"Invalid System Disk" Error on Start up

Dell Dimension 4100
Windows Me

Hello,
I am looking at a friends computer that gets an Invalid System Disk error on startup.
There are no floppy or CD disks in either the floppy or CD-Rom drive. I changed the boot order
in the bios to go directly to the hard disk, same error message. I changed it again to boot from the
floppy and made a Win Me boot up disk and it bypassed the disk and I got the same error message.
I checked to make sure that all the cables were tight and they were, I swapped out the ribbon cable
for a new one, same error. I unplugged the ribbon cable and the power and hooked them up to a
spare hard drive I had with Win 98 installed and it booted right up. I suspect that the hard drive that
has to be at least 4 years old is bad. Any feedback would be appreciated. I don't want to suggest
buying a new computer if I am missing something here and the drive is good. I am not familiar with
Win Me as I went from 98 SE to XP. She has no recovery disk, if there is one for ME, I don't know.

Thanks
Ken

 

Hello Steve R Jones,

Thanks for the repley

I made a Win Me boot up disk from bootdisk.com, will a 98 boot disk work as well.

No changes to the system, they did move and it worked before the move.

Steve, I just tried it with win 98 startup disk, the floppy is the first boot device and the light came on but it went right to the INVALID SYSTEM DISK ERROR.

Ken

 

OK.. I'll check that next. Do you know of a site that I can download and create a win me recovery disk, not a boot disk.

Ken

 

Hi Ken,
Being a Dell, it may have special "hidden" partitions for recovery. I think you need to do special methods of boot disk startup. Try here:
http://support.dell.com/support/top...A1&journalid=2593939948C011DA971B9F6F04D3B841
I have a feeling that a standard startup disk is not going to work.

Run the diagnostics they suggest.

If the Dell owners here can't help you, go to the Dell Community Forums.

Matt
Edit: get the User Guide/Manual, it will explain the "recovery" methods.

 

Hello All,

I want to thank each and every one of you for your quick replies. I am a moderator on the Tom Coyote forum for Malware and Virus removal. When a victim posts there Hijackthis log and we deem there system to be free of any malware or viruses and we think there problem maybe hardware or software related, I always send them to this forum.

www.tomcoyote.org

I log in as ken545

Just to let you know where I am at, before I tell this lady that her hard drive is shot, I ran a diagnostic program from Maxtor off of a floppy and the drive was declared as good as it past all the tests. I found the floppy on her system was not functioning and as I was replacing it, a kids hair clip with a plastic flower fell out of the drive.

It let me boot to an A prompt and then to C: but as it was loading, it said that some files in CONFIG.SYS were coruppted. So at this point I now know that the drive is ok, I am in the process of trying to find a Win ME recovery disk and I may be able to salvage this system yet. If I can't find the disk, it was suggested to make this drive a slave in another system and then I can copy any documents that she may want and just format and do a clean install of windows.

Thanks to you all again.

 

Never heard of a WinME recovery disk. However you can replace the system boot files form the WinME startup floppy. Boot to the A:\>prompt and type sys C: and hit enter.

 

McTavish,

Thank you, but it appears that the config.sys is corrupted and it won't let me run any commands like scanreg or sys c.

Ken

 

You are apparently in DOS and scanreg is not an internal DOS command so must be on the default path, which you can find by typing set at the prompt; otherwise you must preceed the filename with the path to the file. You should know that typos are "bad commands" also. sys c: at the a:> prompt should work unless sys.com is also not on the path, or the drive is still broken; if it doesn't work while on the path, replace the drive.

 

As Sparrow says sys c: will run from the A:\>prompt (not the C:\>prompt) It runs from the floppy so it does not depend on the state of the OS on the hard drive. It will either return an error message if it can’t find the correct directory on the hard drive, or a System Transferred message if it was successful.

If you get an error message then you have a more serious problem than a corrupt config.sys file, besides I don’t believe config.sys is necessary for booting and even if it is in ME it is certainly not the first boot file, so the boot process would start and then you would get an error about config.sys

The Invalid System Disk error can come from the MBR on the hard drive so that could be ok. If the partition were corrupt you would get a big message while booting from the ME floppy that it could not find a valid partition. So if your not getting this message then it would appear the partition is still there.

