hard drive crash

No, you store the images Acronis makes of the "C:" drive on the "D:"
drive. Please review the information at the link provided.

Phil wrote:

If I do a seperate partition for a program such as Acronis. do I make it that
particular partition bootable when setting up the hard drive? Do I install
the OS on that partition also or does that get put on while doing the image?
Thank you,

"Bob I" wrote:


You can, it depends on what all you back up there. You would want a
separate backup for real important files you store on the 500 GB data
area, cause if the drive fails everything on it is gone.
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing.../features.html

Phil wrote:

Sould the d drive be partitioned to use an area for backup?

"Bob I" wrote:



Install your apps on C: and use D: for documents, images and movies. As
large as D is you can also use it as the storage area for an imaging
backup system like Acronis

Phil wrote:



Just for hahas i redownloaded the wd diag tools and put to a new floppy and
it worked. I was able to erase the hard drive and re-install windows. Again I
do thank you very much. What I would like to do at this poit is set up
everything properly. I have the 40gb hard drive and also purchased a 500gb
hard drive, 500 because all they make now are huge and I got it for a very
good price. Anyway I out the os on the 40gb. We will also be putting MS
office, printer, photo printer and the usual smaller programs and programs
for young kids. We do take tons of pictures and keep them. The 40gb was
pretty much full. I would like to know the best was to set this up before I
begin. Also a question is how do the drives interact with each other?
Example, should I put office on D and if so can you access the documents

from C.

I think the HP picture program should go on D and save all pics to D.
because of the room it takes.

"Paul" wrote:




Phil wrote:



on the drive it only has 1.3gb on it. used to be over 25gb. the recovery
partition has 4.68gb. I also tried to run the wd diag and it said can not
load DOS. I took the drive out and put it back in old machine and booted to
floppy and also said can not load DOS ???? Does this mean anything??


This is the contents of the WD diagnostic floppy I just prepared.

07/21/2000 05:44 PM 25,636 IBMBIO.COM
07/21/2000 05:44 PM 33,250 IBMDOS.COM
07/21/2000 05:44 PM 66,433 COMMAND.COM
05/10/2004 01:34 PM 21 AUTOEXEC.BAT
01/18/2005 09:11 AM 9,003 DLGLICE.TXT
11/22/2005 10:31 AM 286,132 DLGDIAG5.EXE
11/29/2005 01:19 PM 10,426 DLGDIAG.txt
09/16/2009 09:10 PM 0 DLGDIAG.PRE
09/16/2009 09:10 PM 0 DLGDIAG.LOG
9 File(s) 430,901 bytes
0 Dir(s) 1,025,024 bytes free

I booted this on my current computer, and the prompt
on the screen mentions "Caldera DRDOS" is booting.
It booted up just fine, and then attempts to run the
diagnostic. On my machine, there are no Western
Digital drives, so the diagnostic quits. I'm returned
to the "A:" prompt. From there, I can run DOS commands.
Pressing control-alt-delete, causes a reboot to start,
and I pop out the floppy before that begins again.

I don't understand why virtually nothing works right on
your old machine :-(

*******

Can you boot the WD diagnostic floppy, if the hard drive
is again unplugged from the old computer ? I know the
diagnostic will quit, when it doesn't find a WD drive,
but at this point, I'd be pretty happy if we get as
far as seeing the Caldera DRDOS message from the floppy
booting.

Also, are you able to enter the BIOS and examine all the
setup screens ? Does the BIOS behave properly ? I'm looking
for signs there is some sanity in the old computer. If
you change some settings, select "Save and Exit", and
then go into the BIOS later, are the settings you changed
still there ?

Your specs. The motherboard has a VIA KM266 chipset, and
the relatively rare Athlon 2600+ running at 2133MHz.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...reg_R1002_USEN

If this continues in the current downward direction, soon
it may be time to clear the CMOS. Clearing the CMOS
involves a jumper on the motherboard. You do this with
the computer unplugged (that is to ensure no +5VSB is
present during the procedure). Clearing the CMOS
does two things. It returns BIOS settings to defaults.
You should make notes of any custom settings in the
BIOS - some people use a digital camera, and take pictures
of the screen, before clearing the CMOS. Clearing the
CMOS is for times when you just can't seem to get any
reasonable behavior from the BIOS.

