# cannot install windows on older system



## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

I was wondering if you might be able to help me. I picked up a working 4.3GB hard drive on Saturday and tried installing windows 95 and even 98 after that on an older system. I did all the formatting and what not. It is an old AST Advantage Adventure 4050d with a 486/66 system, 4 MB RAM with 32 MB extended, 2x CD-ROM, and it meets all requirements for installing both operating systems. The computer is an all-in-one (monitor built-in to the CPU). I can get Win 95 installed, but it freezes on the first reboot, as does Win 98. I tried step by step confirmation as suggest on Microsoft.com and that doesn't work. When I restart the system again, the entire hard drive erases. I cannot find anything on the internet for this. Maybe you know why this is happening. Is there too much memory for the system? Is there a built-in program on the computer that affects the installation? I have no idea what to do from here. Maybe you can suggest something to try, you would know better than I. I just want to use the computer to screw around with, nothing big. Thank you for your time.


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## JohnJ (Apr 25, 2001)

WELCOME TO TSG

I since you only have 32mb of RAM I would say too much memory is not the problem. If anything I'd get more.

Do you have any trouble formatting the hard drive? And how are you going about doing it (boot disk or during the windows setup)?

When you say the hard drive erases, what exactly do you mean? I assume you are receiving an error at some point. Could you tell us what errors you are getting if any??


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

i was told to use a windows 98 startup disk with cd-rom support to boot. the hard drive formats fine. 

i don't get any error messages, win 98 freezes (hangs) on the logo screen and on the mouse.vxd command in the step by step confirmation (doesn't matter if choose yes or no). when i restart the computer after freezing, it says invalid system disk and i have to reboot using the startup disk. when i check the hard drive after rebooting, it says there is nothing in it (using the c:dir command). there is no label, nothing. 

win 95 installs and then reboots for the first time. sometimes it goes all the way to detecting plug and play devices then it freezes up. most of the time though it hangs on the "running windows for the first time" screen.

i have tried three different hard drives, 250MB and two 4.5GB. so i know they aren't the problem. i just don't know what it could be since i have all the requirements needed to install the operating systems. i just think it may be the computer itself. i read somewhere that it may have a built-in anti-virus program, but i wouldn't even know how to go about finding that out. 

i also saw at a website that my computer cannot have more than 36MB of RAM. i think it may have 8MB built in, so i would have 40MB total i guess? not sure if this is a big deal though. i guess i could try installing win 95 by taking out 16MB of extended RAM. let me know what you think before i do this.

thanks for the response.


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## JohnJ (Apr 25, 2001)

It's worth a shot (taking out the 16mb). After all you won't be any worse of than you are now.

During the POST (when the computer first boots) you should see on the screen somewhere to press a button to enter setup. (most of the time it's either F2 or Del) You can check around in there for the builtin anti-virus program. You may bealble to find information about how much (if any) RAM is built into your system.


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

when i go into setup, the options are very limited. unlike the computers of today, you can't do a great deal within setup. i guess i can check it out again. i will take out the 16MB and let you know how i make out. thanks again.


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## JohnJ (Apr 25, 2001)

I had trouble installing windows 98se on a system the other day. I was about to give up then for some reason, I formated the drive with a Windows XP installation disk. After it formated the drive I stopped the XP installation and went back to installing Windows98. For some reason it worked. Not sure if that will help you any but if you have a newer version of Windows, you could try it??

Good luck!!


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

well, i just tried installing win95 by taking out 16mb of memory. this didn't work either. the system installed the os and rebooted, configured some files, then all of a sudden switched to a screen that said "you may now shut off your computer or cntrl alt del to restart". it was like the shut down screen. so i restarted and the win95 was gone, nothing on my drive. this is so wierd, i don't know what to do. any suggestions? thanks


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## mobo (Feb 23, 2003)

The antivirus you were told about would be in the system Bios. To enter it press the del key on bootup and look for it to disable..


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

i think it may have to do with the system recognizing the hard drive. it won't format the larger disks right. no matter which drive i put in, it verifies during format at 405.2 MB. no idea why this is. i am gonna try the smaller one again and see what happens. any ideas about this???


