MY MOM IS UPSET!! Her HP won't boot to Windows 98...PLEASE HELP!!! I have no clue.

[Enalbenroh]

Its an 8370 Pavilion HP....it used to be mine until I built my new system.

The problem is that it shows the HP page, then the Win98 page for a few seconds then comes back to a DOS screen and says there was a "Divide Overflow Error" press any key, then gives a DOS Prompt.

I tried removing the mcafee virus software from the autoexec.bat file, but that didn't help any.

Any ideas??

 

[TunaBoo]

Tell her to calm down

reinstall windows, easy fix.

 

[MrHelpful]

If the data on it is important to her, just delete the Windows directory and reinstall it again. Don't format or fdisk at all.

 

[Enalbenroh]

There's an application CD that came with the computer, but that's the only windows CD we've got here.

It says it doesn't require a format, it just reinstalls windows, prepackaged sw, etc.

This is important as she has a bunch of genealogy files on the hdd.

Problem now is that I cant get it to boot and run the application recovery cd....do I have to get a boot disk with CD Rom support?? BTW, I switched out the original CD rom with a new one.

thanks for your help, now how do I boot to this cd??

 

[Pikachu]

If you can get into Windows Safe Mode, I'd just reinstall Windows. I'd rename the Windows directory instead of deleting it, if you want to go that route. That way you can retrieve mail and ini files from there if needed later.

If it won't go into safe mode, and nothing else is loading in the Config.sys or Autoexec.bat files it may be a memory setting in your BIOS. If there is other stuff loading in those files, remark them out and try again.

Edit: Do get a backup of important stuff onto floppys, burned to CD or a second HDD. There's no excuse for anyone not being backed up. I think that's PC 101 stuff.

 

[SnoopCat]

save your mom's important reports/docs/work onto disks before u do anything

 

[yazz]

sounds like a Processor error. i would try replacing the Processor. first, i would try a new piece of RAM and see what happens. but i bet if you replace the processor things will start working again....

 

[Enalbenroh]

OK, the genealogy files are too big for floppies.
I don't know how to get into windows safe mode. All I've got is a DOS Prompt and typing 'win' doesn't do anything, just gives the divide overflow error again.

She has no cd writer or second hard drive, and btw I think she's still in the PC 100 class anyway.

I dont see my mom buying a new processor either...but that may be the problem, I know.

I may try some different RAM

But what I wish I could do is boot to the application recovery CD she's got...

 

[Pikachu]

Hit F8 as it comes up with the "Starting Windows" message. Just keep tapping it till you get the startup options screen.

Or just enter Win /d:m for safe mode.

 

[JesusCow]

yeah, i agree with everyone else, if she cares about the data, just use the app recovery cds, back it up and format would be best though IMO

<edit> mom's tend to like winme though, if you have access to that, put that on there for her , pretty colors for mommy </edit>

 

[TunaBoo]

you and your poor back up habbits are lucky ya are using fat32

boot off a floppy disk. then go in and grab the files you need. u can get most stuff off on floppies. for geno files, how big are they? if under like 10 megs, use pkzip and span them (from dos) over 7 or 8 floppied. enjoy

 

[tristramshandy]

I see you want to try to fix this while changing as little as possible (and buying nothing additional). Try these steps. It would help a great deal if you could back her geneology files up. You should get a Windows 98 boot disk if you don't have one already. You may also have to get the dos 'deltree' command put on your book disk (as I'm not certain that the Win98 boot has it).

1) Try booting up with the boot disk. Click that you want to boot without floppy driver support. When you get to the dos prompt, run scandisk. If it reports no errors, or if it claims to have fixed them, then try booting as normal.

2) If you need to try to reinstall Windows, because it's still not booting into the operating system, then boot up with the floppy (no cd support) and delete the windows directory (as, say, 'detree c:/windows'). Reboot when this is finished.

3) Get the Win98 cd and make sure you have a correct product ID code. You may need to go into your bios settings and turn off cmos antivirus detection, because this can prevent the installation from proceeding. Boot up with the floppy, but this time choose that you want cd rom support. If your windows directory has been deleted, and the system now successfully reads the win98 cd in the cdrom drive, you're ready to install win98 as usual. Go ahead and do that.

If at any point you can't boot to the dos prompt, even using the boot floppy, or if the installation does not ever fully proceed to completion, or you simply can't get windows 98 to run because you continue to experience the 'overflow' error, then you likely have a hardware problem, and that may require taking the box into the shop. If at any point you become anxious that you may accidentally delete all your mom's geneology data, then you might again consider a trip to the shop.

Good luck!

 

[Pikachu]

• Hush now baby, baby, don't you cry
  Mother's gonna make all your nightmares come true
  Mother's gonna put all her fears into you
  Mother's gonna keep you right here under her wing
  She wont let you fly, but she might let you sing
  Mama will keep baby cozy and warm
  Ooooh baby ooooh baby oooooh baby,
  Of course mama'll help to build the wall...

Is she happy yet?

 

[noxipoo]

doesn't anyone use tech support anymore? most companies make you pay for it anyway. have them fix it or have someone come out if its free.

 

[Pikachu]

&quot;...she's still in the PC 100 class anyway...&quot;

Uh, the warranty was over on that one about 5 years ago!