Computer not starting, confusing instructions from W98 Startup disk

L

Larry

A friend's Windows 98 SE at start made clicking sounds from hard drive, then
said startup disk was needed. Startup disk was inserted.

Screen said:
Pri Master HDD Error
Run Setup
Press F1 to resume

Then it said
Start computer with CD Rom support or
Without CD-Rom support

We didn't know which to choose so we went with CD Rom support

Then it said PCI Bus Scan completed
C drive does not contain FAT or FAT 32 partition
Drive may need to be partitioned
Run Fdisk from DOS prompt

But there was only a prompt for the A drive, and we couldn't get it to
change to the C drive, so we did HELP.

Help said a lot of stuff about loading CDRom Driver and RamDrive but it was
hard to understand was not telling us what to do next.

It also mentioned starting up in Safe Mode, but we would have no idea what
to do once we got into safe mode.

Questions:

Should we have chosen the option with or without CD Rom support?
Does this look like something fixable or something more seirous
If the partitioning of the C drive has been lost, does that mean all the
data, programs, etc. has been lost?
Is this something that Dell tech support can walk us through?

Thanks for any help,
Larry
 
B

Brian A.

Run the Dell Diagnostics that are either on the hard drive or on the Drivers and
Utilities disk. Depending on your specific model may determine how to run the
diagnostics.
One way for Dell is:
Boot the machine and press F12 as soon as you see the Dell logo.
If you wait to long to press it and it boots to windows you will need to reboot and
try again.
If you get a message that no diagnostic utility partition was found you'll need the
Drivers and Utilities disk.
If you get the Boot Device menu, select the "Boot to Utility Partition" and press
Enter.
When the diagnostic menu appears select the test you want to run.

If you use the Drivers and Utilities disk:
Boot the machine with the disk in the drive and press F12 as soon as you see the
Dell logo.
At the Boot Device menu select "IDE CD-ROM Device" and press Enter.
Select the "IDE CD-ROM device option from the CD boot menu.
Select to "Boot from CD-ROM".
Type 1 to start the resource cd menu.
Type 2 to start the diagnostics.
Select "Run the 32 bit diagnostics".
When the diagnostic menu appears select the test you want to run.

Or look up the instructions for the specific model here:
http://support.dell.com/

--

Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Shell/User }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375


"Larry" <larry328NOSPAM@att.net> wrote in message
news:usFOYG46HHA.4304@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>
> A friend's Windows 98 SE at start made clicking sounds from hard drive, then
> said startup disk was needed. Startup disk was inserted.
>
> Screen said:
> Pri Master HDD Error
> Run Setup
> Press F1 to resume


>
> Then it said
> Start computer with CD Rom support or
> Without CD-Rom support
>
> We didn't know which to choose so we went with CD Rom support
>
> Then it said PCI Bus Scan completed
> C drive does not contain FAT or FAT 32 partition
> Drive may need to be partitioned
> Run Fdisk from DOS prompt
>
> But there was only a prompt for the A drive, and we couldn't get it to
> change to the C drive, so we did HELP.
>
> Help said a lot of stuff about loading CDRom Driver and RamDrive but it was
> hard to understand was not telling us what to do next.
>
> It also mentioned starting up in Safe Mode, but we would have no idea what
> to do once we got into safe mode.
>
> Questions:
>
> Should we have chosen the option with or without CD Rom support?
> Does this look like something fixable or something more seirous
> If the partitioning of the C drive has been lost, does that mean all the
> data, programs, etc. has been lost?
> Is this something that Dell tech support can walk us through?
>
> Thanks for any help,
> Larry
>
>
 
B

Ben Myers

"Larry" <larry328NOSPAM@att.net> wrote in message news:usFOYG46HHA.4304@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> A friend's Windows 98 SE at start made clicking sounds from hard drive, then
> said startup disk was needed. Startup disk was inserted.

<snip>

Open the case and remove and reseat the cable that connects the drive
to the motherboard. If this doesn't help, most hard drive manufacturers
have diagnostic software available for download.

Maxtor and Seagate http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/
Western Digital http://support.wdc.com/download/index.asp?cxml=n&pid=999&swid

Ben
 
L

Larry

We did everything we could do. I ran scandisk.exe (or scandisk /all) from
the A prompt (which was suggested in the Help document off of the Startup
disk) and it was weird--it completed the job in about one second and said it
detected no errors.

