need some help please

[tjk0123]

ok i just got an old computer from a friend. it had windows 95 on it and he said it had some problems on it and that he formated the c drive. well today when i hooked it up and started it says "invalid system disk please insert another, then hit any key." well thats all it does. u hit a key and it says the same message. i checked to see if any floppies were in the drive but nothing. no cds or anything. the guy i got it from said taht before he formated he did somethin and after that the floppy drive quit workin. is there anything i can do to get this goin again?

[Topdog]

When your friend formatted the disk, did they use the /S switch with the format command? Needs that to make the drive bootable.

[Alfons]

Topdog is right, you have no operating system on your Hard Disk. You need to decide which OS you want on the computer and then get the appropriate disks and install it.

The "S" switch that is used with the FORMAT command only puts the very basic system files onto the disk and will allow you to boot, but practically you have nothing useable. If you're installing an OS on your hard disk, using the S switch is redundant and sometimes counterproductive because all OS's will install their own system files, but sometime if they see system files that don't belong, they won't allow you to perform the installation, forcing you to remove the system files. This switch is useful in making a floppy bootable.

[tjk0123]

ok well i dont know if he used this "S switch." i really dont understand what you two are saying. can you explain? thanks

[Alfons]

The bottom line is as follows:

1. You have no operating system (OS) on the disk, it was removed with the Format.

2. You need to install or have installed an OS such as Windows 95 or 98 etc to be able to do anything with this computer.

[tjk0123]

ok thanks you for clearing that up. ok well i reinstalled windows 95 and got things goin. well the only thing i need help with now is the display. its only running in 16 color mode and 640 by 480 pixels. how do i change this? i have the windows 95 reinstall disk or whatever you call it and in it there is a folder titled drivers and then inside that there is another called display. well inside the display folder there is tons of other folders. do these have anything to do with what i need help with? oh yeah and also im not sure if my floppy works. each time i put in a floppy disk it says "drive A is not accesible," or "drive A is not ready," and also "the dish in drive A is not formatted, would you like to format it now?" so i dont know. can anyone help? thanks for all you help so far.:)

[Alfons]

Tjk0123, the first thing that you've got to figure out is what the make & model of your display / video adapter is and then it should be relatively straight forward to find a driver to install for it. If you can't figure this out, then post the markings on your video card including those on the chips (the large ones) and the FCC ID.

Before you do that though, you should install the motherboard drivers, and you'll need to supply the motherboard or computer manufacturers name and model number for this as well. The BIOS number would be very helpful in this matter as well as the markings on your MB chipset.

In order to facilitate an easy solution to your situation, it would be very helpful if you'd provide a description of your computer and everything that's in it.

[tjk0123]

Alfons, ok so i got on and checked things out. heres what i found.

for system bios i found:
Phoenix Bios 4.0 Release 6.0.7

and for the display adapter i found:
Standard PCI Graphics Adapter

ok i just went to the website called AMI.com and downloaded the motherboard ID utility and tested the computer. its says i need to visit the website called phoenix.com

any ideas on what i should do?

well i opened her up and found two big chips that i could read easy on the motherboard. they are as follows:

Intel
pciset
FW82371AB
L7175252

ATI
ATI-264VT3
215VT3UB11

[Alfons]

Tjk0123, I'll need some more information on your computer:

1. From the sounds of what you've provided, it's a brand name computer of some variety, like HP, Compaq... Does it have a brand name and model number listed anywhere on the case?

2. You'll need more of a BIOS ID than that to go to the Phoenix site for information. What they should be able to tell you is who they built that BIOS for - this would be a good start. To find out more details of what might be in your system, go to THIS SITE (http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html) and download a utility program called the Belarc Advisor. Save this in a folder with a meaningful name, then install it and it will immediately provide you with a report of what it sees in your system. This should include the BIOS ID String, which you can post. Also what does it have to say about any other hardware that's part of your system?

3. Do you get a manufacturer's Splash Screen displayed as a part of startup? If the computer doesn't have any manufacturer's markings, the motherboard might have been a "pull" from a production line meant for some company. This is common practice when a Motherboard manufacturer makes too many items for a computer manufacturer.

4. What other boards are installed in the motherboard? Is there a card that your display plugs into or is that connector a part of the motherboard - could be that big ATI chip?

5. When the OS is looking for a video driver, does it tell you anything about the device like ATI, S3, etc?

6. In your Device Manager - Start > Settings > Control Panel >System > Device Manager - is there any marking (red or yellow) beside any of the devices?

Thanks, thats all I can think of at the moment.

[tjk0123]

alfons, heres what i figured out fromt he questions you have asked.

1. HP pavilion-below the start button there is the number "8140"

2. As Follows below:

Operating System: Windows 95 B(OSR2)(Build 4.0.1111)

Processor*: 200 megahertz Intel Pentium w/MMX

Drives: 4.32 Gig Usable HD Capacity
3.91 Gig HD Free Space

Goldstar CRD-8240B[CD-ROM DRIVE]

Generic Floppy Disk Drive (3.5")

Controllers: Standard Floppy Disk Controller
Primary IDE Controller (Single Fifo)
Secondary IDE Controller (Single Fifo)
Standard Dual PCI IDE Controller
Standard IDE/ESDI Hard Disk Controller

Bus Adapters: None Detected(<-------could this be a problem?)

System Model: 00101200 8140 03525000007355
System Serial Number: 6972HPPAV2

Main Circuit Board: Board= Asus TX97XV 1.12
BIOS=Phoenix Technologies LTD 4.06
06/03/97

Memory Modules: 32 mb installed

Display: Standard PCI Graphics Adapter (VGA)
[Display Adapter]
Plug and Play Monitor

3. No there is no splash screen

4. I don't understand this question. Could you re word it or explain it to me?

5. Same as the last question. It never is looking for a video driver. Well i mean no windows popping up looking for one that ive seen.

6. yes there is a yellow question mark by other devices and in side that there is a question mark beside PCI bridge and PCI Universal Serial Bus.

thats all i could find. hope this helps. thanks

[smurfy]

Alfons has been doing such a good job here it's not fair that I jump in now that it gets easy :)
I pulled apart an HP8140 and bits of it are in use around the house...
The good news is, HP used widely available non-priprietory hardware back then and drivers are reasonably easy to come by.

Video Drivers available from HP:

http://h20015.www2.hp.com/en/softwareList.jhtml;jsessionid=QXO31QQOISRMBQEXGRME PLQ?reg=&cc=&prodId=pv8140&lc=en&softitem=Driver&sw_lang=en

Motherboard manual for ASUS TX97 board

http://download.asus.com.tw/mb_alllist.asp

Still looking for Motherboard Drivers but Win95b should have built in drivers for that chipset board that will work.

p.s. Don't expect to get your USB working in Windows95b. If you want that, the only easy way is update to Win98. Your system will handle Windows 98 easily.

[tjk0123]

ok well thanks to the both of you for helping me out. i went to the hp site and downloaded the video drivers and everything works great now. is there anything else that i will be needing? thanks again for everything

[tjk0123]

omg somethin just happened. i went to put the side back on the case and i bumped somethin and it shut off. and when i try and start it, it makes a weird noise, like its trying to start and the keyboard lights flash and the outside power button light flashs. i tryed holding the button down to restart but nothin. help please!!!!!! dont tell me its ruined. it seems to start up right and then it makes a sound like it isnt getting any power. my nephew is here right now and i just found him in herewith this chip. but i know its not from my computer. it was just lying around. do you think he could have stuck it into one of the slots? i mean i cant get anything to happen. thank god he didnt get shocked with the case open:no:

[tjk0123]

well i was just takin a look at here and noticed 1 of the metal things that cover the empty slots where u would install like a sound card or whatever. well get this its stickin in 1 of the slots just a little. again, mynephew must have put it there or somethin because i have never seen it. i guess when i bumped it went in or somethin and made it shutdown. well i think it ruined the motherboard or somethin:mad: because i cant get it to do anything now. it starts to power up and then it like the power keeps shutting off and then back on:mad: . this really sucks. i had all fixed and running and now its gone. well atleast i think. anyone got any ideas? alfons? smurfy? you guys still there?

[smurfy]

Well I've never had the displeasure of shorting out a motherboard but it sure sounds like that's what has happened.

