response to prompt

[confusedbycomputer]

I just reinstalled OS and Windows98; now computer shows "C:\WINDOWS>". What should I type to get to the desktop?

[Fed]

Type win & hit enter.

[confusedbycomputer]

I typed "win" and pressed enter. The computer restarted and now asks :Please insert  the diskette for MS-DOS Prompt in drive A...   what disk is it asking for?

[confusedbycomputer]

I have the following: "UNIVERSAL BOOT DISK"; Microsoft Office xp Professional; the HelpSpot!;Gateway System Restoration CD; Microsoft Office2000 Small Business;Microsoft virtual machine; Microsoft Windows98;--they are all legal copies and I have the certificates for each

[GX1_Man]

How did you install this? The Windows 98 disk is all that you should need initially. It should be self booting when the machine is restarted. I suspect you installed something from anotther CD or are just booting from this Universal boot disk that you probably don't need.

So try this and post back what happened.

[confusedbycomputer]

I turned the computer off and restarted it. The C:\WINDOWS> showed up again; so, I typed "win."
Then the message I receive is: "You are currently running in MS-DOS mode. Do you want to return to normal mode, to run Windows applications again [Enter=Y, Esc=N}?
What should I do now?

[Zylstra]

Are you running from Windows 3.1 or something REALLY old?

Press "Y"
Pressing "Y" will bring you back to the Windows OS, instead of MSDOS.

[confusedbycomputer]

The screen says it it Microsoft Windows 98. I pressed "Y" and the computer restarted and then came back with the same screen=telling me to insert the diskette for MS-DOS Prompt  and press any key to continue. I just toggle back and forth between that message and the C:\ screen. I'm not getting anywhere.

[GX1_Man]

Does it make a difference which CD is in the drive when it restarts?

[confusedbycomputer]

No difference.

[GX1_Man]

If all CD's produce the same message, then you are no doubt  booting off the hard drive instead of the CD.  Can you get into the BIOS and set the machine  to boot from CD first? The correct key to get there should be onscreen when the computer starts.

[confusedbycomputer]

 I ran the Startup Disk for Windows 98. It gave me the option to go to a help screen.
"The Startup Disk has changed significantly for Windows 98. The following items are new for Windows 98. -Multi-config start menu, real-mode cd-rom drivers, ebd.cab file, ramdrive, windows 98 startup problems, using the tools available on the startup disk"

will the answer be in any of the above?

[Zylstra]

I have the following: "UNIVERSAL BOOT DISK"; [highlight]Microsoft Office xp Professional[/highlight]; the HelpSpot!;Gateway System Restoration CD; Microsoft Office2000 Small Business;Microsoft virtual machine; Microsoft Windows98;--they are all legal copies and I have the certificates for each

Is the Microsoft Office XP Professional an Operating System?
If it is, why don't you install that?

[GX1_Man]

Office is a separate application and not on the same CD as Windows ever that I have seen.

[Rob Pomeroy]

Looks like there is a problem with the DOS installation on this hard drive.  Possibly the autoexec.bat and config.sys files are wrong.

If you can boot from a Windows boot disk, then go to the A drive (type A: [enter]) then type "sys c:" [enter].  That should ensure that DOS is installed on your hard drive (needed for Win 98).

You can display the contents of the two files I mentioned by typing the following (e.g.) "cd \ [enter] type autoexec.bat".  Can you tell us what is in those files?  Do you get any errors?