We found the Dell Resource Diagnostic CD and started up the computer with
that, but when I followed the instructions to type in the drive letter of
the CD drive "x:" and press enter, it said that wasn't correct it wouldn't
take any drive letters. So we couldn't even get to the diagnostics menu.

So I tried booting to safe mode, holding down ctrl, but it said I needed to
use the boot disk, meaning we can't even boot to safe mode.

Larry


"Brian A." <gonefish'n@afarawaylake> wrote in message
news:exRUrp56HHA.5316@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> Run the Dell Diagnostics that are either on the hard drive or on the
Drivers and
> Utilities disk. Depending on your specific model may determine how to run
the
> diagnostics.
> One way for Dell is:
> Boot the machine and press F12 as soon as you see the Dell logo.
> If you wait to long to press it and it boots to windows you will need to
reboot and
> try again.
> If you get a message that no diagnostic utility partition was found
you'll need the
> Drivers and Utilities disk.
> If you get the Boot Device menu, select the "Boot to Utility Partition"
and press
> Enter.
> When the diagnostic menu appears select the test you want to run.
>
> If you use the Drivers and Utilities disk:
> Boot the machine with the disk in the drive and press F12 as soon as you
see the
> Dell logo.
> At the Boot Device menu select "IDE CD-ROM Device" and press Enter.
> Select the "IDE CD-ROM device option from the CD boot menu.
> Select to "Boot from CD-ROM".
> Type 1 to start the resource cd menu.
> Type 2 to start the diagnostics.
> Select "Run the 32 bit diagnostics".
> When the diagnostic menu appears select the test you want to run.
>
> Or look up the instructions for the specific model here:
> http://support.dell.com/
>
> --
>
> Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Shell/User }
> Conflicts start where information lacks.
> http://basconotw.mvps.org/
>
> Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
> How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375
>
>
> "Larry" <larry328NOSPAM@att.net> wrote in message
> news:usFOYG46HHA.4304@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> >
> > A friend's Windows 98 SE at start made clicking sounds from hard drive,
then
> > said startup disk was needed. Startup disk was inserted.
> >
> > Screen said:
> > Pri Master HDD Error
> > Run Setup
> > Press F1 to resume
>
>
> >
> > Then it said
> > Start computer with CD Rom support or
> > Without CD-Rom support
> >
> > We didn't know which to choose so we went with CD Rom support
> >
> > Then it said PCI Bus Scan completed
> > C drive does not contain FAT or FAT 32 partition
> > Drive may need to be partitioned
> > Run Fdisk from DOS prompt
> >
> > But there was only a prompt for the A drive, and we couldn't get it to
> > change to the C drive, so we did HELP.
> >
> > Help said a lot of stuff about loading CDRom Driver and RamDrive but it
was
> > hard to understand was not telling us what to do next.
> >
> > It also mentioned starting up in Safe Mode, but we would have no idea
what
> > to do once we got into safe mode.
> >
> > Questions:
> >
> > Should we have chosen the option with or without CD Rom support?
> > Does this look like something fixable or something more seirous
> > If the partitioning of the C drive has been lost, does that mean all the
> > data, programs, etc. has been lost?
> > Is this something that Dell tech support can walk us through?
> >
> > Thanks for any help,
> > Larry
> >
> >
>
 
J

Jeff Richards

This is all pointing to a hard disk drive fault, or perhaps, by now,
complete failure. You will not be able to run scandisk or boot to safe
mode if the hard disk drive isn't working, and by the sound of it the Dell
CD you are using also requires a working hard disk drive in order to install
the and run the diagnostics.

Get some hard disk drive diagnostic software from the hard disk drive
manufacturer and put it on a floppy. Boot to the floppy to run the
diagnostic.

For a good description of the process Google the following and choose the
PCToday article (it should be first in the list).
pctoday hard disk drive diagnostic

