Win98SE drive controller problems

Floppy drive won't work (message--Drive is not available) in Normal mode, at
least it's visible. .. However, will work in safe mode or boot from a
Floppy, so drive is OK. The CD-Rom is not visible in either mode...shows on
Bootup in Bios, but doesn't appear in explorer. All drive controllers
(floppy and IDE) have little yellow exclamation points on them in control
panel (but not in when booting to safe mode when they appear to be OK.)

How can a I reinstall drivers since my CDRom is offline because of this and
can't get data onto computer other than by dialup internet.?

Is it normal for CD drive not to be available in safe mode..in any case that
is the situation I have. BIOS has all PnP settings on automatic.

If I remove the drive controllers in Device Manager, is there anyway to
restore them, since presumably the drives will stop working, or will PnP
find them and install appropriate drivers.

History of this machine...originally had Win98 Gold on it. Somebody before
me tried repairs or something with Win98SE disk so it was kind of hybrid. My
friend passed it on to me to see if I could fix and I upgraded all the way
to SE (over top of old installation), but it's been flaky. BSOD's on bootup
and intermittent drive controller problems. BSOD problems seem to be
resolved, but now having issues with drive controllers

Boot to safe mode and remove all the controllers--then reboot in normal mode
and let windows redetect them.

What I would do is format the drive and start over clean--it will be a much
more stable load of Windows.
--
Regards

Ron Badour, MS MVP for W98
Tips: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour
Knowledge Base Info:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo

"Time Traveller" wrote in message
news:nXeQc.13329$gE.4708@pd7tw3no...
Floppy drive won't work (message--Drive is not available) in Normal mode,
at
least it's visible. .. However, will work in safe mode or boot from a
Floppy, so drive is OK. The CD-Rom is not visible in either mode...shows
on
Bootup in Bios, but doesn't appear in explorer. All drive controllers
(floppy and IDE) have little yellow exclamation points on them in control
panel (but not in when booting to safe mode when they appear to be OK.)

How can a I reinstall drivers since my CDRom is offline because of this
and
can't get data onto computer other than by dialup internet.?

Is it normal for CD drive not to be available in safe mode..in any case
that
is the situation I have. BIOS has all PnP settings on automatic.

If I remove the drive controllers in Device Manager, is there anyway to
restore them, since presumably the drives will stop working, or will PnP
find them and install appropriate drivers.

History of this machine...originally had Win98 Gold on it. Somebody before
me tried repairs or something with Win98SE disk so it was kind of hybrid.
My
friend passed it on to me to see if I could fix and I upgraded all the way
to SE (over top of old installation), but it's been flaky. BSOD's on
bootup
and intermittent drive controller problems. BSOD problems seem to be
resolved, but now having issues with drive controllers

I read your reply, my jaw dropped, and almost fell out of my chair. Never,
until now, have I seen an MVP recommend a format and clean install to fix a
windows problem. Congratulations for breaking new ground, and seeing the
world of common sense. There any more MVPs coming to your vision?
"Ron Badour" wrote in message
...
Boot to safe mode and remove all the controllers--then reboot in normal
mode
and let windows redetect them.

What I would do is format the drive and start over clean--it will be a
much
more stable load of Windows.
--
Regards

Ron Badour, MS MVP for W98
Tips: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour
Knowledge Base Info:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo

"Time Traveller" wrote in message
news:nXeQc.13329$gE.4708@pd7tw3no...
Floppy drive won't work (message--Drive is not available) in Normal
mode,
at
least it's visible. .. However, will work in safe mode or boot from a
Floppy, so drive is OK. The CD-Rom is not visible in either
mode...shows
on
Bootup in Bios, but doesn't appear in explorer. All drive controllers
(floppy and IDE) have little yellow exclamation points on them in
control
panel (but not in when booting to safe mode when they appear to be OK.)

How can a I reinstall drivers since my CDRom is offline because of this
and
can't get data onto computer other than by dialup internet.?

Is it normal for CD drive not to be available in safe mode..in any case
that
is the situation I have. BIOS has all PnP settings on automatic.

If I remove the drive controllers in Device Manager, is there anyway to
restore them, since presumably the drives will stop working, or will PnP
find them and install appropriate drivers.