I think this could be your motherboard. There is a
description here, of how to clear the CMOS. You
don't need to clear the password. The main CMOS
is the thing that stores the settings. The main
thing to remember is, don't forget to unplug the
computer! Failure to remove +5VSB, before using
the CMOS clearing jumper, results in a burned
component on some motherboards.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...reg_R1002_USEN

Before clearing the CMOS, you could try entering the
BIOS, and under the Exit menu, see if there is a
"Load Setup Defaults" option. That might partially
reset the CMOS. Maybe you'll be able to boot the
floppy after that.

Hmmm. This is interesting. Does your machine
use a 40 wire or 80 wire IDE cable ? I like 80 wire
cables everywhere now, and have no use for the
40 pin ones. 80 wire cables have better signal
integrity properties. Every second wire is a
ground, helping to define a consistent impedance
on the cable. The higher UDMA modes are supported
with the 80 wire cable, which is an incentive to
use one.

http://forum.msi.com.tw/index.php?topic=122015.0

*******

If you need a motherboard manual to look at, there are
some here. There are manuals for three different versions
of the MS-6390 KM266 board.

http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=do...=1&prod_no=307

Paul

Couldn't find anything on the Acronis site to setup the new hard drive as
fat32 or NFTS.

"Bob I" wrote:

No, you store the images Acronis makes of the "C:" drive on the "D:"
drive. Please review the information at the link provided.

Phil wrote:

If I do a seperate partition for a program such as Acronis. do I make it that
particular partition bootable when setting up the hard drive? Do I install
the OS on that partition also or does that get put on while doing the image?
Thank you,

"Bob I" wrote:


You can, it depends on what all you back up there. You would want a
separate backup for real important files you store on the 500 GB data
area, cause if the drive fails everything on it is gone.
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing.../features.html

Phil wrote:

Sould the d drive be partitioned to use an area for backup?

"Bob I" wrote:



Install your apps on C: and use D: for documents, images and movies. As
large as D is you can also use it as the storage area for an imaging
backup system like Acronis

Phil wrote:



Just for hahas i redownloaded the wd diag tools and put to a new floppy and
it worked. I was able to erase the hard drive and re-install windows. Again I
do thank you very much. What I would like to do at this poit is set up
everything properly. I have the 40gb hard drive and also purchased a 500gb
hard drive, 500 because all they make now are huge and I got it for a very
good price. Anyway I out the os on the 40gb. We will also be putting MS
office, printer, photo printer and the usual smaller programs and programs
for young kids. We do take tons of pictures and keep them. The 40gb was
pretty much full. I would like to know the best was to set this up before I
begin. Also a question is how do the drives interact with each other?
Example, should I put office on D and if so can you access the documents

from C.

I think the HP picture program should go on D and save all pics to D.
because of the room it takes.

"Paul" wrote:




Phil wrote:



on the drive it only has 1.3gb on it. used to be over 25gb. the recovery
partition has 4.68gb. I also tried to run the wd diag and it said can not
load DOS. I took the drive out and put it back in old machine and booted to
floppy and also said can not load DOS ???? Does this mean anything??


This is the contents of the WD diagnostic floppy I just prepared.

