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BIOS problem
Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2004 8:19 am
by DBLtrubble
My brothers ex-wife gave me her old laptop....however when cleaning out files she accidentally deleted a file that was needed to start up the laptop...so basically i power it up and i get to look at a DOS screen....i dont know much about laptops, or fooling around in DOS....but i know that somehow i need to either retrieve that file, or reinstall my whole windows...
can someone tell me how?? i really dont want to reinstall everything, since its an older laptop with no cd-rom drive :/
Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2004 3:24 pm
by ajzchips
Don't you get an error message like:
"File xxxx not found", or "Unable to load xxxx"??
only if
Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2004 1:13 am
by DBLtrubble
only if i type in WIN....then it gives me that message....otherwise it just says INVALID this or that...ive tried lots of things...
*sigh*
i guess that means i have to start from scratch eh?
Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2004 1:57 pm
by Ritchie
If it's WIN9X and a copy of the CAB files and setup program have been copied to the hard disk, you could consider that you may be able use this to re-install using the hard disk copy without needing to put in the original Windows CD.
hmmm
Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2004 4:26 pm
by DBLtrubble
well that could work....ill try that tonight....however if it doesnt work than id need an original copy of the windows to re-install?
there isnt a cdrom drive though. where/how can i get one if that is what ill need to do eventually?
p.s. thanks for all your help so far!
Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2004 4:59 pm
by KachiWachi
Please post the exact error messages you recieve.
Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2004 4:43 am
by Ritchie
I have often installed Win9x on desktops with the CD-ROM drive attached and it goes smoothly.
BUT
if it fails, then it might be difficult to recover without the CD, depending on the failure.
So YES, from that point of view, IT IS RISKY, ESPECIALLY if you are installing over the top of an existing Windows installation.
So if you are unsure about how to go about this, this may be an option best avoided.
I have not had a lot of experience with laptops and with using optical drives, such as CD-ROMs, on them, but I believe the ways in which you could setup a CDROM drive on them are several and vary.
