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Thread ID: 15293 2002-02-03 10:36:00 Floppy Disk won't boot Guest (0) Press F1
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34165 2002-02-03 10:36:00 I have an older system running Win95. Recently I realised that I hadn't updated my Iomega Rescue disk for along time. (Not since the CPU was upgraded to 200MHz Pentium II).This uses a 1.44Mb floppy and a 100Mb Zip disk. However, I cannot boot from this disk set.

I have made the following obervations:
1. When I boot from a reset with the floppy disk in place, the floppy light goes on and after two attempts at floppy access are made, it defaults to booting from the C: drive. However, once Windows has started, I can access the A: drive without any problems.
2. I have checked my A: drive with Nortons and Win95 utilities (in Explorer right-clicking to bring up properties etc) and there are no detected problems, and the drive reads data OK once Win95 is running.
3. Restarting the computer in MS-DOS mode and then booting from the A: drive causes an error, and then the A: drive becomes invalid. This occurs even with the Win95 emergency startup disk.
Guest (0)
34166 2002-02-03 11:00:00 Hi Mike

Have you checked the boot order in your bios? Access to bios varies from system to system but the usual is to press delete just before the 'starting windows' message comes up. You should see a message telling you what to do at the appropriate time anyway.

Boot order should probably be your boot floppy drive letter if not A: followed by C: (or A:/ CDrom/ C: if you ever need to boot off a CD).

If this doesn't help, post more info and somebody better qualified to help will be along soon.

Cheers

Billy 8-{)
Guest (0)
34167 2002-02-03 12:55:00 How many boot floppies have you tried? Floppies, especially newer and cheaper ones are notoriously unreliable. Guest (0)
34168 2002-02-03 22:31:00 It sounds like the system files on your boot disk are either missing or one or more is damaged. I would suggest creating a new boot floppy from Windows, then redoing your Iomega rescue set after you test your Win95 boot disk actually works. Guest (0)
34169 2002-02-04 08:39:00 Dear Billy T

A good thought, but the BIOS boot order is correctly assigned: A,C.

Thanks, Mike
Guest (0)
34170 2002-02-04 08:44:00 Thanks Andy & Stu. I have re-formatted from MSDOS using FORMAT A: /S and used new diskettes. I have also tried using a system reboot diskette that I know worked before.

Regards, Mike
Guest (0)
34171 2002-02-04 08:57:00 Aha...replace the ribbon cable with a known good one and, bingo, you're back on the air. (I think).

I had this problem mannnny moons past and a cable replacement sorted it.

What caused it to fail, I have no idea. One day it just became unreadable in DOS yet windows reported it was OK.

Go figure...

Cheers,

Andy. :-)
Guest (0)
34172 2002-02-05 02:39:00 Thanks, Andy. I have also discussed this with my local computer serviceman, and he raised the possibility of an old drive needing lubrication. Evidently Windows waits longer than DOS for the drive to come ready. This is a sign that the floppy drive is not coming back to track 0 as fast as the computer would want.

I shall let you know how I get on.

Mike
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