win9x installation on blank harddisk-----

[eshort]

need the DOS commands and order to install win9x on a freshly fdisked-formatted (ie totally blank) hgardrive.....i know there is a way to copy the cdrom to a folder on the hardisk but need the dos commands/syntax and order. Is there a microsoft support page explaining how to do this??

also- tried to use win98 cdrom bnootdisc to enable the cdrom but all i get is the message "cdrom device not found"???!!

Comput= Compaq Armada 3500 notebook (PII-366).

thanx..

[GroundZero3]

didn't the laptop come with cd rom drivers? i would go to the compaq website and look up your laptop. they should have the dirvers on there site. laptops cd roms can be real picky with drivers and a win98 will not work on them. at work i was trying to install drivers for a Dell laptop and it would not take the win98 drivers. hope that helps

JaYsin

[GroundZero3]

i did some quick searching and i hope this site helps you out
http://www5.compaq.com/support/files/notebooks/us/locate/3_983.html

JaYsin

[1Kahuna]

eshort > Before installing an Operating System on an Armada 3500 you must install the non-Dos partition on the hard drive. Some techs might feel comfortable calling this the BIOS but Compaq calls it Setup. You will need Personal Computer Diagnostics (SP12906) and Computer Setup for Portables (SP8975) available from this link > http://www5.compaq.com/support/files/notebooks/us/locate/3_991.html ; In order to install this non-Dos partition properly, you must boot up to the Personal Computer Diagnostics diskette then choose Manage Diagnostic Partition\Create Diagnostic Partition; During the process of creating the non-Dos partition, you will be prompted for Computer Setup for Portables, just stick it in the floppy drive & press enter .. You will be instructed to switch back & forth between both disks a couple times before the non-Dos partition is successfully installed; afterwards just swap in a Win 95 OR Win98 Start-up disk & power the laptop OFF & then leaving the Win9X disk in the floppy > Power Up; At this point eshort, you need to partition the balance of the hard drive using the fdisk utility .. Do NOT delete the non-Dos partition you just created .. after partitioning the hard drive then format the hard drive using the format utility using this command > format C: /S ;now it's time to install the CDRom driver better known as a real-mode driver using SP8384 available from this link > http://www5.compaq.com/support/files/notebooks/us/locate/1_991.html ; BEFORE you install the real-mode CDRom driver using SP8384 make sure you create an empty autoexec.bat & config.sys file from the C: prompt. Download SP8384 into a clean directory on another computer then double-click on SP8384 to extract it into that directory. There should be a makedisk.bat file in that directory after you extract the file. Have a formatted floppy disk ready & then double-click makedisk.bat & the necessary files will be transferred to the floppy disk. Go to an A: prompt & type CPQINST and press enter; the necessary files should be installed on the hard drive to make the CDRom drive accessible BUT you will need to Reboot; after rebooting you should be able to access the CDRom drive by typing D: or E: depending on how you partitioned the hard drive; just type "Setup" without the quotations once you have accessed the Win9X CD in the CDRom drive.

Life is journey .. Enjoy the Ride
1Kahuna

[Worm]

If the HD has been formatted it HAS to have a primary partition, otherwise there's nothing to format. You should have created a startup disk before you started. Go to another computer and make a startup disk, most cdrom's can be loaded with atapi drivers. Find a copy of the file atapi.sys or idecd.sys, put it on your startup disc, along with mscdex.exe Add to your config.sys
Device=a:\<idecd.sys or driver fil> /idecd001
in your autoexec.bat add
a:\mscdex.exe /d:idecd001 /l:d

use the startup disk and copy the files to your HD and run them. Enjoy, it can be a real pain in the ****.