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## mobo (Feb 23, 2003)

You'll have to set the drive to LBA in the bios as well.


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## mobo (Feb 23, 2003)

To set the Large Block Addressing in the bios enter it and click on standard cmos setup. Then highlight the primary master and then the modearea. Use the page up/down keys to select LBA then esc and f10 then reboot.


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

no go, win98 freezes at the same spot. step by step confirmation i can get only to msmouse.vxd and then BAM! just like that the damn thing freezes. i am getting so flustered, i just don't know what else to do. any other thoughts?


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## mobo (Feb 23, 2003)

Can you try hooking up a different type of mouse on this pc and retry..


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

Do a scandisk in DOS.
that will 'mark' any un-useable bits on the Hard drive,
then try the install.
There may be some bad sectors throwing it out.


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

Oh, and put that ram memory back in,
suggest you go for 95 (95b i hope)
you wont like 98 at 66 Mhz,
its far too slow, it wants new fast stuff !

Win 95b isn't too fast at 66Mhz, but its not too bad,
except for loading pictures, then it tends to drag a bit.


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

do you think it has to do with my mouse? i have a newer mouse connected. i will have to try an older one somehow. i don't understand though why win95 does the same thing, though it makes it farther in setup. i have no idea. i will try 95 again.


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

no go...again. same things happen no matter what mouse is in. win98 freezes on startup, win95 takes me to the shutdown screen upon restart, then erases the hard drive. any other suggestions? i am open to anything at this point. thanks.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Pull any add in cards....modem, sound, anything removable....and I doubt that it is erasing the hard drive.......not following you on that one


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

and have you run scandisk ?


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

my boot disk looks for two cd-rom drives, since i have two installed D: and E: D: says it is named MS-RAMDRIVE. what is this? c: is my hard drive, e: is cd-rom, what is d:?? this could cause problems?? any ideas??


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

nevermind, i'm an idiot


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

well, i made it farther than ever tonight. made it past detecting plug and play items, then it paused on error screens. one was desktop, can't access folder, path too long. the other was not enough memory to start OLE32.dll and winhlp.exe. quit some programs and try again. then it froze up, i restarted it. had to use the boot disk. ran directory of c: and there was nothing in it, no label. said there is 332 Mb free on disk, though it is a 425 Mb drive. could there be hidden files or something there? i am at a loss right now. help me!!


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## greengeek (Jul 5, 2003)

I would use fdisk to delete the partition(s) and then create just one partition then format again.


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

i have been using fdisk with one partition. i tried it again, installing win95, and i made it to a line that said, "cannot read registry, try to copy registry and restart". though i couldn't copy registry at all. then i had to shut it off. this is the farthest i made it so far. i am not too familiar with registry stuff. anyone have any ideas?


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

> _Originally posted by Brenster4:_
> *said there is 332 Mb free on disk, though it is a 425 Mb drive. could there be hidden files or something there? i am at a loss right now. help me!! *


I thought you said it was a 4. something gig drive? Sounds like you may need to install the software overlay on it.

Go to Maxtor's website and download their software, boot with that disk and the software will tell you whether the bios supports it or not.....


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

i used the smaller drive because this was the only one that was recognized in setup. the two 4.3 gig drives were not recognized. so i thought i would just try to install on the smaller one. i will try the maxtor website though. thanks!


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

when i format the hard drive, it never writes the file allocation table, why is this? this may be why win95 does not install?? any thoughts?


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Not following you there. You run fdisk, set the active partiton, then format c: correct? Tell us the EXACT steps you are taking and what choices you are making. Does it give you the choice to enable LBA?


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

ran fdisk, set active partition, then ran format c: it says warning, you will lose all data, etc, i say do it anyway. it formats to 100%, then asks me for a label. then it gives info about my drive, saying its formatted and ready to go. then i try to install win95. i can enable LBA in bios, thats it.


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

it only formats 331.73M of a 4.2 GB hard drive. whats up with this?


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## greengeek (Jul 5, 2003)

Does the drive work properly in another computer?
Have you tried a different start up disk?
I fix a lot of 486s but have only come across something similar once before but that was found to be a faulty power supply or it might have been overloaded power supply, he had two hard drives and two CD drives crammed in there!