First thing to do is at the ME floppy A:\>prompt type fdisk then accept large disk support, then choose option 4 to look at the hard drive partition details. You can post these details back here if you’re not sure. If you have a partition, check that the Status column has an A in it, then exit fdisk and go back to the A:\prompt and type scandisk C: and let it do it’s thing, then decline the surface scan and exit and try the sys :c command again. If still no joy run scandisk again and this time accept the option to do a surface scan. Note: this may take many hours depending on the size of the hard drive. An 80gig could take several hours. After that try booting and if not then sys :c again.

If you can’t get scandisk to run then you may indeed have a partition problem.

 

To edit the config.sys file:
[Win98 Startup Disk]
From the A: prompt, change to C:
Type Edit [Enter]

Use the Alt and Tab keys to open the File menu.
Use the Alt and Tab keys to select the Config.sys file.

I suggest you write down the information before you delete it (from memory, you could put a semi-colon in front of the lines, but it's a long time ago).

Use the File menu to save.

or
Use Save as... to rename the file, then save a blank page as Config.sys.

You may need to also Edit the Autoexec.bat file. They are often related to the same files.

Matt

 

Config.sys is not required for ME to boot. Only required for special DOS support.
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/article07-036
http://users.iafrica.com/c/cq/cquirke/startup.htm#Configsys
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q274646

 

Invalid System Disk is reported by the BIOS when it has completed its search for a bootable drive and hasn't found any.

 

Hi
Hi mattman,

Believe edit.com is available on the ramdisk made by the startup floppy, and is on the default path; can't change to c: - that's the original problem.

Right; semicolon is the comment character. Better than deleting lines until one is sure.

Generally use 'save as' before editing to make a backup and then again afterward to change to the original.

 

Not entirely Sparrow. The PBR (partition boot record) of the partition you are trying to boot can also throw up this error. This is a screenshot I just made of the PBR on the first sector of my Win98 install. You can see the list of possible error messages in the text on the right.

Just realised I said MBR in my post above, sorry. That was a moment of brain fade, or senili……sinil……seny…….. old age.

 

I stand corrected. Must have been thinking of similar wording?

Just tried it and the BIOS message appears to be

 

HiHo sparrow (hey that rhymes),

Last post from Ken is a Config.sys problem. Looks like it is now trying to process the bootup files. Fingers crossed Thanks for confirming the semi-colon info.

Matt

 

Ken,

I have a Dell 4100, but opted to stay with Windows 98SE, rather than upgrade to Me. Dell furnished 4100 owners with an Me disk, in addition to two disks to use in preparation for the upgrade. These two additional disks say they contain drivers and utilities not included in the Me OS disk.

In the Me Quick Start Guide, it states that "If you encounter a problem that prevents you from starting Windows Me, contact the PC manufacturer for information about restoring your system ". There is a Recovery Disk along with AV, MS Works, Drivers for Sound Card and Audio Card, etc. I think I have 12 or 13 disks... Pretty sure this will take it back to 98SE.

Part of the Me setup instructions say that there is a prompt to create the Windows Me startup disk, so maybe your friend has it, and has forgotten?

Can you create a startup disk for Me in Add/Remove | Startup Disk | Create Disk? I know that's pretty "elementary my dear Watson ", and you've no doubt already been there. One of the Dell Tech's suggested using an Me startup disk from this site. I'm not sure whether it's his site or not.

Dell has excellent technical Forums, and I have had to ask several questions re my 4100 as time passed. Check the Hardware Forum and perhaps one of the regulars can give you a hand with an Me startup disk. Otherwise the help your getting now is A-#1.

I did find this KB Article on the Dell Site, most of which you already know:
Troubleshooting the Error: "Invalid System Disk, replace the disk & press any key" in Microsoft® Windows® Millennium Edition (Me)

Document Number: TT1055581
Release Date: 10/27/2005

There's much more...

I'm out of here, as it is pretty scary for me to be posting on the HW Forum. Better get back home where I belong...