Computer not working

[kbrooks08]

I have an hp pavillion 6360/ with windows 98 se. My computer is not working . When I turn it on it keeps telling me that there is a non-system disk in the drive, but there is not disk inserted. What should I do?

[Landon]

What happens if you boot with the boot floopy and then go to the C: drive then type DIR and hit [ENTER]?

[Alfons]

Originally Posted by kbrooks08

I have an hp pavillion 6360/ with windows 98 se. My computer is not working . When I turn it on it keeps telling me that there is a non-system disk in the drive, but there is not disk inserted. What should I do?

You have a problem with your Hard Drive, and the following possibilities come to mind:
1. Boot record could be corrupted or lost.
2. Drive has failed.
3. Your battery has died and the CMOS settings are lost.

Start the computer and watch the first couple of startup screens to see if it shows you anything for a Primary Master. If yes, the it's probably #1. If no, it could be 2 or 3.

To fix #1, you'll need something like a Windows 98 Startup Disk. Boot with this disk and at the "A" Prompt it will look like this:

A:\>

make it look like this and press Enter:

A:\>FDISK /MBR

note that there's a space between FDISK and /

To determine if it's #2, you can either first check for #3 or remove the hard drive and test it in another computer.

To determine if it's #3 (you should have received a message telling you that there was a checksum error and defaults were loaded, but if you missed it, you can check in the BIOS Setup Utility) you'll need to enter Setup - many computers use the DEL key to do this, just tap this key while the computer is starting. If it's a different key, you should see that stated on the FIRST startup screen, normally right after the memory test. When you enter this utility, post what the main menu selections are so that we can give you the next installment of instructions.

[kbrooks08]

Originally Posted by Landon

What happens if you boot with the boot floopy and then go to the C: drive then type DIR and hit [ENTER]?

i DOWNLOADED THE BOOTDISK. I put it in and turned on the computer, There is never a place to direct it to the C: drive. As soon as I turn on the computer there is a cursor in the upper left hand corner then it goes directly into saying that there is a non system disk in the drive. Any time a push a button it just keeps saying that. What should I do?

[kbrooks08]

I did go in and download a bootdisk, but when I turn on the computer I never get any prompts (A:>)so i cannot do anything. Do you have any suggestions?

Originally Posted by Alfons

You have a problem with your Hard Drive, and the following possibilities come to mind:
1. Boot record could be corrupted or lost.
2. Drive has failed.
3. Your battery has died and the CMOS settings are lost.

Start the computer and watch the first couple of startup screens to see if it shows you anything for a Primary Master. If yes, the it's probably #1. If no, it could be 2 or 3.

To fix #1, you'll need something like a Windows 98 Startup Disk. Boot with this disk and at the "A" Prompt it will look like this:

A:\>

make it look like this and press Enter:

A:\>FDISK /MBR

note that there's a space between FDISK and /

To determine if it's #2, you can either first check for #3 or remove the hard drive and test it in another computer.

To determine if it's #3 (you should have received a message telling you that there was a checksum error and defaults were loaded, but if you missed it, you can check in the BIOS Setup Utility) you'll need to enter Setup - many computers use the DEL key to do this, just tap this key while the computer is starting. If it's a different key, you should see that stated on the FIRST startup screen, normally right after the memory test. When you enter this utility, post what the main menu selections are so that we can give you the next installment of instructions.

[Landon]

Go into the BIOS (usually by hitting the DEL or DELETE key) during boot up and look for the boot order (Hard drive, floppy drive, CDROM drive) and change it so that it will boot from the floppy first.

Then after it's booted to the A: prompt try going to the C: drive and typing DIR.

[kbrooks08]

OK thanks I will try it.

Originally Posted by Landon

Go into the BIOS (usually by hitting the DEL or DELETE key) during boot up and look for the boot order (Hard drive, floppy drive, CDROM drive) and change it so that it will boot from the floppy first.

Then after it's booted to the A: prompt try going to the C: drive and typing DIR.