Posted on November 23rd, 2008 by rose
When I turn on my computer all I get is this messege:"Type the name of
the command interprter (e.g., C:windowscommand.com" How to I fix
this problem?
I have a gateway 300mgh with windows 98 and no bootdisk.Kickitabuck,
Yes you can. Without trying to sound like an advert, BootDisk.com is a
godsend to anyone who has to do a lot of data recovery, system
recovery and other support tasks on home or corporate PCs. And no, I'm
not affiliated to it in the slightest.
BootDisk.com
http://www.bootdisk.com/
If you download the Windows 98 OEM boot disk from the following page
by clicking on the link, it'll save to your XP machine as what is
known as a self extracting image. This is a single file. When you
double click it, it will prompt you for a blank floppy disk and then
extract everything it needs to that disk. It's that simple.
BootDisk.com - Boot Disks
http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm
When it finishes, you can safely take the floppy disk out and put it
into your Windows 98 PC. Switch on and the machine is likely to boot
up on the floppy disk. On it will be a file called command.com, the
very one that your system cannot find. You can copy the file from the
floppy disk to your hard drive by using the following command:
copy a:command.com c:windows
Then take the floppy disk out and reboot. Hopefully the system will be
able to find the command.com file. If it doesn't, put the floppy back
in and boot back up on it. Type the following:
copy a:command.com c:
Again, take out the floppy disk and reboot. The first location,
c:windows, is where your system seemed to be looking for command.com,
as stated in your question. The second location, c:, is the most
usual place to find it.
That's all good news.
The reason I'm not posting this as an answer is the bad news.
Unfortunately it is likely to only solve the most immediate problem
you have, and there are no guarantees that it even will do that -
though definitely try it! Any machine that has corrupted to this
degree is unfortunately likely to be suffering from other problems too
and those will have to be addressed in turn.
Best of luck!I cant install windows 98.When I press the button to turn on the
computer I get the messege.I can get it into setup and thats it. I
dont have a boot disk at all.:"Type the name of
the command interprter (e.g., C:windowscommand.com" what does
this mean anyway, what command and what does it do?Hi kickitabuck,
For some reason, your computer is not finding the command.com in your
c:windows directory. You'll have to try finding one elsewhere to get
booted up. At the prompt, try typing:
C:WINDOWSOPTIONSCABCOMMAND.COM
OR
C:DOSCOMMAND.COM
OR
D:WINDOWSCOMMAND.COM
Hopefully, one of those will work. Once you are up and running, make a
start up floppy.
The Ultimate Boot Disk:
http://www.startdisk.com/Web1/ubd/ubd.htm
The next time you restart, you will have the same problem. So this
time, insert your boot disk into the floppy drive and start the
computer. Select "Safe Mode" and when you get there, copy the
command.com from the floppy to your C:windows directory, restart, and
hopefully it will be ok.
Let us know how that goes -
Good luck!
hummerOh i almost forgot befor it said cany find the o.s. it said that the
32fat was not right.Hi Kickitabuck,
As explained in the requests for clarification above, you have a
corrupted system. When you switch on your computer it looks for the
command.com file but fails to find it.
As you have left a question here, you obviously have access to a
computer somewhere that is connected to the net. If this is another
Windows 98 PC then you can create a boot disk from that; if it isn't,
then you can download one from bootdisk.com and create it that way.
Either way, you can put this boot disk into your floppy disk drive and
switch on your computer. This boot disk will contain a copy of the
command.com file, which you can then copy to the hard drive with the
following command:
copy a:command.com c:windows
While this may not solve all your computer troubles, it should put you
at least one step further on, to the point where you may be able to
boot up into Windows at least.
There is one other potential problem that you could check for here. If
you try to copy this file across to your hard drive but it fails to
recognise that your c: drive even exists, then you may have a faulty
hard drive.
Best of luck!
PoeHi Kickitabuck,
That actually suggests that you're a step closer. Unfortunately it
looks being a long road.
I would guess that your current error messages are due to the system
actually booting on the hard drive now, but failing to load Windows.
If you went into the BIOS and changed the boot order to floppy before
hard disk, you would boot up on the floppy again and be able to type
c: and then dir, as you described. I have a feeling Gateway use the
standard DEL key to access the BIOS. You'll need to press this when
prompted very early on, almost as soon as you switch on the PC.
Your operating system is Windows 98 and this is what the system cannot
load. It now knows where command.com is but it can't find either the
c:windows directory or some or all of the key system files within it.
The 32FAT you mention will refer to the filesystem you are using,
which is FAT 32. FAT stands for File Allocation Tables and it is these
that keep track of where your files are kept physically on the hard
drive. Corruption of the FAT could cause exactly the problems that you
are describing.
Unfortunately it looks like the best way to recover your system is to
reinstall Windows. As belewgoose describes in the comments, this isn't
a hard process. The problem is getting your data off first (mail,
personal files etc) before you format your drive.
If I had the same problem here, I would physically remove the hard
drive from the PC and hook it up within your second PC as a slave. If
the drive is readable, XP should be able to read it and thus all
required data could be copied across to the XP drive. Once it has
finished copying, the drive can be reset as a master, replaced in the
old machine and wiped as part of a fresh Windows 98 installation.
If you are not technically minded, however, that may seem rather daunting.
Let us know how you wish to proceed, and I, or one of the other
researchers, should be able to help.it didnt work but at one point i got to c: and typed in dir and showed
my files.now when i try to use the bootdisk i get operating system not
foundYour right Im online with a computer running windows xp pro and the
one running windows 98 second. can i download the the boot disk on
windows xp pro but use it for windows 98The easiest way to correct this would be to format your harddrive. You
have a corrupted file and it needs to be fixed. Just put your windows
cd in and it should boot from the disc. If not, you can go into the
cmos settings (usually accessed by hitting delete when booting up) and
set your cdrom to boot first. Follow the instructions after the
windows disc loads and within an hour you should be back online! I can
clarify my instructions if needed.
Hope this helps!!Kickitabuck,
"I cant install windows 98."
Do you want to do a fresh install of Win98? Do you have the CD
installer and a CD drive? If your answer is "yes" to the second or
both questions, please tell us and we'll give you a guide on how to
install the OS.
-FeilongHi,
When did this problem start? Have you tried reinstalling Wind98? Could
you please give us more info about the problem?
-Feilong
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