Win 95 boots to c:

[Rubber Duck]

I'm working on a machine that doesn't want to boot. The owner seems to have went crazy deleting everything. I got the machine co sys c:. After that I ran scandisk from a dos prompt and it found numerous bad sectors. It "repaired" them. During this entire time I could not get the machine to boot all the way into windows. Next, I ran a dos antivirus program that found nothing. I was wondering if anyone could help me out. When I boot up I can get as far as F8ing the thing but no matter what option I give it still just kicks me into a c:. Please help.

Thanks

[Larommi]

Is it possible it is stuck in a loop that boots to "C"?
What happens when you type "exit"?

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only to discover that you're on the wrong train.

Dale Earnhardt #3 (1951-2001)
You will be missed!

[Rubber Duck]

Nothing at all. It just kicks me back to a c prompt. It's the strangest machine I've ever seen.

[cyberhh]

What happens when you type "win" and enter?

If it still does not start windows - reinstall - the user either has a bad hdd that is losing files like mad, or is a deleting id10t and the end result is you are missing files neccessary for windows to start. Reinstalling windows should solve this immediate problem, just be aware that lost files can mean a bad drive, and you may need to reinstall all drivers and software as well.

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Death is lighter than a feather - duty heavier than a mountian.

[Rubber Duck]

Here is my problem. In a normal case the first thing I would have done is yank the old hd out and put a new one in. The problem with that is this guy has all his data on this machine and not a single backup. The win command from C prompt still does nothing. I'm at a loss myself. I've tried all the tricks I know. I need the data off of this machine, after that I can throw the hd away.

[Sowulo]

Then just boot to a different drive with a working Windows install (the new one you're going to install?) and the old drive connected as a slave and copy what you need then dump the old drive.

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Ya never know, ya know?

[SavagePenguin]

When a customer calls and says that their Windows machine boots to a C: prompt I usually have them rename the autoexec.bat and config.sys.

Sometimes a program will put code in there to boot to DOS.

I think the copy of Windows is just screwed up though. Sounds like a reinstall job to me.

[Darren Wilson]

Also check the MSDOS.sys file to see if the 'BootGUI=' is set to 0. If it is set it to 1. But I would have thought that if this was the case then typing WIN or exit would have gotten youinto Windows.

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[Sowulo]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Darren Wilson:
Also check the MSDOS.sys file to see if the 'BootGUI=' is set to 0. If it is set it to 1. But I would have thought that if this was the case then typing WIN or exit would have gotten youinto Windows.

</font>

Yeah. That's what I was thinking until he said typing WIN didn't work either. However, if the boot files msdos.sys and io.sys came from another Windows version??? With the wrong command.com you would get an error message saying wrong version...

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Ya never know, ya know?

[Rubber Duck]

Hey, thanks for all the help. I was just hoping that there would be a way for me to skip having to use a slave hd, but it looks like there is no way. I appreciate all the help.

[kannibul]

check the file
c:\windows\winstart.bat

if there is a line that states command.com /p
delete it, it will make the system not start windows.

[jrwilson]

you could always attempt a windows overlay...just re-install over top of the old os. i would n't give it back to your customer that way, but if you dont want to hook it up as a slave, then this is probably the fastest no-hassle way to retrieve the data.

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"Don't hate the media....BECOME the media!!" Jello Biafra - Dead Kennedys

[wbatten]

When at the "c" prompt Change directories to C:\windows> then type win

-wayne


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I use The best program that cures Windows problems, Far more reliable than Norton Utilities, It's called FORMAT C:...® [I hate AT&T@home cable service]

[NTTECH1]

Back Up the Data in DOS Programs like fastmove install in dos and run on the LPT1 Port. Then do the following. Run EasyDisk on the system to check if any Boot Management software has been installed. Next FDISK the Hard Drive and start over. Reinstall Win9x and all applications. Return the data to the Dir (Note be sure to list DIR @ C:\ before FDISK.
Good Luck!

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Computer Shop Owner A+ COMPTIA Lifes a Beach

[Pfred]

lots of good ideas here; one thing I didn't see was what is available when it does boot to c:

If you can see the files; you should be able to save them off the box & go from there.