07/21/2000 05:44 PM 25,636 IBMBIO.COM
07/21/2000 05:44 PM 33,250 IBMDOS.COM
07/21/2000 05:44 PM 66,433 COMMAND.COM
05/10/2004 01:34 PM 21 AUTOEXEC.BAT
01/18/2005 09:11 AM 9,003 DLGLICE.TXT
11/22/2005 10:31 AM 286,132 DLGDIAG5.EXE
11/29/2005 01:19 PM 10,426 DLGDIAG.txt
09/16/2009 09:10 PM 0 DLGDIAG.PRE
09/16/2009 09:10 PM 0 DLGDIAG.LOG
9 File(s) 430,901 bytes
0 Dir(s) 1,025,024 bytes free

I booted this on my current computer, and the prompt
on the screen mentions "Caldera DRDOS" is booting.
It booted up just fine, and then attempts to run the
diagnostic. On my machine, there are no Western
Digital drives, so the diagnostic quits. I'm returned
to the "A:" prompt. From there, I can run DOS commands.
Pressing control-alt-delete, causes a reboot to start,
and I pop out the floppy before that begins again.

I don't understand why virtually nothing works right on
your old machine :-(

*******

Can you boot the WD diagnostic floppy, if the hard drive
is again unplugged from the old computer ? I know the
diagnostic will quit, when it doesn't find a WD drive,
but at this point, I'd be pretty happy if we get as
far as seeing the Caldera DRDOS message from the floppy
booting.

Also, are you able to enter the BIOS and examine all the
setup screens ? Does the BIOS behave properly ? I'm looking
for signs there is some sanity in the old computer. If
you change some settings, select "Save and Exit", and
then go into the BIOS later, are the settings you changed
still there ?

Your specs. The motherboard has a VIA KM266 chipset, and
the relatively rare Athlon 2600+ running at 2133MHz.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...reg_R1002_USEN

If this continues in the current downward direction, soon
it may be time to clear the CMOS. Clearing the CMOS
involves a jumper on the motherboard. You do this with
the computer unplugged (that is to ensure no +5VSB is
present during the procedure). Clearing the CMOS
does two things. It returns BIOS settings to defaults.
You should make notes of any custom settings in the
BIOS - some people use a digital camera, and take pictures
of the screen, before clearing the CMOS. Clearing the
CMOS is for times when you just can't seem to get any
reasonable behavior from the BIOS.

I think this could be your motherboard. There is a
description here, of how to clear the CMOS. You
don't need to clear the password. The main CMOS
is the thing that stores the settings. The main
thing to remember is, don't forget to unplug the
computer! Failure to remove +5VSB, before using
the CMOS clearing jumper, results in a burned
component on some motherboards.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...reg_R1002_USEN

Before clearing the CMOS, you could try entering the
BIOS, and under the Exit menu, see if there is a
"Load Setup Defaults" option. That might partially
reset the CMOS. Maybe you'll be able to boot the
floppy after that.

Hmmm. This is interesting. Does your machine
use a 40 wire or 80 wire IDE cable ? I like 80 wire
cables everywhere now, and have no use for the
40 pin ones. 80 wire cables have better signal
integrity properties. Every second wire is a
ground, helping to define a consistent impedance
on the cable. The higher UDMA modes are supported
with the 80 wire cable, which is an incentive to
use one.

http://forum.msi.com.tw/index.php?topic=122015.0

*******

If you need a motherboard manual to look at, there are
some here. There are manuals for three different versions
of the MS-6390 KM266 board.

http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=do...=1&prod_no=307

Paul

Couldn't find anything on the Acronis site to setup the new hard drive as
fat32 or NFTS.

"Bob I" wrote:

No, you store the images Acronis makes of the "C:" drive on the "D:"
drive. Please review the information at the link provided.

Phil wrote:

If I do a seperate partition for a program such as Acronis. do I make it that
particular partition bootable when setting up the hard drive? Do I install
the OS on that partition also or does that get put on while doing the image?
Thank you,

"Bob I" wrote:


You can, it depends on what all you back up there. You would want a
separate backup for real important files you store on the 500 GB data
area, cause if the drive fails everything on it is gone.
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing.../features.html

Phil wrote:

Sould the d drive be partitioned to use an area for backup?

