Partitioning

[Dell XPS]

Partitioning/ Starting up old computer

I have this computer with a PIII 450 mhz computer. it had been reformated and hasnt been used since last year. now im trying to turn the thing on and asks for the system disk, so i put win xp in and says that disk boot error. and says no partition found. could someone help, i need to know how to partiton the hard drive. thanks

from reply

alright it didn't work but thanks anyway ekÆsine. i had this computer since 96' and it has been reformated and comepletely wiped out and now when i turn on the computer, it says this

Not found any [active partition] in HDD
DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER

alright, i have the original windows 98 disk and a restoration cd from CTX. it was a ctx computer back then when i got it. anyway i put both of the disks in at a time and i still get the error. what should i do? please help

 

[ekÆsine]

you must be using a restore CD. winxp would detect no partition and ask you to create one. www.computerhope.com has an FDISK simulator to help you partition. more info:

http://www.evozero.gamma.timdorr.com/computer-guides/basic_disks.htm

 

[Dell XPS]

it was really setup for windows 98

 

[Dell XPS]

i actually need the boot disks for win 98. anyone know where i can get a cd-boot disk instead of a floppy because i don have any floppy disks

 

[ekÆsine]

yes, try here:
www.bootdisk.com

 

[ekÆsine]

oops you wanted bootCD. this is a bootCD i made from a winME floppy. you must use nero to burn the image. just install nero and double click the file. when nero open click the burn CD button. download image here:

http://www.evozero.gamma.timdorr.com/misc/winme-boot.nrg

 

[Dell XPS]

thanks ill try it out.

 

[Dell XPS]

alright it didn't work but thanks anyway ekÆsine. i had this computer since 96' and it has been reformated and comepletely wiped out and now when i turn on the computer, it says this

Not found any [active partition] in HDD
DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER

alright, i have the original windows 98 disk and a restoration cd from CTX. it was a ctx computer back then when i got it. anyway i put both of the disks in at a time and i still get the error. what should i do? please help

 

[ekÆsine]

Dell XPS i think i understand what is happening. for some reason the hard disk has either failed or is connectly improperly. if you or someone else has not opened your computer and fiddled with the hard disk cables than i would just assume a complete hardware failure of the hard disk.

try to test this hard disk in another computer to see if it can be detected at all. feel and listen if the disk even spins up or makes any noise. if it is completely dead and you have very important data you can take it to a professional data recovery company and they will retreive your data. it is VERY expensive.

otherwise you will need to replace the hard disk and install an operating system on it. this requires you to setup any partitions you will use and you need to format those partitions with a filing system. i will help you with this if you need it.

 

[ekÆsine]

also to clarify your error message:
Not found any [active partition] in HDD
could mean no partition is set as active. active is a switch you can set using FDISK, a partitioning utility on a winME or win98 startup diskette. since you cannot even boot up i doubt this is the problem. most likely it is a complete hardware failure