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

the drives work fine, they were all from working systems. the bios does not recognize the hard drives over 1 gb, so the only one i will try is the 425MB. this hard drive is the original from the computer and had win3.1 on it. 

i tried using a win95 startup disk as well. i used fdisk and format with that and it still gives me the same problems. can i update my system bios? if so, how is this done? the one in there now seems very old. all i want to do is get win95 installed and thats it. it gave me a fatal error last time i tried to install, right after the plug and play detection. thanks.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Go to Maxtor's website and see if you can't download an older version of EZ-Bios. Get that on a floppy disk, then use that to set the drive up with. I wouldn't recommend trying to flash the bios on that machine, you could ruin it. If you can't find the older version of the Maxtor software, email me your email address and I'll zip a copy and send it to you.


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

used ezbios and worked great. when i install windows, it has a problem reading registry and says error loading explorer.exe, you must reinstall windows. now what? i know nothing about registry. anything?


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Did Windows install completely????? (and for others following along, I emailed Brenster4 a zipped copy of an older Maxtor utility)

Here's some MS stuff:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=306599

http://support.microsoft.com/defaul...port/kb/articles/Q172/3/78.asp&NoWebContent=1


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

nope, this happened on first restart.


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

system has problems with reading the registry after hardware detection. it says to reinstall windows. any registry ideas?


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

You might pull any extra hardware that may be causing problems, then run the installation again.


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

pulled everything possible already...sound cards, modem, etc.


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## JohnJ (Apr 25, 2001)

Could faulty RAM be causing this for some reason?


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Faulty ram can do a lot of funny things.......

Can you tell us the EXACT message you are receiving?


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

hey hey, i am back! i am gonna give it one more go with this yet. i installed windows 95 on a clean system again and after the first restart i get the following messages....

error loading explorer.exe you must reinstall windows.

i then click ok and it shuts down the computer. it restarts and then says "invalid system disk. replace the disk, and then press any key"

when i put in the start up disk, it starts to the command prompt screen. when i check the directory of c, it shows no files in it (empty).

back to square one it takes me again....


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

At the a: prompt, type Fdisk, choose option 4 and tell us what it says there.


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

partition 1, active status, non-dos type, no volume label, 2045 MB, blank system, 100% usage

partition 2, blank status, non-dos type, no volume labe, 2060 MB, blank system, 100% usage

total disk space is 332 MB (1 Mb = 1048576 bytes)

that is it...thanks


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

You need to redo that. Run thru fdisk and format again.

Some helpful info:

http://www.hexff.com/win98_install.html


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

that worked well up until the first restart again. i got a message saying there is a problem with the registry. then the following error message popped up:

ERROR INTIALIZING THE CACHE. SHUTDOWN ALL PROGRAMS AND RUN SCANDISK OR CHKDSK. DELETE THE CACHE COOKIES AND HISTORY DIRECTORIES IN YOUR WINDOWS DIRECTORY AND THEN RESTART IE. IF THE PROBLEM PERSISTS REINSTALL IE.

Then it said, NEED TO RESTORE REGISTRY, so i clicked restory registry (only option) and it said PROBLEM WITH REGISTRY, REINSTALL WINDOWS AFTER SHUTDOWN.

That is where i am as of now.


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

when i partition and format using ez-bios, i enable the 32-bit transfer, LBA, etc. after i format and restart the computer, i hit the control button and it takes me to the ez-bios screen about the drive. everything looks ok, except the 32-bit transfer is disabled though i enabled it before. i don't understand this and could this be why windows is not finishing setup? i am not familiar with this, but i thought the 32-bit is important for windows. any thoughts here?


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

What boot disk are you showing EZ-Bios for the operating system you'll be installing???


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

win95 boot disk...not good??


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

> _Originally posted by Brenster4:_
> *
> total disk space is 332 MB (1 Mb = 1048576 bytes)
> 
> that is it...thanks *


Which hard drive are you using for this install? The smaller one can't use FAT 32.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Can you do the fdisk, option 4 again and post what shows there?