"Bob I" wrote:



Install your apps on C: and use D: for documents, images and movies. As
large as D is you can also use it as the storage area for an imaging
backup system like Acronis

Phil wrote:



Just for hahas i redownloaded the wd diag tools and put to a new floppy and
it worked. I was able to erase the hard drive and re-install windows. Again I
do thank you very much. What I would like to do at this poit is set up
everything properly. I have the 40gb hard drive and also purchased a 500gb
hard drive, 500 because all they make now are huge and I got it for a very
good price. Anyway I out the os on the 40gb. We will also be putting MS
office, printer, photo printer and the usual smaller programs and programs
for young kids. We do take tons of pictures and keep them. The 40gb was
pretty much full. I would like to know the best was to set this up before I
begin. Also a question is how do the drives interact with each other?
Example, should I put office on D and if so can you access the documents

from C.

I think the HP picture program should go on D and save all pics to D.
because of the room it takes.

"Paul" wrote:




Phil wrote:



on the drive it only has 1.3gb on it. used to be over 25gb. the recovery
partition has 4.68gb. I also tried to run the wd diag and it said can not
load DOS. I took the drive out and put it back in old machine and booted to
floppy and also said can not load DOS ???? Does this mean anything??


This is the contents of the WD diagnostic floppy I just prepared.

07/21/2000 05:44 PM 25,636 IBMBIO.COM
07/21/2000 05:44 PM 33,250 IBMDOS.COM
07/21/2000 05:44 PM 66,433 COMMAND.COM
05/10/2004 01:34 PM 21 AUTOEXEC.BAT
01/18/2005 09:11 AM 9,003 DLGLICE.TXT
11/22/2005 10:31 AM 286,132 DLGDIAG5.EXE
11/29/2005 01:19 PM 10,426 DLGDIAG.txt
09/16/2009 09:10 PM 0 DLGDIAG.PRE
09/16/2009 09:10 PM 0 DLGDIAG.LOG
9 File(s) 430,901 bytes
0 Dir(s) 1,025,024 bytes free

I booted this on my current computer, and the prompt
on the screen mentions "Caldera DRDOS" is booting.
It booted up just fine, and then attempts to run the
diagnostic. On my machine, there are no Western
Digital drives, so the diagnostic quits. I'm returned
to the "A:" prompt. From there, I can run DOS commands.
Pressing control-alt-delete, causes a reboot to start,
and I pop out the floppy before that begins again.

I don't understand why virtually nothing works right on
your old machine :-(

*******

Can you boot the WD diagnostic floppy, if the hard drive
is again unplugged from the old computer ? I know the
diagnostic will quit, when it doesn't find a WD drive,
but at this point, I'd be pretty happy if we get as
far as seeing the Caldera DRDOS message from the floppy
booting.

Also, are you able to enter the BIOS and examine all the
setup screens ? Does the BIOS behave properly ? I'm looking
for signs there is some sanity in the old computer. If
you change some settings, select "Save and Exit", and
then go into the BIOS later, are the settings you changed
still there ?

Your specs. The motherboard has a VIA KM266 chipset, and
the relatively rare Athlon 2600+ running at 2133MHz.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...reg_R1002_USEN

If this continues in the current downward direction, soon
it may be time to clear the CMOS. Clearing the CMOS
involves a jumper on the motherboard. You do this with
the computer unplugged (that is to ensure no +5VSB is
present during the procedure). Clearing the CMOS
does two things. It returns BIOS settings to defaults.
You should make notes of any custom settings in the
BIOS - some people use a digital camera, and take pictures
of the screen, before clearing the CMOS. Clearing the
CMOS is for times when you just can't seem to get any
reasonable behavior from the BIOS.

I think this could be your motherboard. There is a
description here, of how to clear the CMOS. You
don't need to clear the password. The main CMOS
is the thing that stores the settings. The main
thing to remember is, don't forget to unplug the
computer! Failure to remove +5VSB, before using
the CMOS clearing jumper, results in a burned
component on some motherboards.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...reg_R1002_USEN

Before clearing the CMOS, you could try entering the
BIOS, and under the Exit menu, see if there is a
"Load Setup Defaults" option. That might partially
reset the CMOS. Maybe you'll be able to boot the
floppy after that.

