major windows probs

well for the first time ever i have had my first cauwf (complete & uter windows failure)
all started yesterday when i purchased a new 56k modem (was previously on cable but havn't had it fitted at new house and want online NOW) and a cd-rw
instaled the modem without problems and then after surfing for a while decided was time to fit cd-rw
limited in my knowledge of how to actually fit a new cd drive i decided that i would just use the exsisting ide connection that ws in my current drive so out it came and i linked up new cd-rw booted up and everything seemed fine except windows wouldn't recognise new device. so i went to refer to the instruction manual only to find its on bloody cd >_<

so out came the new drive again and in went the old one and then all hell broke loose.....
on boot explorer crashed as soon as windows opened so restarted my machine this time it couldn't run kernel.exe or something similiar and shut down pc straight away so i tried boting into safe mode wouldn't let me best i could get was to boot to command line only so i did and ran scanreg - oh boy error after error after error

so tried to get windows to fix as many as it could but still would not boot normally so after a couple of hrs deciced there was nothing for it but a reinstall

so i did a full reinstall of windows over the top of the current os and finally comp would boot but no drivers now - including ones for my geforce 4

at present my comp looks like an old comodore >_<
but am downloading drivers so hopefully not for long - and as you can see i got the modem reinstalled as am online ;)

but what i want to know is how can i mkae sure this doesn't happen again when i try to instal cd-rw anyone fancy talking me thro instalation procedure??

thanks

v_Ln

oh forgot to mention am running win98 se
1 HD (20 gig)
cyber-drive cd-rw
geforce 4 mx graphics
onboard sound
pentium 3
128 ram

yup an old box but given for free from work so who am i to complain :)

The most likely reason the device was not being recognized is that it didn't know the old one was gone so it still had information regarding that device linked to the same channel. Had you gone into the system and deleted the old device and rebooted you would probably have had more success.

IMNSHO..... Go and get a copy of Windows 2000. It'll run fine on that box and you'll have a better, more stable and more secure box anywho....... and management of devices is a whole lot easier then the WIN9X series.

Did you set the jumpers correctly ? This can cause major problems.
Do you have driver signing turned on ? This way you prevent unsigned drivers to be installed into Windows. Is the CD-RW on the Hardware Compatability List ?
You can check that here:
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hcl/search.mspx
Also when things go wrong it is better to boot into the last known good configuration.
A description can be found here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default...NoWebContent=1

I am not totally sure about the answer but it could also be that Windows is trying to load drivers for the removed CD. Make a new hardware profile and remove the original CD from this profile. Reboot into this profile with the new CD-RW installed, Windows should try to reckonize it.
Perhaps you should try to install it as the secondary master.
Did you check the manufacturers site for the latest drivers ?

I hope this can be of any help.
O yeay. Before trying again, copy the installation manual to the hard drive.

Cheers
noODle

edit:
sorry for the duplicate answer, I was writing this and when I posted I noted that TS allready had replied.
I think he is right though, try the profile thing.

IMHO this was not a driver problem - there is no way attaching this device to your system would cause the registry or Windows itself to become corrupted.

Sure, you might find you have to boot in safe mode (doesn't use anything other than the most basic drivers), and if your master/slave settings were incorrect, Win98 would still boot most of the time. If you had got them completely wrong (or e.g. attached the cable the wrong way round) then your PC would not boot period. Worst case on a PC that boots would be that it didn't recognise the CD/RW. Looks like a hardware problem with the PC or your CD/RW to me ...

As Win98 is a bit flaky in this area :D , it is always a good idea to use device manager to remove your existing drivers first. Then power off, install the new H/W, and reboot - most of the time PnP will kick in and will ask you to supply the new drivers. If you aren't sure, you can always cancel, and download them manually.

hmmmm after checking the hardware profile is telling me that it is not enabled in bios - any ideas on how to do this???

thanks alot for the answers so far as well :)

v_Ln

What is not enabled in the bios? Usually you do not set the CD unit in the bios ( leave it set to auto detect or something similar )

Sorry to say this, but since this is a security related site I feel I must; where are your backups??
( and the mechanic’s wife’s car is always in need of repair while the customers' cars run great )

I have never seen your particular situation before, but I have seen hardware cause such problems: specifically bad ribbon cables. Has the cable ever gotten pinched by the case? Did you accidently knock it a bit and leave it ajar even a little bit when moving CD units? A very small flaw ( just one wire was enough in one case ) to cause intermittent failures of the system.

In the case referenced the computer belonged to an IT professional who would every month or two have to reinstall drivers, replace the hard drive, or reinstall the OS. Finally he gave up and purchased a new motherboard thinking that was the problem. But when he tried to install it he had the same problems. I found a pinhole in his IDE cable on just one wire. He replaced the cable and has had no more problems.

