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Thread ID: 42661 2004-02-18 08:13:00 Setting up a 2nd hand computer... Bobble (3142) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
216454 2004-02-18 08:13:00 Help...I've never come across this before!

I have a 2nd hand pentium II mmx here, supposedly all it needed was a new power pack. I've replaced the power and now I'm getting this error message on boot up: Invalid system disk, replace & press any key.

Common error, easy answer, pop out the floppy, right?

BUT there's NO floppy drive in this computer! What could cause this error message?

I've already checked cmos bits & made it load from C drive first (could a HDD give this error?), I tried plugging in a floppy drive and loading from boot disk but had no luck - I think the floppy is to blame though, it's old & unreliable and has spent the last year or so sitting around in my spare room collecting dust :P

Any ideas?
Bobble (3142)
216455 2004-02-18 08:20:00 chances are its not the floppy

what i'd do is check the hard drive plugs are firmly in, if that doesnt work try it in another computer, than post on pressf1 to get this answer ;).
Megaman (344)
216456 2004-02-18 08:20:00 Its probably a dead (or unrecognised) C: drive.

Look in BIOS to see if its being picked up. The CMOS battery may have diesd and the settings lost.

If its older, you may need to set the type 47 disk parameters manually (cylinders, heads etc) to get correct HDD recognition. Could be fun finding them if they are not on the HDD label..
godfather (25)
216457 2004-02-18 08:51:00 ......or a completely formatted HDD?

Bios recognises it. Plugs are fine, cmos battery is fine... it is an old hdd - quantum bigfoot, huge old thing. I so hope I don't have to hunt down & type in parameters!!!
Bobble (3142)
216458 2004-02-18 09:14:00 Jumpers on the drive may be set incorrectly. mark.p (383)
216459 2004-02-18 11:42:00 > ......or a completely formatted HDD?
>
I think that might be the case. The drive may have been formatted and there is no system on it yet. You could confirm that the drive is functioning correctly by booting from a floppy and seeing if the C: drive is available.
Rod J (451)
216460 2004-02-18 12:27:00 Three options

Try guessing what the solution is,

Try a search engine, or

Try MS ( . microsoft . com/default . aspx?scid=kb;en-us;128730" target="_blank">support . microsoft . com)




"It is dangerous to be sincere unless you are also stupid . "
George Bernard Shaw
Merlin (503)
216461 2004-02-18 12:46:00 Make sure the IDE cables are in the right way round, freind of mine got the same error once before turn out the cable was round the wrong way. Most new cables have a notch to prevent this but older P1 and P2's didn't all have those cables Odin (227)
216462 2004-02-18 22:31:00 Could be jumpers. Sounds to me like it can't find any system files on the C:
Is the drive Partitioned & Formatted?
If so, just install Windows - that'll put system files on the hard disk.
enigma99n (2339)
216463 2004-02-18 23:06:00 > Could be jumpers. Sounds to me like it can't find any
> system files on the C:
> Is the drive Partitioned & Formatted?
> If so, just install Windows - that'll put system
> files on the hard disk.

Using a dos/win95/98 boot floppy from bootdisk.com will do this also.
using "fdisk" to create partitions and set them as active (ie bootable-could be the problem).
using "format" to format the drive
using "sys c:" to copy system files
mark.p (383)
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