When I get home in a couple of hours I'll check the BIOS setup on my tx97 board and see if it's possible to disable the ISA/PCI slots but I really think you've probably toasted it :(

[tjk0123]

nnnooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.................. .

well even if you were able to disable them, what good would that do? wouldnt that make it so there was no sound and no modem? am i right or would there be a way to fix them? if not then is there any place where i can get a replacement mother board? its doesnt have to be the same one, just one that will basically do the same. and maybe the price range? thanks

[Alfons]

The only thing I can suggest is that you pay close attention to the slot that you shorted with the blanking plate and see if there's any residue left there that could still be shorting it. If you have a piece of plastic of approximately the same thickness as the card that would go into the slot, put it into the slot to separate the connector contacts because if the thing is trying to start, it may still be detecting a short.

If this doesn't work, then I agree with Smurfy, your MB is toast.

I tried to download a manual for it, but only got "This page is not available" so I was unable to see exactly what capabilities your board had. If it's just a plain Socket 7, then there are lots of them around and they're quite cheap - you just have to make sure it'll fit into the HP box. If it's a Super Socket 7, they're available but more expensive. Do you recall what the CPU Speed of your computer was? Also is the CPU an Intel Pentium or an AMD K6? This will tell us which type of MB it needs.

Did you ever see if you have a separate video card or if it's built into the MB?

[Alfons]

I finally got a look at that manual and it looks like a regular Socket 7 motherboard and it's an AT form factor - it also looks large enough that most replacement MB's (AT style) should fit. Replacements should be easy to find in most local shops or even in e-bay or Pricewatch.com. I'd recommend that you post with any selections that you run across & we'll be glad to give you the benefit of our experience.

[tjk0123]

ok well i tried puttin some plastic in between to seperate the connectors and still no luck. so i would say its done for. now about gettin a new one. i have no idea what im looking for. i mean can u be more specific in what i should be lookin for. or guide me towards some MB's that are basically what i have? website or somethin? thanks

[Alfons]

Do you live near any computer surplus or used computer shops? Other computer shops may have some available from trade-ins & upgrades.

It's usually easier dealing with a shop face-to-face rather than by postal service and e-mail. Check with nearby shops and see what they might have available as a Socket 7 Motherboard and take your old one with you as an example. This way you should be able to get an equivalent MB that will fit into your case. Try to make sure that you can get a manual to describe setup either from the shop or downloadable from the manufacturer and make sure that they (the shop) are willing to give you some reasonable type of warranty or exchange statement.

Your expansion boards, memory, hard drives, floppy, cd-rom, etc. should all be able to go back in similar locations to where they are now and it should work(assuming nothing else got damaged). If everything else works, then you probably won't need anything other than the motherboard drivers to get your OS running again.

When you take your current computer apart, you should make notes of how the cables and connectors went - including all the wires that go to the front panel.

If you wish, Post with what you've found that's available and we can give you some suggestions.

My first suggestion would be: Don't put your new one back together if your nephew's there.

[tjk0123]

ok well i was lookin on the internet and came across this one at ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?viewItem&item=2062793307

well would that work? i mean do the same thing that this old one would do?

or there is this guys store on ebay and he has discount MB's. find them here:

http://search.stores.ebay.com/search/search.dll?MfcISAPICommand=GetResult&sid=346911&store=Discount+Motherboards&colorid=10&fp=0&query=socket+7&srchdesc=y

he is the same guy that is selling the first one i listed. if u can find one in his store that would be better then that cool too.

[Alfons]

The first one you listed will work but it won't fit your case. The MB is ATX form factor and you have an AT case, so your second link is much better because it has a whole bunch of Socket 7 AT boards and lots of them are your board number, so if you're happy with the price & warranty, I'd personally just buy a clone. This way as long as nothing else got damaged, you just have to put everything in exactly the same slots, set up all the MB jumpers the same way you had them, add your disks etc and your off to the races.

Just be careful replacing all the stuff and take some precautions against static electricity. You also need to take note of the way the CPU is plugged into it's Socket - you'll see a "notched" corner on the CPU and a slightly different corner on the connector (sort of looks like it's meant for the notch) - they go together (when you look at your CPU you should see that there's a row of socket holes around the entire CPU so make sure that you duplicate the positioning). Just take a close look at your old board before romoving anything, and put it in the same way. Your memory is also keyed, so take note of how it's currently inserted. The rest should be a snap and if you're not sure of something, just post - glad to help.

Just remember where the blanking plate doesn't go and good luck :D :D

P.S. Download a copy of the Motherboard Manual before you get the board and read through it. Ask questions before you're staring at the board wondering what to do.

P.P.S. Remember that your CPU Socket is a ZIF (Zero Insertion Force) type that has a small lever on one side. When the lever is pushed down, it locks the CPU in place & to remove or insert the CPU, you lift the lever (remember to lock it again after you seat the CPU properly).

[tjk0123]

so which one would you go with? would the Asus TX97-E socket 7 AT work? ur just sayin that the other wasnt an AT right? well whats the difference then the one i just listed and the Asus TX97-L AT? thanks

also is there a place on the two i just listed for my mouse and keyboard to plug into? USB? or what? i also saw a TX97 socket 7? whats different about that?

im sittin here lookin at my old board and all of the boards that i have looked at on that second site which lists all the socket 7 boards, i dont see a place to plug in my mouse, printer, monitor(maybe its there), or USB. the one that i got now(shorted one)has got all those slots. do these other to and im not seeing them?

[Alfons]

My recommendation was fairly clear in my last post and it hasn't changed. All those boards that you're looking at are the same price and they all have some differences - memory, power supply requirements, size, form factor, etc. To me the differences are not significant if I wanted that type but to you they may be problematic, so again, don't add to your problem list and buy what you had before - there's one in that list of motherboards - I also happen to think it's a better board than some of the other TX models that you're trying to compare yours to.

[tjk0123]

im sorry about the PM. this is just kinda frusterating for me. i just didnt understadn what you ment by personally i would buy a clone and then in ur last post you said there was one at the site in the list of all of them. well i went through that list several times and never saw one that said Asus TX97XV. i saw TX97XE, TX97L, TX97E, and just a TX97. this is where im confused. so lets say that im gonna buy the TX97(really i am), would there be a place to plug my monitor, mouse, and keyboard in? i read about it at the site but i still dont know for sure. here is the site if you have time to take a look.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2062793113

so if you could help me when you have time that would be great otherwise i guess all just find some other way to get it fixed. once again im sorry:( :( :(

[Murf]

That board will not work: It's a ATX

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2062793113

Requires ATX Power Supply and ATX-to-AT Power connector Adapter ACPI Ready

What you need to find is a AT board. Almost all of the older AT boards have a Keyboard socket. Then you have cable connectors for the mouse, printer ect. You current board has those, you can just reuse the connector's for your mouse and printer.

Your monitor should plug into a card that fits into the motherboard, you just reuse the card.

Since you are going to replace the motherboard, you might as well get one that will be faster then the 200Mhz.

If you haven't found one I can help locate a good buy for you.

[Alfons]

The ASUS manual for the TX97 describes the board as an AT form factor with the capability of utilizing an ATX power supply for some of it's features like the "soft-off" function - this is described on page 28 of the manual.

The old Keyboard and serial mouse will all attach directly without adapters and should work quite nicely.

[Alfons]

TJK0123, if your board is not the TX97 but the TX97XV, then we have a different story. How did you get that number? The earlier posts identified your board as the TX97 and I guess I went along with the flow without checking on it, so I apologize for any misunderstandings.

The XV model of this Motherboard is of ATX form factor, so to pick out a new MB, you need to confirm your board number.

[tjk0123]

I dont know where i got the TX97. in one of the early post where i have all my specs it says TX97XV so i dont know. Murf pointed this out to me last night and has guided me in the right direction. but thank you for all your help and i will probably still need some when i get this new MB.

[Murf]

We figured that out and he is in contact with me, bidding on a board on EBAY. ATX board that can be upgraded later, but can use current processor. Doesn't wnat a lot of $$ right now. Sure he will be back to help install the board.

[Alfons]

Good luck tjk, make sure that your nephew isn't around when you're installing.

Make sure that you've got some static protection when you're assembling all your pieces and take your time doing it. I've fried a couple of boards & CPU's by being too anxious and plugging the CPU in improperly - Socket 7 CPU's can be plugged in wrong so just watch the notched corner etc (explained in previous post).

