Dave:

If you can get your hands on a 20 - 30 GB hard drive, that computer with its Intel Pentium III 733 MHz processor and 512 MB of RAM(I'm guessing it has PC100 or PC133 modules) will run Windows XP just fine for basic computing use.

And you'll be much happier and have a much more stable operating system than you will with Windows 98.

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will run Windows XP just fine for basic computing use.

Hi,

Thanks for the reply, but running other than win98 is not an option. This is to run a 2-1/2 ton cnc milling machine. Because of very critical timing issues, down to microseconds, it has to run under a pure DOS and win98se was the last of those. This machine can move 2000lbs of steel at 350" per minute. That's almost 6" in a second. There ain't no messing with that and the machine is still in perfect condition and would cost $60,000 to replace. The old wn98 is still looking to be a good/only option.

Note that win2000 and Ubuntu would not install any farther than win98 got so I doubt XP would do any better.

Dave

 

I just assumed you were using that computer for basic computing.

I remember now reading about your milling machine in this thread.

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I remember now reading about your milling machine

Yeah, it is a serious piece of equipment and I have a few smaller mills and now a lathe. The big one can be terrifying when things go wrong. Stuff happens fast and it is a test of speed to see how much of a wreck can be prevented in the race to the big red 2" diameter e-stop button.

Dave

 

1. RESCUE THE ORIGINAL DRIVER FILES

One option is to retrieve the original driver files for the current monitor from the crashed hard disk that "went silly".

You don't explain what faults that original disk had, but even if they were severe it is not impossible that files might be copied off of it, by booting the system into DOS mode using a bootable floppy disk, and copying the files with DOS onto a second floppy disk, using the floppy drive as both Drive A: and Drive B: alternately ;-

COPY C:\FILENAME.BIN B:

There are lots of circumstances in which a hard disk can't start Windows, but can still be read in DOS mode, if the computer is started using a bootable floppy disk.

Where a hard disk is not even accessible in that manner, there are a lot of software programs (data recovery programs) that can scan a damaged hard disk, in order to copy files off of it. For example, look at this page:

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/bridip/recovery.htm

There are links on that page to software programs for recovering individual files:

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/bridip/recovery.htm#11

2. FIX THE ERROR MESSAGES

You haven't indicated what error messages you were seeing when you tried to start the computer with the hard disk that "went silly".

However, fixes for many common Error Messages are set out in the following link (including fixes for Blue Screen errors and for many other types of error):

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/bridip/recovery.htm#sectionC

These fixes might either get your old disk working again, or enable you to rescue from it the original driver files for your monitor.

3. UPDATE THE HARDWARE INFORMATION DATABASE

The two above steps probably won't fix the problem, so you can also do as follows.

The fault you've got with the replacement disk (continuous rebooting) might be cured by fixing the hardware database on the replacement disk.

There are notes on how to do that in the following link (scroll down the page a bit to the heading HARDWARE INFORMATION DATABASE):

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/bridip/recovery.htm#sectionD

Basically, you may have run into a problem whereby the database on the replacement disk expects a very particular make of hardware to be present, and its absence causes a reboot. The solution in the above link removes the references to any non-existing hardware.

It's important to have the correct driver files for the current monitor ready at hand (i.e. those for the monitor actually present). But do NOT copy them onto the replacement hard disk until AFTER going through the removal procedure in the above link, which removes the out-dated references in the disk's old hardware database.

Once that's done, then copy the monitor's driver files to C: root. Then a re-start of the computer should cause Windows to notice those new hardware drivers.

The procedure is analagous to uninstalling a software program before installing a replacement version. Its effect is to update the hardware database with the new information.

 

Thanks Ed,

I will try the brute force approach and delete the database files.

The "silly" was seek times getting longer and longer. I ran several different check-disk type programs and they all came up as OK. I swapped memory cards around in the slots. Swapped PCI cards in slots. No help.

This computer is not on the internet so it can never get infected with anything.

The hard drive light would just keep flickering for minutes at a time when it used to take seconds. It was taking 5 or more minutes to boot to DOS sometimes. It runs mostly in DOS 6.22 and we only use the win side for network backing up of the data.

Dave

 

Ed,

On thinking about it, (it's too hot (102F) to go outside to the shop) wouldn't the driver database be built during the install of win98? Deleting the database files would just mean it would re-build it with the same drivers.

I mentioned I swapped video cards and monitors and that made no difference.

I am beginning to suspect the mobo or the CPU. Problem in replacing the mobo is that it needs a parallel port. Not much comes with Cenrtonics ports anymore. <g> I guess I could get a LPT1: PCI card to go with a new mobo.

Dave

 

Almost any hardware change will confuse the hardware information database, in my experience. So it's a step worth trying.

That database is not set in stone. It typically gets altered (i.e. updated) whenever a new piece of hardware is detected, not just when you install or re-install Windows.

In fact, if it doesn't get up-dated, that's when your problems begin! An out-of-date database will try to access non-existant hardware. This is often the root of all the trouble.

You're probably getting a huge delay because it's looking for hardware that's not there, and so it has to wait until the 'search-for-hardware' subroutine times out (an arbitrary, but often very long period!) before it will unfreeze and start executing other instructions.