I hope to go back to Windows 95 on my Packard Bell P150 with 48MB RAM, 1.6GB HD after an unsatisfactory FreeBSD install (not having enough HD space for XWindows or any good programs--basically being limited to the command line interface). However, when I had installed FreeBSD, I had opted to use the entire HD for the FreeBSD partition, thereby deleting the DOS and Windows partition.
After some checking with this and other forums, I used a Windows 95 boot floopy to run FDISK, delete the Non DOS partition, add a Primary DOS partition, and make it active.
That still did not prepare the disk sufficiently for a re-install of Windows 95. The error I get is "Invalid media type reading drive c. Abort, Retry, Fail." This is from the Packard Bell OEM floppy / Master CD reinstall disk combination. This PC will not boot from CD, even after setting BIOS boot order to check CD before floppy.
Thank you to any kind reader with information to help me restore my disk.

Hello Seekr,

Welcome to PCHF. We have a wonderful team of techs onsite, and I am sure that we will be able to help restore your 95 to it's former self.

First, when you went into FDISK, did you delete all partitions completely, and then recreate a single partition? Then format it with FAT?

If your HD is larger than 512 MB, you will definitely want to authorize Large Disk Support.

Don't worry about booting from the CD, boot from the floppy, and then redirect the drive letter to your CD, it will be off by usually one letter. At the command prompt, type DIR, locate the Setup.exe, and then type the corresponding address, (example F:/WINDOWS/SETUP.EXE) and hit enter.

If that doesn't work, try getting a new 95 Bootdisk from Bootdisk.com, and try again.

Looking forward to your reply,

TTFN

LGW

LGW,

Thank you for your reply.

The version of FDISK on the Windows 95 bootdisk I downloaded from Bootdisk.com has four options: "1. Create DOS partition or Logical DOS Drive, 2. Set Active Partition, 3. Delete partition or Logical DOS Drive, and 4. Display partition information."

I used FDISK to delete the FreeBSD partitions, create a DOS partition, and set it Active. This FDISK does not show an option to format it with FAT, or authorize Large Disk Support. In fact, besides the four options above, I don't see any option to format the partition in any manner.

There is a file named "FORMAT" on the bootdisk. When I attempt to run FORMAT, it produces the error message: "Required parameter missing."

After the DOS partition was created, I used option 4. of FDISK to display the partition information. The results are:

"Partition ----- Status ----- Type ----- Volume Label ----- Mbytes ----- System ----- Usage
C: 1 ---------- A --------- PRI DOS ----------------------------- 1551 ------- Unknown --- 100%

"Total disk space is 1551 Mbytes" (hyphens added for spacing)

Also, using the bootdisk to restart, I tried to redirect to the CD drive. "A:\>cd d:" produces the error message: "Invalid drive specification." I also tried e, f, g, and h for good measure. All "Invalid drive specification."

After creating the partition with FDISK, what do I do to format the partition with FAT and Large Disk Support authorized?

Thank you again.

Hey Seekr,

OK, you don't have a large disk, so that's why the option did not come up.
In order to format your disk, you need to exit FDISK. Once you have exited, you need to reboot back to the command prompt with your bootdisk. At the command prompt, type in FORMAT C:, and hit Enter. Answer Y to the question of whether you want to continue. Once the Format is complete, you will be able to switch drives to your CD drive and complete the installation.


Looking forward to your reply,

TTFN

LGW

LGW,

When the FORMAT command gave the "Required parameter missing" error, the missing parameter was the letter of the drive to format! Now I know: "FORMAT C:" not "FORMAT"!

Your excellent counsel allowed me to install Windows 95 just as new. Thank you for helping me reclaim my PC.

Disaster RESOLVED.

Thank you very much.

Seekr

Glad to hear it Seekr,

You have to remember that DOS is very unforgiving. You miss one little thing, like a drive letter, and it won't do a thing. LOL.

OK, so we'll look forward to seeing you around the forums.

TTFN

LGW

Marked as Fixed.