Yeah Matt, that's exactly what I was thinking next. I was hoping that we could get the existing file system running so that we would not need to find drivers later. Never mind.

Next command then. I believe the partition of the disk itself is OK, since we now have a message "Operating System not Found" during startup. Not sure at this point what caused the disk problems, I'm sure we may find out later.

For the next steps, you will definately need all the CD's you can find for that particular PC, especially your Windows 98 setup CD, and any CD's related to drivers and resources. You'll also need the registration/product key, which is normally found on the back of you manual or CD case. The product key is 5 batches of 5 numbers (xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx).

Take a look at this Microsoft article. The only section you need to look at this point is under the heading "How to partition a hard disk" only: How to Install Windows 98 on a Computer with No Operating System

After that, just a quick check that everything is OK, type in:
c:
dir
and it should happily list 0 files found, without any errors. Then:
e:\setup

Finally, take a look at this web site and follow the instructions there, starting from the 4th screen shot: Windows 98 install from CD

OK i will do that, and look for the other disks,{god knows where they are i haven't seen them for years!} i do have the product key number, it is written on this disk, Can this disk not be used to setup windows? it lists setup.exe in the windows directory,
Do you still need the pictures of the bios setup screen? let me know and i will send them,
Thanks you are a great help,
Gayle,

As long as it's Windows 98 sure. (I take it was the one supplied with the PC?).

You could still attach the pictures if you would like to know if what your seeing on the screen is a disk version of your BIOS or not, but the only real purpose was to get your CD-ROM working. There's no real need otherwise.

Speaking of your BIOS, just to get an idea of any possible problems we could face later related to your battery. How many times does your PC beep when you switch it on, and do you receive any error messages on the screen such as "CMOS Checksum error"?

Hi,

when i turn the computre on i get the kb ok, and no operating system, {well something like that} and the the 2 beeps,
Well i just did up to the end of the format, {God i hope i did this right!] The Message, .. Volume lable (11 characters, Enter for none)? pressed enter, Then it said, 634,585,088 bytes total disk space,
634,585,088 bytes available on disk,....16,384 bytes in each allocation unit,.......38,732 allocation units available on disk...Volume Serial Number is 3C3C-1AED,...Then i got the A:\> I did C:, C:\>dir, enter,..........Volume in drive C has no lable, Volume Serial Number is 3C3C-1AED, Directory of c:\, File not found, 634,585,088 bytes free, I have not done the e:\setup yet because im not sure if i did that bit ok,

Fantastic, everything looks fantastic there, your OK to continue.

YEA! I thought i had done it wrong,

Hi, I have been trying for ages to get into that setup screen, When i type e:\setup
i just get the message, Bad command or file name, I have been trying for ages and nothing works, Help its driving me mad!
If i put the windows cd in and type E:\dir, it says Directory of E:\ SHORTCUT LNK 255 08-2104 9.16
WIN <DIR> 08-21-04 1 file (s) 255 bytes,.... 1 dir (s) 0 bytes, then if i type e:\dir win, it lists AUTORUN INF, DRIVERS SETUP EXE SETUPTIP TXT TOOLS DIR WIN98 DIR. 3 FILES AND 5 DIR, Then if i take the disk out, says,...CDR101: Not ready reading drive E, Abort, Retry, Fail?