How can I properly reformat my computer so that it will recognize my floppy and cd rom?

I have reformatted my computer, but it does not recognize my Floppy or CD rom, it goes to the C dos prompt and does nothing, because it does not recogizes those drive. How can I get my computer to recognize the drives and reload Windows 98?? Thanks!!

This question was answered on June 17, 2004. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

---

For the CDROM and problem, see if this helps.

Open the registry editor and navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE>SYSTEM>CurrentControlSet>Control>Class>{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

In the right pane look for an UpperFilters value and a LowerFilters value If they exist, right-click and choose Delete Close the registry editor and then restart your computer.......see if the CD drives are now recognized in My Computer.

To do this task, you'll need a full day, your original operating system installation CD-ROM, a floppy disk and some sort of backup program If you're not comfortable doing this, find someone who will sit with you while you do it so you don't make any crucial mistakes The procedure will decimate the data on your C: drive, so it's crucial that you back up all the data you don't want to lose

Back up all your documents including your "My Documents" folder and all the data you've stored on your Windows Desktop which you'll find in c:\Windows\Desktop or c:\Windows\Profiles\<yourname>\desktop, where <yourname> is your Windows log-on

Don't worry about backing up programs that you can reinstall later, unless you want a complete backup of your C: drive in the event of a problem.Now, create a boot disk This is where the two operating systems differ Creating a Windows 98 boot disk is easy If Windows 98 came factory-installed with your machine then one may have been supplied with your documentation If not, you can create one through the Control Panel Go to Add/Remove Programs and click the "StartUp Disk" tab and click the "Create Disk" button It will create a boot disk on a blank floppy for you with CD-ROM support This is important, as you'll need access to your CD-ROM drive to do a new Windows install.

Once the boot disk is created, test it to see if you can access your CD-ROM drive If that works, it's time to start the bulldozer

Reboot your system with the boot disk in your floppy drive At the A: prompt, type "format c:" without the quotes (and hit ENTER)

Your computer will ask for confirmation and then wipe the C drive clean If you're using the Windows 98 floppy disk, you want to select the "Start with CD-ROM support" option when prompted

If your hard drive is partitioned, only the contents of your C: partition will be wiped out

Once the reformat is finished put your Windows CD-ROM disk in the CD-ROM drive, and type "D:\setup" at the command prompt

In the event that your CD-ROM drive is assigned to another drive letter, say H: -- like on my machine -- you'll need to type "H:\setup" to run the Windows install

Once Windows is finished installing, reinstall your backup software and restore your data to the hard drive

If you have a original version of Windows 98, don't forget to install any service packs and Y2K upgrades Windows 98 also has a service pack available They can be downloaded from www.microsoft.com/windows

About the author

Posted by Raymond of Katharine Gibbs School - New York on June 17, 2004

Need Help with this Issue?

We help people with technology! It's what we do.
Contact or Schedule an Appointment with a location for help!