete the partition and press "Enter" (If there is more than one partition on the drive, you will have to delete all of them beginning with the Logical Disk Drives and ending with the Primary partition. You will be prompted to accept each deletion...accept them.) accept all changes, press "Enter" then press "Esc" to return to the "FDISK Options" screen. Choose option 1 to "Create DOS partition or Logical DOS drive" and press enter..again, accept the change.

On the "Create DOS partition or Logical DOS drive" screen, choose option 1 to "Create Primary DOS partition" and press "Enter". Type Y to "use the maximum available size and set the partition as Active"...press "Enter"

On the next screen, press Esc to get the A:\ prompt and then press Ctrl + Alt + Delete to restart your machine.

When presented with the Options Screen, press Shift + F5 for Command Prompt. You will see the A:\ prompt...type format C: /s (Note the spaces) and press "Enter"...type Y to accept the change and press "Enter". (Note: if you are prompted to enter a Volume Label, try just pressing "Enter"...if it will not accept this, look at the top of this screen, or on the previous screen [press Esc to back up] to see if the volume has a label to enter) Formatting will take a while...be patient.

When the format is complete and you are back at the A:\ prompt, press Ctrl + Alt + Delete to restart the machine. At the fdisk Options screen, Choose the option to "Start using CD-ROM support" and press "Enter". This will load the cd-rom drivers and take you to the A:\ prompt. Insert your Win98 Installation CD, type e: and press "Enter". At the E:\ prompt, type setup.exe and press "Enter". Setup will then check the Hard Drive...this may take a while... Installation should then begin...just follow the prompts to install Windows 98.

Let me know how this goes...

wannabe1

Edited by wannabe1, 15 April 2006 - 11:35 AM.

[da_badest_chick]

so ur shure that should fix the "busy reading drive D" problem im having?.. i should be able 2 pass by that and fix tha problem?

[wannabe1]

We're not even going to let the drivers for D: load until after the format...when the drivers for the cd-rom do load, there won't BE a D: (there will, but it will be a virtual RAM drive) and the cd-rom will be the E: drive until Windows installs and changes it back to D:. I would think that would get around the current problem.

Was the machine booting to your startup disk ok? If not, now would be a good time to fix you up with a new one.

[da_badest_chick]

naw wen i was puttin in tha floppy.. 2 format.. i could get 2 tha command prompt.. and try 2 format and it would say.. "busy readin drive D... Fail.. Abort...Cancel" or sumthin liek that.. and.. i tried restarting with tha CD rom for windows 98 in.. and my comp would just keep spitting it back out...it hates me.. im cursed i swear

[wannabe1]

Let's get you a new startup disk...

Download this Win98SE startup disk. Save it to your desktop...double click on the downloaded file and put a new floppy disk in the floppy drive when it asks you to do so. This will create a startup disk to use on your machine.

Edited by wannabe1, 15 April 2006 - 04:39 PM.

[da_badest_chick]

i have no idea what that means'

[da_badest_chick]

oops.. i think i must have missread sumthing.. sorry lol.. how do u make me a new start up disk?