msdos... missing operating system? [modified]
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Hello, now its time for msdos... I've got four machines to repare, each of those four machines have a PC inside and each of those pc's have an msdos 6.20 OS inside. Well, I cannot use a newer OS because then the software that must make those machines move won't work. I'm trying to make the hard disk bootable, but after executing "sys C:" the hard disk doesn't become bootable. Any idea on how to make it bootable again? Thank you in advance. PS : I need to maintain all data inside the hard disk... -- modified at 8:17 Thursday 3rd August, 2006
You say that the hard disk doesn't become bootable. What, exactly, are the symptoms that you're encountering?
Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalStrategyConsulting.com
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You say that the hard disk doesn't become bootable. What, exactly, are the symptoms that you're encountering?
Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalStrategyConsulting.com
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Hello, now its time for msdos... I've got four machines to repare, each of those four machines have a PC inside and each of those pc's have an msdos 6.20 OS inside. Well, I cannot use a newer OS because then the software that must make those machines move won't work. I'm trying to make the hard disk bootable, but after executing "sys C:" the hard disk doesn't become bootable. Any idea on how to make it bootable again? Thank you in advance. PS : I need to maintain all data inside the hard disk... -- modified at 8:17 Thursday 3rd August, 2006
Well, hopefully, you still have the MS-DOS 6.20 floppies around. At the very least, you need a bootable floppy made with MS-DOS 6.20 on it and the FDISK and SYS tools. Boot the machine on that disk, then type FDISK and verify that the Primary partition is Active. Reboot the machine on that floppy and type
SYS C:This will put the system files back on the disk you specify...
Dave Kreskowiak Microsoft MVP - Visual Basic
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At the beginning, when I turn on the computer, I can see a message that say: "Missing operating system". Even after I've executed "sys c:" from a floppy boot disk... That's all.
One possibility is that your master boot record is corrupt, which will generate the "Missing operating system" error. FDISK has an undocumented /MBR option that rewrites the master boot record without destroying the existing data. Here's an article on this option in Microsoft's support: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/69013/[^] If that doesn't get the job done, you might be looking at some corruption on your hard drive (run CHKDSK on C to see if errors are reported). Alternatively, although very unlikely, you could have contracted a virus of some sort that is preventing command.com, etc. from being updated. Try manually deleting the system files on C prior to running sys. I suspect it's either a corrupt hard drive or the master boot record is hosed. I'd try the FDISK /MBR option first, hard drive second, virus third.
Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalStrategyConsulting.com
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Well, hopefully, you still have the MS-DOS 6.20 floppies around. At the very least, you need a bootable floppy made with MS-DOS 6.20 on it and the FDISK and SYS tools. Boot the machine on that disk, then type FDISK and verify that the Primary partition is Active. Reboot the machine on that floppy and type
SYS C:This will put the system files back on the disk you specify...
Dave Kreskowiak Microsoft MVP - Visual Basic
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One possibility is that your master boot record is corrupt, which will generate the "Missing operating system" error. FDISK has an undocumented /MBR option that rewrites the master boot record without destroying the existing data. Here's an article on this option in Microsoft's support: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/69013/[^] If that doesn't get the job done, you might be looking at some corruption on your hard drive (run CHKDSK on C to see if errors are reported). Alternatively, although very unlikely, you could have contracted a virus of some sort that is preventing command.com, etc. from being updated. Try manually deleting the system files on C prior to running sys. I suspect it's either a corrupt hard drive or the master boot record is hosed. I'd try the FDISK /MBR option first, hard drive second, virus third.
Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalStrategyConsulting.com
Hello, I've tried to use the FDISK /MBR option, but it seems that it only works with the 6.22 OS version, and now I have the 6.0. I'll take a look at this. Menawhile I've taken a look at the scandisk and to the chkdsk and everything seems ok. I've deleted the command.com file and after that I've used again "sys c:", but it hasn't worked. I'll try to do it using a 6.22 os version and if this don't works I'll use an antivirus software in order to see what happens. Thank you for your help.
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Hello, I've tried to use the FDISK /MBR option, but it seems that it only works with the 6.22 OS version, and now I have the 6.0. I'll take a look at this. Menawhile I've taken a look at the scandisk and to the chkdsk and everything seems ok. I've deleted the command.com file and after that I've used again "sys c:", but it hasn't worked. I'll try to do it using a 6.22 os version and if this don't works I'll use an antivirus software in order to see what happens. Thank you for your help.
Frustrating, ain't it? As a last ditch effort, you can always pull the drives, plug them into another machine and back up the data. Then you can do a complete format and OS install, plug them back into your other machine, and fetch the backed up data. Major PITA, but it would get you back up and running (and on to more enjoyable tasks). Good luck!
Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalStrategyConsulting.com
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Hello, I've tried to use the FDISK /MBR option, but it seems that it only works with the 6.22 OS version, and now I have the 6.0. I'll take a look at this. Menawhile I've taken a look at the scandisk and to the chkdsk and everything seems ok. I've deleted the command.com file and after that I've used again "sys c:", but it hasn't worked. I'll try to do it using a 6.22 os version and if this don't works I'll use an antivirus software in order to see what happens. Thank you for your help.
Okay, for that matter, make sure all the cables to and from the drives are properly connected. I was gettign this same message from a Windows system the other day, and it turns out the data cable going to the hard drive was loose.
Any sufficiently gross incompetence is nearly indistinguishable from malice.
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Okay, for that matter, make sure all the cables to and from the drives are properly connected. I was gettign this same message from a Windows system the other day, and it turns out the data cable going to the hard drive was loose.
Any sufficiently gross incompetence is nearly indistinguishable from malice.
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Yes, this should do the trick, but it hasn't... after running scandisk I can see that the hard disk seems ok. I cannot understand anything...
Then try booting on that disk and typing:
FDISK /MBRDave Kreskowiak Microsoft MVP - Visual Basic