[tjk0123]

what do u mean static protection? where do i get or what can i use to get rid of the static electricity? thanks

[Alfons]

The most you should need would be a static wrist strap. It wraps around one wrist and has a wire that you attach to the house ground to drain the static from you so that you don't zap the more delicate things like memory. I usually just plug in a computer power cord and plug the static strap wire into the ground-pin receptical - if you aren't sure which one that is then make sure you ask someone who knows, like a tech or electrician or connect it to one of the house water pipes.

A bare wire around your wrist that goes to one of the water pipes would also work - the house ground is usually connected to the cold water pipe.

[tjk0123]

when u say computer power cord, do u mean just the cord itself? or do u mean plug it into the box thing too? thanks

[Alfons]

Just the power cord, I use it as an extension cord and I need it by the case for later when I plug it into the computer, but you don't really need it as long as you use only the ground pin connector on the wall socket and the wire to your wrist band is long enough. You've got three "pins" on your power cord and you've got three "recepticals" for these pins in the wall socket (In US & Canada - different elsewhere) and the ground pin is the round fat one where the other two are flat with one being wider than the other.

You can get these static straps from any local electronics store - even Radio Shack usually carry them. Ask the person in the shop to show you what the socket ground looks like in your area.

[tjk0123]

alright well its 1:00AM central time and my MB is in omaha which is a few miles away so i plan on receiveing it today. now im still confused about this whole static thing. not what it does, but how or where i hook this wire up too. what type of wire? do i just push the wire into the whole or somethin?lol? i mean there is three holes, 2 on top and the one on bottem. some pictures? lol flashcards?

about the waterpipe, just wrap one end of the wire around the water pipe and the other around my wrist or what? sorry for making you keep explaining this.

[Alfons]

Tjk0123 since you apparently do not know what a ground wire looks like in a house receptacle or a power cord, I'm not going to try to walk you through that for fear you may misunderstand and electrocute yourself.

You can use the house water pipe system as a ground plane assuming the pipes are metal. The electrical company usually attaches the house electrical ground to these pipes so what you want to do is to get a piece of wire that's long enough to go from the "work bench" (where ever you'll be working) to the nearest metal water pipe. Strip the insulation from both ends and wrap one end around the water pipe and you can attach the wire from the ground strap to the "workbench" end of this wire. If you don't have a ground strap, then just make sure that this length of wire is flexible and wrap the bare wire (workbench end)around your wrist - it doesn't have to be tight (we don't want you cutting off your circulation), as long as there is some contact.

That's all there is to it - just a path for the static to travel to ground easily.

[tjk0123]

alright thanks very much.

[tjk0123]

alright, i got the motherboard. i put in the case, hook everything up, start it up, and get to a screen that says incorrect cpu setting, press F1 to change. well i pressed F1 and it came to some screen and i didnt know what to do and was going to come here for help, so i restarted and now i get nothing. it powers up, but the screen doesnt turn on or anything. dont tell me i ruined something else or the MB again. what should i do?

[Alfons]

Hi tjk, what board do you have? I'll download the Manual & see what they have to say about the settings. While you're at it, give me a list of everything else that you're plugging in as well - don't forget to list the CPU details.

With a virgin board I never plug in more than the absolute minimum for the first shot and the basics are:
1. Floppy drive - don't need it just to fire up the board but you will to check anything else.
2. One stick of memory
3. Video Adapter - the simpler the better.
4. Keyboard

Nothing Else is essential for the first shot - the next thing to add would be your IDE devices (hard & CD drives).

Make sure that your CPU & possibly even your PS fans are properly plugged in - some boards won't run long without the fans turning (BIOS Settings).

[tjk0123]

the motherboard is a M599LMR. Murf gave me these sites to get drivers:


http://www.eurocomla.com/m598_d.htm#M599LMR

http://www.pcchips.com/index2.html

i had the harddrive plugged in and the cdrom drive plugged in. i didnt have the fan plugged in but it is now. no luck still.

i only got 1 stick of memory in and it has on board video. i have the keyboard plugged in also.

as for the CPU, it is a Intel Pentium with MMX tech.

hope this helps

[Alfons]

What speed is the CPU? This will have an effect on how you set your CPU jumpers - if they're not set properly the computer may not start.

Is this a PC Chips board?

[Alfons]

Well I finally got a copy of their manual - do you have one? The PCChips site is very slow tonight but I've had a look at chapter 2 which covers the Installation and it doesn't have much to say about CPU installation other than the following:

1. BIOS setup of the CPU (Automatic detection & setup)
2. JP6, the Clear CMOS Memory jumper must be set to NORMAL once you've cleared the settings and before you start the system. Pin 1 & 2 Shorted = Normal and Pin 2 & 3 Shorted = Clear. The board normally ships with this in the Clear position and MUST be set to Normal before running.

What indications - beeps, display, anything - do you get when you turn it on?

Have you followed the installation steps in the manual?

[tjk0123]

when i press the power button, nothin happens. well i have the power to the hardrive still hooked up and that makes some noises like it is starting. nothing appears on teh screen. the light on the screen is green when its on. well its yellow. thats all.

and no i did not follow the manual in which i should have. so is this board history also or can it be fixed?

oh yeah teh speed of the CPU is 200mhz

[tjk0123]

SWEETNESS!!!!!!

ok i looked at the manual about the JP6 Jumper and how it clears the memory. well mine is set to clear cmos memory like it says all of these kinds of motherboards are shipped. well it says i must change the setting to normal. and thats pins 1 and 2. well mine is at 2 and 3. so i unplugged all the power, and switched the cap to 1 and 2. i plugged everything back in and it wont start. so i unplugged it again, and put the cap on pins 2 and 3 again. i then plugged the power in and hit the start button. it started up and the SCREEN TURNED ON! lol now im at a screen that says:

AMIBIOS (C)1996 American Megatrends Inc.,
Release 03/28/2000S

Main Processor :Pentium-MMX - 150MHz
Checking NVRAM..Update OK!
137216KB OK
Trend ChipawayVirus(R) On Guard
WAIT...

CMOS Battery Low

Press F1 to Run SETUP

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

so thats where im at and im not gonna do anything until someone replies. i dont wanna mess anything up. oh yeah, what about the pin thing. mine are still in slots 2 and 3. is that ok for now or what? thanks

[tjk0123]

ok i got 1 more question.

lets say that the zeros below are the pins for jumper JP6:

000

is the zero in the far right pin 1 or is it on the far left? so if it was on the far right then it would be like this:

000
321 <----pin numbers

if that being true then my jumper cap is set on pins 1 and 2. i unplugged everything and switched it to pins 2 and 3. so that just cleared the cmos and so thats why i couldnt restart right? so i should have it in the normal setting right now. right?

i guess when they tested the board they never switched the jumper cap back.

[tb525]

How about the easy answer!:) Where you have the jumper set now is correct. (normal position)

Where you had it before, (when it would not boot) was the clear CMOS.


I see two things you should do before you install windows.

1. Change the CMOS battery.

2. Enter the BIOS and disable the virus scan.

[Alfons]

Tjk0123, you are now at a point where you can start to set up all your board parameters and before you start, print the chapter on your BIOS (Chapter 3) and READ IT before attempting any changes.

Please post when you've read the manual and changed the battery. Look at the battery before removing it so that you can see which end is up and put the new one in the same way. Read the manual to see if there are any directions there that you could follow.

[tjk0123]

ok i got a few questions before i start. when i replace the battery, should i shut it down to do it? and also, should i have my HD and my CDROM hooked up at this point?

if that being so about the second question, on my old board, my floppy drive plugged into the floppy slot, my CDROM plugged into the IDE 2 slot, and my HD plugged into the IDE 3 slot. well on my new board, there isnt no IDE 2 and IDE 3, there is IDE 1 and IDE 2. should my CDROM plug into IDE 1 and the HD plug into IDE 2? thanks

[Alfons]

Here are some answers:

1. To change the battery or any other component on the motherboard you need to have the power turned off - pull out the plug.

2. At this point you can have the Hard Disk(s) and CD Drive(s) attached if you so desire.

3. IDE 1 = Primary IDE and can accomodate a Master and a Slave. Your main hard disk should be set as SINGLE on this IDE channel (it probably is set correctly if you only had one device on this cable in your other computer). The data cables that plug into this connector on the mother board usually have three 40 pin connectors on them. One goes into the motherboard with the red line on the pin 1 side of the motherboard connector. With the 40 wire cables, the other 2 connectors can plug into either Master or Slave device.

