I guess I'm a bit confused because none of the CDs are bootleg copies and don't appear to be scratched. They are legal full install CDs shipped from Dell because they were included at the time we purchased the systems. The CDs worked originally when we moved from 95 to 98. Why wouldn't they work now? The only other thing I've used during the reformats is the Windows 98 boot floppy.
Installing INTEL bios will make the system stop working with DELL restore disks.
You must have GOOD CD's not scratched CDR's with bootleg copies of WIN98 on them.
If you make a WIN98SE boot floppy and boot up from it you should be able to FORMAT C: /Q /U /S
Then XCOPY the WIN98 DIRECTORY FROM the cdrom to C:\WIN98
Then run setup from hard drive instead of from CDROM. I supect with your current media that you will get a read error when trying to XCOPY the WIN98 from the bootleg CDROM to the C:
Non Upgrade versions of WIN98SE should be bootable.
You can make the CDROM bootable in bios and do everything from 1 cdrom.
Do you have any external devices connected to the system(s) you're having problems with? If so, you need to detach everything except the keyboard, mouse and monitor. Also, if you have a USB mouse connected, replace it with a PS-2 version.
If you've added any PCI cards to the affected systems, you want want to pull them until you get Windows back on. One other outside possibility would be to look for and install the most recent BIOS versions for the affected systems, if they're not already on there.
No external devices are connected. Just monitor, keyboard and PS2 mouse. The one system has a NIC I can pull out. No other extra PCI's in there since both systems would bog down with too much on them. I recall flashing the Bios on my inlaws system while being guided by tech a long time ago. Where can I find out which version I should have on these particular systems as well as intructions on how to do it? I've been in the Bios to change boot sequence but I know installing new versions can be touchy. I'm willing to give it a try!
My other thought is that the format alone is not removing everything and that I need to do a debug first. One of the techs was walking me thru one but I suspect that maybe it was incomplete. I went to do debug last night however when I boot from the 98 boot disk (after changing boot sequence back to floppy first) I'm not getting the DOS prompt but a 98 startup menu! This is after multiple formats and I have confirmed that I did the format properly. The last time I spoke to support, they're telling me I can't do anything else without the resource CD that came with the system(s) However, these systems didn't come with a resource CD. The 98 didn't come with anything either and I've read that the 98 has tools built into the install cd that can be extracted. Still reading up on that though. I find it hard to believe there's no way to debug a system without this CD like Dell is telling me. They won't even sell you one. Guess it's easier to just have me throw the system away than guide me thru a solution. Grrrrrrrr.
Where can I find out which version I should have on these particular systems as well as intructions on how to do it?
The current BIOS version appears on the first page of System Setup. It should show something along the line of "BIOS version A01," possibly preceded by "Phoenix."
I find it hard to believe there's no way to debug a system without this CD like Dell is telling me.
Download CDENAB.EXE via the link above, and follow the instructions for use. That will allow you to debug the system without any CD, although I doubt that this is the problem. It sounds more like you're missing something during the setup/installation process. Mke sure you choose the default setup options, rather than attempting a custom installation, as that will sometimes cause problems.
Instructions for flashing the BIOS accompany the download for the new version(s). Use the Product Support button above/Downloads link to locate/download BIOS upgrades. Under most circumstances, the floppy version works better than any other version, so download that, follow the instructions to extract it to a floppy, then reboot to that floppy and follow the instructions to upgrade.
lpk93
14 Posts
0
August 16th, 2004 01:00
speedstep
9 Legend
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47K Posts
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August 16th, 2004 01:00
Its an INTEL AL440LX motherboard.
Installing INTEL bios will make the system stop working with DELL restore disks.
You must have GOOD CD's not scratched CDR's with bootleg copies of WIN98 on them.
If you make a WIN98SE boot floppy and boot up from it you should be able to FORMAT C: /Q /U /S
Then XCOPY the WIN98 DIRECTORY FROM the cdrom to C:\WIN98
Then run setup from hard drive instead of from CDROM. I supect with your current media that you will get a read error when trying to XCOPY the WIN98 from the bootleg CDROM to the C:
Non Upgrade versions of WIN98SE should be bootable.
You can make the CDROM bootable in bios and do everything from 1 cdrom.
Flooby
2 Intern
•
3K Posts
0
August 17th, 2004 11:00
If you've added any PCI cards to the affected systems, you want want to pull them until you get Windows back on. One other outside possibility would be to look for and install the most recent BIOS versions for the affected systems, if they're not already on there.
lpk93
14 Posts
0
August 17th, 2004 12:00
No external devices are connected. Just monitor, keyboard and PS2 mouse. The one system has a NIC I can pull out. No other extra PCI's in there since both systems would bog down with too much on them. I recall flashing the Bios on my inlaws system while being guided by tech a long time ago. Where can I find out which version I should have on these particular systems as well as intructions on how to do it? I've been in the Bios to change boot sequence but I know installing new versions can be touchy. I'm willing to give it a try!
My other thought is that the format alone is not removing everything and that I need to do a debug first. One of the techs was walking me thru one but I suspect that maybe it was incomplete. I went to do debug last night however when I boot from the 98 boot disk (after changing boot sequence back to floppy first) I'm not getting the DOS prompt but a 98 startup menu! This is after multiple formats and I have confirmed that I did the format properly. The last time I spoke to support, they're telling me I can't do anything else without the resource CD that came with the system(s) However, these systems didn't come with a resource CD. The 98 didn't come with anything either and I've read that the 98 has tools built into the install cd that can be extracted. Still reading up on that though. I find it hard to believe there's no way to debug a system without this CD like Dell is telling me. They won't even sell you one. Guess it's easier to just have me throw the system away than guide me thru a solution. Grrrrrrrr.
Flooby
2 Intern
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3K Posts
0
August 20th, 2004 17:00