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Thread: I feel like an idiot.

  1. #1
    Senior Member
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    I feel like an idiot.

    Story Time:

    A guy finds an old computer in his garage and sets it up in his bedroom. He discovers that it is running DOS 5.0 and decides to download and play some old games on it. After an hour or so he tires of this and begins to browse the directory. He stumbles on the Windows files and decides that since it isn't running Windows then, well, he might as well delete them. So he does this, and nothing negative happens.

    The next day he is getting bored and happens to stumble on a DOS disk that says it contains the operating system. So he figures that he'll install it, but first he decides to clean up by typing in "format c:"

    He reboots the computer and to his dismay, the message on the screen reads: Non system disk or disk error. Replace and press any key when ready. The guy frowns because no disk is located in the drive. So he pops in his DOS 5.0 diskette and the following message pops up: Disk does not contain any operating system. Replace and press any key when ready.

    Not to be deterred, he checks through his disks and inserts any with the words system files on the label. But he gets the first message each time.

    Next he returns to his Win98 computer and puts all the DOS files he can find on a floppy and tries this. Same message.

    He tries numerous searches in Google but can't find the files or the answer to the question.

    He curses and visits AntiOnline to post a message.


    So here I am. What do I do?
    Why am I still here?

  2. #2
    Is this serious?

  3. #3
    format c: means you formatted your harddrive and now all is lost.
    Have a good day.

  4. #4
    Old-Fogey:Addicts founder Terr's Avatar
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    Re: I feel like an idiot.

    Originally posted by Alcatraz
    Next he returns to his Win98 computer and puts all the DOS files he can find on a floppy and tries this. Same message.
    Focmaester: I he's trying to boot from a diskette. I think he knows that C: isn't gonna cut it.

    Alacatraz, have you tried setting BIOS settings so that the computer attempts to boot from the devices in the correct order? Just a thought. It still sounds wierd, though.

    Have you tried inserting a blank floppy on a windows 9x computer, right-clicking on the floppy in Windows Explorer, and then selecting Format, and then "copy system files"? Or did you move them onto the disk manually?
    [HvC]Terr: L33T Technical Proficiency

  5. #5
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    Focmaester: Yeah this is serious, and yeah I was aware that formatting kills it all. That's kinda why I formatted it in the first place, to clean it up and then I planned to start over from a boot disk.

    Terr: Thank you! I guess copying it manually was my mistake. I've gotten to the command prompt now so I should be able to rescue it.
    Why am I still here?

  6. #6
    this happened to my friend a week ago.. when we opened the case the IDE cable going to the hard drive had little hole in it... seems that this sort of cable will run the drive after it's set up but not after you format it... if this is the case then look for another cable without this problem, we just used the one for his cd-rom drive and it worked fine when we switched them

  7. #7
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    Alcatraz, for future reference, when you decide to format a drive you want to boot from, make sure you do a format c: /s instead of just format c:. The /s switch transfers the 'system files' and makes the drive bootable.

    Just so it spares you some headache NEXT time.
    Chris Shepherd
    The Nelson-Shepherd cutoff: The point at which you realise someone is an idiot while trying to help them.
    \"Well as far as the spelling, I speak fluently both your native languages. Do you even can try spell mine ?\" -- Failed Insult
    Is your whole family retarded, or did they just catch it from you?

  8. #8
    Senior Member
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    read my signature
    If God had intended
    Man to program,
    we would be born
    with serial I/O ports.

  9. #9

    Lightbulb Re: Read my signature

    I would be able to if it was in English. WTF dose it say. All I got out of that was "...Format C:\ somethin' somethin' somethin' "
    What dose it say in English???

    Remote_Access_

  10. #10
    Senior Member
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    O dad I did not know that format C: do this
    If God had intended
    Man to program,
    we would be born
    with serial I/O ports.

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