Laptop Startup problem

[rustam]

Hi,

I bought a laptop (do I have the most problems in the world or something, anything I do I always have a problem I cannot solve...?), well actually someone bought it for me from a repo-auction. It cost £200, approximately $370. It is P3 500MHz, 128MB RAM, 6GB HDD. I know I wont be playing FS2004 on it :-lol, Maybe FS98, but do you think it is a good buy? I think that at £200 it is a bit overpriced...

Well, anyway, the laptop has Windows 98 installed on it. When I start it up it starts into a black screen with this:

Microsoft Windows 98 (C)
Microsoft Corporation Copyright 1985-1999

C:\

Can anyone tell me what to do to start it up please? It is probably a stupid question, but I am a WIMP (Windows, Icons, Menus and Pointers) kinda guy and I dont know anything about this "black-screen language" that everyone is crazy about. :-lol

Thanks alot

Rustam

[heyer]

>Well, anyway, the laptop has Windows 98 installed on it.
>When I start it up it starts into a black screen with this:
>
>Microsoft Windows 98 (C)
>Microsoft Corporation Copyright 1985-1999
>
>C:\
>
>Can anyone tell me what to do to start it up please?

First thing to do would be to check whether "MS-Windows" is actually installed. At the C:\ prompt type the following (and make sure to type also "blanks" where they're supposed to be, like between the r and the \):

dir \windows\*.* /s&l;ENTER&r;

If there's nothing showing up, no "MS-Windows" is installed on your computer.

If you see a few thousand lines of text scrolling up your screen you can almost be sure that "MS-Windows" is there. Type:

cd \windows&l;ENTER&r;

then

win&l;ENTER&r;

To get an impression of what else is possible with this "black-screen language" that everyone is crazy about just type:

help&l;ENTER&r;

[rustam]

Thank you for your reply Michael,

This is what I get:

dir \windows\*.* /s[ENTER]
Volume in drive C has no label
Volume Serial Number is 05FB-05FB
Path not found

cd \windows[ENTER]
Is an "invalid directory"

And "Help" is a bad command or file name.

I guess this means that Windows is not installed? But that is strange because at the top it says "Microsoft Windows 98" and for a split second I can see the "cloudy" start up screen of Win98. I guess I will install a version of windows 98 on the laptop to get it working, but before I do it, do I have thumbs up from you (or anyone else)?

Also, thank you for teaching me how to make my writing "bold". I copied it down from your response.

Thanks

Rustam

[wsieffert]

At the prompt type dir/p <Enter>. If you it shows a full page of files and/or directories, hit <Enter> again until the prompt shows again. If all you see is files without directories, then the previous owner deleted everything but the basic Win98 DOS.

If you see a Windows directory in the listing type at the prompt: cd \Windows <Enter>. If the prompt now says: c:\windows type: dir/p <Enter>

In any case, you would probably be better off reformating the disk and reinstalling Windows.

W. Sieffert

[TheFlightMan]

There is no need to do that, you don't have Windows installed. They formatted your drive and made it bootable, that's about it. Regarding the price, yes, you did pay a lot of money for an older piece of hardware that by today's standards is very limited.

Try to get a hold of Win98 if possible and proceed with the installation, the only other recommendation I have is to install Win2k but you need to add ram to the laptop. You won't be able to game on this laptop, it's really good for word processing or to surf the internet.

TheFlightMan

[rustam]

Hi

Ok, after typing in dir/p this is what I have:

Volume in drive C has no label
Volume Serial Number is 05FB-05FB
Directory of C:\

COMMAND COM 93,890 (some date here)
HDSPEC CLN 564 (some date here)
FINISHED FLG 23 (some date here)

3 files - 94,447.68 bytes
0 dir(s) - 5,714.68 MB Free

Does that mean anything?

Thanks

Rustam

[TheFlightMan]

Rustam,

You laptop needs an OS in order to run, no need for command lines to figure that out. Like I said in my previous post, look for a OS of your choice and install it. Hope this helps. Note: Don't recommend XP due to your hardware. Win98SE or Win2k, don't use Windows ME(Mistake Edition)if you want to avoid problems down the road.

TheFlightMan

[wsieffert]

Ah, TheFlightMan! I was trying to give him experience in DOS!:-lol

W. Sieffert

[rustam]

Thanks everyone.

I do have a copy of Windows 98 from my old computer on a dusty shelf somewhere. I am glad I didnt dump it in the bin, well, after I find it I will install it.

The only experience with MSDOS I ever had was typing in stuff from MS website when my Cryptographic Service was down. We learn something new every day.

Thanks for telling me all the stuff,

Rustam

[TheFlightMan]

The ideal solution would be to find whomever sold you that laptop and have him give you your money back. Then save some cash and purchase a nice desktop which will address your needs. Laptops are really for traveling, yes, there are some gaming laptops out there but I would not pay for them. Another option is E-Bay, never know what you can get for a laptop on E-Bay, you'll be amazed.

TheFlightMan