Invalid media type reading drive C

I was running windows 95 with a windows 98 second edition upgrade. Family reunion- many users- computer crashed.
Now I can boot to the A: prompt, but get something that says "Invalid media type reading drive C" "abort, retry,fail"
I have the original floppy & cd that came with my computer for windows 95, as well as the cd i used to install the 98 upgrade and both a windows 95 & a windows 98 boot disk.
I talked to Microsoft Tech help and they said it sounds like the bios have been changed. Phoenix BIOS 4.0 Release 6.0.
Computer is NEC made by Packard Bell.
Is there a way to restore the bios to the factory setting?
Is there something else I could try?
Thanks for any help

What exactly constitutes "crashed"? Does it attempt to boot to Windows but then gives an error? If you attempt to boot from the hard drive itself, do you get a message such as "Invalid system disk" or "Non-system disk or disk error"? What about "No ROM Basic"? If you don't get those errors, but rather get an error from Windows itself, then you'll should be able to hit "F8" as soon as you see the message "Starting Windows 95", and then choose "Safe Mode Command Prompt Only" from the menu. From the C:\> prompt, type sys a: with your Win95 boot diskette in the floppy drive. This will give the boot diskette support for the filesystem in use.

However, if after re-SYSing the floppy and then booting from it, you still get "Invalid media format reading drive C:", you probably have a drive overlay (which allows hard drives that exceed the capacity allowed by your BIOS) installed. You will need to follow the instructions given by the makers of the overlay to properly boot from a floppy yet have access to the hard drive. Often, this is as simple as waiting for the message "Press space for floppy boot" from the overlay software before placing the diskette in the drive.

"crashed" means when I turn on my computer it goes through the usual checks it always did, then i get "operating system not found" Underneath that is:
_ (flashing)
I can hit "F8" and am given the following choices:
1. normal
2. logged (\BOOTLOG.TXT)
3. Safe Mode
4.step-by-step confirmation
5. command prompt only
6. Safe mode command prompt only
If I choose #6- Safe mode command prompt only- i get:
"windows is bypassing your startup files" and the A:\> prompt.
I type C: and get "invalid drive specification"
If I type sys a:
i get "cannot specify default drive"
after each message , I am returned to the A:\> prompt

It sounds like you had the floppy in for the entire test-- but I suppose the "operating system not found" means the system still attempted to boot from the hard drive before resorting to the floppy.

Quote:

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If I type sys a:
i get "cannot specify default drive"

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Normal. The diskette in A: was already bootable, to SYS it with itself wouldn't have changed anything. You would need to have been able to boot from the C: drive and then SYS the A:.

It seems that the BIOS part is next. You will need to look on the top of the hard drive for a label that mentions Cylinders, Heads, Landing Zone, and Sectors per Track. Write the information down, then enter the CMOS setup and ensure the system is using those same parameters when dealing with the hard drive. This will be under the "IDE Hard Disk Detection" or a similar heading. Having the manual for your computer would be most helpful in this regard.

Thanks for the help, AlaricD
I found the label on the hard drive that you mentioned. When I push "F2" to enter setup, here is what i see in the BIOS Setup Utility under the heading "Main".
Processor Type Pentium w/ MMX Technology
Processor speed 233 MHZ
Cache Ram OKB
Total Memory 64 MB
BIOS Version 4A3NT0X0.11C.0004.P02

Language [English US]
System Time [10:42:57]
System Date [10/13/2002]

Floppy Options

Hard Disk Pre-Delay [3 seconds]
Primary IDE Master [none]
Primary IDE Slave [none]
Secondary IDE Master [CRD 8240B]
Secondary IDE Slave [none]

Settings for the last 4 items on the list are set on "Auto" and can be changed by selecting "user" and saving the changes.
The only other place I saw IDE mentioned was under the "advanced" menu.
IDE controller It is set at [Both] that has 4 choices:
disabled,primary,secondary,both.

