Windows 95 won't boot

[Noema]

I actually made a thread on this some weeks ago, but I could'nt find it, so I'll start a new one.

I have this old P1 Presario desktop (200 MHz, MMX, 16 MBs RAM) which I am giving away to the son of a friend of my father's. The Windows 95 installed on the HDD was missing some .dll files, so I decided to do a reinstall.

However, first I connected the HDD to my own PC to backup some old files I had there. To do so, I changed the jumper configuration of the HDD to 'slave' (it was originally cable select).

Then, I put the jumpers back as they were, and put the HDD back. Windows refused to boot (I got an 'operating system not found') until I put the HDD jumpers to 'Master' (which is not the way they originally were). It worked just as before (ie. It booted just fine, but some apps couldn't be run because some of the .dll files were missing / corrupt).

So I used the restore CD that came with the PC. It ran well, but when I finally rebooted after it finished, it just stayed there, just a blinking cursor (which is the state of the PC now).

I created a boot floppy I can get to DOS with. Everything seems to have been installed correctly, but Windows refuses to boot. I tried formating the HDD from DOS and then using the restore disk, but I get the same results.

I have already tried multiple HDD jumper configurations to no avail. I tried creating a Win95 boot CD from an .iso boot I found in the net. Nada. Reseted the CMOS, nada, got a new CMOS battery, didn't work. Reseated the cache and IDE cables, didn't work.

Only one thing occurs to me: The HDD was replaced by a bigger one some years ago when the one it came with broke down. My father to it to a tech, I did'nt have anything to do with that so I don't know how he installed Windows back. Is it possible that, since the restore CD is an OEM Win95 configured to the default retail hardware, it just refuses to boot when it detects the other HDD? Was this even possible in Windows 95??

I'd very much appreciate any insights on this; I am losing my sanity with it. (Sorry for the longish post but I felt compeled to be as precise as possible)

 

[Googer]

I remember Windows95 Very well.

Both jumpers need to be set to either Cable Select or Master and Slave, a combination of the two (CS + slave/master) will not work. If all else fails download linux for him, I recomend Xandros for beginners.

Only one thing occurs to me: The HDD was replaced by a bigger one some years ago...

How much bigger is that drive? Windows 95 has some issues when dealing with drives larger than (2gb if i remember). Depending on the release version of Windows you have, your best bet is to format in Fat32 (if supported) which supports up to 8gb maximum.

Also some newer larger drives have a special jumper mode that limits the size of the disc, it is possible that you could have messed that up so then both the bios and windows no longer reconize the disc.

Also you may need to download a custom boot floppy, because the windows 95 cd is not a bootable CD-ROM. Check The HP/Compaq website for somthing that is designed to boot those recovery cd's.

 

[Googer]

It would also help if i knew the exact model number for the compaq that you are using.

 

[Noema]

Thanks for the replies!

The PC is a Presario 4506, and the new Hard drive is 8GBs. I'll try reformatting in FAT32, however the drive is recognized by the BIOS and DOS with no problems.

How well would Xandros run on the computer?

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: Noema
Thanks for the replies!

The PC is a Presario 4506, and the new Hard drive is 8GBs. I'll try reformatting in FAT32, however the drive is recognized by the BIOS and DOS with no problems.

How well would Xandros run on the computer?

Your welcome!


Check, Re-check, and check the jumper settings. I have double checked in the past and found things to be ok, but when I took a closer look at the last minute I have found that some times I have one jumper on the Drive that I happen to have over looked. Instead of slaving the drive to you Master C:\ drive it would be smarter next time to leave the jumper settings alone and attach the drive to the second chanel. If some thing like another HDD or CD-ROM is in the way simply disconnect it and put the HDD in it's place temporarly. Reconnect it later.

Windows 95 Will NOT boot from the cd alone, you will need a boot disk (1.44mb) and can get one from BootDisk.com


Your Best bet is to partition the drive in to two parts, one 2gb partition for the os and a 6GB partition for the rest of the drive. As for Xandros I cannot say how well it will run on your machine. You Can also Try Debain if Xandros does not work. I have already Tried SUSE linux on a 200mhz machine and It worked, but only in a command line enviroment: No GUI (point and click).