4. IDE 2 = Secondary IDE and is like the Primary. On this one you should put your CD-ROM and have it set as Master - it probably is already if you had it on a separate cable in the other computer.

Let us know when you're ready to start setting up your BIOS and someone will walk you through page-by-page. It's 3:50pm here now & I'll be out between 5:30pm & 10pm tonight so that you know when you can expect me to look in on this thread.

[Alfons]

Here are some answers:

1. To change the battery or any other component on the motherboard you need to have the power turned off - pull out the plug.

2. At this point you can have the Hard Disk(s) and CD Drive(s) attached if you so desire.

3. IDE 1 = Primary IDE and can accomodate a Master and a Slave. Your main hard disk should be set as SINGLE on this IDE channel (it probably is set correctly if you only had one device on this cable in your other computer). The data cables that plug into this connector on the mother board usually have three 40 pin connectors on them. One goes into the motherboard with the red line on the pin 1 side of the motherboard connector. With the 40 wire cables, the other 2 connectors can plug into either Master or Slave device.

4. IDE 2 = Secondary IDE and is like the Primary. On this one you should put your CD-ROM and have it set as Master - it probably is already if you had it on a separate cable in the other computer.

Let us know when you're ready to start setting up your BIOS and someone will walk you through page-by-page. It's 3:50pm here now & I'll be out between 5:30pm & 10pm tonight so that you know when you can expect me to look in on this thread.

[tjk0123]

i changed the battery, i used the one from my old board. so im ready to start now. im at the screen where it says press F1 to begin. im going to go ahead and press F1. i come to a screen titled AMIBIOS Simple setup utility. there is a bunch of choices. the first one is standard CMOS setup. i went in and pressed F3(the manual said this would automatically configure the IDE slots).

so now im back at the menu where it has all the choices. where should i go from here???

[Alfons]

I'm going to give you the changes to each page that I feel are required. Later when everything is up and running you might want to do some tweaking, but for now let's stick with the basics. The keys to select things and change things are shown on each of the BIOS pages.

Standard CMOS Setup Page
1. You've already pressed F3 so it should have detected your Hard disk if you've got it attached.
2. Setup the Floppy drive as a 1.44meg 3.5inch drive (I presume that this is what you have) .
3. Set your Date and Time.

Advanced Setup Page
1. Leave everything as it's shown in the manual except for the following.
2. Trend Chipaway Virus = Disable
3. First Boot = Floppy
4. Second Boot Device = IDE 0 (assuming you've connected your hard disk to IDE 1 connector)
5. SMART = Enable

Power Management
Leave this as shown in the picture.

PCI/Plug and Play Setup Page
Leave this as shown in the picture.

Features Setup Page
Leave this as shown in the picture.

CPU Setup Page
For now leave this set for AUTO and when everything is running then we can see if you need to make changes here. To make changes you'll need to know exactly which CPU you have - no wild guessing allowed.

Now Save and Exit and have a bootdisk in the Floppy Drive

This should all work and it should boot from the floppy if you've set up the floppy properly.

You'll need to go through the other device setup described in the earlier chapters to Enable/Disable things like your Modem, NIC, etc.

Post a list of what you've done and the results and please post a full list & not just a couple of things.

This should keep you going for a while. I'll look in again after I get back to my office here after 10pm - Good Luck!! :D :D

[tjk0123]

ok i did all what you said and save my changes. it reboots and comes to a screen with a bunch of info about my computer. then below that it says:

SDRAM in DRAM Row(s): 0/1

Searching for boot record from floppy..not found
Searching for boot record from IDE-0..OK

invalid system disk
Replace the disk and then press any key

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
what should i do now? i have the windows 95 bootdisk in. i downloaded it from here. i unpacked it from the zip and put every file on the floppy disk. isnt that right?

ok i thought maybe i had the cable switched around for my floppy, so i unplugged the power, and flipped the end of the grey cable around and plugged teh power back in. i restarted and came to that same screen again but this time is says:

Searching for Boot record from Floppy..OK

Non-System Disk or disk error
Replace and strike any key when ready

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

now what should i do? should i have left the grey cable where it was at or what? thanks

[smurfy]

Hey there, since Alfons is "out" ...

The grey IDC cable is now in it's right way (because the system is finding the floppy disk first).
The problem is now your boot floppy is no good.

I can't remember what the bootdisk available here does in terms of setting up buty normally copying files alone will not make it bootable.
See if there was a setup or install executable in the extracted zip file.
Extract to a folder on your working PC and run the setup or intall which will make the boot disk on a floppy.

Then reboot the good system with the floppy to make sure it works before trying it in the troubled PC.

[tjk0123]

smurfy,

hey well i looked in the zip that i downloaded from here and i didnt know really what i was lookin for. here are the files that are in the zip:

AOATAPI.SYS
ATTRIB.EXE
autoexec.bat (<---Is this what ur talkin about?)
CHKDSK.EXE
COMMAND.COM
CONFIG.SYS
config2.sys
DEBUG.EXE
DRVSPACE.BIN
EBD.SYS
EDIT.COM
FDISK.EXE
FORMAT.COM
HIMEM.SYS
IO.SYS
MSCDEX.EXE
MSDOS.SYS
REGEDIT.EXE
SCANDISK.EXE
SCANDISK.INI
SYS.COM
UNINSTAL.EXE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

im pretty much lost right now with what you said to do. could you please explain it again? thanks

[Alfons]

Hi again tjk, I haven't checked out any of the disks available here so I couldn't tell you - the file list that you posted looks ok but lets move along here. Go to THIS SITE (http://www.bootdisk.com/original.htm) and download the Windows 98 SE OEM file, then you'll need one blank floppy. Run the downloaded file either using the RUN utility or use Windows Explorer and double click on the file. This will make a bootable W98 disk for you (which is more use than the 95 bootdisk).

From your earlier post it looks like the computer saw the bootrecord on the hard drive, so you could just leave out the floppy and boot to the hard drive - you'll need to check this anyway. When windows starts, it could get a bit confused because it's just found itself in a brand new environment and will be looking for a whole bunch of new drivers - just cancel each request for now. This is just a first-boot-test.

Have you considered how you're going to get all the drivers downloaded and moved to this computer that's not on the network?

[tjk0123]

alright i went to that site, downloaded the bootdisk, and put it on a floppy. i put it in the computer and now it comes to this:

Microsoft Windows 98 Startup Menu

1.start with cd-rom support
2.start without cd-rom support
3.view the help file

should i do #1?

i have a modem from my old board in which i could use. i would have to do the jumper thing from the manual though right? it is a winmodem and i think i have the drivers on a disk. as for the others like the sound and the video, i can go to this site right?

http://www.eurocomla.com/m598_d.htm#M599LMR

[smurfy]

I've just d/loaded the bootdisk and put all the files onto a freshly formatted (using Win95) floppy disk and it booted fine.

Here is what is happening in your boot process...


Searching for boot record from floppy..not found
looks for Bootable floppy drive 1st, can't find one
Searching for boot record from IDE-0..OK
Looks for bootable Hard Drive - finds one
invalid system disk
Replace the disk and then press any key
Hard disk does not contain O/S bootable - not a "System" disk
Boot process halts.

Searching for Boot record from Floppy..OK
looks for Bootable floppy drive 1st, Finds one
Non-System Disk or disk error
Replace and strike any key when ready
Finds a disk in the drive but it's not bootable either

So the System is doing what we want it to, we just need a good bootdisk.

The file alfons just recommended will do the job as well but the trick it to fully format a floppy disk using Win95 or 98 1st, then coppy the files accross.

[tjk0123]

so is what i just did wrong?

[smurfy]

dangit, i type too slow.

OK, now boot with CD rom support and run setup from the Win95 CD.

[tjk0123]

lol

[Alfons]

Good work tjk, looks like you're in good hands with Smurfy. I'm going to shut down for tonight and will look in again in the morning to see how you're making out.

Have you figured out how you're going to get the drivers to your fixed computer?

[tjk0123]

ok i just ran into another problem. i chose with cd-rom support and it did its thing and i came to an A:\. well it said drive e was the cd-rom, so i typedE:\ and then i typed setup.exe and it started. well it got a little into the setup and and error pops up. it says:

Error SU-0013

Setup could not create files on your startup drive and cannot set up windows.

