problems installing 95

[OldSkoolEX]

ok heres the story..

ive reformatted the computer and now when i start it up it immediately says non system or disk error, replace and strike any key. i cant get past that to do anything. ive tried putting a boot disk in and not having any thing in it at all, the message still comes up and wont go away. if a disk is put it and you hit a key it will check the disk then just say that again.

[Jim Smith]

ok heres the story..

ive reformatted the computer and now when i start it up it immediately says non system or disk error, replace and strike any key. i cant get past that to do anything. ive tried putting a boot disk in and not having any thing in it at all, the message still comes up and wont go away. if a disk is put it and you hit a key it will check the disk then just say that again.

Why did you reformat the hard drive and what command and which boot disk did you use?

Could you boot with that boot disk before you reformatted the hard drive? Can you boot with that boot disk on a different computer?

[OldSkoolEX]

i dont have a boot disk :(

i was told i wouldnt need one but i guess that was wrong. i tried making a boot disk for 95 B from bootdisk.com but its not working. ive managed to get into the bios setup but there dosnt seem to be anything i can do in there.

oh btw.. the message isnt non system or disk error, sorry. it says invalid system disk.

[OldSkoolEX]

i spose for a plan b i could drop in another hard drive. dont know if itll work though, havent tinkered with the other pc in ages.

ive been wanting to switch pc cases and add some extra ram anyway, what do you guys think? should i try the other hd?

[Jim Smith]

i dont have a boot disk :(

i was told i wouldnt need one but i guess that was wrong. i tried making a boot disk for 95 B from bootdisk.com but its not working. ive managed to get into the bios setup but there dosnt seem to be anything i can do in there.

oh btw.. the message isnt non system or disk error, sorry. it says invalid system disk.

"Invalid system disk" MS knowledge base reads:

Your computer may be infected with a boot-sector virus such as the AntiCMOS.A virus.
Your computer is running an anti-virus program.
Your computer is using hard disk management software (such as Disk Manager, EZ-Drive, or DrivePro) for hard disk geometry translation. These tools provide support for large hard disks (more than 1024 cylinders) when your computer's Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) does not support large hard disks.
Windows Setup was unable to copy the system files to the hard disk.
Security software has disabled access to drive C.

If you have a known working extra HDD (that does not have an Overlay program) I would install it. Can be difficult with old low profile cases as the drive is not readily accessible. If that is the situation, merely disconnect the power connector and IDE cable and reattach to the new hard drive which may be lying on top of exposed metal in the case, which will ground it.

Get a Windows 95 (and 98 startup (boot) discette with CD-ROM support), make sure the new HDD is jumpered to Master, boot with the 95 boot disc, run fdisk (fdisk /mbr and make a Primary Active Dos partition) run format c: /s, reboot with the 98 boot disc, and run setup.