Hmmm. This is interesting. Does your machine
use a 40 wire or 80 wire IDE cable ? I like 80 wire
cables everywhere now, and have no use for the
40 pin ones. 80 wire cables have better signal
integrity properties. Every second wire is a
ground, helping to define a consistent impedance
on the cable. The higher UDMA modes are supported
with the 80 wire cable, which is an incentive to
use one.

http://forum.msi.com.tw/index.php?topic=122015.0

*******

If you need a motherboard manual to look at, there are
some here. There are manuals for three different versions
of the MS-6390 KM266 board.

http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=do...=1&prod_no=307

Paul

Why? XP will only create 32GB partitions, AND the largest file you can
put on FAT32 is 4GB. Just Format as NTFS.

Phil wrote:

Couldn't find anything on the Acronis site to setup the new hard drive as
fat32 or NFTS.

"Bob I" wrote:


No, you store the images Acronis makes of the "C:" drive on the "D:"
drive. Please review the information at the link provided.

Phil wrote:


If I do a seperate partition for a program such as Acronis. do I make it that
particular partition bootable when setting up the hard drive? Do I install
the OS on that partition also or does that get put on while doing the image?
Thank you,

"Bob I" wrote:



You can, it depends on what all you back up there. You would want a
separate backup for real important files you store on the 500 GB data
area, cause if the drive fails everything on it is gone.
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing.../features.html

Phil wrote:


Sould the d drive be partitioned to use an area for backup?

"Bob I" wrote:




Install your apps on C: and use D: for documents, images and movies. As
large as D is you can also use it as the storage area for an imaging
backup system like Acronis

Phil wrote:




Just for hahas i redownloaded the wd diag tools and put to a new floppy and
it worked. I was able to erase the hard drive and re-install windows. Again I
do thank you very much. What I would like to do at this poit is set up
everything properly. I have the 40gb hard drive and also purchased a 500gb
hard drive, 500 because all they make now are huge and I got it for a very
good price. Anyway I out the os on the 40gb. We will also be putting MS
office, printer, photo printer and the usual smaller programs and programs
for young kids. We do take tons of pictures and keep them. The 40gb was
pretty much full. I would like to know the best was to set this up before I
begin. Also a question is how do the drives interact with each other?
Example, should I put office on D and if so can you access the documents

from C.


I think the HP picture program should go on D and save all pics to D.
because of the room it takes.

"Paul" wrote:





Phil wrote:




on the drive it only has 1.3gb on it. used to be over 25gb. the recovery
partition has 4.68gb. I also tried to run the wd diag and it said can not
load DOS. I took the drive out and put it back in old machine and booted to
floppy and also said can not load DOS ???? Does this mean anything??


This is the contents of the WD diagnostic floppy I just prepared.

07/21/2000 05:44 PM 25,636 IBMBIO.COM
07/21/2000 05:44 PM 33,250 IBMDOS.COM
07/21/2000 05:44 PM 66,433 COMMAND.COM
05/10/2004 01:34 PM 21 AUTOEXEC.BAT
01/18/2005 09:11 AM 9,003 DLGLICE.TXT
11/22/2005 10:31 AM 286,132 DLGDIAG5.EXE
11/29/2005 01:19 PM 10,426 DLGDIAG.txt
09/16/2009 09:10 PM 0 DLGDIAG.PRE
09/16/2009 09:10 PM 0 DLGDIAG.LOG
9 File(s) 430,901 bytes
0 Dir(s) 1,025,024 bytes free

I booted this on my current computer, and the prompt
on the screen mentions "Caldera DRDOS" is booting.
It booted up just fine, and then attempts to run the
diagnostic. On my machine, there are no Western
Digital drives, so the diagnostic quits. I'm returned
to the "A:" prompt. From there, I can run DOS commands.
Pressing control-alt-delete, causes a reboot to start,
and I pop out the floppy before that begins again.