Does any of this look like the area where I need to select user and change the values to correspond with the numbers I took from the hard drive?
I don't have the manual.

One thing I do see that is different from the way it's always been as long as I've had this computer is when I first turn on my computer and it is loading, there used to be a line that started :"Fixed disk" (don't know what came after that). I never see it anymore.
Thank You.

Quote:

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Originally posted by sstnkyfeet
Hard Disk Pre-Delay [3 seconds]
Primary IDE Master [none]
Primary IDE Slave [none]
Secondary IDE Master [CRD 8240B]
Secondary IDE Slave [none]

---

Looks like the only IDE drive detected is the CDROM. Try setting the remaining three items to "AUTO" and hope the system can pick up on the hard drive after that.

If it doesn't pick it up after setting them all to automatic, then check the IDE cables; sometimes it might "lose" the connection (that's the way I put it; when it doesn't recognize the hard drive for no reason at all). Reinsert the IDE cables and see what comes up.

Since the Windows 98 setup is not complete, you might either A) get the Windows 98 boot screen, B) Get nothing and will have to format (to do it fresh) and start over (remember, format /q so you won't waste a lot of time), or C) might not even pick up the drive at all.

When you get "Invalid Media" if you still do after reinserting teh IDE cables, type FDISK in the command prompt and choose the last option to see if ANY partitions are recognized.

Thanks, AlaricD,
I did as you suggested and set the other 3 settings on "auto". I still get the same 2 messages "no operating system found" and "no fixed disks present".

Thank you for your input HondaNSX12,
While I had the cover off to check the label on the hard drive , as suggested by AlaricD, I did check all hookups both inside and outside. Everything seems to be ok, but I will go back and unplug everything both inside and outside and see if that makes a difference in the hard drive recognition. It will take awile, but I'll let you know later today. Thanks

Honda NSX12, I tried every suggestion you made, and nothing worked. This computer had never been opened up until AlaricD suggested I look for the numbers on the hard drive. I went back in today and double checked everything and found nothing wrong. I'm still getting the exact same responses.."no operating system found" "no fixed disk present" "invalid media type".
Thanks for helping.

Welcome to virtualdr.com

Either your hard drive is gonzo, or your battery is going/gone.

Your CMOS battery stores the values of the hard drive, etc in your BIOS. When it drains down, the values of BIOS aren't retained.


Go to site below for more info:

http://members.cox.net/joemurphy/cmos.htm

That the drive type being set to "auto" is retained would mean that either "auto" is the default anyway, or that the battery isn't really dead.

Being set to 'auto', but still not detecting the hard drive (and still detecting the CDROM drive) means that even if the battery were dead, the 'auto' function would result in a detected hard drive. This is not the case.

The hard drive itself may be dead.

I would try that drive in a known working system.

Thank you ralph3124 for the input. I do have a question about the way the battery operates. Is the information stored in the battery the original BIOS factory settings? Or if the settings have been changed, does the information stored in the battery change also?
Would replacing the battery pick up the changes made to CMOS, or restore the factory settings?
Thanks for the link. I will check this out asap and let you know if anything changes.

The battery doesn't store the info, it keeps the CMOS memory alive so IT can store the info.

Again, if the setting for the IDE port defaults to AUTO, it should then pick up the HD at boot regardless of the battery state and other data in CMOS.

Thank you AlaricD,
I agree that the hard drive may be dead, but I don't think so.
Trying it in a known working system is not the option I want to try right now since my newer system is still under warranty and just opening the case voids that warranty.
I think there is probably an easy way to restore the operating system that I am just missing. I feel sure that the responses within this forum will have the answer as soon as I hit on the right information to give you.
I'm trying each and every suggestion given as they come in, but trying it on a known working system will be one that will have to wait until I've exhausted everything else and take it in for repairs.
With the knowledge you have, you could probably have it up and running in an hour, so I really appreciate you sharing that knowledge with me. I'll keep you updated on how it goes.