PC hangs at Continuing startup

P2 233
I used the FDISK command to wipe my HD with hopes of re-installing Win98SE. The FDISK went fine and appeared to clean the HD. Now the system hangs at EZ-BIOS: Continuing Startup. I have a WIN98SE bootsdisk, but when I insert it I get a remove disk or other media. Press any key. Once removed it hangs at EZ-BIOS: Continuing Startup. I hit Ctrl to boot from the floppy, press A then I get remove disk or other media. I download the WIN 98SE bootdisk again with the same results. BIOS is set to boot from CD first. Tried inserting the WIN98SE CD. Can hear the CD spinning. Same results. Any ideas...?

Doug

 

try resetting your BIOS

 

I went to Western digital and downloded the lifeguard utility. I ran it from my floppy and erased everything again and did the tests it provided. HD appears to be ok. Now when I start the system I get operating system not found. I tried several different boot disks with the same "remove disk or other media". The floppy appears to be working since it booted the lifeguard utlity, I just can't get it to recognize the other boot disks. I tried swithing the BIOS from CD to removable as the first boot device with no luck.

Any ideas??

 

One time I bought a 10 pack of memorex floppys and went through the same issue as you...I discoverd that some of the new disk in the pack I just bought were bad!! I could only get about half of them to work and those only worked half of the time!!! So if you are continuously using the same disc everytime you try....then maybe try some different disc!!

Or is you floppy drive old?? If so it might be slowly shooting craps!! Not to worry though...you can pick them up for less than twenty dollars all day long!! But before you do that...make sure that all cables and power connectors are tight!!

Roger

 

What is the make of your computer? If home built the make of the MoBO.

No Operating System error message is normally associated with trying to boot from the HDD. When setting the boot device every BIOS I have dealt with uses A:, A: only, or A: then C:, to set the floopy for the first boot device.

 

Gateway P2 233 30g HD 160 mb Ram

 

What site did you get the boot disk from.

 

I got the lates disks at bootdisk.com. I tried a few other ones at different sites also.
Doug

 

Any idea why my PC will recognize the Data Lifeguard floppy from Western Digital, run the diagnostic test and come up clean, but won't recognize any boot disks?? I've tried serveral different boot disks with no luck. Also, I can hear the CD rom spinning with no luck either.
Doug

 

I'll have to admit, that is really strange behavior. Have you tried the FreeDOS available as Boot Floppy or Boot CD. It might work for you.

 

You must use FDISK, to remove the partition and "then" make a new partition and make that partition bootable also and then format the drive "before" you can reinstall windows again.


format C: after you delete the partition and then make a NEW partition and make it bootable... Then restart with the floppy (windows 98se bootdisc) then type at the command prompt. INSTALL. With your cd IN the drive.

If you just removed the partition and made a new one, you havent completed the procedure yet. Or if you removed the partition and didnt make a new one and make that bootable, you need to complete the above.. Or did you just fromat the drive. You also need to have your BIOS set to boot to the floppy first then your cdrom drive as the second boot option.

FDISK boot from disc. choose option 3 delete partition then esc. Then 1 make new partition, and it will ask you if you want to make this partition bootable with the Y highlighted, press enter or return on the keyboard. Then "esc" and shut off the computer. Then start the computer up again and let it boot from the floppy, then type at the command prompt, FORMAT C: and let it format the drive and when that completes then type install and return or enter on the keyboard and your windows will take off and start installing. Otherwise it will not like you have going on there.

If you choose to use EZBIOS to make the BIOS see the bigger drives same applies above.

 

You also must have your drive set correctly. "Single Drive" Western Digital harddrive, NO jumper used. Master with a secondary drive, jumper used on master pins, and the second drive jumper set on slave pins. "Maxtor Drives" "Pins always used" set on master.

 

Badfish, the problem isn't the HD, and it's not the BIOS settings. The problem is the system will boot the Western Digital DLG floppy but not the Win98 Startup Floppy.

 

Rooster, when you created the Win98 Startup Floppy. Did you just copy the file to the floppy or did you double-click the boot98se.exe and let it write the boot floppy for you?

 

I just went to bootdisk.com and selected the link to download the
boot disk(s).

Thanks everybody for your input, I agree, it's strange behavior. I'll print the replies and start trying different things. The floppy drive will recognize the data life guard disk (from Western Digital) but won't recognize the boot disks. I was hoping the life guard disk would give me the option to partition, but it didn't.

Doug

 

I just downloaded the fdos1440 to a floppy from freedos with no luck. I booted the system and I get a "non system diskette Microsoft Backup Diskette, replace and press any key".

Doug

 

DL and burn the CD image. For some reason you are having problems creating bootable floppys.

 

Badfish? What is that ? Think your cool or something here,

Anyway what I wrote before I should have wrote (setup) where I wrote (install).


I realise that it doesnt boot from the windows boot disc. Nothing was said what he did as far as the partition or the formatting. He is also using ezbios as well here. If fdisk was used just before to format or whatever he did, that is still not clear what was done. Goodluck to you anyway.

 

Rooster had already stated that he had download, made, booted from and used the Western Digital Data Lifeguard Tools on the drive. Which means the drive had been partioned and formatted by the WD Lifeguard Tools. He also stated it wouldn't boot the 98 Startup floppies. If it can boot from one floppy and not another the problem isn't HD, BIOS or EZ BIOS.

No I don't think I'm cool and don't take it personal. I've only been doing this computer thing since 1979 are there abouts.