I don't understand why virtually nothing works right on
your old machine :-(

*******

Can you boot the WD diagnostic floppy, if the hard drive
is again unplugged from the old computer ? I know the
diagnostic will quit, when it doesn't find a WD drive,
but at this point, I'd be pretty happy if we get as
far as seeing the Caldera DRDOS message from the floppy
booting.

Also, are you able to enter the BIOS and examine all the
setup screens ? Does the BIOS behave properly ? I'm looking
for signs there is some sanity in the old computer. If
you change some settings, select "Save and Exit", and
then go into the BIOS later, are the settings you changed
still there ?

Your specs. The motherboard has a VIA KM266 chipset, and
the relatively rare Athlon 2600+ running at 2133MHz.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...reg_R1002_USEN

If this continues in the current downward direction, soon
it may be time to clear the CMOS. Clearing the CMOS
involves a jumper on the motherboard. You do this with
the computer unplugged (that is to ensure no +5VSB is
present during the procedure). Clearing the CMOS
does two things. It returns BIOS settings to defaults.
You should make notes of any custom settings in the
BIOS - some people use a digital camera, and take pictures
of the screen, before clearing the CMOS. Clearing the
CMOS is for times when you just can't seem to get any
reasonable behavior from the BIOS.

I think this could be your motherboard. There is a
description here, of how to clear the CMOS. You
don't need to clear the password. The main CMOS
is the thing that stores the settings. The main
thing to remember is, don't forget to unplug the
computer! Failure to remove +5VSB, before using
the CMOS clearing jumper, results in a burned
component on some motherboards.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...reg_R1002_USEN

Before clearing the CMOS, you could try entering the
BIOS, and under the Exit menu, see if there is a
"Load Setup Defaults" option. That might partially
reset the CMOS. Maybe you'll be able to boot the
floppy after that.

Hmmm. This is interesting. Does your machine
use a 40 wire or 80 wire IDE cable ? I like 80 wire
cables everywhere now, and have no use for the
40 pin ones. 80 wire cables have better signal
integrity properties. Every second wire is a
ground, helping to define a consistent impedance
on the cable. The higher UDMA modes are supported
with the 80 wire cable, which is an incentive to
use one.

http://forum.msi.com.tw/index.php?topic=122015.0

*******

If you need a motherboard manual to look at, there are
some here. There are manuals for three different versions
of the MS-6390 KM266 board.

http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=do...=1&prod_no=307

Paul

Why? XP will only create 32GB partitions, AND the largest file you can
put on FAT32 is 4GB. Just Format as NTFS.

Phil wrote:

Couldn't find anything on the Acronis site to setup the new hard drive as
fat32 or NFTS.

"Bob I" wrote:


No, you store the images Acronis makes of the "C:" drive on the "D:"
drive. Please review the information at the link provided.

Phil wrote:


If I do a seperate partition for a program such as Acronis. do I make it that
particular partition bootable when setting up the hard drive? Do I install
the OS on that partition also or does that get put on while doing the image?
Thank you,

"Bob I" wrote:



You can, it depends on what all you back up there. You would want a
separate backup for real important files you store on the 500 GB data
area, cause if the drive fails everything on it is gone.
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing.../features.html

Phil wrote:


Sould the d drive be partitioned to use an area for backup?

"Bob I" wrote:




Install your apps on C: and use D: for documents, images and movies. As
large as D is you can also use it as the storage area for an imaging
backup system like Acronis

Phil wrote:




Just for hahas i redownloaded the wd diag tools and put to a new floppy and
it worked. I was able to erase the hard drive and re-install windows. Again I
do thank you very much. What I would like to do at this poit is set up
everything properly. I have the 40gb hard drive and also purchased a 500gb
hard drive, 500 because all they make now are huge and I got it for a very
good price. Anyway I out the os on the 40gb. We will also be putting MS
office, printer, photo printer and the usual smaller programs and programs
for young kids. We do take tons of pictures and keep them. The 40gb was
pretty much full. I would like to know the best was to set this up before I
begin. Also a question is how do the drives interact with each other?
Example, should I put office on D and if so can you access the documents

from C.


