# "No operating system found" Windows 98 SE



## DoubleShot (Feb 1, 2007)

I have an old Gateway Select CPU with an AMD 800 MHZ, 30 gig Hardrive and I believe 256 RAM. This was a refurbished unit that I got from Ubid. It came with recovery disks that I have used successfully about 3 years ago. My son downloaded so much crap o his computer that it finally crashed again. When trying to use the Restore software this time, it froze. So I put in the Start-up floppy and when start-up got to the point of asking if I wanted to create a partition, I did. I have used Fdisk to make sure that the partition is active and it is. However, without the start-up floppy I recieve the "No operating system found" message and using the floppy after it runs thru the checks it eventually gets around to the A:/ promt. During the checks, it does not locate any of the drivers which is probably why I can't even do "setup" using the floppy and the Windows 98 se CD. I would like to get the computer to recognize the CD Rom so that I can put in Disk 1 of the Restore software and continue to "Write zeroes" to the hardrive and start over again with tis machine. Or at least be able to run "set-up" successfully. Are the drivers located on the start_up floppy, and if so, can they be installed or copied from there to the Hardrive? Any help is greatly appreciated, but keep in mind I am not very bright when it comes to technology.


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## rebelmusic (Feb 5, 2005)

Unfortunately it looks like Windows has called it a day on that comp and will need to be reinstalled


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## Mr. Peabody (Apr 13, 2003)

DoubleShot said:


> My son downloaded so much crap o his computer that it finally crashed again. When trying to use the Restore software this time, it froze. ...


Thank you for the thorough and concise description of the prob. As I read your post I got stuck on the quote above. My initial reaction is: the crash may not be related to how much stuff your son loaded. It may be a problem with the MOBO -- your computer may have died. I was little confused by your use of FDISK. I am thinking you deleted everything except the partition where the system was thought to be? If so, then I have never done that so I can't comment. If not, then I am wondering if you deleted the system from the disk entirely which would explain why it is no longer there. A reinstall isn't working which leads me to think that there might be something else going on -- something more sinister.

Mr. P


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## rugrat (Dec 17, 2001)

DoubleShot,

When you boot from the floppy it is probably loading a virtual drive. When you are at the A:\ prompt, try typing D: then type setup. If that does not work try E: setup. If you only have one partition on the hard drive and one cd rom it is probably E. Ensure the win98 cd is in the drive. If it still does not recognize the CD rom, get another boot disk here,
http://bootdisk.com/
Use the win98se disk and retry the process. Also take a look here,
http://www.windows98.windowsreinstall.com/#WINDOWS 98 SE INSTALL GUIDES
for detailed instructions

Let us know


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## Bob Cerelli (Nov 3, 2002)

Information on how to install Win98 can be found at:
http://www.onecomputerguy.com/install/win9x_install.htm

Included are the steps for FDISK and/or FORMAT


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## DoubleShot (Feb 1, 2007)

OK, I have formatted C: and even run a Scandisk on it finding no bad sectors. Still can't find the OS, I believe (but not sure) that before the Restore software froze, it may have already wiped out the OS, and for some reason the system is recognizing the CD Rom, while starting from the floppy it states that there are no drivers for the CD Rom. Have already tried typing the *C: setup and E:setup.* I believe if I could only get the CD Rom to function, I could put the Restore CD in and continue to write zeros to the HD and then re-install Windows 98. What say you?


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## blues_harp28 (Jan 9, 2005)

Hi try booting from floppy and type.
SYS C: [note space]
Without Cd Rom working no real chance of reinstallng Win98.


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## Bob Cerelli (Nov 3, 2002)

DoubleShot said:


> OK, I have formatted C: and even run a Scandisk on it finding no bad sectors. Still can't find the OS, I believe (but not sure) that before the Restore software froze, it may have already wiped out the OS, and for some reason the system is recognizing the CD Rom, while starting from the floppy it states that there are no drivers for the CD Rom. Have already tried typing the *C: setup and E:setup.* I believe if I could only get the CD Rom to function, I could put the Restore CD in and continue to write zeros to the HD and then re-install Windows 98. What say you?


Yes, since the hard drive was formatted, there wouldn't an operating system on it. Even doing a SYS C: isn't going to get you much farther in regards to installing Windows.

There is a boot floppy you can download from:http://www.onecomputerguy.com/install/floppies.htm#boot_floppy

The generic CD ROM drivers will automatically load. Hopefully it will then be able to assign a drive letter for your CD drive.

"for some reason the system is recognizing the CD Rom" - Isn't that a good thing. At least the system recognizes that you have a CD.

But you do have an option to be able to reinstall if you can't get the CD working, but it gets more involved. Means taking the hard drive out of the computer, putting it in another one, copying the source files to a directory on the hard drive. Then put it back, boot from a floppy and install from that directory.


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## DoubleShot (Feb 1, 2007)

OOPS!... I meant to say "isn't " recognizing the CD ROM since the drivers aren't there. Sorry. Will try downloading the floppy you suggested. Would it be any different than the "startup" diskett I created when I originally installed Windows?


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## DoubleShot (Feb 1, 2007)

Hey Bob, according to the directions, I am to download to the hard drive not a floppy. Is that refering to downloading to a secondary CPU since the bad one can't get on the internet?


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## Bob Cerelli (Nov 3, 2002)

You download the file, insert a floppy, then run the program.


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## DoubleShot (Feb 1, 2007)

*On a different computer, right?*


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## Bob Cerelli (Nov 3, 2002)

DoubleShot said:


> *On a different computer, right?*


Since you formatted the hard drive and can't boot to an operating system, then yes, I would recommend doing this on another computer.


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## DoubleShot (Feb 1, 2007)

*Thanks Bob... Let me ask you this, since I am more of a Techno-boob, I have heard some folks say that if you download bootdisks from a CPU with a different OS that the file extensions are different so the effort may not produce the desired results... any truth to this? I am using Win ME on THIS CPU.*


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## Bob Cerelli (Nov 3, 2002)

Never heard that one before.


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## DoubleShot (Feb 1, 2007)

*Thanks Bob, Can't tell you how much I appreciate your help... I will go ahead and download to the floppy, but it will probably be a couple of days before I have the time to mess around with that computer... I will let you know what happens... Again, thanks so much for your help.*


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