History of this machine...originally had Win98 Gold on it. Somebody
before
me tried repairs or something with Win98SE disk so it was kind of
hybrid.
My
friend passed it on to me to see if I could fix and I upgraded all the
way
to SE (over top of old installation), but it's been flaky. BSOD's on
bootup
and intermittent drive controller problems. BSOD problems seem to be
resolved, but now having issues with drive controllers

Hmm..tried the remove controller trick already and it had no effect., looks
like I'm going to have to go with the "yuk" reinstall
bummer bummer.
It's not the Win98 reinstall that kills me so much as the all the personal
settings, files etc that I have to capture for the user.
Thanks for taking the time to answer.

"Ron Badour" wrote in message
...
Boot to safe mode and remove all the controllers--then reboot in normal
mode
and let windows redetect them.

What I would do is format the drive and start over clean--it will be a
much
more stable load of Windows.
--
Regards

Ron Badour, MS MVP for W98
Tips: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour
Knowledge Base Info:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo

"Time Traveller" wrote in message
news:nXeQc.13329$gE.4708@pd7tw3no...
Floppy drive won't work (message--Drive is not available) in Normal
mode,
at
least it's visible. .. However, will work in safe mode or boot from a
Floppy, so drive is OK. The CD-Rom is not visible in either
mode...shows
on
Bootup in Bios, but doesn't appear in explorer. All drive controllers
(floppy and IDE) have little yellow exclamation points on them in
control
panel (but not in when booting to safe mode when they appear to be OK.)

How can a I reinstall drivers since my CDRom is offline because of this
and
can't get data onto computer other than by dialup internet.?

Is it normal for CD drive not to be available in safe mode..in any case
that
is the situation I have. BIOS has all PnP settings on automatic.

If I remove the drive controllers in Device Manager, is there anyway to
restore them, since presumably the drives will stop working, or will PnP
find them and install appropriate drivers.

History of this machine...originally had Win98 Gold on it. Somebody
before
me tried repairs or something with Win98SE disk so it was kind of
hybrid.
My
friend passed it on to me to see if I could fix and I upgraded all the
way
to SE (over top of old installation), but it's been flaky. BSOD's on
bootup
and intermittent drive controller problems. BSOD problems seem to be
resolved, but now having issues with drive controllers

Yep, I'd recommend it here too. Dave, see this:

History of this machine...originally had Win98 Gold on it. Somebody
before me tried repairs or something with Win98SE disk so it was
kind of hybrid.
My friend passed it on to me to see if I could fix and I upgraded all the
way to SE (over top of old installation), but it's been flaky. BSOD's on
bootup and intermittent drive controller problems. BSOD problems
seem to be resolved, but now having issues with drive controllers

Once you start playing mix-n-match between various versions of Windows the
game is over. You can spend days, weeks, months ... trying to get it right,
or you can bite the bullet and start over clean so it gets done right this
time.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Win9x]
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* for the benefit of all. Private mail is usually not replied to.
* HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"Lil' Dave" wrote in message
...
I read your reply, my jaw dropped, and almost fell out of my chair. Never,
until now, have I seen an MVP recommend a format and clean install to fix
a
windows problem. Congratulations for breaking new ground, and seeing the
world of common sense. There any more MVPs coming to your vision?

In this particular case, the history of the machine is largely unknown and
what is known dictates a format G. I am all for troubleshooting a problem
but if I cannot fix something within an hour or so, the format disk comes
out. People will waste hours and hours to avoid a reinstall yet if they
looked at it, the format and reinstall of the system and software sometimes
takes less time then they wasted. And, they get a clean, solid system out
of the deal as well.
--
Regards

Ron Badour, MS MVP for W98
Tips: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour
Knowledge Base Info:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo

"Lil' Dave" wrote in message
...
I read your reply, my jaw dropped, and almost fell out of my chair.
Never,
until now, have I seen an MVP recommend a format and clean install to fix
a
windows problem. Congratulations for breaking new ground, and seeing the
world of common sense. There any more MVPs coming to your vision?
"Ron Badour" wrote in message
...
Boot to safe mode and remove all the controllers--then reboot in normal
mode
and let windows redetect them.

