Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: coop2 on November 27, 2001, 11:44:00 PM
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Ok got my new computer physically put together, but now I'm struggling getting windows 98 to work. First of all my system is as follows (its almost exactly like ammo's)
Mobo- Epox 8kha+
CPU- AMD XP 1600
HD- IBM deskstar 10 gig 7200 rpm
CD-ROM- some generic one
Sound- Soundblaster 5.1
Anyways, I tried using the windows emergency boot-up disk from the last computer I bought back in '98. And I dont think it worked to well. Anyways, If I dont insert any disks the computer goes through all the components and the says "verifying DMI pool data" or something like that and then says "missing Operating System"
What do I need to do to get windows going? Windows 98 is only gonna be temporary until XP gets delivered in the mail.
thanks for your time guys
coop
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You can try going into the BIOS and making your CD-ROM drive one of the bootable drives. Then hopefully you'll be able to boot off the Windows CD and go from there.
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1. Test whether you are booting from a floppy: in BIOS, check that "look for floppy on boot up" is enabled and a "Floppy" is featured somewhere in the boot up sequence.
If it's not enabled the computer will not look for it to boot up from.
2. If it's all enabled - floppies do go bad - looks like your disk is screwed. Get a working copy, it's totally irrelevant which version produced the disk - all you need is a "BOOT-UP WITH CD-ROM support" option, fdisk and format.
3. Some version of 98 (I think full versions rather than version upgrades) are shipped on bootable CDs - go back into BIOS and enable "Boot from CD" option - no need for a floppy.
Not trying to patronise but do you know what to do if your HD is unformatted?
:)
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Like the other guys have said Coop, Go into bios (F8 at startup) and go to the tab where you assign what drives the computer boots from in order. make the CD Rom first, and have the Win98 OS CDROMin the tray. It should go straight into setup and you just follow the directions. I used Win2K and that is how I did it.
CONGRATS man!! I know you were looking fwd to getting that thing together.
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Please do yourself a favour and put Win2k or WinXP on that machine! It would be a CRIME to put Win98 on that machine. A crime I tell ya.... If there is some reason you NEED Win98 and can't live without it... do a dual boot setup or something. We can help you with that too.
You'll love the stability and performance of XP. If you have a newer video card (not a voodoo) I'd go XP for sure.
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Ok went throught the BIOS and got the computer to use the CD-ROM to upload windows. HOWEVER, It seems as if while loading it up it forgot to upload a very important driver called " ventbios.vxd " Since it wont upload I can't install any of my video or sound card drivers. A buddy is bringing over the full version of windows 2000 in a little bit so I wont have 98 on for much longer. Anyways, do i have to uninstall 98 before I can put on 2000? Or can I just go through add/delete programs?
I have to live with windows 2000 for a few weeks beause PacBell dosen't support XP yet for their DSL routers so XP will have to wait until they do.
thanks
coop
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You should definitely format the drive before you install 2000. Can't install XP because of DSL routers? That sounds fishy. Shouldn't make a difference.
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Ok please dont laugh at me but how do I format? I noticed when I was checking out windows 98 it said my hard drive was only 2,150 megs when in reality its 10 (or 20 I forget) anyways I thought it asked if I wanted to format before putting on 98 I am pretty sure I clicked yes. Anyways how do I format ?
As for not supporting XP. The lady on the phone said that the router would not work with XP *YET*. I just thought it was because they needed to adjust the drivers.
thanks
coop
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Make a Windows Start-Up floppy before you do anything. Then reboot with the start-up floppy. Boot-up with CD-ROM support. When it gets to the A: prompt, type in "format C:" It's say something like "You will lose all data on this disk Y/N" Type Y, and let it run. After it finishes you can install your OS.
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2000 setup will do a complete reformat for you, no need to go through a seperate process. Did your MB come with Software? Did you load it prior to (attempting) to load the OS?
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ammo you and I have the EXACT same mobo. I did not load any sofware up before putting on the OS. The only software on that disk was drivers for the USD and the onboard audio, neither of which I need. Am I missing something? Did you load up the drivers before installing your OS?
coop
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Boot from a floppy and at the A:\ prompt type format C:/Q, and confirm <Y> when it asks.
The /Q switch performs a quick format, when it completes and asks for a partition name type DISK1_PART1 and hit enter.
Then at the A:\ prompt type c:\ and hit enter, you will then be in the C:\ drive, type MD W98 and hit enter and then type CD W98.
You will then be in the W98 directory you created with the MD command, type COPY D:\WIN98 <if D:\ is your CD-ROM drive> to copy the Win98 setup files and CABS to your hard disk, then type setup.exe and complete the install.
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Originally posted by coop:
ammo you and I have the EXACT same mobo. I did not load any sofware up before putting on the OS. The only software on that disk was drivers for the USD and the onboard audio, neither of which I need. Am I missing something? Did you load up the drivers before installing your OS?
coop
Doh, I knew that and even knew that right after I hit "send" :) I was on my way out the door. The only software i loaded was the 4in1's and the onboard sound that came with the CDrom. I don't know why you are having that issue with Win98 but i do agree with Leph, dump 98 if ya can. I am not fond of 98 now that i have used 2000 for several months. It is sooo much more stable than 98. I understand that XP is good too, but 2000 itself is a really good OS.