--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)
"Larry" <larry328NOSPAM@att.net> wrote in message
news:OzuJC$$6HHA.980@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> We did everything we could do. I ran scandisk.exe (or scandisk /all) from
> the A prompt (which was suggested in the Help document off of the Startup
> disk) and it was weird--it completed the job in about one second and said
> it
> detected no errors.
>
> We found the Dell Resource Diagnostic CD and started up the computer with
> that, but when I followed the instructions to type in the drive letter of
> the CD drive "x:" and press enter, it said that wasn't correct it
> wouldn't
> take any drive letters. So we couldn't even get to the diagnostics menu.
>
> So I tried booting to safe mode, holding down ctrl, but it said I needed
> to
> use the boot disk, meaning we can't even boot to safe mode.
>
> Larry
>
>
> "Brian A." <gonefish'n@afarawaylake> wrote in message
> news:exRUrp56HHA.5316@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>> Run the Dell Diagnostics that are either on the hard drive or on the
> Drivers and
>> Utilities disk. Depending on your specific model may determine how to
>> run
> the
>> diagnostics.
>> One way for Dell is:
>> Boot the machine and press F12 as soon as you see the Dell logo.
>> If you wait to long to press it and it boots to windows you will need
>> to
> reboot and
>> try again.
>> If you get a message that no diagnostic utility partition was found
> you'll need the
>> Drivers and Utilities disk.
>> If you get the Boot Device menu, select the "Boot to Utility Partition"
> and press
>> Enter.
>> When the diagnostic menu appears select the test you want to run.
>>
>> If you use the Drivers and Utilities disk:
>> Boot the machine with the disk in the drive and press F12 as soon as
>> you
> see the
>> Dell logo.
>> At the Boot Device menu select "IDE CD-ROM Device" and press Enter.
>> Select the "IDE CD-ROM device option from the CD boot menu.
>> Select to "Boot from CD-ROM".
>> Type 1 to start the resource cd menu.
>> Type 2 to start the diagnostics.
>> Select "Run the 32 bit diagnostics".
>> When the diagnostic menu appears select the test you want to run.
>>
>> Or look up the instructions for the specific model here:
>> http://support.dell.com/
>>
>> --
>>
>> Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Shell/User }
>> Conflicts start where information lacks.
>> http://basconotw.mvps.org/
>>
>> Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
>> How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375
>>
>>
>> "Larry" <larry328NOSPAM@att.net> wrote in message
>> news:usFOYG46HHA.4304@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>> >
>> > A friend's Windows 98 SE at start made clicking sounds from hard drive,
> then
>> > said startup disk was needed. Startup disk was inserted.
>> >
>> > Screen said:
>> > Pri Master HDD Error
>> > Run Setup
>> > Press F1 to resume
>>
>>
>> >
>> > Then it said
>> > Start computer with CD Rom support or
>> > Without CD-Rom support
>> >
>> > We didn't know which to choose so we went with CD Rom support
>> >
>> > Then it said PCI Bus Scan completed
>> > C drive does not contain FAT or FAT 32 partition
>> > Drive may need to be partitioned
>> > Run Fdisk from DOS prompt
>> >
>> > But there was only a prompt for the A drive, and we couldn't get it to
>> > change to the C drive, so we did HELP.
>> >
>> > Help said a lot of stuff about loading CDRom Driver and RamDrive but it
> was
>> > hard to understand was not telling us what to do next.
>> >
>> > It also mentioned starting up in Safe Mode, but we would have no idea
> what
>> > to do once we got into safe mode.
>> >
>> > Questions:
>> >
>> > Should we have chosen the option with or without CD Rom support?
>> > Does this look like something fixable or something more seirous
>> > If the partitioning of the C drive has been lost, does that mean all
>> > the
>> > data, programs, etc. has been lost?
>> > Is this something that Dell tech support can walk us through?
>> >
>> > Thanks for any help,
>> > Larry
>> >
>> >
>>
>
 
A

AlmostBob

The drive is slagged,
take the pc to a reputable local store, not a big box chain store, and have
them assess the amount of damage to the hard drive, determine whether to
replace or repair it

--
-- -- -- -- --
Adaware http://www.lavasoft.de
spybot http://www.safer-networking.org
AVG free antivirus http://free.grisoft.com/
Etrust/Vet/CA.online Antivirus scan
http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx
Super Antispyware http://www.superantispyware.com/
Panda online AntiVirus scan http://www.activescan.com
Panda online AntiSpyware Scan
http://www.pandasoftware.com/virus_info/spyware/test/
Catalog of removal tools (1)
http://www.pandasoftware.com/download/utilities/
Catalog of removal tools (2)
http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/newsinfo/collateral.aspx?CID=40387
Trouble Shooting guide to Windows http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/
Blocking Unwanted Parasites with a Hosts file
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
links provided as a courtesy, read all instructions on the pages before
use
Grateful thanks to the authors/webmasters
_
"Larry" <larry328NOSPAM@att.net> wrote in message
news:usFOYG46HHA.4304@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>
> A friend's Windows 98 SE at start made clicking sounds from hard drive,
then
> said startup disk was needed. Startup disk was inserted.
>
> Screen said:
> Pri Master HDD Error
> Run Setup
> Press F1 to resume
>
> Then it said
> Start computer with CD Rom support or
> Without CD-Rom support
>
> We didn't know which to choose so we went with CD Rom support
>
> Then it said PCI Bus Scan completed
> C drive does not contain FAT or FAT 32 partition
> Drive may need to be partitioned
> Run Fdisk from DOS prompt
>
> But there was only a prompt for the A drive, and we couldn't get it to
> change to the C drive, so we did HELP.
>
> Help said a lot of stuff about loading CDRom Driver and RamDrive but it
was
> hard to understand was not telling us what to do next.
>
> It also mentioned starting up in Safe Mode, but we would have no idea what
> to do once we got into safe mode.
>
> Questions:
>
> Should we have chosen the option with or without CD Rom support?
> Does this look like something fixable or something more seirous
> If the partitioning of the C drive has been lost, does that mean all the
> data, programs, etc. has been lost?
> Is this something that Dell tech support can walk us through?
>
> Thanks for any help,
> Larry
>
>
 
