Need help installing OS? please help

[kmd107]

I just built my first PC and am trying to install an OS. I have 98SE, I am trying a floppy boot disk to begin with. When I first turn on my PC it says floppy disk fail (40). But when I go into my Bios it says it recognizes the floppy drive. I have tried two different drives and tried the data cable both ways. When I then hit F1 to continue from original boot up screen it list pci device listing then says verifying dmi pool data and below that says boot from cd: and then nothing, i have the floppy as the first device in boot order.

and i have tried my xp in the cdrom drive and it starts to install and says setting up and then stays that way ( this os came on another machine i bought from best buy) i know i cannot probably install xp on this new machine but tried to see what would happen.

When I try the data cable the other way it goes directly to disk I/O error replace the disk, and then press any key..

Any help would be greatly appreciated.....

 

[GonzoDaGr8]

Any help would be greatly appreciated.....

Go to your local 'puter shop, Get an OEM $89 version of XP home, Install it, Call it good.. After that, Put the Win98 disk in the middle of the street and run over it several times...Please!!
P.S. While your at it, Throw that floppy drive out there as well..

 

[bendixG15]

Help the guy out, don't crap on him...

 

[JaRb0y]

Power cable plugged in correctly or at all on the floppy?

Try using a different floppy cable. It sounds like you're doing everything right, I don't know what else could be the problem, since you reversed the cable and everything and tried other floppy drives. But I hope you get your issue resolved.

 

[kmd107]

tried another floppy cable no luck, it just goes to i/0 error replace disk and press enter .. ahhhhhh

 

[JaRb0y]

when u get the i/o error does that mean the floppy is functioning correctly, is it reading off the flopppy disk? If so then might be a bad floppy disk causing the problem

 

[mechBgon]

Bigger picture: Windows98SE CD-ROMs are bootable. You can set your motherboard with the CD-ROM as the first boot device and boot straight from the Win98 CD, and it'll offer you a menu with the option to begin Win98 setup. No floppies required 🙂

As for the floppy diskette problem, look for any markings that indicate which end of the floppy's data connector is supposed to be Pin 1. It might be a little line, a little triangle, the numeral 1 or 2... anything that jumps out at you as an indicator that one end of the connector is "special" probably is trying to tell you it's Pin 1. The red wire on the floppy cable goes on Pin 1. Your motherboard manual will show which pin is Pin 1 on the mobo's floppy-cable fitting.

 

[GonzoDaGr8]

Originally posted by: bendixG15
Help the guy out, don't crap on him...

1.) I did
2.) I was crapping on Win98, Not him.
3.) Win98 and Floppies blow, You will figure this out eventually.


kmd107,
If you have access to a machine that has a CD-RW and EZCD Creator, You can make a bootable Win98 CD that will get you to where you need to be. Just be sure to set in the BIOS to boot from CD first. www.bootdisk.com may also have an .ISO file that can be burned straight to cd to create a bootable cd.

mechBgon,
Bootable Win98's seem to be hit and miss, as none of the ones I own have been bootable. Regular 98 and 98SE.

 

[effee]

Throwing away a floppy drive would be stupid..You still need it

 

[GonzoDaGr8]

Originally posted by: effee
Throwing away a floppy drive would be stupid..You still need it

Only if your mobo requires SATA/RAID drivers at OS instal time.. Other than that, They are pretty much worthless and unreliable. There are a half-dozen or so other storage mediums that are a hell of a lot better than floppy. I have an external USB floppy drive and probably use it about twice a year. ZIP, CD-RW, Jump drives, External HDD's are just as universal as floppy and better..

BTW, It is possible to slipstream SATA/RAID drivers into a WinXP CD so you DON'T need floppy AT ALL.