help! bios problem, 98 driver installation problem

[Rayden]

I am putting a new computer for a friend.
AthlonXP 1800+
MSI KT3 Ultra
256mb pc2700
gainward gf4 ti4200 64mb
40gb maxtor D740X hard drive

i put it all together and it works. but when it is starting up and i try to enter the bios by hitting the delete key, instead of going into the bios it does this flash sort of thing and then goes blank. I can hit ctrl-alt-dlt to restart it. Like i said i can get into to windows, but being unable to access the bios is a bummer. am i doing something wrong? is the motherboard broken and i need to return it? (i ordered it from googlegear)

AND, Windows 98 won't load some of the drivers correcly. When i try to load the integrated sound drivers it asks for the 98 CD (it is already in) and then says it cant find the certain dll file. I just have to tell it to skip that file. It repeats for several more dll files and then finishes. But when i go look at the device it says there are problems with the driver, so it doesn't function. I wonder if i downloaded all the win98 updates if it would work, but unfortunately the NIC card is one of the non-function pieces of hardware so i can't connect to my dsl.

I don't know anything else to do to fix these 2 things, so im asking you guys. it seems like there is always someone who knows stuff on here.

 

[Rayden]

i need some help! most importantly about the bios.

 

[Rayden]

i need some answers. is the motherboard broken? can i fix it somewhow? i did the reset jumper on the motherboard also, didn't change it.

 

[Rayden]

one last question (for if someone ever replies grrr) what about updating the bios? would that fix it?

 

[AgentofEvil]

Can't help with the BIOS issues, but as far as the driver install goes , you've got to point the installer at the right directory on the cd. When it ells you it can't find the file, click browse, then point it at D:\Win98. You may have to look in a subdirectory like drivers to find the appropriate cab file. Don't ask me why it can't find it's own files.

 

[Onezentide]

1) Updating the Bios is a good idea if there actually is an available update.

2) If the problem persists, try to install an old video card just to see if that fixes it. if it does, then maybe there is also a bios update for the graphic card.

3) Did you create partitions on your hard drive since you have installed W98? If you have, then the drive letters are probably different than during the install which is why Windows setup has a hard time. Previous answer should fix that.

4) Finally, if your friend can afford it, I would highly recommend upgrading to Windows XP Pro, or even Windows 2000 (unless he is a gamer, in which case you want to check for games compatibility). In my opinion there is no point installing Windows ME. 98 works better.

 

[Rayden]

the driver issue. one thing that doesn't work is the d-link nic card. i go to update the driver, it asks for a driver location, i give it the driver on the CD. it finds it, it then says it needs the win98 cd, but it cant' find whatever windows thing it is looking for. it is not looking for the driver i don't think... since it found that on the cd. and i didn't do any drive formatting/change after installing 98. speaking of formatting, i made the 40gb hd into two partitions, but when i installed 98 it only formatted the first one. how do i format the second? it already exists, i created it with FDISK in dos. i just need to know what program to use in windows?/dos?

and i didn't mean to make you guys answer a worthless question but my friend is going to get winxp. (why pro over home Onezentide?) i wanted to know what you guys thought of the driver issue, because it happened to me on another computer.

and i checked on the msi site, the latest bios for the kt3 ultra board is dated 2002-7-9. that's pretty darn recent.

 

[RemyCanad]

For the windows driver problem first you will want to copy the Windows 98 cd to this directory. C:\windows\options\cabs. You will have to create it. Now anything you install that needs something off of the windows CD will automatically find it. The first thing you install you might have to point it to that directory.

If it asks for the windows CD and you have created this directory point it there. If it doesnt find it there it not there. Now point it to the CD or floppy that has the drivers for your card. You will probably have to try multiple directories until you find the file it needs off of the floppy or CD.

Now on the format problem. You did say you fdisked it. All you now need to do is in does type format D: (D or what ever the drive letter is)

I don't know about the bios, see if they have a 1-800 number and give it a call.

 

[billyjak]

For the D-Link driver installation, sometimes a pain.
First on the D-Link CD go to win 98 directory and open it. There is a file called Netdfet, right click on it and choose install.
This will install the info file.
Now turn your computer off, take out and reseat the D-Link card. Turn the computer back on and let it detect the new hardware.
Point to the D-Link win 98 directory when asked for the driver. It is much easier to copy the D-Link CD to a directory you make called D-Link and point to that directory as C:\D-Link\win 9x\win98 .The reson for this is that you can leave the win 98 disk in your computer for the network files when asked.
After it loads the D-Link files it will ask for the win 98 CD which is in there already, and point to Win98\win98 on the CD
It also is much easier to have the win98 CD installed on the computer, I make a dir. called win98se and copy it there, then when asked I point to C:\ win98se\win98

Now the same proceedure is used for the sound drivers, find the info directory on the MSI CD for win 98, right click and choose install.
Go to controll panel , devices and choose update driver and point to the win 98 dir on the MSI CD, You may have to reboot after installing the INF. file on the CD and then go to controll panel system devices and point to the directory.

 

[Onezentide]

Windows XP Home vs. Pro:

They both work the same, but a LOT of features are missing from the Home edition, and the most annoying ones are the network features and TCP/IP features. Setting up a Peer to Peer network is also more of a pain in Home.

I am know quoting the Anandtech FAQ on Windows XP and the features that are NOT in XP Home:

- Remote Access Desktop
- Offline Files and folders
- SMP, or Multi-Processor Support
- Encrypting File System (EFS) for NTFS
- Access controls for files, folders, applications and other resources (NTFS Security features)
- Dynamic Disk Support
- Centralised Administration
- Group Policies
- Software Installation and Maintenance (automatic software installation, configuration, updates and removal)
- Internet Information Server and Personal Web Server
- Roaming User Profiles and Multiple Roaming
- Remote Installation Services and the entire IntelliMirror management services technologies
- Multi-Language User Interface
- Sysprep (System Preparation Utility) support
- Domain Membership on networks
- IPSec User Interface
- SNMP
- Simple TCP/IP services
- SAP Agent
- Client Service for Novell Netware
- Network Monitoring

In addition, the following features, although available on the CDROM, are not installed by default:

- Automated System Recovery
- Fax Services

Obviously, some people can live without these features...

So it is up to what you think he will need.

As far as Windows 98, it is an Excellent idea as suggested above to copy the Win 98 folder on C:\

Finally, as far as the D:\ (I assume) partition, the format function should work. Another great investment is "partition Magic 7.0". This is one of the best partition utility in my opinion, and it works with XP. But you can certainly do without it.

 

[Rayden]

well i just formatted it. you just right click on the drive and format
i think he is going to get xp pro.
www.newegg.com has the winxp upgrade student version for $82!

 

[Rayden]

for the bios problem, which is my greatest concern.
when i uninstalled the gainward driver and restarted the computer i was able to access the bios. i then installed the latest nvidia detonator xp drivers. i couldn't get the bios, same problem.

so when i have a driver installed i can't get the bios
if no driver is installed i can get the bios.
what is going on?!

 

[RemyCanad]

Hmm that is strange, have you searched Nvidia's or MSI's site yet?

Maby the driver unlocks some funtion were you can hit delete and they card will do something...

Well my friend just got a MSI KT3 Ultra - AUR motherboard, and a gainward gf4 ti4200 128mb for the system I am building him once his case gets in. If you don't have it solved by then I will try an recreate the problem.