please help - won't boot up

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

Peggie - 27 Apr 2004 23:59 GMT

My windows 95 computer will not boot up and I don't know
what to do! When I turn it on, it does the startup and
the windows 95 screen pops up for about 2 seconds and
then disappears and I am left with the c prompt and don't
know what to do! I've typed win, windows95 win95, etc.,
and nothing takes. Can anyone help me??? Thanks!

Reply to this Message

Ben Myers - 28 Apr 2004 00:21 GMT

Make sure the computer has a valid "c:\msdos.sys" file,
something like this:

[Paths]
WinDir=C:\WINDOWS
WinBootDir=C:\WINDOWS
HostWinBootDrv=C
[Options]
BootGUI=1
;end

Ben

> My windows 95 computer will not boot up and I don't know
> what to do! When I turn it on, it does the startup and
> the windows 95 screen pops up for about 2 seconds and
> then disappears and I am left with the c prompt and don't
> know what to do! I've typed win, windows95 win95, etc.,
> and nothing takes. Can anyone help me??? Thanks!

Reply to this Message

Peggie - 28 Apr 2004 01:25 GMT

I don't know how to do this. Can you tell me where I
look for this at? Or do I type it in at the c:> ?
Sorry, I'm real stupid on computers! Thanks!

>-----Original Message-----
>Make sure the computer has a valid "c:\msdos.sys" file,
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>> and nothing takes. Can anyone help me??? Thanks!
>.

Reply to this Message

Ben Myers - 28 Apr 2004 02:23 GMT

Start the computer, type
"c:\windows\command\edit c:\msdos.sys" and press "Enter".
If the file is blank, type in the following data, press "Alt-F",
then "S". Then restart.

[Paths]
WinDir=C:\WINDOWS
WinBootDir=C:\WINDOWS
HostWinBootDrv=C
[Options]
BootGUI=1
;end

Ben

> I don't know how to do this. Can you tell me where I
> look for this at? Or do I type it in at the c:> ?
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
> >> and nothing takes. Can anyone help me??? Thanks!
> >.

Reply to this Message

Peggie - 28 Apr 2004 03:20 GMT

Thanks for your help. When I type in the
c:\windows\command\edit c:\msdos.sys - all I get is bad
command or file - I can't get past this.

any other ideas??? Thanks! Peggie

>-----Original Message-----
>Start the computer, type
[quoted text clipped - 44 lines]
>> >
>.

Reply to this Message

Ben Myers - 28 Apr 2004 18:05 GMT

Go into the BIOS setup and make sure the hard drive is set up
properly. Use autodetect if available and be sure to save the
settings when exiting.

Ben

> Thanks for your help. When I type in the
> c:\windows\command\edit c:\msdos.sys - all I get is bad
[quoted text clipped - 56 lines]
> >> >
> >.

Reply to this Message

Ron Martell - 28 Apr 2004 01:50 GMT

>My windows 95 computer will not boot up and I don't know
>what to do! When I turn it on, it does the startup and
>the windows 95 screen pops up for about 2 seconds and
>then disappears and I am left with the c prompt and don't
>know what to do! I've typed win, windows95 win95, etc.,
>and nothing takes. Can anyone help me??? Thanks!

Hi Peggie.

At the C:\> prompt enter the following command:

EXIT

If that does not cure the problem try entering:

WIN /WX

And if the problem still persists enter:

TYPE CONFIG.SYS

and post the results back here.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada

Signature

Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."

Reply to this Message

Peggie - 28 Apr 2004 02:13 GMT

Thanks for your help Ron! Here's what happened:

typed EXIT - nothing happened - c prompt came back
then typed WIN /WX - this came back saying bad command or
file name.
Then typed in: TYPE CONFIG.SYS message came back
saying CONFIG.SYS file not found.

Now what do I do??? Thanks so much for trying to help
me!!

>-----Original Message-----
>
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
>
>Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada

Reply to this Message

Ron Martell - 28 Apr 2004 22:00 GMT

>Thanks for your help Ron! Here's what happened:
>
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>Now what do I do??? Thanks so much for trying to help
>me!!

Something is seriously amiss here.

Double checking a bit.

When you boot the computer it displays the prompt is:

C:\>

Is that correct? Those exact 4 characters C : \ >

Also:

The command TYPE CONFIG.SYS results in "file not found"

The command DIR results in "bad command or file name".

Can you try the following command:

DIR C:\

and see what happens.

It should definitely not produce a "bad command or file name" error.

Also try entering:

VER

and report that result as well.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada

Signature

Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."

Reply to this Message

Hugh Candlin - 28 Apr 2004 07:47 GMT

At the C:> prompt, type DIR and press Enter.

Does it look like you have your regular files and directories?

Is the WINDOWS directory listed?

How about the MSDOS.SYS file? COMMAND.COM?

Do you have a Windows 95 boot floppy disk?

Do you have up-to-date virus protection installed?

Are you on dial-up, or broadband (DSL or Cable)?

Did you change anything, or install anything recently?

