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windows will not boot

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by trclerk2

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I am getting this error when I try to boot my computer. "Windows could not start because of a computer disk hardware configuration problem. Could not read from the selected boot disk. Check boot path." It did this after trying to uninstall Windows XP and reinstall Windows 98.

1 reply

by thechas

Well, the "best" way to un-install XP is to format the hard drive and start over.

Make sure that you have any critical files backed up first.

From where you are at, I would still format and re-install W98 clean.

Boot from a W98 startup floppy.
At the DOS prompt run
fdisk /mbr

Then, run fdisk and verify that you have valid FAT32 partitions, with the primary DOS partition set as active.
Delete drives / partitions and repartition the drive if needed.

Exit fdisk.
Reboot if needed.
Format at least the C: drive

format c: /s

The "S" switch copies over the system files and makes the C: drive bootable.

Now, insert the W98 CD and run setup.

Or, if you want to try and recover what you have:

Boot from a W98 startup floppy.
At the DOS prompt run
fdisk /mbr

Make the C: drive a bootable volume.

sys c:

See if the system will now boot off the C: drive.

Chas

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