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

i am using the 4.3 GB hard drive. i will fdisk again for you. i thought it partitioned the drive into two and used the first partition, which was about 2.1GB as the C: drive. does that sound right? i won't be able to check that until later this afternoon. thanks again.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Yes, but hopefully it shows other than your last post. Should say Active, primary dos, FAT 32.


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

i tried a different boot disk of win95. this helped to set one partition on the drive. it is a fat32, primary, etc. i tried to install windows 95 again. on start up i got the following error message:

Msgsrv32 caused a general protection fault in module sysdm.cpl at 0001:00008be3.

Then i had to shut down...

the drive formatted verifying 4,104.81MB.


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

i tried it again, partitioned perfectly and formatted. this time, upon restart, it takes me to a black screen that says:

you can now safely turn off your computer. if you want to restart your computer, press control+alt+delete.

i have no idea....


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

In the bios setup, any antivirus program set to run there?
And your first error message was after windows completely reloaded????


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Also, if you have any add in cards, modem, sound, etc. pull those out for the install.


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

i pulled all the cards and modem out already. there is no anti-virus in the bios. there is not much to the bios to begin with. the first error message is after windows boots up, it starts detecting the hardware and plug and play devices, then i get the error message. last night i tried it again, got the msgsrv32 error said there was an error in setupx.dll. that is where i am at right now. i even tried to use the 425MB hard drive in place of the 4GB. the same error message occurs, so its not the hard drive.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

What hardware is it detecting? 

Also, it appears you have a different message, can you post the exact wording? There are a variety of setupx.dll error messages.


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

Msgsrv32 caused a general protection fault in module setupx.dll

no hardware is actually detected. the message that it is preparing to detect hardware and plug and play appears. the setupx.dll file could be damaged, but i wouldn't see how, since both win95 and win98 both do not install. thats why i think its the bios or something with the computer itself. 

i even tried installing win95 by taking out 16MB of RAM. i still received the same msgsrv error message.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

This may not work, but can you try restarting the computer, tap the F 8 key, do you get a menu where you can choose to start in safe mode? If so, try that.


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

if it would be an anti-virus problem, how would i even know? is it evident in the bios? like i said, there isn't much in there to begin with. i think i would notice something in there. is there specific wording to look for?


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

no, i can't start in safe mode. the computer won't let me. i tried that a while ago. sorry!!


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Usually in the bios it is identified as Trend Micro scan on startup, or something simlar. Probably with the older machine, it's not there.

You don't have anything plugged in externally yet do you? Just mouse and keyboard?


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

just the original mouse and keyboard. i pulled the modem and sound card, thats all i have done so far.


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

no scan in bios either


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Ok, this may be a wierd thing to try....but unplug the keyboard and mouse, restart the computer and see if you can get it to start up without them. I am hoping you won't get a keyboard error that says hit F 1 to continue, never could figure out that error message  I have not keyboard, how can I hit F 1 to continue


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

i do get the wierd error. says to hit F1 to continue or delete to do something else...yeah, that doesn't seem possible. the keyboard error does not allow me to go any further.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Ok, try with keyboard, leave mouse out of picture, just trying to see if we can get any further.


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## griffinspc (Nov 16, 2001)

I just skimmed this thread and if you don't mind me jumping in, is this the original Windows95 installation disk or is it possibly a knock off? No accusation here just want to verify that it's a legit disk without missing installation files.


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## griffinspc (Nov 16, 2001)

One other question; In the BIOS settings does this old machine have a setting for plug and play vs. letting the machine decide the addresses? Probably not but you never know.

Also in relation to candy's post, does it have a setting that gives you the option to stop on all errors or not. If so set it to not and then Candy's test may run to a full load.


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

it is the original win95 disk, no burnt CD or anything. there is nothing in the BIOS for plug and play, etc. there hardly is anything in the BIOS at all. 

as for the setting, i am not sure about this. does what have a setting, the computer? setup? and which test? the disconnecting of the mouse?

thanks for the interest in helping, i appreciate that!


