I keep getting the error, "Hard Disk Boot Sector Invalid" when trying to upload Win. 98 to a laptop with no OS

Question

My husband prefers a program that will only run on a Windows 98. It will not work with compatibility mode for XP-he tried. I bought him a laptop without an OS so he could install his own 98 CD.
It won't work. This is the error message: "Hard disk boot sector invalid." The computer does not have a floppy drive.
Do you know how to get this Windows 98 to install?

Answer 1

The laptop is trying to start up the operating system from the hard drive when, obviously, there isn't one. You need to put the CD in the drive and get it to start that up instead. I can't tell you exactly how to do this without knowing more about your laptop, but if you're lucky, just having the CD in the drive when you turn it on should work.

If not, when you first turn the laptop on (before the error appears), look for something on the screen that looks vaguely like "Press [something] to enter setup" - pressing that button should bring you to a menu screen. Look around with the arrow buttons until you find the menu called "boot order" (or something similar) and rearrange it to get the CD drive above the hard drive. Go back to the menu option that says "exit and save changes" and press enter.

If you've done it right, the laptop should load the disc and start to install Windows. If you're completely 100% sure you've done all this correctly and it still doesn't work, there's a chance you have one of the earlier-produced Windows 98 CDs that doesn't install without a floppy disk or a previous version of Windows already on the hard drive. In this case, you should look into upgrading either the laptop (to install a floppy drive) or the Windows disc - any Windows 98 program should work fine on Windows ME.

Answer 2

Probably your machine is set to only boot from the hard disk in which case you need to go to the BIOS and set it to first try to boot from the CD drive. If you watch the machine as it boots normally there is a message that says something like "press esc to enter BIOS" that lets you open the BIOS. If you have the manual this may also tell you how to get to the BIOS. Once you can boot from CD then simply follow the install procedure where one of the options will be to format the drive. It is a long time since I did a machine with W98 but I think you may need to delete the existing partitions first but anyway the CD guides you through it.

Answer 3

You will have to enter your BIOS first and change the boot priority to Floppy Drive First A:, then your first hard disk C:

Start your comupter with the Windows 98 Startup floppy, and choose CD-Rom support.

Now you will have to attempt to restore the drive's Master Boot Record:

A:\>FDISK /MBR

Reboot the computer with the bootable floppy disk:

A:\>SYS C:

Answer 4

I have two OS this time MIllenium and Xp ....when i was trying to install millenium ...i was facing the same "boot sector failure"prompt...do u know how i got rid off that:
(i really dont know abt Dos functions of 98 and Millenium im null in those)....so then how i repaired this u must be thinking.....here is answere(what i did).......

Boot sector means ur hard drive is full and have no "unpartition space"....where 98 or Millenium need to store there first then to run....in ur hard disk at least u should have 500 mb of space need to be "unpartition" so taht 98 or millenium can store their data...This is the Problem...ALl ur harddisk is full..if not then must be less than 500mb....
NOw u should know wht i do???
i put xp cd in cd rom and let it boot...then "enter"and it will directly prompt me to partition area...so i delete one partition's 700 or 800 mb means ...if i have 10 gb in "e" i delete partition adn set figure for it only 9 gb...Now i left 1 Gb unpartitioned....this unpartition should have to be from 500 mb to 1 Gb so that files can be stored..do it on xp its easy...then at once restart ur system and put 98 now boot it..this time u will be successful...(u dont need to install xp use it for making partition and then quit)..98 or Millenium will work now..bye huh..

Answer 5

Check your BIOS settings and set it so that it boots from CD first not hard drive. Whether the CD is bootable or if it needs a boot floppy you could find out by putting it in another computer. How to get to the BIOS setting depends on the make of computer but normally seems to involve repeatedly pressing ESC or F10 when you switch on.

Answer 6

If you are booting to a Windows 98 CD, and you can get to a command prompt... When you get to the D:> prompt type "sys c:" This will transfer the system files to the hard drive for boot purposes. Try that!
If that doesn't work, have you run fdisk and format to get the drive ready?