Jihad has show'ed you how to reformat. Now a question for him and others. If coop just puts the Win2K CDROM in the tray, reboots the computer, and setup kicks off, will it not do a complete reformat at the prompt and load 2000? Will this not be a clean install?
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Shit...........Cant get windows 2000 to load. It says it is an invalid disk or something like that. It tells me to insert a valid one and then press any key, and that is as far as I get. I dont know why I'm getting this. I did a complete reformat and everything.
This fricking computer is already starting to piss me off and its only a couple days old. Any suggestions? Anybody wann just fly out to california and do it for me :)
Someone throw me a fricking bone here please..... hehe :)
thanks
coop
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That's probably not a bootable CD. You might want to try using a bootable floppy. Then pop in the CD and try installing win2k.
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bloom I have the bootable floppy for windows 98 do you think I can use that? But even when the bootable floppy works it just loads up some stupid drivers than it takes me to DOS where I get stuck. I hate DOS. No matter if I pick boot up with CD-ROM or w/out same result.
coop <---lost and angry
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Yep you've run into the problem I dislike most about W2K and XP, if you don't have a bootable CD they both suck. :mad:
To install from DOS is possible, at the A:\ prompt type D:\ ,then type CD D:\I386, then type WINNT.EXE to begin the install.
W2K or XP only have the 16 bit exe option when installing from DOS. :(
Make sure the floppy you boot from loads smartdrv.exe or it WILL take all day just to copy the setup files to your hard disk. I suggest you make a custom boot floppy with smartdrv.exe, edit.com, and any other files you might have need of.
I had to make a custom floppy with ASPICD.SYS, ASPI4DOS.SYS, ASPI8DOS.SYS, and customized CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT using edit.com in order to load real mode SCSI drivers.
When I tried installing XP this week (my first try) the CD-ROM was losing data due to the amount of files it had to copy for XP setup and I wasted a whole day trying to figure it out.
With my custom floppy now all I have to do is format, make a couple of directories for the ASPI files and copy them over to my drive.
I've installed XP twice this week trying to figure out how to gut some of the MS trash out of it, it's a fairly nice O/S but 1.5 GB is absurd for a clean install, when I figure out the MS install options I'll let you guys know. ;)
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Dunno - I installed quite a few W2Ks with Win98 bootable floppy. The sequence of actions is as follows:
1. boot up with a floppy (CD-ROM support!);
2. at A:\> prompt type E: <Enter> - I assume that D is a virtual drive created by booting up from a floppy and E is a CD-ROM drive (next available letter);
3. E:\>setup <Enter> - Bob's your uncle, W2K setup fires up, asks all sorts of daft questions and ~ an hour later you're done.
Variations on the above:
It may not like a brand new HD. You need to run fdisk and create a partition before it will format!
From a:\> type fdisk <enter>; do you wnat large disk support? Yes you do. Option 1 ("Create partition"), select max size available, wait for partition to be created, exit fdisk, re-boot and follow from 2. above.
Unless you create a partition on a HD it will give you "bad disk" messages - as far as it's concerned there's no disk there...
When setup fires up and loads it's shedload of useless drivers it'll ask you whether you want to setup Windows in the partition you've created. Say "Yes". Would you like to format it? "Yes" again and format it in NTFS not FAT32. After that the setup is going pretty much on it's own asking only for CD key and language/keyboard/time options.
BTW, if you have an opportunity to format disk at friend's W2K/XP machine - it would be better as you can select the size of cluster down to 512 Bits (default is 4096...)
As for reporting wring dis size - you're either looking at 2MB (not GB!) virtual disk created to house all the setup drivers for Win98 from a setup disk or it's a very old version of Win98 which couldn't "see" more than 2GB (I tried 98Lite with Win95 shell - free space was reported at 2GB on a 46GB HD :D
Oh - welcome to the wonderful world of computer building. It looks scary and confusing at first... ;) After a few re-builds it will be just confusing :D
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Hmm I thought all W2k setup cdroms were bootable..
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Every Win2k CD I've used is bootable.
Be sure you have your BIOS set to boot from CD, and you may still have to press a key to have it boot from the CD. Setup will run automatically, and you can det up the partitions and such you need from within Win2k setup. Be sure to delete any existing paritions, and install Win2k to an NTFS formatted one.
If for some reason you can't boot from the CD, you'll have to do as was suggested above, and boot from a floppy that includes CDROM drivers for DOS. Then you simply switch to your CD drive letter and type setup. If that doesn't do it, switch to the i386 directory and type winnt.
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coop,
Is your HDD still showing smaller than it's supposed to be?
Sounds like you don't have a proper FAT and need to do an FDISK.
I had this problem way back when.
Use a good WIN98 Boot Floppy. If you have a 2nd PC, you can make one. Control Panel, Add/Remove Software...Startup disk tab at the top. Follow the directions.
