HELP !!
I have set up this older PC for my wife and unable to lick this problem.
I loaded O/S after installing 40 gig HD.
After software load I backed up C:drive using Norton Ghost ( 2 cd's)
PC runs great but when I reboot or shut down and restart I get Compaq splash screen then black screen with message " invalid system disk" If I reload ghost image the pc runs fine until I reboot again, then same problem.
I have done the following...
no floppy in A drive.
virus scan for boot virus
checked boot order in setup
thought A: drive faulty...disabled...same problem.
Any ideas ???????????
Thanks to all !!!
Regards,
Jim

Hi Jim, hi everyone

Does the BIOS/CMOS setup properly recognize the newly installed 40 Gig HDD at it's full capacity?

I am supposing you installed the OS on the newly installed 40 Gig HDD, after dividing it in to smaller partitions, set the Primary partition as active and formatted the Primary partition (C:).
Have you checked with fdisk.exe that the Primary partition is set as active?

Have you tried booting the computer with a bootdisk in the floppy drive, and are you than able to access the Hard Disk Drive it's Primary partition (C:)?
If you did and you were able to access the Primary partition (C:), can you see any files and folders/directories installed?

Best Regards and Wishes,
The Count, Co-webmaster of mesich.com

Thanks,
I'll follow up on your instructions and get back to you promptly.

Thanks,
Jim
Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia
Canada

Boot with a 98 bootdisk. At the a:\> prompt type fdisk and enter. Y to large disk support and then option 4. Exactly what does it say?

In reply to The Count and Daveincaps posts...
Yes, Pri partition is set as active and yes, I used a boot floppy and ran fdisk
Choice=Y for large disk support, and option 4

Partition C: 1 Status=A Type= Pri Dos Mbytes=8143 System usage 21%

Partition 2 Status= blank Type= EXT Dos
Mbytes = 30019 System = blank usage= 79%

Total disk space is 38162 mb

Dos DRV info

Partiton 1 Pri Dos 8143 Fat32
Partiton 2 Ext Dos 30019

Thanks,
Jim

Just to be certain--after you reboot and get the 'invalid system disk', reboot with the bootdisk and run fdisk to check for the active partition. Then type dir c:\ /a:s and make sure io.sys and msdos.sys show up.

Hello Daveincaps,
followed your instructions but did not see io.sys and msdos.sys.
However, after this process I ran fdisk again, responded yes to large disk support then checked, once again if partition 1 was indeed set to active. It was.
I removed floppy disk and rebooted.
this time instead of the error message "invalid system disk" ...the Windows98 splash was visible for 1 second then a black screen with Microsoft Windows 98 at the top with the C: prompt just below.
I'm not sure if this is progress but at least I'm seeing something different.
In the interim, I wish to say thanks for helping me.
It would be so easy to chuck this old pc, but since this problem has been with me for so long I just have to know what is causing it.
So,I've got the C: prompt...what's my next move ??
Regards,
Jim

When booted to the hdd (not to floppy) at the prompt C: type in WINDOWS|WIN press enter, does it now boot into windows ?

Hi Jim, DAVEINCAPS, TopFarmer, hi everyone

It looks like you are making progress indeed. :-)
Since you now see the Windows splash screen for a second, we could carefully conclude that Io.sys and Msdos.sys among some other system-, read-only hidden files are present.

Here is what I would like you to do from the DOS prompt, type in:
dir *.* /as /ar /ah[Enter]key
Please post back the output.

Also try what TopFarmer suggested with that difference that you should type in:
windows\win[Enter]key, there is a space between every three characters, or
\windows\win.com[Enter]key.

If you are now able to boot to Windows, we will still need to correct something(s) in order to get Windows to be launched automatically.

Best Regards and Wishes,
The Count, Co-webmaster of mesich.com

Hi Jim, DAVEINCAPS, TopFarmer, hi everyone

Sorry, made a typo. :%)

The line "there is a space between every three characters" should have been entered after the command:
dir *.* /as /ar /ah[Enter]key to make any sense.

Thus it should have read:
dir *.* /as /ar /ah[Enter]key, there is a space between every three characters.

Best Regards and Wishes,
The Count, Co-webmaster of mesich.com

Getting the momentary splash screen and then the dos prompt usually means you've got the dos and not windows version of msdos.sys. That might have happened if you did a sys c: command on the drive.

The fact that that file, along with io.sys, was missing is the reason you were getting the 'invalid system disk' message. Why they disappear and why msdos.sys seems to have been replaced with the dos version (if you didn't do the 'sys c:') is a mystery. I wouldn't think that ghosting the drive could cause that but since that's the only thing you've done since the original installation maybe that's it.

You may want to reformat and reinstall the OS. Then reboot several times to make sure it's working OK. Then try ghosting it and see if you have the same problem.

Will carry out the above procedures asap and get back to ya !!

Thanks Everyone !!

Jim

Hello Count !!
followed your instructions..
results as they appeared...

Volume in drv C has no label
Volume serial number is 1B5D-15FF

Directory of C:\
IO SYS 222,390
DRVSPACE BIN 68,871
MS DOS SYS 6
RECYCLED <DIR>
WUTEMP <DIR>
BOOTLOG PRV 0
BOOTLOG TEXT 0
DETLOG OLD 70,736
6 FILES
2 DIR(S)
---------------------------

As for Top Farmer's instructions....

Results were

Himem.sys is missing

C:\

Obviously, I was not able to boot into windows..

Thanks,
Jim

The msdos.sys is the wrong one. The correct windows version would be larger. I could email you the correct one. But that still wouldn't answer the question of why it's disappearing in the first place.

Hi Jim, DAVEINCAPS, TopFarmer, hi everyone

Thanks Jim, I like it when we get exact read backs. :-)

Neither the way msdos.sys is displayed nor the size of it look okay to me, there shouldn't be a space between MS and DOS. The size 6 isn't right either.

Himem.sys missing is a common error and not of our first concern.

When you type in: dir win.com /s[Enter]key at the DOS prompt, there is a space between dir and win and another space between com and /s, what is the result?

I shall try to catch up with you all tomorrow after my daugher's musical play at school, got to call it the night at 01:49 hours.

Best Regards and Wishes,
The Count, Co-webmaster of mesich.com

He has big problems, no Windows directory listed.

Hello TopFarmer,
I realize that somehow I've developed some major problems, so it looks like a full format and O/S reload is in order.
It still is a mystery to me how after a reload of the Ghost C: image and a restart the PC runs fine UNTIL THE NEXT REBOOT WHICH RESULTS IN THE ERROR MESSAGES.

Regards,
Jim