 

P2 233
I used the FDISK command to wipe my HD with hopes of re-installing Win98SE. The FDISK went fine and appeared to clean the HD. Now the system hangs at EZ-BIOS: Continuing Startup. I have a WIN98SE bootsdisk, but when I insert it I get a remove disk or other media. Press any key. Once removed it hangs at EZ-BIOS: Continuing Startup. I hit Ctrl to boot from the floppy, press A then I get remove disk or other media. I download the WIN 98SE bootdisk again with the same results. BIOS is set to boot from CD first. Tried inserting the WIN98SE CD. Can hear the CD spinning. Same results. Any ideas...?

Doug


Now thats not what I read here, He used fdisk and said the ezbios still comes up. Now I have never seen that when the drive has been so called repartitioned and formatted. Or the first boot option is not A: drive. But hey, what do I know, don't take it in a bad way now.

 

Read further into the thread. That was Roosters first post. He said he had used the WD DLG Tools in his second post. ANd your right if the drive had been repartioned and format properly with FDISK ezbios wouldn't have come up.

 

I don't mean to impose here, but...From what I read (please correct me if i'm wrong) it appears as though rooster is not properly setting up his bootable floppy!!

Rooster...just incase we all missed something here...when you download these bootable floppies, etc....are you saving it directly to your floppy disc, and/or saving it on your hard drive and then directly pasting (or) sending what you've downloaded to the floppy??

Just to make sure you fully understand...what you are downloading is a program that you use to CREATE a bootable floppy!! You have to download into "My Documents", or "My Desktop", or wherever you choose and then you have to open this file on your computer, and when you start this so called "bootable disk" program, it will tell you to put a floppy in the drive and then click start ot whatever and the program that you downloaded and just opened will proceed to write a boot record to the floppy (which makes it a bootable floppy) and then when you reboot the computer (with it set to boot from the floppy drive in the bios) it will boot the computer and most likely you will see a DOS command where you can then command it to install the OS from the cd drive!!

I hope I helped here...if not...I apologize if I made things more confusing!!

Roger

 

Good poit Roger. I was assuming he was making the boot floppy, since he was able to make the WD DLG Tools Disk.

 

Rooster to write floppy images with the .img ext use RawWriteWin

To use DC the Penguin, Floppy Drive Box \\. \A:, Write tab, Image File Box ..., navigate to fdos1440.img, Open, Write.

 

Thanks rogvalcox's, you were right. I didn't download the bootdisk correctly. I'm able to load WIN98SE now.

Lesson Learned

Doug

 

Well, I installed Win98 SE and must have something screwed with the BIOS. I'm only seeing 8.4 gigs of my 30 gig Western Digital HD. I must have changed something in the BIOS with the cylinders, heads, or sectors.

Any thoughts

Doug

 

Rooster, make sure you have the BIOS set to Auto Detect your hard drive.

If you don't have a partion program available that you can resize your partition with, you are going to have to repartition the drive.

 

it's on auto, yet it still shows maximum capacity as 8455 MB -- ???

 

I also posted a reply in the other thread you started. FYI,in the future don't start another thread that is related to the orignal thread.

It is EZ-BIOS, you need to repartition your hard drive and don't use the EZ-BIOS option from WD. It is unneeded, Win98SE is able to use the entire drive without the aid of third-party BIOS programs.

 

When I did this a few years ago, I Thought EZ-BIOS recognized the full 30gigs, maybe not. When I use the Win98SE bootdisk to FDISK, partition, and format, it still only sees 8.4 gigs. What am I missing?

 

When you FDISK are you selecting FAT32 and Yes to use the entire drive?

If the answer is yes to the above question, then your BIOS is not reading the drive correctly.

 

What Gateway Model is your computer?

 

This might explain things better for you, I hate to get into it again, I may say the wrong things again. But your 8.4 GIG limit has been documented for many years now. Thats why you used ezbios from WD before. Your Bios has a limit to the larger harddrives no dought. Choose the Tools on the page for installing and read how to use them here.

http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc...3B2PSZwX2N2PSZwX3BhZ2U9MQ**&p_li=&p_topview=1


http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc...3B2PSZwX2N2PSZwX3BhZ2U9MQ**&p_li=&p_topview=1

 

OK, I used the Western Digital tools to partition and format my drive successfully. It recoginzes to full 30 gigs. It prompted me to restart and insert the Win98SE CD then hit C to install the operating system. Once I restarted I either got a cannot load the fille A:\command .com or NTLDR is missing. I do see a Win9x splach screen for a split second, then it just goes to a C prompt. CD spins with no results. What do I need to do about the cannot load the fille A:\command .com or NTLDR is missing??
Thanks,
Doug

 

It is looking for bootable media. Try making a dos bootable CD for installing 98. If you don't know how or don't want to I can email you the 98boot.bin and you can use nero to build the bootable cd. If you want that PM me your email address. It is 1.44Mb in size.

 

My burner is on the PC that's having the problems.
Any other ideas?
What's weird is I don't remember having these issues when I originally installed the 30 gig HD. I thought the easy BIOS recognized the full 30 gigs.

Doug

 

Got it.

Looks like you are going to have to copy the WIN98 folder from the CD to the HDD.

 

How do I do that?

 

OK

1. boot from floppy with CDROM support.

2. at command prompt type format c: /s [ENTER]

3. C:/

4. md WIN98

5. copy D:/win98/*.* C:/WIN98
NOTE: Substitute CD drive letter for D if it isn't that.

6. remove floppy. Reboot

7. at comand prompt type CD /WIN98

8. type setup

This will install 98 from the HDD.

 

When you went through it and setup your partition did you make it active?
Here's some info for you to check out more about what you did and didnt do.


If you didnt make it active you can get just what you got going there.


http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315261/