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## griffinspc (Nov 16, 2001)

Sorry, in the BIOS there might be a setting for "stop on all errors"


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

i will check again but i am 99% sure there is no setting. i won't be able to check until later this evening. thanks.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

I wish I had that computer in front of me


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## griffinspc (Nov 16, 2001)

One more thing. I don't recall seeing any mention of the CMOS battery. If this old puppy has been sitting the battery may be as dead as a door nail which means it may be forgetting all the info you're feeding it as soon as you move on.

My day for battery suggestions.


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

Hi,

I dont think the cmos relies on the battery while the PC is
powered up, but it does when the supply is removed.

So if the battery is poor, it may revert to default after
powering down.

John


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## griffinspc (Nov 16, 2001)

Agreed to a point john but during the installation the machine is required to re-boot. Just thinking here (always dangerous) but I'm wondering if at that point he's losing it.


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

True, the stop / starts would do that.
Another thing that occurs to me is,
that the clock would not keep time.
It may not even run on a flat cmos battery.
So every start up it would say Sun 12 Oct 1994,
which i just made up.


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## griffinspc (Nov 16, 2001)

Probably a block battery with a 2 pin connector to the mobo. You don't see those much anymore.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

You'd be surprised what john can dig up griff


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## griffinspc (Nov 16, 2001)

Throw a dog a bone huh!


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

i tried installing w/o the mouse...no luck. it froze up on a windows mouse support screen. it says:

windows did not detect a mouse attaced to the computer. you can safely attach a seria mouse now. 

then it froze. restarted it and it said invalid system disk, replace the disk and press any key. when i boot using boot disk, i check the c drive and there is nothing, no label or anything anymore. it is partitioned still, but the format has been undone or erased.


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

battery seems ok i guess, the clock is perfect, if though its been unplug alot.


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

new error after installing. it starts detecting hardware, them BAM!

ERROR LOADING EXPLORER.EXE.
YOU MUST REINSTALL WINDOWS.

how do you like that? i think my next step is to toss the entire CPU out the window....


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

can you prevent it from looking for hardware ?


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

hang on,
it erases stuff from the C drive without permission ?


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

you got that right. i can't do anything about it.


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

this happens,
or appears to happen,
immediately after Win95 starts looking for hardware ?


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

yes, it makes me turn off the computer, or restart, and then when i check the c drive after it starts back up, nothing is on it and the label is blank even though i just formatted before setup. very wierd...


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

yes,
that is odd.
i will have to have a think about that.

Does it run DoS ok ?
Have you or can you get Win3.1 on it ?


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

i did not try. win 3.1 was in it before and it was horrible. that is why i want to try win95. i didn't try to reinstall.


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

yes i have to agree 3.1 is a pain to use,
yet some people get on with it ok.

I ask because win95 can be installed over 3.1
usually with no problems.

but you may have wiped it all off first,
i just did an over-install,
and it was ok.

I assume it runs DoS with no problems ?


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

> _Originally posted by Brenster4:_
> *new error after installing. it starts detecting hardware, them BAM!
> 
> ERROR LOADING EXPLORER.EXE.
> ...


At this point, do you have a choice to click ok? If so, are there more details?


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

dos runs fine, no problems at all. 

when i received the explorer.exe error, i can click ok. when i do, it take me to a dos screen saying:

SHUT DOWN WINDOWS BEFORE RESTARTING. USE CNTRL, ALT, DEL TO RESTART.

i can't do anything on this screen but restart or shut off the cpu.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

This is bizarre. Can you do the fdisk, option 4 again and be sure that it says the correct stuff there?


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

fdisk:

partition= c: 1
status= A
Type= PRI DOS
vol. label= (blank)
MB= 405
system= FAT16
usage= 100%

this is the small hard drive, 405 MB. this is also after the install, makes the volume label blank.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Why are you using FAT 16? The volume label is no biggie, did you give it a name? I usually leave it blank anyway.........


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

i gave it a name to see if it would erase, which it did. FAT 16 is being used because the hard disk can't use FAT 32 and the windows95 version said it doesn't need 32, only 16. FAT 32 didn't make a difference anyway, when I used the 4.2 GB. i am going to switch drives and put the 4.2 back in.