Reply to this Message

Peggie - 28 Apr 2004 14:46 GMT

Thanks for trying to help me Huge, I appreciate it. Will
try to answer your questions. 1st off, this is my old
computer we are talking about - just used for games and
family history by my husband now. It has not been turned
on for 4 or 5 months. Turned it on, it went through the
normal setup and the Windows 95 screen flashed on for
about 2 seconds and then screen went back to black and
c:\ was there. Couldn't get it to do anything. So,
restarted it, and got message "Drive Not Ready" Insert
Boot Disk. So did this and just couldn't get anything to
bring it up. A couple years ago this happened, and
computer person told me to go into the CMOS Setup and see
if my startup data had fallen off, that this sometimes
happens. I had written this down, so followed my
instructions to check this out and on the Standart CMOS
page in the group of 4 listings in the middle of the
page - all 4 said "uninstalled" so went to the first one
and hit enter and then my user data was there. However,
this did not bring up Windows 95. My boot up disk will
not bring up Windows 95.

When I type in dir at the C:\> nothing opens. I think it
says bad command or file name. It doesn't seem like it
can find any files at all. It will not open in the Safe
Mode - message come up saying "Windows is bypassing your
startup files" then went to the c:\> and nothing else
happens.

No - I haven't installed or removed anything on the
computer for ages.

This computer is not on line. It was years ago and
always had virus protection. I don't believe it has a
virus as I always did the scans when I had it on line and
never had any problems with it. I think it has been
almost 3 years since it was on line.

Any help you can give me is appreciated. Thanks! Peggie

>-----Original Message-----
>
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
>
>.

Reply to this Message

cquirke (MVP Win9x) - 30 Apr 2004 23:09 GMT

On Wed, 28 Apr 2004 06:46:02 -0700, "Peggie"

>1st off, this is my old computer we are talking about
>It has not been turned on for 4 or 5 months.

Suggests a flat CMOS battery, as you later mention...

>Turned it on, it went through the normal setup and
>the Windows 95 screen flashed on for about 2 seconds

That means C:\IO.SYS has been found and has run. This is the first
file of the OS that loads, and it looks for a C:\Logo.sys to display
as the splash screen (failing which it uses an internal copy of the
same splash) as long as nothing in a C:\Winboot.ini or C:\MSDOS.sys
tells it to skip the splash.

So we know the HD is being found, Master Boot Record is OK, partition
table is OK, primary partition is found, partition boot code is OK,
and the partition's file system is sane enough for IO.SYS to load.

However, on most HDs, all of these structures may reside at the
'front' of the HD and work even if CMOS settings are a bit out.

>and then screen went back to black and c:\ was there.

The screen clears to show progress as C:\Config.sys and
C:\Autoexec.bat are interpreted by IO.sys and Command.com respecively,
in case these pause on a "press a key..." message etc. That the
splash does not re-appear suggests a problem within these files or
what these files do, or possibly a bad Command.com

>restarted it, and got message "Drive Not Ready" Insert
>Boot Disk.

That's worrying. The disk was "ready" enough to start booting the
first time, so the situation is variable, i.e. flaky rather than a
static "bad settings" thing that should fail the same way each time.

>A couple years ago this happened, and computer
>person told me to go into the CMOS Setup and see
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>page - all 4 said "uninstalled" so went to the first one
>and hit enter and then my user data was there.

By "user data" I take it to mean your HD's geometry settings (i.e. how
big the HD is, how it's addressed, etc.).

Two common problems can lose that data; a flat CMOS battery that
normally provides enough power to keep these stored when the PC is
switched off, and some types of deep crash that can blank the data.

In your case, the PC starts with this data in place but then loses it;
that doesn't sound like a straightforward battery thing.

>When I type in dir at the C:\> nothing opens. I think it
>says bad command or file name.

There's a big difference between "nothing happens" and an error
message such as "bad command or file name". The latter implies a
living Command.com running on an uncrashed DOS mode.

Did you mistype "dir"? I ask, because Dir is a command that's
internal to Command.com, and a Command.com bent enough to not
recognise Dir would be expected not to run at all.

>It will not open in the Safe Mode - message come up
>saying "Windows is bypassing your startup files"

That's from IO.SYS, confirming your choice was accepted

>then went to the c:\> and nothing else happens.

If that's a "living" C:> (i.e. you press keys and see characters
appear) then you have successfully booted DOS mode. Plenty reasons
exist as to why Windows may not have loaded automatically in Safe Mode
as you'd have expected in this case.

>Any help you can give me is appreciated. Thanks! Peggie

See http://cquirke.mvps.org/9x/bthink.htm, or even
http://cquirke.mvps.org/9x/bad-pc.htm - the PC's well sick, and until
you know the underlying hardware and file system are OK, you should
NOT try to run Windows! Windows *always* writes to HD, which can make
things worse++ if the file system is at risk or hardware's flaky.

>--------------- ----- ---- --- -- - - -

Error Messages Are Your Friends

>--------------- ----- ---- --- -- - - -

Reply to this Message