boot disk

i'm trying to restore a 486 i got recently. i did an fdisk, and now i'm trying to install win95. through the past few hours of torment, i've been unable to actually get a boot disk that will enable the cd-rom (it works, i've tested it on another system). i've tried downloading boot disks from dozens of websites and it still refuses to read the drive. i've installed it properly and nearly put an axe through the whole box multiple times now. please help. i want to be able to pop in the disk and install windows right away without any hassle of copying files over. i've done it before, but i just can't figure it out.

The boot disk must contain the cd rom drivers, an Autoexec.bat file to execute them and (I think a config.sys file) that contains some data so that the drive will be recognized in dos.

I just so happen to have an old win95 boot disk with the necessary files on it. If you like, PM me your e-mail address and I'll zip it up and shoot it too you, then you extract it to a formatted (empty) diskette and boot.

Is the CD-Rom's IDE cable connected to a sound card or to the motherboard?

Or is it using a controller card.

You can prolly just use a Win98 boot disk available here. Download the red one.

You will need to put a new floppy disk into the A:> drive and click on the file to create a Win98 boot disk.

Boot to this floppy and select start computer with CD-Rom support.

SPEEDO

Exact model and brand of your CD ROM?

if you need help with the DRIVERS, that basic information is needed

a Boot disk is nothing if it does not have CD ROM drivers

:t

"). i've tried downloading boot disks from dozens of websites and it still refuses to read the drive. i've installed it properly and nearly put an axe through the whole box multiple times now. please help. i want to be able to pop in the disk and install windows right away without any hassle of copying files over. i've done it before, but i just can't figure it out."

This is a common problem with 3rd party boot disks. drop me an email and I will send you the correct boot disk with instructions.

if you've got an extra cd that does boot then use it

after windows is in put the orig cd backand it will probably be fine

i've encountered a few cd's that floppies wouldn't boot and just did the switch

if you can give details on the drive we might be able to find the exact proper drivers to make a special floppy just for that cd

If the CD rom drive is connected to an IDE port on the motherboard (e.g. is a slave drive on the same cable as the Hard Disk) then :-

Your bootdisk should contain startup files aswell as a file called autoexec.bat and another file called config.sys.

you should also have a third .sys file which will be the dos CD rom driver. The exact name of this file will depend on cd installed but it is usually something like xxxxcd.sys

You will also need a file called mscdex.exe. This file will assign a logical dos drive letter to the CD rom drive when loaded.

In the config.sys file you should have a line that reads something like

device=xxxxcd.sys /mscd000

This is loading the device driver for the cd rom drive.

In the autoexec.bat file you should read a line something like

lh=mscdex.exe /mscd000

It now should work.

If on the other hand your CD Rom drive is connected to an IDE port on the sound card it gets a bit more complicated as the specific drivers and installation files will be contained in the Sound Card disks.

If you don't have the disks then you have a problem (*which can be overcome).

drive works fine on another system. cable is fine. jumper is fine. autoexec.bat is fine. config.sys is fine. it's a 4x creative labs cd-rom, using supported driver. booting without the cd in, still refuses to work. i've also tried another cd-rom with supported and generic drivers, still nothing.

latest test: i've used the bootdisk from the link speedo provided: no devices found, cancelling installation. i'm getting REALLY sick of seeing that message.

If your CD drive is one of the early 1x-4x drives it may be non-ATAPI compliant and require lines with very specific syntax in the autoexec.bat and config.sys files. Go to the assembler's website (if Gateway, Dell, etc) or go to the drive vendor's site for correct syntax.

If you have an ATAPI compliant drive (8x or better) you can install it with the dos drivers and go ahead to install windows.

Was this CD ROM already installed in this box? I ran into a couple of old 486s where I never was able to get the BIOS to see the CD. I too have a 486 boot disk with multiple CF drivers that 'usually' works - but not always.

(BTW, my solution in such cases is an external HD with parallel to IDE bridge so I can hook it up via the printer port. I keep Win95, Win98 and Office 97 installers on it. It has saved my rear dozens of times. I heartily recommend it to anyone who does much work on old machines.)

Take the CD drive out and look above where the IDE cable plugs in and see if it says IDE Interface Or Bus. If it says bus you will need special drivers.

Older drives do often need special drivers. Go here and download CD-Rom-God. I may have the drives and help you need.

Hey,
Use Windows 98 Boot Disk.
Look in the bios for mistakes you maybe did.:confused:

.......