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

new error with 4.2GB:

EXPLORER CAUSED AN EXCEPTION C0000006H IN MODULE KERNEL32.DLL AT 0137:BFF847A6.

then it made me shut down and it erased the entire drive again.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

DUH, that's right. Lol. I'm the one who said you couldn't use Fat 32 on the small drive to begin with......brain on vacation yesterday.

I don't know what to think at this point, so many different errors usually points to a motherboard or ram problem.

I simply don't understand how the drive is being erased though 

Let me pm someone to see if he has any ideas.


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

First thing that occurs to me here is that your extra RAM may have a fault in it. You said there is some built in, plus extra added.

Pull all the extra RAM and just leave what it came with. We can start putting the extra back in later if everything works.

Do NOT use the Maxtor disk - just use the Windows floppy and the 400 meg hard drive. Run FDISK and wipe every partition that is there. After rebooting (FDISK will tell you to reboot after you remove them, make sure you do) create one FAT16 partition on the drive. You will be told to reboot again - make sure you do! Now format the drive using the /S option (format c: /s) and give it a label. Take a DIR of C and make sure command.com is there.

Now, power off and let it sit for a few minutes. Power back on and make sure it boots from the C drive. As long as it does, go ahead and boot from your Windows startup disk again and let setup run and see what happens.

The extra steps in here, by the way, are to make sure the drive is being setup correctly and not being wiped by something other than the Windows setup.


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

I THINK WE GOT IT!!!! i took out the extended RAM and followed LarryCore's steps. it kept going and going past the detecting hardware screen. i think it was faulty RAM. it is pretty slow, but win95 is installed nontheless. where can i get extended memory that i know will work? this will speed things up i am sure. 

i am so excited that we got it! i am gonna play around with it a little. i will get back to you. i have many thanks to pass along! thanks again.


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

What kind of memory is it? 72 pin FPM?

If it works one chip at a time I would suggest (after you are sure it is working as is) that you put one chip back in and play for a while, then the next, etc...


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

i will try one at a time. it is 72 pin FPM.


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

this RAM is no good. each one will not let the cpu start up. any ideas where to get better RAM? i have 4MB now, could use 24-32MB more. there is a max of 36 i think allowed.


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

Crucial RAM for AST


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## HermanJ (Jun 23, 2003)

On those old motherboards you need to set up the parimiters of any hard drive you put in, listing the cylinders heads and sectors. If I remember corectly.


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

> _Originally posted by HermanJ:_
> *On those old motherboards you need to set up the parimiters of any hard drive you put in, listing the cylinders heads and sectors. If I remember corectly. *


Well, that varied from board to board back then - some had auto detect, but most didn't. However, I'm not sure why you are bringing it up at this point... The 400 meg drive is working fine and he has the Maxtor utility to use for larger drives. Perhaps you are not familiar with the Maxtor program? It allows drives that won't normally work with the BIOS to work just fine via software placed in the boot sector of the drive. It was made back in the days when this type of BIOS was common, specifically to get around the 512 megabyte limit that so many of them had. It has evolved over the years, allowing 40 gig drives to work with BIOS's that have 32 gig limits, etc... but this type of machine was its original purpose.


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

Hi Larry,

Nice to see you're still about.

John


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

I'm never too far off... A bit too busy to watch the forums myself, but available via PM if you feel the need.


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

Cheers,
Good to know !

John


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## HermanJ (Jun 23, 2003)

Thank you Larry . It semms that I forget a lot . and I dont have all that much experance anyway , but in the late ninties I still normaly neded to do the settings myself . the BX motherboards did not have auto setup for hard drives. at least the early ones didnt. And its true I had never used the max blaster soft ware untill two weeks ago.


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

> _Originally posted by HermanJ:_
> *Thank you Larry . It semms that I forget a lot . and I dont have all that much experance anyway , but in the late ninties I still normaly neded to do the settings myself . the BX motherboards did not have auto setup for hard drives. at least the early ones didnt. *


If the people who worked for me read what you just said they'd happily tell you that my memory is an absolute mess  I'm especially bad with dates - I don't remember when the BX was out, so I'll happily take your word for it being the late '90s.