I think the HP picture program should go on D and save all pics to D.
because of the room it takes.

"Paul" wrote:





Phil wrote:




on the drive it only has 1.3gb on it. used to be over 25gb. the recovery
partition has 4.68gb. I also tried to run the wd diag and it said can not
load DOS. I took the drive out and put it back in old machine and booted to
floppy and also said can not load DOS ???? Does this mean anything??


This is the contents of the WD diagnostic floppy I just prepared.

07/21/2000 05:44 PM 25,636 IBMBIO.COM
07/21/2000 05:44 PM 33,250 IBMDOS.COM
07/21/2000 05:44 PM 66,433 COMMAND.COM
05/10/2004 01:34 PM 21 AUTOEXEC.BAT
01/18/2005 09:11 AM 9,003 DLGLICE.TXT
11/22/2005 10:31 AM 286,132 DLGDIAG5.EXE
11/29/2005 01:19 PM 10,426 DLGDIAG.txt
09/16/2009 09:10 PM 0 DLGDIAG.PRE
09/16/2009 09:10 PM 0 DLGDIAG.LOG
9 File(s) 430,901 bytes
0 Dir(s) 1,025,024 bytes free

I booted this on my current computer, and the prompt
on the screen mentions "Caldera DRDOS" is booting.
It booted up just fine, and then attempts to run the
diagnostic. On my machine, there are no Western
Digital drives, so the diagnostic quits. I'm returned
to the "A:" prompt. From there, I can run DOS commands.
Pressing control-alt-delete, causes a reboot to start,
and I pop out the floppy before that begins again.

I don't understand why virtually nothing works right on
your old machine :-(

*******

Can you boot the WD diagnostic floppy, if the hard drive
is again unplugged from the old computer ? I know the
diagnostic will quit, when it doesn't find a WD drive,
but at this point, I'd be pretty happy if we get as
far as seeing the Caldera DRDOS message from the floppy
booting.

Also, are you able to enter the BIOS and examine all the
setup screens ? Does the BIOS behave properly ? I'm looking
for signs there is some sanity in the old computer. If
you change some settings, select "Save and Exit", and
then go into the BIOS later, are the settings you changed
still there ?

Your specs. The motherboard has a VIA KM266 chipset, and
the relatively rare Athlon 2600+ running at 2133MHz.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...reg_R1002_USEN

If this continues in the current downward direction, soon
it may be time to clear the CMOS. Clearing the CMOS
involves a jumper on the motherboard. You do this with
the computer unplugged (that is to ensure no +5VSB is
present during the procedure). Clearing the CMOS
does two things. It returns BIOS settings to defaults.
You should make notes of any custom settings in the
BIOS - some people use a digital camera, and take pictures
of the screen, before clearing the CMOS. Clearing the
CMOS is for times when you just can't seem to get any
reasonable behavior from the BIOS.

I think this could be your motherboard. There is a
description here, of how to clear the CMOS. You
don't need to clear the password. The main CMOS
is the thing that stores the settings. The main
thing to remember is, don't forget to unplug the
computer! Failure to remove +5VSB, before using
the CMOS clearing jumper, results in a burned
component on some motherboards.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...reg_R1002_USEN

Before clearing the CMOS, you could try entering the
BIOS, and under the Exit menu, see if there is a
"Load Setup Defaults" option. That might partially
reset the CMOS. Maybe you'll be able to boot the
floppy after that.

Hmmm. This is interesting. Does your machine
use a 40 wire or 80 wire IDE cable ? I like 80 wire
cables everywhere now, and have no use for the
40 pin ones. 80 wire cables have better signal
integrity properties. Every second wire is a
ground, helping to define a consistent impedance
on the cable. The higher UDMA modes are supported
with the 80 wire cable, which is an incentive to
use one.

http://forum.msi.com.tw/index.php?topic=122015.0

*******

If you need a motherboard manual to look at, there are
some here. There are manuals for three different versions
of the MS-6390 KM266 board.

http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=do...=1&prod_no=307

Paul