I hate fucking computers but i do need help please.

[GeorgeWBush]

I was given a computer it is from a buisness school well i took out the hard drive from the school and put my own in which had already been installed with windows 98se i know it works in my computer which i am using right now.

But when i put the hard drive in the computer i want to get working i get:

Invalid system disk. And when i use the start with cd help and have my windows 98 cd in and try and start it like i was installing the OS i get this.:

Setup cannot create files on your start up drive and cannot setup windows 98.

If you have HPFS or NTFS you must create an ms.dos boot partition. If you have LANtastic server or superstar compression disable it before running setup see setup.txt on setup disk or the windows 98 compact disc.

The hard drive i took out they do not have the password to open the program it had on it it came with windows 2000 proffesional built on NT technology.

I need to know what the hell i need to do to get my hard drive working on this damn thing if it is better then mine i will use it and sell mine to make a few bucks.

So if anybody knows what i need to do i want to thank you very much and i will check in later to see what anybody has to say.

 

[Weird Harold]

I was given a computer it is from a buisness school well i took out the hard drive from the school and put my own in which had already been installed with windows 98se i know it works in my computer which i am using right now.

But when i put the hard drive in the computer i want to get working i get:

Invalid system disk. And when i use the start with cd help and have my windows 98 cd in and try and start it like i was installing the OS i get this.:

Setup cannot create files on your start up drive and cannot setup windows 98.

It would help to know the brand and model of the computer, but it sounds like you didin't go into the BIOS setup and reconfigure the drive specifations to fit the drive you put in it.

Unless it's an older HP or Compaq with the BIOS setup functions hidden in the boot sector of the drive, you should be able to reboot and hit escape or F1 as soon as the POST (Power On Self Test) is complete.

Most BIOS's have an "auto" selection for the hard drive type or an "autoselec harddrives" function that will set the drive parameters correctly. If your BIOS has neither, you'll need to set the hard drive as "User Defined" and enter the heads and cyclinders information manully -- the information should be on the drive's label or you can find the info under the make and model of the drive at the manufaturer's website.

The Windows 98 installation on the replacement drive will probably not work correctly at first and will require some reconfiguration and device driver changes to match the hardware differences between the two computers.

 

[popcorn2721]

Hey man...you would probably do good to reset the password on the bios too. Just unplug the battery for about 10 seconds and it will reset everything.
As far as this drive goes....To get the most space and be able to use both drives,why dont you change the jumpers on the back so both are in cable select mode (designated by a CS above the jumpers on the back of the harddrive) and let the bios handle the rest. Your 98se install may work right off unless you have like a compaq or a HP and such...They had propriatery BIOS setups so I dont know if they will work.

 

[benwin]

On the second HD, which you took from school, need to config it as the slave, (by the jumper, little black plastic, near the cable ),the intruct should be print on the HD, and the original as master, also by the jumper.
After boot the computer up, depend on your computer, you need access to BIOS config ( combine the keystroke, Ctrl+Alt+Esc, or F2, or somthing else, depend on the manufacture ), you need to input the parameter of second HD, or set it as Auto) . Save whatever you change anh re-boot....
That's it.

 

[popcorn2721]

I thought on cable select both drives would be set by the bios...was trying to get him around the whole perameters setting ordeal cause if its a generic drive with nothing on the case he might find more trouble than hes looking for

 

[Weird Harold]

I thought on cable select both drives would be set by the bios...was trying to get him around the whole perameters setting ordeal cause if its a generic drive with nothing on the case he might find more trouble than hes looking for

The only problem with using CS is that most PC Motherboard BIOS's are configured to use Master/Slave jumper settings and won't recognize drives configured as CS.

If the BIOS will recognize a CS configuration, it certainly is simpler to set-up, butit's probably a moot point since I got the impression he's replacing the original drive instead of adding a drive -- a single drive should be set to Master/Single even for a BIOS tht recognizes a CS configuration.

 

[GeorgeWBush]

The model of the computer is one of those of brands MERIT and below it says work station.

I went into bios and it was set at auto for the hard drive and it still will not work it is pissing me off but i am going to keep working at it it may just start working if i play around with it for awhile.

But any suggestions are helpful.

 

[SkyyAngel]

You hate fucking computers....

so get a gf?

 

[GeorgeWBush]

so get a gf?

Why get a gf when i have a fuck buddy.

 

[Weird Harold]

The model of the computer is one of those of brands MERIT and below it says work station.

I went into bios and it was set at auto for the hard drive and it still will not work it is pissing me off but i am going to keep working at it it may just start working if i play around with it for awhile.

But any suggestions are helpful.

A dumb question, but are you sure the drive is properly connected?

How big is the "new" drive and how big was the "old" drive.

Does the BIOS have a separate setting for the drive "format" -- standard, LBA, and one other "high-capacity" setting I don't recall off-hand. Depending on how old the BIOS is, it may not support a drive bigger than 4GB.

Do the drive parmeters show up in the BIOS with the drive set to AUTO and which drive do they describe if they do. You may need to force an auto-detect by changing it to something other than AUTO and then changing it back to get the right drive parameters loaded.

The problem still sounds like the new computer isn't reading the same drive parameters that were used when formatting and configuring the "new"drive.

Do you have a Win98 "Emergency Boot Disk" and will the new computer boot from it? If it will boot from a Win98 EBD, you may be able to use FDISK and FORMAT to erase the old partitioning and formatting to reformat it so you can load Win98 from the installation CD.

You may need to seduce a geekette or buy a geek a case of his favorite beverage to get the system working. Or you could just take it to a computer repair shop and let them get it working.

 

[GeorgeWBush]

A dumb question, but are you sure the drive is properly connected?

How big is the "new" drive and how big was the "old" drive.

Does the BIOS have a separate setting for the drive "format" -- standard, LBA, and one other "high-capacity" setting I don't recall off-hand. Depending on how old the BIOS is, it may not support a drive bigger than 4GB.

Do the drive parmeters show up in the BIOS with the drive set to AUTO and which drive do they describe if they do. You may need to force an auto-detect by changing it to something other than AUTO and then changing it back to get the right drive parameters loaded.

The problem still sounds like the new computer isn't reading the same drive parameters that were used when formatting and configuring the "new"drive.

Do you have a Win98 "Emergency Boot Disk" and will the new computer boot from it? If it will boot from a Win98 EBD, you may be able to use FDISK and FORMAT to erase the old partitioning and formatting to reformat it so you can load Win98 from the installation CD.

You may need to seduce a geekette or buy a geek a case of his favorite beverage to get the system working. Or you could just take it to a computer repair shop and let them get it working.

I have gone into bios and messed around with everything and still nothing and i do have emergency boot disk and it will just do the same as if i was trying to load it from new and the hard drive is 4 gb the old i can not find anything on how big it is i do know it has a intell motherboard that comes up on the screen before it has all the other stuff on it and it does show the right hard drive whn i have it in.

I may just take it over to my brothers and see if he can make it work.

 

[Weird Harold]

I have gone into bios and messed around with everything and still nothing and i do have emergency boot disk and it will just do the same as if i was trying to load it from new ...

I may just take it over to my brothers and see if he can make it work.

What does FDISK say about the partitioning? Will it even recognize that the drive is there? Does it report the right drive size?

It sounds like taking it to your brother might be your best bet. Problems like this are often some simple thing that is overlooked and a fresh set of eyes is often the solution.