IDE cables are cheap, make sure they are in perfect shape or don’t use them, and make sure you are using the correct cable for the drive ( an ATA 133 can’t use the same cable your old ATA 33 used ).

Also, my suggestion is always to place CD and CD-RW units on the secondary IDE. Since you had a working cd unit in there before, why not keep it ?? ( if your case and power supply can handle it. ) Just use a new IDE cable, attach the CD-RW as the secondary master ( make sure the jumpers are correct ) and connect the old CD as the secondary slave ( jumpers should already be correct . I usually recommend a CD-RW and DVD player combo at the minimum, but you can always upgrade later as needed )

Oh, and don’t feel bad about the aforementioned IT professional: I’m not entirely sure he did not plant that cable a year in advance! His wife not only approved his purchase of a top-of-the-line Asus motherboard ( with CPU and memory ) but more importantly he now has the components for a new Linux box!!!! :D

valhallen -
You might try going into the CMOS setup for your motherboard and "rerecognize" each drive. I've had a few problems with certain CDRom/CDR/CDRW drives being recognized correctly in systems I've built and this usually corrects the problem. As your system boots up, watch the bottom of the screen - it will tell you what to do to get into Setup (DEL or Alt+DEL or ?). If you can give me the make and model number of your motherboard . . I would be more than happy to walk you through it. As noted earlier, making sure the jumper(s) on your drive are set correctly is also important. Your OS should still 'see' the drive - unless the jumper is set to CableSelect, I believe. Check your IDE cable to ensure it is seated correctly into the drive as well as your board. Is the connection to the power supply unit plugged in correctly? You may think this is silly but . . . you DID shutdown your system, turn off the power and unplug the computer before trying to install the new drive - Right? I had a troubleshooting session with a guy once who was installing a new hard drive and he never shut his system down - then he wondered why he fried his motherboard. If you're using proprietary drivers as opposed to the MS drivers for your CDRom drives, as stated above, you need to either remove the drive from Device Manager under System Properties or create a new Hardware Profile. As I said before - I'd be happy to walk you through your motherboard particulars if needed. Good luck.
V.

Quote:

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Originally posted here by valhallen
hmmmm after checking the hardware profile is telling me that it is not enabled in bios - any ideas on how to do this???

thanks alot for the answers so far as well :)

v_Ln

---

When booting up follow the instructions ( DEL, F10, whatever) to enter SETUP menu, then tell your m/b bios to automatically detect the devices. I also have to agree with the comment referring to jumper settings. Your burner should be at the very end of the IDE cable and jumpered to act as master. DO NOT set it as a slave to your HD or vice-versa, give it it's own IDE cable. Failure to do so will have a detrimental effect on your data transfer rates and you will be making coasters instead of usable CDs. Here's hoping you get everything lined out ASAP!!!

Ok my PC gave me alot of **** jus couple of hours ago-> i had to reinstall windows.

after doing that my PC would'nt except anything above 600x480 pix so i went check out the registry -not much found,loaded an old registry -still nothing

THEN IT HIT ME -> Its not loading all of the startup filez needed->
WHAM IT HIT ME AGAIN-> run ms config
WAHM -> aha its running selective mode and has automaticly un-ticked some win.ini and
system.ini->
i gues that must be why your driver are not found and your screen is all messed up.

SO try running msconfig from your COMMAND line,IF you havent done so already

**********FRIENDLY NOTICE TO ALL ZONE ALARM OWNER************************

---BE CAREFUL WHEN USING REGISTRY
---cause ZoneALarm compares this file:VSUTIL.dll with himself EVERYTIME ZoneAlarm is RUN
---and if it does not match YOUR CONNECTION IS TOTTALY BLOCKED..
---that means if you INPORT a reg you GOT NO MORE CONNECTION-believe me this is true

it happend to me today-luckely i HAVE LEARNED FROM MY MISTAKEs and i saved the REG
after hours of *playing* around i fixxed it

and why has my ZoneAlarm picked up 60 INTRUSINS in 2WEEKS????
Most are UDP and IP traffic and NETBIOS
Is this normel??

Quote:

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i gues that must be why your driver are not found and your screen is all messed up

---

the driver for my graphics card aint found anymore cause it doesn't exsist - lol
i keep all my work on a secondary partition so when windows fried i formatted the drive it was on wipping it but leaving all my work intact....

vvirtho i may take you up on that offer :)
atm tho biggest prob is gettin online being forced to use aol >_<
havn't had time to organise gettin cable line fitted to new house and aol is only isp offering free time so....oh well
but is proving a bitch to get online so am gonna switch tomorrow to pay-as-use one just i can get online when i want not when aol says i can which seems t be case atm....earlier today 70+ dial-up attempts and no copnnections now come on should it be that hard to get online???

