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re: Question about 'Why can't I start Windows when I boot from a floppy?'
Tuesday, June 10, 2003 at 6:12 am
Windows 98 Annoyances Discussion Forum
Posted by Curtis
(5 messages posted)
Thanks for the info, Marty! No, I can't get to the BIOS and even if I could I don't
know what the settings were so I wouldn't be able to tell if they were right or wrong.
Please excuse my ignorance, but what is a "splash screen"? I bought the machine
used so didn't get a diagnostics disk, but will get one from the site you name.
Will do the same for the boot disk. Will also check the fan next time I try starting
it up. Thanks again for your time and help!!
On Monday, June 9, 2003 at 2:29 pm, Marty Chafkin wrote:
>Curtis,
>Can you get into the BIOS Setup? If you can you can surmise that the machine is
>at least getting to POST. Check that the settings in BIOS are the way that you
remember
>them, especially your hard disk. It seems unlikely that there is a problem here
>since apparently Windows can read the .bmp of the splash screen, but sometimes the
>settings are very close and you can read some parts of the disk but not others.
>Do you have the Dell diagnostics disk that came with the machine? If not, get onto
>the Dell web site on someone else's machine and down load the diags for your PC.
> If you do, boot from that disk and run the tests. That will tell you if you have
>a dead fan or some other hardware issue. By the way, the best way to tell if the
>fan is running is to turn the PC around and look at the fan before you start the
>PC. Then push the power button and see if the fan spins.
>Next, go to www.bootdisk.com and get a new boot disk file for Win98 and one for
DOS
>as well. Try those boot disks to see if you can get to a prompt.
>You did not say if you were able to get the machine into safe mode. Do you get
to
>the safe/normal/step-by-step/logged menu? What happens next?
>Last suggestion is this: You have a Dell. You can call them on the phone forever,
>even if you bought the PC used or inherited from your Grandma. Run the diags first,
>though, since they will tell you to do that.
>Let me know what results.
>Marty
>
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 | | | |  | re: Question about 'Why can't I start Windows when I boot from a floppy?' (Curtis: Tue, Jun 10, 2003, 6:12 am) |
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