windows not starting

a friend has a computer that worked and he changed to a different monitor and it did not start up correctly so he switched back to the original monitor and that did not work what can he do to fix this problem. his computer will not start up in windows it did before he changed the monitor he did not remove any thing such as programs he just unhooked one monitor and hooked up another one and then switched them back it had started up with windows 98 i have the cd but when i put the cd in and turn the computer on it says invalid system disk any help would be appreciated

 

Hi and welcome to the BBS,

Offhand, it sounds to me like the wrong drivers have been installed for the monitor or they have been corrupted. For this, you will need to boot in Safe Mode (start tapping the F8 as soon as you hear the POST beep or just before you would normally see the Windows loading screen).

In Safe Mode, go to Device Manager (Control Panel -> System -> Device Manager tab). Open the branch for Monitor, highlight (or right-click) the listing/s and select Remove. When you restart, the monitor should be reinstalled. The old monitor should be installed automatically, but you could try the same procedure using the new monitor, but you may have to install drivers for it (example, LCD monitors usually need "Plug and Play Monitor" drivers which you can install from the Windows CD).

When you get to normal Windows, check the listing for Monitor in Device Manager. If it is listed as Default Monitor, then it requires drivers to be installed. It may run on Plug and Play drivers or you may need to find drivers at the manufacturer's website.

If these don't help, you will need to tell us exactly what happens as the machine starts up (eg., Windows does or does not start to load) or you get an error message without the CD in the drive.

Matt

 

i get a message that says non valid system disk replace press any key when ready i have no cd or floppy in the computer when this happens it goes through the memory test and then gives me this message

 

You need a COMPLETE reinstall of Windows. AFTER COLD BOOTING from something other than the HD. I myself usually boot from the floppy and then run setup from the CD.
Also I do not think that you have anything to lose if you try an overtop install. And you may well save a lot of stuff already installed. Just need to make sure the the new install goes into the existing directory.

BillyBob

 

will the computer boot in safe mode
There may be a conflict in driver software
If it will boot in safe mode ( f8 or f5 on startup)
Remove the video driver
Reboot
You may have to move the screen resolution to the left ( 640)
You may have to reinstall direct 8 ( 8 or so)
www,oldversion.com

 

no the computer will not boot in safe mode maybe the bios settings are wrong how can i check to see if they are

 

i do not have a boot disk and i have to use a public computer which means any downloads have to be saved to a floppy disk and the a drive light on the computer does not come on

 

That isn't a problem, go to this site.
http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm
Download the file for your version of 98, pick the OEM one for yours. This file will fit on a floppy.
Take the floppy to a working computer, it does not matter what version of windows it is running, and copy it to the hard drive.
Put an empty floppy into the drive, and run the file, and a boot floppy will be created for you.
Remember, just copying the downloaded file onto a floppy does not make the floppy bootable, but running the file off of a hard drive with a floppy in the drive does.

This may mean the BIOS on the non working computer is set to boot from the hard drive first. You may just need to set the boot order in the BIOS to go to the floppy first.
To check the BIOS settings, when the non working computer boots up, you will see a message such as "Press DEL to enter Setup ", it may say F8 or F5 instead, depends on who made it.
This is not windows setup it is referring to, but the setup in the BIOS.
If you do not see BOOT ORDER at the first screen, look for Advanced BIOS Settings (or Advanced BIOS Features) and go there.
The screen should tell you which buttons to press on the keyboard to navigate around to where you want to go.
After you change the settings and save them, you will get prompted to save the settings to the CMOS, yes is the answer.