Now boot the new machine with that disk.
When you get to the a: prompt, type in FDISK.
You should view the partitions to see how many extended partitions there are.
What you want to do is delet them all and turn all the HDD space into a single primary partition.
Once you've accomplished that task, you can exit the FDISK utility and reboot again with the Floppy.
Be sure to include CD ROM Support on the second boot.
Now when you get to the A: prompt, type in format c: (don't mess with that quick format toejam, you need a full boot sector format).
When complete, you should be able to do a cd e: (which will be your CD ROM) and run setup.exe from either your WIN98 or WIN2000 CD.
If you can't access your CD, it's probably because of hardware settings.
If you have the CD Drive on the same cable as the HDD (assuming an IDE type HDD), then you have to make sure it's set to slave mode. (Check manuals for jumper settings.) Also, if on the same cable, it has to be on the end plug, not the middle. The middle plug is the primary.
If you have the CD plugged into the Secondary IDE port on the MOBO then you want the jumpers set for primary and plugged into the middle of the cable.
Hope this helps,
Viper
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By the way, I learned a trick about new systems and PNP OS's.
Install as few periphs as possible.
That is, when I first install windows, I ONLY attach the mouse, keyboard, drives and video card.
I leave the sound card, net cards, modems etc. in their box/bag until the OS is installed.
Then once the OS is set and running, I install the necessary MOBO drivers (check manuals) and Direct X. Then I will shut down and install the other cards one at a time.
Once all the cards are in, I reinstall Direct X again.
Takes a little longer, but it goes much smoother this way and I have had much fewer problems and crashes. (at least for me. :) )
Viper
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Well. Today when I got home I booted up the computer expecting to be dicking with DOS for the next couple hours but to my surprise it loads to the windows 2k setup menu :D I have no idea what I did different but all I know is that she is working like a charm. Got the video and sound drivers all loaded and she is running super.
However, I have one question. I put AH on and I flew around offline. I noticed that my FPS were a constant 33. No more no less. Anybody have any idea why they are so low? Is the bottleneck my geforce 2 mx 32mb?
thanks
mike
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Oh yesss... ;) (a little green man sitting on your shoulder and whispering "Ti500... You know you want it...") :D :D
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Originally posted by coop:
Well. Today when I got home I booted up the computer expecting to be dicking with DOS for the next couple hours but to my surprise it loads to the windows 2k setup menu :D I have no idea what I did different but all I know is that she is working like a charm. Got the video and sound drivers all loaded and she is running super.
However, I have one question. I put AH on and I flew around offline. I noticed that my FPS were a constant 33. No more no less. Anybody have any idea why they are so low? Is the bottleneck my geforce 2 mx 32mb?
thanks
mike
The MX is probably your bottleneck. But, is 33 bad? Nah, the human eye can only distinguish (I forget the exact number) 30ish anyhow.
I play all the time with mid 20 mins and high 40 maxes. No problem visually.
Did you check your disk space to ensure the full 10 Gigs are available?
Viper
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Coop did you set the framerate cap to 45 at video options? That always gave me solid 33 fps reading no more no less when playing AH (mx)
Check that out and set it to unlimited if you want to test fps. Also make sure you have vsync off if you want to see how fast AH really goes. But make sure that when you play the game your vsync is set ON.
You can download a small utility called nvmax which lets you set all kinds of settings easy. Also I reckommend that you download and run nvreffix.exe from fileplanet and run it after setting the setting 'all supported resolutions to 85hz'
That will make your aces high run at 85hz refresh rate instead of 60hz. You'll notice something is wrong because the screen is flickering and weary for the eyes if you don't. :) Also it fixes the alt-tab corruption.
Hmm. Maybe the nvreffix should be included as part of official AH manual since it's very crucial during setup of AH and w2k..
[ 11-30-2001: Message edited by: Mr RiplEy ]
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Let me start by thanking each and every one of you guys!! Without you guys I probally would have done the old computer chuck out the window.
Anyways, onto the video aspect of my computer.
Viper- I did check it and it says I have 20 gig HD which is true :)
Ripley- yeah I think the default on my computer is 45. I get dont get what that fireplanet d/l will do for my video card. Is it a video card over clocker or something like that? Whatever it is it wounds like its right up my alley :)
Also, I'm looking for a monitor. I was cruising on ebay.com and I saw 21" monitors for like $180-$200. They look like a steal, do you guys think that it would be a waste of money?
coop
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Originally posted by coop:
Well. Today when I got home I booted up the computer expecting to be dicking with DOS for the next couple hours but to my surprise it loads to the windows 2k setup menu :D I have no idea what I did different but all I know is that she is working like a charm. Got the video and sound drivers all loaded and she is running super.
However, I have one question. I put AH on and I flew around offline. I noticed that my FPS were a constant 33. No more no less. Anybody have any idea why they are so low? Is the bottleneck my geforce 2 mx 32mb?
thanks
mike
It's the W2K NVidea refresh rate bug, go to http://www.guru3d.com/files/ (http://www.guru3d.com/files/) and download nvreffix-setup.exe to fix it.