"non system disk" when insert Win2K boot floppy

[robnab]

I have formatted the HD in my ibm thinkpad (390X 2626-HOG,P2,400mhz,6gHD,formerly Win98) I have the Win2K CD rom from which I have made 4 boot disks as I couldn't get the BIOS to boot from the CD drive.

When I try to boot from the 1st floppy, I get a "Non system disk" error.

Any suggestions gratefully received!

before reformatting the HD, I updated the BIOS  (spsdis55.exe)

[GX1_Man]

Iss your computer set to boot first from the floppy in the BIOS? I would remake the  boot floppies and try again. Something wrong there.

[robnab]

yeah, it automatically goes to the A drive after giving the option to go to BIOS, it then says invalid system disk, replace the disk and press any key

Gonna try and get hold of another copy of Win 2k, see if that works.

anyone know how to boot from CD? if possible,

Thanks

[GX1_Man]

If your computer has the option to boot from CD first (in the BIOS), it is automatic when the machine is restarted with the W2K disc in the drive. (Be sure and remove any floppy before trying this.

Did you try re-doing the 4 boot floppies?

[robnab]

I think I've worked out how to get it to boot from CD, (moving the Cd above the FDD on the startup option of BIOS) and tried to boot from the CD, but same result. I also tried to make another set of floppies from another win2k disk, that didn't work either.

Have I got a firmware/bios issues?

out of ideas :-?

[GX1_Man]

Just out of curiosity why did you update the BIOS? Are you sure you got the right one?

[robnab]

The BIOS update was via the ibm web site

(http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=MIGR-4C5UP9)

The release date was Dec 01, so I'm guessing it would support w2k.

I've just had a look at the symtoms corrected by the BIOS update and support for w2k is one of them, although that was a fix in a previous update, surely the latest BIOS would be cumulative and include all previous update?

w98 seemed to run fine in the 2 days before I formatted the HD

and before anyone else asks, no it hasn't "ran out of coal! "

[GX1_Man]

Yes, BIOS updates are usually inclusive, so i don't think W2k is the problem. Just for grins, can  you try booting witth a Win98 boot floppy  and format the drive? With a machine that age, hardware is suspect too.

[robnab]

Managed to convince an IT guy at work to help out, he put in one of their w2k discs and it started loading straight away!

apparently I got 2 dodgy copies, come to think of it, I'm not sure if they were ligitimate copies..... I guess you get what you pay for.

Thanks for all the help guys, good forum, I'm learning loads off it just by looking at other peoples problems and I hope mine has help others (namely not to download/buy/borrow knocked off MS stuff!!)

[GX1_Man]

Managed to convince an IT guy at work to help out, he put in one of their w2k discs and it started loading straight away!

apparently I got 2 dodgy copies, come to think of it, I'm not sure if they were ligitimate copies..... I guess you get what you pay for.

Thanks for all the help guys, good forum, I'm learning loads off it just by looking at other peoples problems and I hope mine has help others (namely not to download/buy/borrow knocked off MS stuff!!)

Thanks for posting back. Illegal copies can cause problems!