If you have HPFS or Windows NT file system, you must create an MS-DOS boot partion. If you have LANtastic server or SuperStor compression, disable it before running setup. See SETUP.TXT on Setup Disk 1 or the Windows CD-ROM

and then it says exit setup. what should i do now?

[Alfons]

OK, we'll have to have a look at your hard disk configuration and see how it was prepared because it sounds to me like it either wasn't prepared as a FAT16 or 32 drive or it hasn't yet been formated. Here's what you should do for a start:

Boot with the W98 bootdisk and at the A prompt it will look like:

A:\>

Make it look like this and then press ENTER:

A:\>FDISK

This will start the Fixed DISK Utility Program and you'll get a menu entitled FDISK Options and it will have four selections:

1. Create DOS Partition or Logical DOS Drive
2. Set active partition
3. Delete partition or Logical DOS Drive
4. Display Partition Information

You should select #4 which will give you the partition data relating to your hard disk. Write this down and then Post it for us.

For the time being you don't want to stay in this utility in case someone starts playing around with it, so you can press ESC until you're back at the A prompt and shut down.

[Alfons]

Just thinking about your problem and it may be that you've partitioned & formatted the drive as FAT32 and your version of W95 might not be able to see FAT32. When you look at the "Partition Information" you'll see what type of partition this is and if it's FAT32 then I'd suspect that to be the problem and the disk will have to be re-configured. If this is the case, then the max size for any partition will be approximately 2gigs with FAT16.

Anyway, please post all the following details:
1. Partition Information from FDISK
2. Make & model of your hard disk
3. Hard disk size

[tjk0123]

how do i figure those things out?

[Alfons]

how do i figure those things out?

1. Partition Information from FDISK

I've explained that - you do that with the FDISK Utility.

2. Make & model of your hard disk

All this should be on the label on top of your disk.

3. Hard disk size

If this isn't on the label, then I can find that out from the answer to #2.

[tjk0123]

1. ok for FDISK, it says:

Current fixed disk drive: 1

partition 1- Status=blank, Type= EXT DOS, Volume label= blank, Mbytes= 7, System= blank, Usage=%

C: partition 2- Status=A, Type= PRI DOS, Volume label=blank, Mbytes=4134, System= FAT32, Usage= 100%

Total Disk space is 4134 Mbytes (1 Mbyte = 1040576 bytes)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
above where some of those say blank, that means taht there wasnt anything listed under that category. and on partition 1 for usage, it only had a percent sign.

2. Quantum Bigfoot CY 525 series


3. Not for sure on this one.

sorry took so long, i fell asleep
:D

[Alfons]

Ok, somehow you have a very small partition right at the start of the disk and you're second partition is FAT32 which I'm not sure will be recognized by you version of windows. Do you know if you used FAT32 before or not?

I think that you should clean everything off and start over again. You can Partition it as FAT32 and if that doesn't work then you'll need to partition it as FAT16. I'll give you directions for FAT32 now.

FAT32 Partition & Format

1. Boot with the W98 Startup Disk.

2. At the A prompt, start the FDISK Utility

3. When asked if you want to enable large disk support, say YES.

4. Use Menu Item #3 to delete each partition one at a time.

5. You are now in Delete DOS Partition or Logical DOS Drive menu.

6. Here because we don't know if you have any Logical DOS Drives set up, select Menu Item #3 (Delete Logical DOS Drive(s) in Extended Partition).

7. If there are no drives to delete it will tell you so and if there are then delete one at a time and then return the Menu stated in #5 (You can use ESC to go back & if you go too far then select #3 in the main menu again - if you exit FDISK then start with step 2)

8. Then use Menu Item #2 (Delete Extended Partition) and remember that this is partition #1 and when it asks for the Label, just press ENTER since you have no labels.

9. When you're finished with the Extended Partition, then select Menu item #1 (Delete Primary DOS Partition) and remove it.

10. Now go back to the main menu and select #4 to see if everything is gone. If it isn't then remove whatever is left. If it is then we move on to the next step.

11. In the main menu select Item #1 and create a single partition that uses the whole disk and go back to the main menu.

12.Now select #2 and make this partition ACTIVE.

13. Now in the main menu select #4 again to confirm what you've done - you should have only the one Partition showing and it should be showing ACTIVE.

14. Now ESC until you're back at the A prompt and leave your floppy in the drive and restart the computer - your partition will not be set until you've restarted.

15.When it boots back to the A prompt, then make it look like this and press Enter:
A:\>FORMAT C:

16. When it asks for confirmation, say Yes.

17. When it finishes formating, restart and try installing W95.

I'll check in again in about an hour or so to see what the results were. If you still get the same message then we'll have to Partition it as FAT16 & I'll give you instructions then.

[tjk0123]

alright well i did everything you said and ran setup, it finished and right now i am currently in windows. now i have a 56k modem i could hook up but dont i have to switch it from a lan or somethin on the MB with the jumpers? or could i just use a floppy for the drivers? or if i get a list of all the drivers i will need, then download them to this computer, i can burn them to a CD-R

isnt this the site with the drivers i need?

http://www.eurocomla.com/m598_d.htm#M599LMR

for sound, video, and bios. right?

[Alfons]

Good work tjk and yes you'll need to download ALL of those drivers (you won't need the BIOS or the Flash Utility for now). Download them and see how big they are and if you do have a burner on the computer that you download to then you should have no problems, just burn all the files onto a CD and then use the CD to install them on your new computer. If there are any zipped files in this group it might be a good idea to unzip them before you put them onto the CD and I would put each one in it's own folder with a name such that you can recognize the drivers for what they are, like VIDEO, NIC, SOUND, MODEM, IDE, etc.

Are you comfortable in installing the drivers?

After this you should be ready to connect to the internet with the new computer and then go to the Microsoft Product Update site and get the latest pieces for your operating system. Then you can add all your applications and you're ready to roll.

Shout if you need more help.

[tjk0123]

alright ur not gonna believe this. here we go. well i downloaded all the ones from that site that i could. soem of them would not download. so i decided to go ahead and put the ones i had on a disk and put them on ther other computer. well things were going well and it said i needed to restart. well i went to restart and it sits there and doesnt do anything. so i held the power button down and then restarted. well then it starts goin and this pops up C:\windows\setupsound/s is invalid or soemthin like that and it froze up. i restarted and tryed again. well it didnt work. So the dummy me of course thought i would just format c: drive again and basically start over. well now im sitting at a screen that says:

Searching for Boot Record from Floppy..Not Found
Searching for Boot Record from IDE-0..OK

Invalid System disk
Replace the disk, and then press any key
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
so i got that windows 98 bootdisk in the drive and i still get the message. would did i do now? i knew i should have just asked for help. please help

[Alfons]

Are you sure that you formated the C drive and not the A? You appear to have a bootrecord on C and nothing on A. If you still have that file for W98 Startup disk that you downloaded the other night, then make another bootdisk & if you don't, then download it again and make a bootdisk, then try again.

Next time, don't be so quick on the draw with the FORMAT command, what you do in a case like that is go to SAFE MODE and remove the drivers so that you can restart in Normal Mode and try again (I think W95 has a Safe Mode, I don't have a computer handy that has 95 on it so I can't try it & see for sure). In W98 you use F8 to enter the "Mode Selection" Menu and you should tap F8 right after the POST phase finishes and hands over to Windows. You'll see a menu with various selections on it - one being SAFE MODE.

If you make it this far next time, you'll need one of the CTH experts to help 'cause I haven't used 95 for a very long time.

[tjk0123]

ok i managed to get back into windows. i reinstalled it. so im at the windows desktop right now. i dont think my floppy drive is working now. is there a way to fix it? the drivers at that site i posted before dont all work. i went to this site that i think has the same drivers

http://amptron.com/

what should i do next? sorry for keep messing things up
:(

[Alfons]

Tjk what are you doing at Amptron? The site that shows your MB drivers is HERE (http://www.eurocomla.com/m598_d.htm#M599LMR).

Now, can you give me a summary of what you were able to download and which drivers caused you the problem?

I'll download them as well to see what the package looks like but since I don't have your board then that will be about as far as I can go.