What I would do is format the drive and start over clean--it will be a
much
more stable load of Windows.
--
Regards

Ron Badour, MS MVP for W98
Tips: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour
Knowledge Base Info:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo

"Time Traveller" wrote in message
news:nXeQc.13329$gE.4708@pd7tw3no...
Floppy drive won't work (message--Drive is not available) in Normal
mode,
at
least it's visible. .. However, will work in safe mode or boot from a
Floppy, so drive is OK. The CD-Rom is not visible in either
mode...shows
on
Bootup in Bios, but doesn't appear in explorer. All drive controllers
(floppy and IDE) have little yellow exclamation points on them in
control
panel (but not in when booting to safe mode when they appear to be
OK.)

How can a I reinstall drivers since my CDRom is offline because of
this
and
can't get data onto computer other than by dialup internet.?

Is it normal for CD drive not to be available in safe mode..in any
case
that
is the situation I have. BIOS has all PnP settings on automatic.

If I remove the drive controllers in Device Manager, is there anyway
to
restore them, since presumably the drives will stop working, or will
PnP
find them and install appropriate drivers.

History of this machine...originally had Win98 Gold on it. Somebody
before
me tried repairs or something with Win98SE disk so it was kind of
hybrid.
My
friend passed it on to me to see if I could fix and I upgraded all the
way
to SE (over top of old installation), but it's been flaky. BSOD's on
bootup
and intermittent drive controller problems. BSOD problems seem to be
resolved, but now having issues with drive controllers

Did you try it from safe mode? Frankly, that system is so screwed up that I
would scrap it if I were working on it. See my reply to Dave.

--
Regards

Ron Badour, MS MVP for W98
Tips: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour
Knowledge Base Info:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo

"Time Traveller" wrote in message
news:cgjQc.14234$J06.1655@pd7tw2no...
Hmm..tried the remove controller trick already and it had no effect.,
looks
like I'm going to have to go with the "yuk" reinstall
bummer bummer.
It's not the Win98 reinstall that kills me so much as the all the personal
settings, files etc that I have to capture for the user.
Thanks for taking the time to answer.

"Ron Badour" wrote in message
...
Boot to safe mode and remove all the controllers--then reboot in normal
mode
and let windows redetect them.

What I would do is format the drive and start over clean--it will be a
much
more stable load of Windows.
--
Regards

Ron Badour, MS MVP for W98
Tips: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour
Knowledge Base Info:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo

"Time Traveller" wrote in message
news:nXeQc.13329$gE.4708@pd7tw3no...
Floppy drive won't work (message--Drive is not available) in Normal
mode,
at
least it's visible. .. However, will work in safe mode or boot from a
Floppy, so drive is OK. The CD-Rom is not visible in either
mode...shows
on
Bootup in Bios, but doesn't appear in explorer. All drive controllers
(floppy and IDE) have little yellow exclamation points on them in
control
panel (but not in when booting to safe mode when they appear to be
OK.)

How can a I reinstall drivers since my CDRom is offline because of
this
and
can't get data onto computer other than by dialup internet.?

Is it normal for CD drive not to be available in safe mode..in any
case
that
is the situation I have. BIOS has all PnP settings on automatic.

If I remove the drive controllers in Device Manager, is there anyway
to
restore them, since presumably the drives will stop working, or will
PnP
find them and install appropriate drivers.

History of this machine...originally had Win98 Gold on it. Somebody
before
me tried repairs or something with Win98SE disk so it was kind of
hybrid.
My
friend passed it on to me to see if I could fix and I upgraded all the
way
to SE (over top of old installation), but it's been flaky. BSOD's on
bootup
and intermittent drive controller problems. BSOD problems seem to be
resolved, but now having issues with drive controllers

I'm inclined to agree with the format and wipe approach.
Did a clean install, but theres still something screwy going on. Got
messages about corrupt files during the setup/configuration phase of the
installation and am beginning to suspect maybe some bad Ram or hard disk
problems.

If you're sure the CD itself and the CD drive are both okay, then I'd
definitely suspect bad RAM first and a bad hard drive second.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Win9x]
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* for the benefit of all. Private mail is usually not replied to.
* HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"Time Traveller" wrote in message
news:NZsQc.15835$M95.6206@pd7tw1no...
I'm inclined to agree with the format and wipe approach.
Did a clean install, but theres still something screwy going on. Got
messages about corrupt files during the setup/configuration phase of the
installation and am beginning to suspect maybe some bad Ram or hard disk
problems.