How's that old saying go? Something about being smart doesn't mean knowing everything, but knowing where to find it. Sometimes I have to dig real deep into the dregs of my mind before the answers appear


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## HermanJ (Jun 23, 2003)

The BX boards came out with the p11 350 and 400 cpus in 1998 . I remember because I paid so much to upgrade at the time.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

> _Originally posted by Brenster4:_
> *this RAM is no good. each one will not let the cpu start up. any ideas where to get better RAM? i have 4MB now, could use 24-32MB more. there is a max of 36 i think allowed. *


Thanks Larry for coming to my cry for help 

Brenster, with this statement, I'm wondering if you are trying to start the machine with one chip at a time. I could be wrong, but if that is the case, you may need memory chips installed in pairs, thus the reason for each not starting


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

> _Originally posted by AcaCandy:_
> *Thanks Larry for coming to my cry for help
> 
> Brenster, with this statement, I'm wondering if you are trying to start the machine with one chip at a time. I could be wrong, but if that is the case, you may need memory chips installed in pairs, thus the reason for each not starting  *


No problem.

It's a 486, which usually works in banks of 1. Just checked the crucial site and it says the machine has 2 banks of one - so no pairs on this one.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Thanks again Larry


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

thanks again to everyone who helped me out in installing this operating system. i really appreciate all your help. your responses were fast and efficient! i was honestly ready to give until it finally worked. who would have known what a mess faulty RAM could cause!!

can i install an additional hard drive, possibly the 4.2GB, or is that out of the question? the space is just too small using the 425MB. let me know what you think. i won't try until i hear back.

thanks again, i greatly appreciate it!!!!!!


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

Now that we know the problem was RAM, I don't see why not.

That Maxtor disk you have probably has a duplicate option in it, so if you hook up a bigger drive while the old one is in there, then boot from the Maxtor disk it will not only install the overlay, FDISK and format it, but will duplicate your 400 meg drive, so you won't have to install Windows again.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

And just for the record, if the overlay is installed on one drive, it must be installed on the other drive too. The Maxtor utility is pretty user friendly, so it will alert you that you need to do that too.


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

i don't think i can install two hard drives at once without taking out the cd-rom. there is one IDE cable connected to the board to the cd-rom, then to the hard drive. there is no other place for an IDE cable. maybe i should just use the 425MB and be done. any thoughts?


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

here's something wierd that just happened with my other computer using win98. in my computer, it shows three (3) cd-rom drives, though i only have two. i can't use the d: cd-rom which is the first one listed. it isn't doing any harm that i can tell, but i don't think it should be doing that. also, i am getting an error when i shutdown or restart saying:

EXPLORER.EXE CAUSED AN ERROR IN MODULE KERNEL32.DLL.

this error varies with this error:

EXPLORER.EXE CAUSED AN ERROR IN MODULE <unknown>.

it varies which one shows up. the computer then shuts down after i click OK. this is wierd.


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

1) If the other computer problem keeps happening, start a new thread for it - trying to work on two machines in one thread is just too confusing.

2) As for this machine... well, of course, it is your choice. You don't even need to hook up both drives if you don't want to, though. You could just hook up a big one and install Windows on it as if the 400 was never there. I just thought copying the 400 would save some time. And there is nothing wrong with hooking up two drives while the copy happens - when it is over just hook up the big drive and the CD instead of the two drives.


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

Thanks Larry. So if i put the large hard disk in place of the cd-rom and boot from it, windows will copy from the smaller disk? i would prefer doing that than putting in win95 again. i am not too familiar with this.


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

You boot from the Maxtor floppy disk that AcaCandy sent you. If what she sent you is not bootable I can get you a link to a bootable version.

So, both drives get hooked up and you boot from floppy. The program asks what you want to do, you tell it you want to setup the big drive, then it asks if you want to copy the old one or not. Say yes, and when done, unhook the small drive, hook up the big drive and the CDROM and the big drive will boot right up - it will be an exact copy of the smaller one.


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## Brenster4 (Sep 22, 2003)

i could use the link please....thanks again.


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

Well, I would have preferred to PM it, but you appear to have that turned off. Anyway, here it is:

EZDrive

Save this to your hard drive then double click on it and it will create a bootable floppy. Boot from it when both drives are hooked up and it will setup the new one and copy the old one for you.


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