[tjk0123]

the video driver at the site u gave me in ur last post does not download. i have no idea how i got to the amptron site. i used the ones that i got from the site u gave me. i dont remember which ones i installed but i know i downloaded all of them.

[Alfons]

I also had a problem with the download of the SIS video drivers so we can leave that for a while. I'd recommend that you try to install the IDE driver & if that installs successfully, then you should try the NIC driver and lets see how those two go. If you continue to have installation problems then I'll see what I can find at PC Chips.

[Alfons]

I've got to go and take my turn handing out Haloween treats so I may not see your posts until morning. Good luck and take notes of what happens.

[tjk0123]

alright i tried installing the IDE driver and it started the setup and i went through a little bit, and then it gave me to options. it said it had driver for PIO or DMA. so i didnt know which one and did PIO. well it finished and asked me to restart. well i restarted and what do u know, it freezes. so nowi restarted and went into safemode. i went into device manager and removed what i just installed. so then i restart again and it loads windows normally and said drive d: is not accessible, it has been removed or soemthin like taht. now what did i do? so now i dont have a cdrom drive. and i dont have a floppy drive either that is workin. im still in windows. im getting very frusterated with this. things just dont seem to be goin my way. i guess you guys are gonna have to get me through this step by step. sorry once again

[Alfons]

Ok, let's try reinstalling the IDE driver in DMA mode. PIO = Programmed Input and Output & DMA = Direct Memory Access. If this doesn't work tjk, then I'll try looking for some stuff directly from PC Chips.

[tjk0123]

ok it installed under for the DMA mode and it did fine and im now back in windows. was i supposed to get my floppy and cdrom drive back when installing this? what should i do next?

[Alfons]

Go to the Device Manager and see what it has to say about your CD-ROM and FDD. See if there are any yellow or red marks against them and highlight them and check their properties. Windows probably needs to reinstall the generic drivers for these two devices.

I'd like you to see if you can boot from the floppy and if you can then select the "With CD-ROM" support to make sure that both devices work outside of windows.

Post the results on both topics.

[tjk0123]

ok i went to device manager, under disk drives, i only have one and that is the floppy. no marks or anything. i went down to floppy drives in device and still nothing. i tried restarting with the bootdisk in but it just loads back to windows.

[Alfons]

Regarding the Floppy:

1. While in Windows can you access the Floppy Drive through Windows Explorer? You'll need to have a disk in the floppy drive for this.

2. Check your boot sequence in BIOS if it's bypassing a working Floppy Drive. Is the Floppy the first boot device?

Regarding your Drivers:

1. I see a bunch of drivers available for download from the PC Chips site but they don't make any distinction as to board model so I have to assume that they've been using the same devices on almost all their boards (talk about cost cutting as well as performance cutting).

2. I don't have very much experience with PC Chips, so we will probably need some help from someone here that has worked with this manufacturer's products.

3. When we resolve your CD & floppy issues then we can try installing some of the stuff from PC Chips to see if it works any better.

[tjk0123]

1.what is windows explorer. if u mean just by goin to my computer where everything is at, then no i cant. if u mean to go to the start button, then to programs, and then to windows explorer, then yes when i go into it, it shows my floppy drive but when i try and acces it, a window pops up saying exploring - (C:).
then below that it says it is not accessible or if i have a disk in the drive it says it isnt formatted and asks if i want to do that now.

2.how do i check to see if it is bypassing it. it is the first boot i know that. if u mean at the beginning when it loads, it says checking for boot record from floppy, and it always says not found.

also i went to bestbuy and bought a networking card and a friend gave me a hub. so when we get the floppy working, could i hook the hub up and install the networking card. on the computer that im typing on now has cable. and also the networking card works under windows 95 too. thanks

[Alfons]

Hello again tjk, before you get too excited about connecting to the network, you really need to resolve the Floppy problem, besides you've got a Network Adapter as well as a Modem built into that motherboard so you really shouldn't need anything more than the drivers, but to get the drivers you need either the CD-ROM or the Floppy. As far as I know at this time you have neither.

Floppy Drive

This thread is getting very long and it's difficult to remember what you've tried and what you haven't, so I'd appreciate a summary of anything that you've done with respect to the Floppy Drive.

Did you try that drive in a different computer?

Did you try a different Floppy in your computer?

Do you get any Floppy Errors on startup?

Do you have it plugged in properly?

CD-ROM

The PC Chips site has a CD-ROM driver available but you can't get it without your Floppy or CD drive working and you also need your floppy to check out the CD-ROM, so you really need to fix this problem.

[tjk0123]

ok heres what i know about the floppy. at the beginning when this post started, i said i got this from a friend who had formated it. well he said that he formatted it because the floppy quit working. well you guys got me through it to where i was back in windows and the floppy did work. now how does this happen? what would happen if i formatted the hard drive and unhooked everything from the board, and cleared the CMOS settings. then start over like it was a brand new board. would that work?

i really do not want to hook the floppy up to the computer im using now. i just dont want to risk it and i dont have any other floppy drives to test. yes it is plugged in properly.

ok i just shut it down by holding the button down and then restarted so it would run through scandisk. well it went through scandisk, and an error popped up saying:

Cannot find a device file that may be needed to run Windows or a Windows application.

The windows registry or SYSTEM.INI file refers to this device file, but the device file no longer exists.

If you deleted this file on purpose, try uninstalling the associated application using its uninstall or setup program.

If you still want to use the application associated with this device file, try reinstalling that application to replace the missing file

vnetsup.vxd
press a key to continue
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
when i press a key the same error just pops up again.

all i remember doing before all this happened was installing the one thing in PIO mode. well i went back and deleted it(well i guess i didnt since all this is happening) and then reinstalled the DMA mode. would what i said above work? thanks

i can get into safe mode if thats any help...:confused:

[tb525]

vnetsup.vxd is for network components. Try this, boot to safe mode and go to Add/Remove Programs > Windows Setup.
Remove the check from 'Communications' and apply. Reboot

Can you boot to windows?

You must fix the floppy drive problem.. You cannot proceed any further until you do. (formatting does nothing to a floppy drive. formatting only prepares a floppy disk to receive data)

You need to test the floppy drive to make sure it works.

[tjk0123]

ok i went to safe mode, went where u said, unchecked it, restarted and i get teh same error.

i can only boot to safe mode.

any ideas now or anything else to try? how much are floppy drives(like average price)?

[tb525]

At places like best buy, circuit city, they are about $20.00

http://www.pricewatch.com They are $7.00

[tjk0123]

at that site, which one do u recommend? they all look the same to me. anything better about any of them? also i think i might need a new fan. i noticed one goes pretty slow and sometimes even stops. i dont want to overheat the CPU.

what about at this www.package2you.com site? maybe all go to bestbuy tomorrow and check them out. any ideas on ones to look for?

[tb525]

Any 1.44 floppy drive (internal) will do. If your CPU fan is stopping, You better replace it...

[Alfons]

Get your Floppy drive locally so that you've got someplace to go if it doesn't work and you won't pay shipping costs and also you won't have to wait a week to get it.

Take the Fan & Heatsink with you when you go shopping & get just the fan or an equivalent that fits. They usually come off by removing four screws that go into the heatsink.

Windows is probably looking for some of the driver pieces because of the "half installed" drivers. If you want to disable your hardware then read your manual, it explains how to enable and disable your built-in devices, so until you get all your drives working, you should disable all the stuff that you don't need so that it's not interfering with Windows.

[tjk0123]

well i checked out bestbuy and they were like $20. same at circuit city. so i just ordered online. if it turns out i dont need it, i can just use it for something else. i got a fan too. should all be here around thursday or friday.....hopefully

[Alfons]

Since you've got the fan off the CPU, take a close look at the cover and post the markings, that way we can be prepared to set up the proper clock frequency if it's not picked up automatically. Before you reinstall the heatsink on the CPU, you should remove any old "heat grease" or "heat pad" (this is a stick-on, like a piece of thick tape) and apply a bit of fresh "heat grease" - you don't need much and spread it evenly in a very thin layer and this will make a good thermal bond between the CPU case and the heatsink to improve cooling.

[tjk0123]

umm my fan was never on the cpu. i mean it isnt attached to the heatsink. u know what im saying? the fan was like in this plastic case, and it hooked on to the computer case. the fan was pointed at the cpu though. so what should i look at? the fan? or the cpu?

[Alfons]

The CPU please.

