cd-rom disappeared after formatting c drive

[cliffmom]

Due to problems, I had to format drive C. I have windows 3.1 0n the machine now, but I want to go to windows 95. Of course the installation disk is a cd, and although win 3.1 shows I have a d drive in file manager, it's not seeing it. My cd-rom is a crmcFx120T and the machine is a Gateway P5-166. I have also installed IDE158.exe, but no dice. It says driver device not found...MTMIDE01. Also help with the config.sys file to make sure it's in right. OH PLEASE HELP!!!!!

Much appreciated...Cliffmom2006

[Alfons]

Try using a W98 Startup Floppy Disk to get things going, it has a number of generic CD-ROM drivers for IDE as well as SCSI so one of them should work.

If you don't have a 98 boot disk then go HERE and download the Windows 98SE OEM file and save it on your hard disk. Then using RUN, execute that downloaded file and it'll prompt you to put a floppy into the A drive and it'll proceed to make you a bootable disk. Label it & boot your 3.1 computer with it and see it it will find the CD-ROM. If it does, then you can put your W95 disk into the drive, change to that drive as your command prompt and type SETUP and press ENTER and you should be on your way. If it doesn't, then post and we can probably point you to some other drivers & give you instructions on how to add them to the boot disk.

[cliffmom]

Alfons,

I did all that...the cd-rom shows up as E...however, when there's a cd in there, the light flashes but I don't hear it running. It worked fine until I formatted the c drive. Anyway, when I type "setup" at the "E" prompt, it tells me "bad command or file name". Are we getting close to it working?

Cliffmom

[Alfons]

This is a W95 Installation CD? At the F prompt take a look at the directory like so:

F:\>DIR

and press Enter and you will either see a bunch of directories and setup.exe displayed or you'll be told that it can't read the disk. If the latter is the case then you've got a drive that has control electronics that respond properly but the optics or the read electronics don't. You can try a CD-ROM head cleaner or a new drive.

If you see SETUP.EXE displayed then try to run it again, it should work.

BTW how many disks or partitions do you have?

C will be your primary active partition
D will be ?
E will be your RAM drive that the Startup Disk made (temporary place in memory for storage of some startup stuff).
F will be the CD-ROM.

[cliffmom]

ok, here we go.....the letter "F' gives me a line that states Invalid drive specification. It looks like I have an "A' drive (floppy) a "c" which of course is the hard drive, and win3.1 shows a "d" . In the Win 95 installation cd, there was no setup.exe when I looked at directories. Holey Moley, what's next, coach???

Cliffmom

[Murf]

Go HERE

Download the file IDE158.EXE to a floppy

Now go to your floppy drive in DOS and type the following

ide158.exe

Now type SETUPD and press enter.

Follow the instructions on the screen
Reboot the puter with this disk

Should load your cdrom driver.

[Alfons]

Is this an Installation CD or a Recovery CD? If it's a recovery CD then it may even be bootable and it's also machine model specific and shouldn't be installed for different make/model.

As far as I know, the Microsoft Installation Disks - all the way back throught the DOS OS's, Win 3.X, 9X, all of them have SETUP.EXE, so if you don't have this file in the root directory on the CD, then you don't have an Installation disk. Do you know what system this was meant for?

[cliffmom]

Good morning Alfons and Murf....

The disk I used was a win95 upgrade. After booting, and before it gets to the floppy drive in DOS, I get this "No valid CD Rom drivers selected. Then the A: prompt appears. When I type D:, the D: prompt appears. Then, with the win95 upgrade disk in, I type in setup.exe, and it brings up a screen that shows I'm trying to install Win 3.1. Do I format to get rid of everything and start all over? Do I not put in Win 3.1 to begin with? Is the disk not the right one? Or is the cd-rom toast?

I have to go to work today, so I won't be able to do anything until I get home tonight, but I want you guys to know that I appreciate what you do here. You guys RULE!!

Cliffmom

[Alfons]

Hi cliffmom, did you try Murf's suggestions? From your description the standard OAKCDROM.EXE driver that's called for the CD-ROM isn't compatible, so you need something different there to get DOS to see the drive. The executable that Murf has suggested should do the trick for you.

[cliffmom]

Alfons or Murf...

After viewing the notes before installation (which I have already done) it reads as follows:

Known problem: Device does not work correctly under the following configuration....Win for wordgroups 3.11. (which is what I have installed)
32 bit Disk Access
32 bit File Access.

It says to disable one or the other. Which one and how do I do that? Or what's the next step?


Cliffmom

[jtdoom]

Hi

run sysedit (which you find in windows\system)

in system.ini
look for
[386enh]
in there, look for
32bitdiskaccess=1
set it to 0

save
shut windows
reboot

[cliffmom]

I have no such line in my config.sys file. Can you tell me, based on all the info I've given you so far, what and how this config. is supposed to read? Keeping in mind I have win 3.11 installed.

I'm sure glad you guys aren't giving up on me!!

Thank you,
Cliffmom

[jtdoom]

the 32bitaccess line is in system.ini, not config.sys

you can also get to the setting in control panel, where you should have an icon for enhanced settings.
and there you dig some to find the option.

I thought that sysedit was easier, not only because I cannot exactly describe (nor remember) how I got to the settings in control panel, but mostly because I still knew what the setting was called in sysedit

btw, sysedit is a good tool to edit or remark the lines you need for CDROM access.
in autoexec.bat and config.sys you can copy and REM lines for later re-use
REM stands for remark, and was oft used to not process what is in the line.
you can also use ; in config.sys/autoexec.bat

An ; in front of a line causes it to be skipped, and that ; is what one used in win.ini and system.ini
you do not use REM in these files

sorry for my flemishness.

[jtdoom]

went back to memory lane...

choose the 386 enhanced icon from the control panel.
Select the virtual memory button, and then the change button in the dialog box that appears next.
At the bottom of the dialog box the "use 32-bit access" checkbox should appear.
if checked, uncheck it

if greyed out, you do not have the capability, or you installed western digital drivers for controller and have two hard drives of different makes.
(you can sometimes find wdctrl in system.ini... I recall that the two 32bit modes clashed, western digital driver make 32bitaccess option dissapear for all hard disks when you mixed hard disk brands )

[cliffmom]

My apologies, I did not find that line in system.ini and I obviously typed config. sys. Annual Christmas party last night, need I say more? Hahahahaha!

Ok, I'll try again.....

Thanks
Cliffmom