L

Larry

Thanks to everyone for the feedback.

Larry



"AlmostBob" <anonymous1@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:%23dTTzCV7HHA.3624@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> The drive is slagged,
> take the pc to a reputable local store, not a big box chain store, and
have
> them assess the amount of damage to the hard drive, determine whether to
> replace or repair it
>
> --
> -- -- -- -- --
> Adaware http://www.lavasoft.de
> spybot http://www.safer-networking.org
> AVG free antivirus http://free.grisoft.com/
> Etrust/Vet/CA.online Antivirus scan
> http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx
> Super Antispyware http://www.superantispyware.com/
> Panda online AntiVirus scan http://www.activescan.com
> Panda online AntiSpyware Scan
> http://www.pandasoftware.com/virus_info/spyware/test/
> Catalog of removal tools (1)
> http://www.pandasoftware.com/download/utilities/
> Catalog of removal tools (2)
> http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/newsinfo/collateral.aspx?CID=40387
> Trouble Shooting guide to Windows http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/
> Blocking Unwanted Parasites with a Hosts file
> http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
> links provided as a courtesy, read all instructions on the pages before
> use
> Grateful thanks to the authors/webmasters
> _
> "Larry" <larry328NOSPAM@att.net> wrote in message
> news:usFOYG46HHA.4304@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> >
> > A friend's Windows 98 SE at start made clicking sounds from hard drive,
> then
> > said startup disk was needed. Startup disk was inserted.
> >
> > Screen said:
> > Pri Master HDD Error
> > Run Setup
> > Press F1 to resume
> >
> > Then it said
> > Start computer with CD Rom support or
> > Without CD-Rom support
> >
> > We didn't know which to choose so we went with CD Rom support
> >
> > Then it said PCI Bus Scan completed
> > C drive does not contain FAT or FAT 32 partition
> > Drive may need to be partitioned
> > Run Fdisk from DOS prompt
> >
> > But there was only a prompt for the A drive, and we couldn't get it to
> > change to the C drive, so we did HELP.
> >
> > Help said a lot of stuff about loading CDRom Driver and RamDrive but it
> was
> > hard to understand was not telling us what to do next.
> >
> > It also mentioned starting up in Safe Mode, but we would have no idea
what
> > to do once we got into safe mode.
> >
> > Questions:
> >
> > Should we have chosen the option with or without CD Rom support?
> > Does this look like something fixable or something more seirous
> > If the partitioning of the C drive has been lost, does that mean all the
> > data, programs, etc. has been lost?
> > Is this something that Dell tech support can walk us through?
> >
> > Thanks for any help,
> > Larry
> >
> >
>
>
 
D

Dan

Re: Computer not starting, confusing instructions from W98 Startup

Thanks for putting it so clearly for Larry, Ben --- best post in this group
yet imo.

"Ben Myers" wrote:

> "Larry" <larry328NOSPAM@att.net> wrote in message news:usFOYG46HHA.4304@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> > A friend's Windows 98 SE at start made clicking sounds from hard drive, then
> > said startup disk was needed. Startup disk was inserted.
>
> <snip>
>
> Open the case and remove and reseat the cable that connects the drive
> to the motherboard. If this doesn't help, most hard drive manufacturers
> have diagnostic software available for download.
>
> Maxtor and Seagate http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/
> Western Digital http://support.wdc.com/download/index.asp?cxml=n&pid=999&swid
>
> Ben
>
 
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