Member Avatar for Amir04

Hi everyone....

i have a laptop Compaq Presario 1247....
I installed Win 95...so i can upgrade to XP...bcuz that seemed the only way to do it....After installing WIN 95...I was not able to get into my desktop at all...I kept getting this msg....."Restart your computer" and i did so...but nothing. So now, i tried installing Win98....only thing is that my WIn 98 CD is old and i think it has scratches on it....at the install screen it went up to 86% and then FROZE....now when i boot up i get "WINDOWN 98......" C:\>
After the C:\>
I dont know what to type in there...and thats the screen that it goes to automatically....plz....can anyone help me?

Thank u

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Catweazle

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left a Compaq Presario 1247 booting to a C:\> prompt after an interrupted install. suggested moving to a fresh OS and raised upgrade-path issues; below are targeted, non-destructive steps to try first (recover files, attempt repair) and clear cautions before anything destructive.

Start by inspecting the disk from the DOS prompt and attempting to launch the GUI or repair tools:

dir
cd \windows
dir win.com
win
scanreg /restore
scandisk c:
  • dir shows what is present at the root.
  • cd \windows then dir win.com checks whether Windows start files exist.
  • win (or win.com) attempts to start the graphical shell if files are intact.
  • scanreg /restore can restore a previous registry snapshot if Windows files exist but the registry is corrupted.
  • scandisk c: checks and repairs filesystem problems that often follow an interrupted install.

If the CD install froze and the CD is unreliable, avoid repeated attempts on the same media. Use a known-good boot medium to copy critical data first: a Win98 startup floppy with CD drivers, or a Linux Live CD/USB (Knoppix or similar) to mount the internal drive and copy documents to external media or a network share.

If filesystem checks and registry restore do not recover the GUI, low-level fixes can be tried with caution:

fdisk /mbr
sys c:

fdisk /mbr rewrites the master boot record; sys c: reinstalls DOS/boot files. Both are non-destructive to user files but should only be used when comfortable with DOS tools.

If recovery fails, backing up data and performing a clean install from reliable media is the safest path. Also check BIOS to confirm the hard drive and optical drive are detected, since hardware faults (bad CD drive, failing HDD) can cause install freezes.

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Member Avatar for DMR

If the whole point of this venture is to migrate to XP, you should just purchase a load of XP and start fresh. (especially since you sound pretty sure that the Win 98 disk is probably damaged).

The fact that you get no graphical desktop after the b0rked 98 install attempt means that you probably shouldn't bother with trying to work things out from the command line (the "C:\" prompt); the installation was obviously not successful. :(

Member Avatar for Catweazle

OK, do you have an 'Upgrade CD' version of Windows XP?

If so, you can use it to perform a fresh, clean install of Windows XP.

See this article for instructions:

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread6632.html

Note that you will need to insert your Windows 98 CD when prompted during the procedure, to verify your 'eligibility' for using the upgrade version. Windows XP will not upgrade from Windows 95!

Note also, that your old Compaq laptop may not be suitable for use with Windows XP. Check the download drivers section at www.hp.com to see if there are Windows XP drivers for the system components in your laptop. If there are no Windows XP drivers, try any available Windows 2000 drivers instead. Do NOT use Windows 98 drivers!

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