Help With Ancient Computer.

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#39915 28-Jun-2006 11:16

If I obtained the files of the Win 3.11 files could I burn and run them off the CD?

jpwise

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#39916 28-Jun-2006 11:35

If you don't want to buy a new floppy drive, you could always pinch the one from the 486 to write the boot disk, then put it back into the 486. Assuming that drive works.

As for installing from CD. Potentially, but you'd need to make sure the CD drivers can enable a drive that's plugged in via the Sound card, not the normal IDE bus. You'll know soon enough when you boot from floppy anyway. Then partition and format the drive. Copy the Windows 3.11 files onto the hdd (trust me - they're handy to have there and it installs faster from hdd than from cd, especially if it's an old 1x, 2x, or 4x cd drive). Then do the install. Only other thing to bear in mind after that is you'll probably still want to install the video drivers, maybe a network card driver (if it has one), etc. Which means swapping the floppy around a bit, or just bringing them over on CD-R.. (assuming the CD-ROM can read a CD-R of course) - once again have fun. ;p

Jp.

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#39917 28-Jun-2006 11:41

Thanks for the advice. Although I do know what I am doing I Think Ill stick on the safe side and not pull apart a $2,000 Computer and put a 486 $20 Computer part in it. I will try your other advice though

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#39918 28-Jun-2006 11:47

reignofgold: When I start the computer up it says Non-System Disk or disk error Replace and press any key when ready. I need a soultution on how to fix this so I can type on it.

Hmmm do you still have a disk in the floppy drive? Because thats the classic response you get when to to start up with a not bootable floppy. That or its a corrupted hard drive

CamH

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#39919 28-Jun-2006 11:53

Definitly No floppy in the drive. I know it works because I put another HDD in it and it ran Win 95. i would still be using the HDD but now in the bios where it says hard drive 1 it says not installed and I cant change it either. Any Ideas?

jpwise

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#39921 28-Jun-2006 11:59

reignofgold: Definitly No floppy in the drive. I know it works because I put another HDD in it and it ran Win 95. i would still be using the HDD but now in the bios where it says hard drive 1 it says not installed and I cant change it either. Any Ideas?

If it's set as not installed that would explain why it's not seeing the harddisk. If there's an option for Auto Detect Harddisk select that. If not you may need to enter the details for the drive manually. ie: select custom/user type - then enter the cylinder head sector (CHS) data.

Jp.

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jpwise

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#39922 28-Jun-2006 12:05

Oh, PS, if all else fails, theres always the other option of finding someone that can do it for you and give them a couple of dozen beer. : ) It'll cost you the beer (make sure you get their preferred), but for someone that does it on a day to day basis it's a pretty straightforward job.

Jp.

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#39924 28-Jun-2006 12:11

Hi, I have abosoutly no Idea what you just told me to do with the CHS etc as i can pull apart and put together PC's and Laptops but im not really good at inner working of the BIOS

(Also I dont think any of my mates could do that either

jpwise

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#39927 28-Jun-2006 12:20

reignofgold: Hi, I have abosoutly no Idea what you just told me to do with the CHS etc as i can pull apart and put together PC's and Laptops but im not really good at inner working of the BIOS (Also I dont think any of my mates could do that either

LMAO. ;p - What city are you in? Any volunteers from the forums reading at the moment?

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CamH

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#39929 28-Jun-2006 12:22

Im from Auckland (North Shore)

CamH

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#39967 28-Jun-2006 16:25

Hey could any one tell me if this http://www.trademe.co.nz/Computers/Components/Hard-drives/ATA/-SATA/auction-60804357.htm.htm would work in my IBM PS/1 486 SX thanks

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jpwise

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#39969 28-Jun-2006 16:42

Looks like a 5.25" width drive judging by the photo.

Physically it should work (should if you don't have those size limits I mentioned). The only other thing would be making sure that case has space to mount a 5.25" drive. Instead of the 3.5" drive it's quite likely got.

Jp.

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#39973 28-Jun-2006 17:05

Agree with John. Looks like a Quantum Bigfoot. You might have trouble getting the BIOS to recognise a 4GB drive though. If the BIOS has trouble with it you will need to configure the BIOS manually and use something like OnTrack's Drive Overlay software to use the drive. You may be able to get Drive Overlay software on CDROM, but this is no good to you if the BIOS doesn't support ATAPI (boot to CDROM), so you'll need a floppy drive for this procedure as well.

CamH

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#39975 28-Jun-2006 17:28

Thanks. Could you please tell me where to get OnTrack's Drive Overlay software. And yes I do have a floppy drive. Thanks

barf

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#39992 28-Jun-2006 19:30

Hi reignofgold, you might find Linux better suited to old hardware such as your 486.
I don't think a CHS drive would be 4GB, it will be LBA. If you can't autodetect the HDD with that BIOS make sure you set it to LBA. If you run Linux the BIOS setting of the hard disk is not as critical.

The reason Linux is better suited to old hardware is that it does not rely soley on the BIOS to initalise hardware. So as long as you can set the drive to LBA mode in the BIOS, even if you get the size wrong, theres a good chance you can install and boot Linux on it.

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