[tjk0123]

ok when looking down at the cpu(non pin side) it says:
intel pentium w/MMX tech.

the other side(with all the pins) says:
intel pentium w/MMX tech
FV80503200
SL27j/2.8V
A4
C7330403-0533

[tjk0123]

alright my new floppy and heatsink just arrived. what am i supposed to do now?

[tjk0123]

i hooked up the new floppy and go into safe mode, and guess what?!?!?!?! IT WORKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i can access the floppy drive now. so what should i do?

[Alfons]

Tjk, because this thread is so long and many things have happened, could you please give me a summary of what hardware works and what doesn't?

Then when you've done that, let me know what's happening with DOS (the bootdisk).
1. Does it start the computer?
2. Does it start the CD-ROM?

Then I'd like you to give me a quick summary of Windows.
1. How does it work?
2. What drivers did you install?
3. What devices are showing problems in Device Manager?

Then some other stuff.
1. What devices do you have enabled on the Motherboard? - for this you'll need to go through the manual and see what's jumpered to be Enabled and what's Disabled.
2. Compared to the BIOS description in the manual, what settings do you have now that are different? - give me the BIOS page title and the line and the setting that you have.

[tjk0123]

alright here we go...

my floppy drive does work now and it reads floppies. if i start the computer with the bootdisk in, it loads from the disk and ask me to start with or without cdrom support. if i do with, it loads the diagnostic tools and assigns a letter to my cdrom. it then comes to an A:\.

as for windows, i can only get into safemode. when i try normal, i get the following error:

Cannot find a device file that may be needed to run Windows or a Windows application.

The windows registry or SYSTEM.INI file refers to this device file, but the device file no longer exists.

If you deleted this file on purpose, try uninstalling the associated application using its uninstall or setup program.

If you still want to use the application associated with this device file, try reinstalling that application to replace the missing file

vnetsup.vxd
press a key to continue
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

now tb525 suggested me to uncheck communications in the windows startup. well i did but still no luck.

(now this is before, when i tried to install the drivers and before all the above happened)
the only drivers i tried to install was for the IDE controller. it said it had drivers for PIO and DMA mode. i tried PIO and it told me to restart. when it started loading after the restart it froze up half was through. so i went into safemode, and uninstalled the driver that i just had installed(well atleast i thought i did but i guess i didnt since im having all these problems). well then u told me to try and install in DMA mode. well i did and restarted, and it loaded windows and right when it was done, i got an error saying drive D is not accessible(which was my cdrom).

so i just left it there and at one point later on restarted it and i got the error that i mentioned above about vnetsup.vxd missing. so now im currently in safemode.

in device manager there is only a yellow question mark for the category "other devices." inside there is also a question mark next to the following:
PCI Card
PCI Communication Device
PCI Ethernet Controller
PCI Multimedia Audio Device

as for the motherboard, the devices that are enabled are:
onboard lan
fax\modem
audio

i have not touched any of those since i have had the board. they are the way they were when i got the board.

as for my BIOS settings, they are setup the way u told me to on page 4 of this thread.

now i dont understand what u mean by the BIOS page title.

thats it. thanks for all of your help.
:D

[Alfons]

Check CD-ROM in DOS

When you boot from the floppy, put a Data CD (like your installation disk) into the drive and then I want you to make sure that the CD-ROM will read the files on the CD (just to confirm that all the hardware is OK). Here's how:

1. At the A prompt, make your display look like this and then press ENTER:

A:\>E:

I'm assuming that the letter the bootdisk gave it is E - if not then use the assigned letter.

2. It will become an E prompt, then make it look like this and press ENTER:

E:\>DIR

This should cause DOS to display the Directory for what's on the disk. If you get a whole bunch of files and directories listed, then that's OK. If you get an error message then post it.


Remove IDE Driver

While you're in safe mode, remove the IDE driver that you put in.

Get New Drivers

Go to the PC Chips Site (http://www.pcchips.com/index2.html) and then select DRIVERS in the selection menu at the top of the page. When the drivers page is displayed you'll see all the categories as well as the Operating Systems that they're for. I'd like you to look in your manual for the device makes and download the drivers for the following:

1. Sound
2. VGA - I'd download both the AGP and the VGA for W98
3. IDE
4. Modem - the manual should tell you the name of the device. I think its Davicom but I'm not sure.
5. LAN
6. CD-ROM

Will you need both the Modem & Network Adapter enabled in your machine? If not then disable the one that you won't need.

Burn these onto a CD and try to install them in the following order:
1. IDE
2. CD-ROM
3. VGA
4. Sound
5. Modem and/or LAN

POST Results

[tjk0123]

ok i need to ask you something, i went into safe mode, and uninstalled the driver i installed before. well i still cant get into normal mode. i still get that error. so the only thing i could install, would be the IDE driver again. and also, the cdrom link at that site does not work. i could put the new IDE driver on a floppy and install that. but if i do that, which one do i choose this time if it asks me? PIO or DMA?

oh yeah, and for the LAN driver, which one of those do i download? all of them?

ok think i got another prob...i downloaded the IDE driver and extracted all the file to a floppy. well i tried to run the setup program from the floppy and it isnt working. i mean it says building somethin to help run setup, and when that is done, it just goes away. should i try the IDE driver for WIN98?

[Alfons]

OK, I found another site that might be better. This is a US based PC Chips associate called PC Wave and the page for their support etc is located HERE (http://www.pcwave.com/supportmainframe.html).

On this support page select Motherboard then PC Chips then Socket 7.

This takes you to a bunch of tables where you'll see your board listed as the first one on the Socket 7 table, click on that item and that will take you to the Download Page for that board.

You'll notice that the references to that board appear to be for W98, so that might be the problem.

If you go back to the PC Wave Support page, you'll see a menu item at the top of the display that's entitled Contact. When you select this you get a Contact Map for this company and I think that you need to ask them where you can get the drivers for Windows 95 for your board and explain to them where you got drivers before and what happened. In this map, you'll see one branch of the tree that leads to Support and under that you've got Mail Us, click on that and you'll get the Support Form - fill it in and submit it.

Let us know what the results are.

In the meantime, I think you should clean off the installation and start over again and you should get yourself a notebook and either make notes of what has been described to you or print the thread and highlight the important pieces because I don't feel like repeating myself, for example:
but if i do that, which one do i choose this time if it asks me? PIO or DMA?
I had already explained that you should choose DMA. OEM boards aren't easy to work with generally so I usually stay away from them because I always run into driver problems when I put the board into another hardware or software environment and trying to second guess the manufacturer remotely (as we're doing in this case) is even harder, so you need to pull your weight on your end of the line so that I don't have to write a novel of Possibilities for you.

[tjk0123]

ok i went to that site and tried to go to the mail us thing. well it asks for a user ID, and you have to have ordered something to get one. there is no way around it. i tried putting nothing there but it wouldlt let me.

what do i need to do to get a clean install? i mean step by step. is it what we did before with the partions and stuff? im sorry i just dont really know what to do. and after we do that, could we try the same IDE driver from the PCchips site? because i think it would have worked if i wouldnt have deleted that wrong thing in the first place. i mean if i do a clean install, will i get my cdrom back? sorry for this to keep dragging on and on.:confused:

[Alfons]

Tjk, please make some notes as to what to do in order to perform a clean installation because I don't think this will be the last one you do on this computer and I don't wish to re-do this each time.

W95 Installation

1. The first step is to Partition the drive, but if you're happy with the partition type (FAT32) and size, then you don't have to re-do this.

2. Step two is to format the partition that the OS is being installed on and you do this by booting from the Floppy drive with the W98 Startup Disk and at the A prompt you make it look like this and then press ENTER:

A:\>FORMAT C:

When it asks you if you're sure you respond with Y for Yes.

When it asks you if you want to enter a label, you can enter one or just press ENTER. The format will now finish and you're ready to install 95.

3. If you started with CD-ROM Support, then insert your installation disk and at the A prompt type SETUP and press ENTER.

If you didn't start with CD-ROM Support, then restart and select With CD-ROM Support and when the A prompt is displayed, insert the installation CD and type SETUP and press ENTER.

4. The last step is to babysit the installation and to answer the questions the way you did before and when it finishes, then you'll have W95 running ready for drivers.

