booting failure

[denisaf]

Thanks Computer_Commando for those links. Various Cruzers were on the list on the first link but not Cruzer Switch, the one I have. I used the Direct Link to download Cruzer 98 and then rebooted.  Nothing happened. My Computer did not show the Cruzer as being hardware. It seems that Cuzer98 is not a driver for Cruzer Switch.

[denisaf]

I went to Driver Install & Fix Center and downloaded Driver Detective but it sent a message that it expected a newer version of Windows even though the download was for Windows 98.

[patio]

That model is too new for a Win98 driver...
Most people blame MS for this ...but in reality the responsibility for writing drivers for OS's is on the hardware manuf.

[denisaf]

I presume patio that you were referring to Cruzer Switch when you said the model was too new for Windows 98. I have asked SanDisk whether they have a driver for that model as it is not included on their list.

[BC_Programmer]

Personally, I would dump the device to avoid problems in the future, since it clearly isn't a standard Mass Storage device if the nusb driver can't use it, but that's just me.


That said, you can try this:


1. Remove all References to any installed sandisk software that you installed trying to get it working.Any previous driver software, for example.

Try this: It is labelled as the driver for non-U3 drives. it will work for U3 drives too (U3 being some ridiculous new gadget-magic that nobody ever uses):
http://www.sandisk.com/Assets/File/Downloads/USBFlashDrives/cruzer_family/Cruzer_Family_98SE.zip

When you install it, do not have the flash drive plugged in. Afterwards,reboot the machine, and plug in the Flash drive. Win98 will show the "found new hardware" wizard. Choose to display a list of all the drivers in a specific location so you can select the driver you want, choose "Hard Disk Controllers", select SanDisk from the manufacturer's list, and select "Cruzer Micro USB-Flash-Drive" From the device list. It will warn you that you picked the wrong driver, but ignore that and allow it to proceed. Drive should appear in My Computer.

This is the method I used on my SanDisk Flash drives before I found the generic USB drivers that worked for all the brands I had.

[denisaf]

SanDisk Technical Support have just advised me that they have not produced drivers for Windows 98SE for their flash drives. Therefore there seems to be no point in trying what BC-Progammer suggested. Thanks for the suggestion. I will now obtain a USB Flash Drive that has a Windows 98SE driver so I can store files or transfer them to the Windows 7 PC from that PC in case the booting failure means that PC is on its last legs. I will use the Cruzer Switch to store files from the windows 7 PC.

[denisaf]

I have details on how to set up the Windows 98SE for a Flash Drive. I now know that there are no Windows 98SE drivers for Sandisk flash drives. There are numerous sites relating to the issue of what flash drives can be installed in the Windows 98SE PC. So the next step is to find and purchase a suitable one.

[BC_Programmer]

I have details on how to set up the Windows 98SE for a Flash Drive. I now know that there are no Windows 98SE drivers for Sandisk flash drives. There are numerous sites relating to the issue of what flash drives can be installed in the Windows 98SE PC. So the next step is to find and purchase a suitable one.

I use a Three Sandisk Cruzer Micros and a Sandisk Cruzer Mini on my Windows 98SE laptop with no issues.

[denisaf]

BC_Programmer advised
"Seems like the Hard Drive is on the way out on that machine. It might just be taking longer to spin up, so you might try letting it warm up a bit at the error screen and then resetting it with Control-Alt-Delete. I'd also suggest running scandisk with the Surface scan option selected. This will take a very long time so make sure you won't need the machine in the meantime."
some time ago. I have not used the Windows98SE since then except in the failed attempts to copy files to FlashDrive. However, I now would like to recover some of the material on that machine. The first attempted boot seemed to work in that the Windows 98 screen came up but it went no further. So I tried to boot again and the error screen came up with "Disk I/O error. Replace the disk, and then press any key" I did this and "Boot from CD: DISK BOOT FAILARE,INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER" When I do that it goes back to Disk I/O error. If I then press Ctrl-Alt-Del  after some time it goes through that error routine again

[Geek-9pm]

A hard drive can often be repaired and continue  to work for years.

[patio]

Try a new data cable...

[denisaf]

Try a new data cable...

Which data cable?

[patio]

Ahhh...Geek mentioned HDD...sorry jumped the gun there.

[Geek-9pm]

From OP:

It has 'DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER'. I then turned it off and left it over night as previously the new booting would work.

The title is booting failure
Somehow this got wally bugled  to Windows 98 reading a flash drive.
Windows 98 can boot a floppy drive and ta is how you install it.
HDD diagnostics can be done from a floppy.
A bookable Flash drive can start widows 98 hard drive having boot issues.

The OP has another PC that works and can be used to crate bookable Flash, CD and floppy.
OP, please read this:
http://lifehacker.com/5991848/how-to-boot-from-a-cd-or-usb-drive-on-any-pc
And this:
http://www.howtogeek.com/136987/how-to-create-a-bootable-dos-usb-drive/
Does that help any?

[BC_Programmer]

From OP:The title is booting failure

It is wise to read the full thread before making a reply, if only to ensure you aren't repeating advice of others- it's also useful to prevent posting in a 2 year old thread (This one is fairly old). Even so, the OP has responded and basically brought things back to the original issue.

Somehow this got wally bugled  to Windows 98 reading a flash drive.

Well the original consensus was that the hard drive was failing and it was a good idea to get all the important data off the drive before it fails, which is where the USB drive came i, and the issues using it with Windows 98.

A bookable Flash drive can start widows 98 hard drive having boot issues.

This is a Windows 98-Era PC. Mass Storage devices weren't even ubiquitous enough to bother creating USB Class drivers for them, and they certainly couldn't boot from USB Drives at the time either.


Basically, the issue is that the drive was failing, and they had issues getting the flash drive to work originally and just left it be- Now they want some documents from that computer and the hard drive has gone from failing to failed.

I think the best option is to hook it up to an enclosure and connect it to the more modern machine. hopefully the drive is still accessible. It's likely the drive is completely hooped at this point though.