vvirtho i'll give you a pm tomorrow and if you dont mind would appriciate you walking me thro - new graphics cards...easy to fit.....modem a breeze but gettin this cd-rw to work is frying my head ;)

v_Ln

valhallen -
Were you able to figure out the problem with your CDRW? No PM from you so am wondering. Have you checked out any of the ISP directory sites for inexpensive ISPs? I found a US provider for $6.50 a month - unlimited access . . . beats the crap out of AOL!! I am still willing to help out in any way I can.
V.

valhallen,

A thought on the CD-RW.. as well as the other comments.. It is possable that your system had its drives setup for "Cable Select" that can bugger up your attempts to get it recognised (that is similar to an earlier comment regarding drive master/slave settings.. )

BTW; had win98 do similar to me.. Upgradeing a customers RAm by replacement.. crashed and burned.. just one of those F$#@%g win98 things..

during shutdown or during the failed boot the registry was loaded then had a part of it overwritten due to an error on the IDE bus .. (loose cable or device error)
believe me this error can and will happen due to the following devices having a problem also, RAM, HDD, Optical devices(CD), AGP (video adaptor).. RaM and IDE being the most common in the past year or so..

I would have attempted installing Win with the new CD-RW.. but then that me..

When you normaly install a new drive (following the advice given to remove it from your hardware list b4 shutting down).
then Make sure the device assignment jumper iscorrent.. if the old drive is Maste then master for the new, Slave=Slave or CS = CS OK..
Be sure the IDE Cable is inserted corectly .. The Red lind should align with Pin 1 on the drive..
check that none of the cables have become loose while you have been working on the machine.. ie cables into the HDD, and on the Motherboard.. (earlier comment looose cable)..
Restart, Win should identify the new drive.. the only drivers you need will be for the burner .. win normaly has all it needs for the reader.. installing the Burner software will fix that job for you..

I trust my all is now working ok...

Cheers..

thanks for all the help peps
well i got it sorted - think was a faulty ide cable cause allow it worked fine with my dvd drive that was in there before it wouldn't work with cd/r and when i replaced cable everything ran smoothly(!?) just one of the weird things i guess

well got my machine back to fully working order at last everything installed again and all drivers updated which is a huge weight off my mind :)

thanks again for all your help peps

v_Ln

valhallen -
I'm so glad you were able to get your machine up and running again. I checked out the info on your CyberDrive CDRW and as I suspected, there was a notice on the Driver Download page saying the drivers were not needed if running Windows98. I downloaded the pdf Manual, just to ensure I didn't steer you wrong and there were no big surprises there. AND, since I have no life, I even found some FREE ISPs for Ireland! I didn't research any of the sites, but if you're interested . . . here they are: eircom.net elivefree indigo.ie iol oceanfree.net unison utvinternet.ie (I found them at Freedomlist.com).
Just out of curiosity, when you were tinkering with your computer, did you notice the make and model/revision number of your motherboard? I was sort of wondering what the specs were. Now that you have your burner, don't waste any time getting your system files backed up, 'cause I KNOW you don't want a repeat session of 'scramble for the drivers'! TTFN
V.

heh i know got all drivers backed up on cd now :)

dunno make of motherboard am afraid is hidden under a cooling system the size of a small country - lol

the machine is an old one given to me by work....its a gateway works ok
specs before i upgraded it

pentium 3
128 ram
on board graphics
floppy drive
no cd drive >_<
on board sound
33.6 modem

specs now...

same cpu
384 ram
gefore 4 mx
same sound
dvd & cd-rw drive
56k modem
100meg network card
webcam
scanner
new cables
new monitor (well bought second hand)
broadband modem on its way!!!! (woohoo can't wait for 1st July when it arrives)

so have done a bit of work to it - lol

oh thanks for looking for isps - but the dial-up is only temp
was hoping to get cable but not in my area so gettin broadband on july 1st ;)

v_Ln

Glad to see it worked out.

You may not want to through out that bad cable though. Rumor has it that IT guy I told you about is renting it to people who want to convince their spouse they need a new computer! :D

valhallen,

If you hardn't bought a new graphics card as yet you could've looked up a generic driver that closely matches your graphics card. A genetic driver that closely matches your graphics card would give you the desired display along with most if not all the features of your graphics card.

One thing to note when trying to instal generic drivers, windows98 may tell you that the driver you are trying to instal doesn't match the hardware in your system, you would need to bypass this and continue with the installation and see the results for yourself. Because, win98 has bite me many times with that, and I actually had the right driver in a few instances and a generic in another. Just something to keep in mind.

I hope this helps with everything else the others has said. The others have covered the rest of the ground pretty well and so I see no need to repeat any of what they said since it's quite complete.

Just thought I would have added this in case you ever wanted to use your onboard graphics card again.

Glad to see your PC is up and running....

Guidance...