NYCRob,

Unfortunately the files you are using to attempt to access your C:\ drive are the same on Windows 95 and Windows 98 startup disks. Based on the results of your scandisk which ended with a crash, it sounds as though your hard disk has experienced a catastrophic failure, particularly since you cannot access it from a DOS prompt. If that is the case, the only way to salvage your data would be to take the disk to a commercial data recovery service.

Thanks.

Is there any reason why it booted up a couple of times and let me see files on the hard drive (before I did the scan disk)?  Or why my Windows 98 startup disk doesn't work? 

I'd like to get it to boot up once again and then download some files at which point I'd be willing to reformat the hard drive and start again.

Rob

NYCRob,

The Windows 98 startup disk may be corrupted, as floppy disks have a limited life span. You can download a fresh one from here but I suspect it will produce the same results as the Win95 diskette.

See if you are able to run the Dell diagnostics on the hard drive to see what results they produce.

Hi:

I don't know how to run dell diagnostics until I get the machine booted up in Windows and I'm having a problem doing so.

The machine boots up with the Windows 95 disk and gets an "a" prompt but doesn't recognize the hard drive.  I have two other disks to boot up the machine: 1) Window 98 startup disk and 2) the boot disk I downloaded from the site you suggested.

I tried both these alternatives with different but unsuccessful results.  The Windows 98 disk never booted up (i.e., I didn't get the "a" prompt).  The one I downloaded gave an error message: "Remove disk or other media. Press any key to restart."  I pressed a key and got the same error message repeatedly.   Then, when I tried pressing the key after removing the disk from the drive, I went back to having the machine start and begin loading Windows 98 and then stopping when it says "Windows 98" on the screen.  But I know both of these two disks work in the drive because when I start the machine using the Windows 95 disk, I can see the files on both these disks by typing "dir."

Any explanation or suggestions for how to proceed? 

Is there any way to reinstall Windows without destroying my files on the hard drive?

Any guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Rob

NYCRob,

You might see if you can get the system to boot with an older saved copy of the registry. See this. If that does not work, you can try a "dirty install" of Windows 98 over itself, as described here.

If I have to try the "dirty reinstall" does that mean the entire hard drive will be erased and I'll lose the files I have on there, which at this point is the only thing I want to save from the computer?

Rob

I had some success.  I managed to get the computer started using safe mode to get a "a" prompt.  From the "a" prompt I can switch to "c" (the hard drive) and see my files.

I have a zip drive on the machnie and would like to copy some important files to a zip disk.  But I

I had some success.  I managed to get the computer started using safe mode to get a "a" prompt.  From the "a" prompt I can switch to "c" (the hard drive) and see my files.

I have a zip drive on the machnie and would like to copy some important files to a zip disk.  But

Hi:

I had some success.  I managed to get the computer started using safe mode to get a "a" prompt.  From the "a" prompt I can switch to "c" (the hard drive) and see my files.

I have a zip drive on the machnie and would like to copy some important files to a zip disk.  But I can't see the zip drive as drive "d" or "e."  Do you have any suggestions for how to gain access to it.  Now that I have the machine turned on and can see my files, I'm not eager to shut the machine off until I've copied several critical ones that are too big for a disk drive.

Thanks.
Rob

NYCRob,

It's Catch 22. You are able to start in Safe Mode, but Safe Mode loads only a bar minimum of drivers (not including the driver for your Zip disk).

The good news is that you can see the files which means that the hard drive hasn't died. If you have a friend with a free drive bay in a computer, you can install your drive into that computer (or your second computer, since you are obviously using something other than the one experiencing difficulty) and copy the files to removable media there, then do a complete format/reinstall of the troubled machine.