1995 dell laptop won't boot please help

[Matt Valloney]

hello. I was looking through some things and found this 1995 dell latitude LM laptop. when I reformatted it, the laptop won't boot. I have a windows 95 cd in the cd drive. when I turn the laptop on, it goes through all the start up procedures then says,

"the ammount of system memory has changed or the suspend-to-disk file is absent. see suspend to disk file in the online users guide."

then it says "Invalid system disk, replace the disk, and then press any key." this message still comes up even when there is nothing in the drive.

can this laptop be salvaged?

[N. Abstentia]

Reformatting wipes the hard drive clean, so it won't boot since there is nothing to boot from. If you are wanting to install Windows 95 (I wouldn't...you should get a copy of Windows 98se at least) you will need the Windows 95 CD-ROM boot disc so you can access the CD drive and install the OS.

[kingcrim05]

Can't boot directly form the 95 cd?

Are you sure the boot order includes the CDROM? With an older computer, it might be just booting from the HDD's and floppies.

I might try to get into the bio, switch the statup boot order to include the cdrom, put hte cd in, and then restart the computer

porcupine tree rocks =)

[Woochifer]

Agreed with the others, try rebooting with a floppy. Best thing to do is to find a PC running Win95 or 98, and go into the Control Panel. In the Add/Remove Programs option, there should be an option to create a startup disk (make sure that the MSCDEX file is also included, since that's the default driver for a CD-ROM drive). Most older machines of that vintage cannot boot from the CD drive. After booting up with a floppy can you proceed with the operating system installation. If you got a lot of older software lying around (or have access to it), you can also look for a copy of Windows95 on floppy.

Otherwise, if you still have trouble, it could be something akin to a burned out battery on the motherboard, which older PCs needed to retain their CMOS settings. If your laptop has a flash upgradable BIOS, you could also check with Dell and see if a BIOS update is available.

[JSE]

Sounds like it's time to get a new one?

JSE

[N. Abstentia]

Can't boot directly form the 95 cd?

Win95 and 98 CD's are not bootable. That's why they provide the CD Rom boot disc with the CD.

[IsmaVA]

go to www.bootdisk.com and download your choice of OS bootable disks . . .

[JeffKnob]

Matt,

I have noticed that you keep posting messages about your computer problems. Are you aware that this is a discussion board for audio not computers?

[JStudrawa]

While you're online, download a win98SE crack (or XP if you can find one). Win 95 is complete trash.

Btw, next time you format use the addition of "/s" to make the hardrive a system (bootable) drive....

format c: /s

[92135011]

Never go with XP, that thing is a resource hogger.
hmm...1995 you say? im surprised you still got your hard drive after all this time.

[Matt Valloney]

Matt,

I have noticed that you keep posting messages about your computer problems. Are you aware that this is a discussion board for audio not computers?

please keep your comments to yourself, noone wants to hear them
Thanks,
Matt