Driver Notes

I was thinking about the problem that was created with the IDE driver and I believe that I understand what was happening. You see companies like PC Chips make their products for a very specific market place and not for general consumption, so the drivers that they provide only have to work with the hardware that they install and in many cases that I've seen and worked with, these boards and others like it have a very narrow tolerance to hardware that's different to that installed by the OEM. In some cases the computer won't even boot with the different hardware attached - that's why I find no pleasure working with these boards. Their Support is very poor as well. The only way that you will be able to contact them is to use that e-mail address that's just below the "Mail Us" selection, so you should do that and put all the information into your e-mail that they're asking for in the form.

I believe the problem here is that your CD-ROM requires PIO and installing the IDE driver with the DMA option appears to remove the PIO option for the CD-ROM, so it won't work. Since the Windows generic drivers appear to work and let you use both the CD and HD, we won't bother with the IDE driver and will start with the Video driver from the PC Chips site.

Let me know how this goes.

[Murf]

WOW

This is great Alfons deserves a CTH honorable mention for this thread.

Stayed out of it because he is in great hands, everyone needs to bookmark this thread as what a learning process for anyone that has not gone thru this.

Thx Alfons

I will just add that the error vnetsup.vxd can be eliminated (since he can get into Safe Mode) but uninstalling Microsoft Networks client.

To do this START | SETTINGS | CONTROL PANEL

Double click on the NETWORK ICON, highlight Client for Microsoft Networks and hit remove button.

This should eliminate the error. Also I find that sometimes booting hit F* get menu, select Step-By-Step, hit YES to everything as you go thru the questions, that it may boot up to Normal.

[tjk0123]

well i got back into windows, i have got the video driver installed along with the sound too. i have the IDE driver installed, and my new network card that i bought. i still need some help getting on the internet with it though.

also in other devices, there is one called ethernet controller, and still the PCI card one. how do i fix this? there was 2 ethernet controllers but one of them is gone now since i installed this new network card.

and yes MURF is right, ALFONS you were a great help.

thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!

[Murf]

OK, I will come in as cleanup, as ALFONS is taking a long needed rest, he will probably go out and buy a motherboard like yours, then do the "Bristle Stomp" on it to take out his frustrations..lolol.


Lets get the NIC working first. Did you get a CD with the Network Card? If so put it in and it should start by itself, follow instructions to install the drivers. If it doesn't start by itself, use Explore to look at the files on the CD and find either a Install.exe or Setup.exe and double click on it.

If you did not get a cd with the card, tell us the name brand of the card and model number so we can help locate the drivers.

[tjk0123]

ok, the board i got already had a lan adapter on it but no network card or slot if thats what u wanna call it. so i bought a network card and got a hub from a friend. i have the network card that i bought, in and installed all the drivers for it.

under other devices though there still in a PCI Ethernet Controller. i believe that this is the one that came with the board.

i have my cable modem plugged into the uplink on my hub, and i have cables goind from teh hub to both computers. on the HP i have got to the point where i can get to my documents and my printer on this computer that im typing on now. but i dont know how to get my internet to the HP.

[Murf]

1st you cannot use a "HUB" to network two computers to share a cable modem unless your cable ISP provides more then "ONE" IP address. For an example, I use COX.NET and in my area, if you want a 2nd IP address they charge you an additional $6.95 per month. Do you know about yours???

If you only get one IP address and don't want to pay for an additional one, then you will need a ROUTER instead of a HUB. If you get more then one IP then a HUB will work.

The LAN in the motherboard is the same as the Network Card you bought, you really didn't need the Network Card for the motherboard you just put in, however, does the other computer have a Network Card.

If you post you Internet Provider we can look and see if you get more then one IP address.

[tjk0123]

my ISP is RoadRunner(home page is http://help.rr.com/ ). i think it says that i CAN have it with out being charged.

you can go to here:

http://help.rr.com/getpage.asp?/faqs/e140_rr_mch_info.html?topic=Computer+Setup,selfhel p

i live in lincoln nebraska if u need to know that to acces the site.

[tjk0123]

ok i just found out that i DO need a router. would this one work?

http://www.bestbuy.com/detail.asp?e=11096538&m=488&cat=540&scat=1574

[Murf]

OK,
Appears that you get more then one IP so a hub will work. Where did you find out that you would need a router???

BTW: I just bougt that router at Best Buy, has a $10.00 rebate too and it works great and was easy to set up.

[tjk0123]

i just went to live chat support and talked to a tech. he said i would need a router.

[Alfons]

Good work tjk and thanks for the compliments from you & Murf.

The missing Driver that's needed for the "Ethernet" card is at the PC CHips site. The ethernet card is the same thing as a LAN or Network Card.

I didn't read that you'd installed the Modem drivers, & if you have not then they're at the same site.

Looks like you're almost done.

[Murf]

Well,

I have been thru the Roadrunner site as far as it will let me go as a "Non-Member" I cannot find if they charge for an additional IP: There is mention of a router here:

http://help.rr.com/getpage.asp?/html/nu_mking_most_brdband.html

If it will work on a hub, you will loose some bandwidth, a router you will not.

[Alfons]

I don't think that computer can use anywhere near the full bandwidth anyway, the only thing I'd check is whether the Hub can handle 10baseT or if it's a newer one that only handles 100Megabits/sec in which case it won't see that computer's communications - I believe the built-in NIC is capable of 10 Megabits maximum.

[tjk0123]

i went ahead and bought a router. read the directions and hooked it up. they are both on the internet. the hub thing just didnt seem to be working.

now about this other ethernet controller, which one is the driver for it at the pcchips site? i keep trying them all but dont seem to be getting anywhere. do i really even need it? thanks

[Murf]

Congrats,

Thats a good router, you will have to leave the router and the cable modem on all the time. If you shut them off, then you have to reset the IP address for the 2nd PC the one that is not hooked directly to the router from the modem. I leave mine on 24/7 but shut the PC's down at night (a personal preference)

If both are working and they both can get on the internet at the same time, then you do not need anymore drivers.

Are there any yellow nasty's in device manager in either PC?

[tjk0123]

nope none.:D :D i do have one last question. where can i get active desktop? it is on the win95 cd but i can get to it. one of the times before when i installed windows, right when i got into windows, it installed Internet Explorer 4.4 and along with that was active desktop. well this time it did not install it, and i installed IE 5.5 but it didnt have active desktop. i tried to install 4.4 again but it wont let me. any ideas?

[Murf]

GREAT - your done

Active desktop is part of Internet Explorer. Do not use IE 4.0, IE 5.5 SP2 is the best as it has all the security. Remember with a Cable Modem, once that PC is turned on you are ON-LINE, that router you bought has a built in firewall, so should not have any problems.

I would also suggest that once you get all the kinks out of the system, you install an additional firewall (software) Zone Alrm is free and a good one, I run on both of my PC's.

The reason is it will keep unwanted apps. from going outside.....Ports & Apps. what hackers need to get in.

Back to Active Desktop was included in the Desktop Update component with Internet Explorer 4.0, 4.01, 4.01 Service Pack 1, 4.01 Service Pack 2, and Microsoft Windows 98.

Windows 95 does not support Internet Explorer 6 so.

You must install IE4.x before upgrading to a later version of IE if you want the Desktop Update installed.

1. Uninstall Internet Explorer 5.x

2. If Internet Explorer 4.01 SP2 (the latest version of IE4) is not already installed on your computer, install it.

3. Install the Windows Desktop Update.

4. Reinstall Internet Explorer 5.x

You can get IE 4.01 SP2 HERE (http://www.sflu.com/download/)

[tjk0123]

ok if i went and downloaded zonealarm from downloads.com. do i need to install it on both computers or just 1?

[Murf]

BOTH

There is a difference of opinion as to wether you need a software firewall when using a hardware firewall (Router).. I prefer to be safe, and I have not noticed any difference in browsing or download speed because of it.

Here is a good article on it, that sort of convinced me:

http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/buyersguide/article.php/1460941

[tjk0123]

Ok im back once again. Everything is cool and all with the computers. except the speed of the HP. its pretty slow even loading webpages with a cable modem. kind of sluggish if thats the way you want to put it. what would be the cheapest way to speed it up? we never did configure the processor did we? do i need more SDRAM? thanks

[Alfons]

Tjk, that's all good to hear. I'd recommend that you start a NEW TOPIC. This one is getting way too long and it's getting different things mixed into it, it will be helpful to you and to those trying to help if the threads are kept a bit shorter on the same topic.