Boris Posted December 3, 2003 Report Share Posted December 3, 2003 Are you sure its 10 years old ? 1993 vintage ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dale001 Posted December 4, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2003 Actually, after checking, it's closer to 8 years old. It's a CTX AMD-K6 PC with a MMX enhanced processor--got it at Best Buy. Only 64 MB RAM- but that hasn't been a hindrance for what I want.Anyway, When I try to start it normally, the Microsoft Windows95 blue-colored screen appears, like normal, then it goes to the main desktop. I see my wallpaper JPG that I have set as my wallpaper, but no icons--nothing appears other than that. Just the hourglass cursor that stays in hourglass mode. Hence, I cannot do anything at that point.I notice from the early initial startup screen that it says ATC-1020+ BIOS Version 1.35 if that helps.--a perplexed Dale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsod Posted December 4, 2003 Report Share Posted December 4, 2003 Possibly this board?http://www.allproducts.com.tw/manufacture8...d/atc-1020.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsod Posted December 4, 2003 Report Share Posted December 4, 2003 Next bios version?http://www.bios-drivers.com/drivers/75/75317.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dale001 Posted December 4, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2003 That sure looks like it is the one, yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dale001 Posted December 4, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2003 I sure wish I had good news. I downloaded, extracted, and updated with the new BIOS driver--now it lists as Version 1.3 06 (it was 1.5)--and the same problem persists. It reads the floppy drive but doesn't give me the D prompt. I'm not giving-up yet as I'm not too anxious to resort to what I call the "Franklin Fix." During this time of the year, especially, I don't want to forkover a couple of Ben Franklins to a technician, but if I have to--oh well.Any other ideas as to what to try?I can try to explain what I've noticed over the last month, but it might not be related. On the internet, if I wanted to open several browser windows by right clicking and going to "Open in New Window" I noticed it would take longer than usual to open the new window--two seconds instead of instantly. I had also noticed that buttons and some links (eg. the start button, etc.) when clicked would seem to indent and not release right away if you understand what I'm describing.Does this make any sense? Is this related to my current problem?I have a new PC--just bought one for digital video only--but I need THIS one for Internet purposes only. Is the Franklin Fix in my future? :down: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nellie2 Posted December 4, 2003 Report Share Posted December 4, 2003 Oh Dale, if you can't see your CD rom in My Computer in safe mode then my guess is that it hasn't been recognised by your bios... do you have any yellow question marks or exclamation marks in Device manager?? You could try disconnecting your CD drive and booting up. Then reconnect it and boot again to see if it is detected. Do you have another CD drive that you could connect? That might be worth a go? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted December 4, 2003 Report Share Posted December 4, 2003 You say you have a modern machine available. Why not use that for all your computer needs? Personally, I don't see a reason for keeping a computer for one exclusive use. Part of the Windows philosophy is multi-tasking and this is amply demonstrated in the almost infinite variety of programs available either within Windows itself or available as add-ons. If you are concerned about the amount of disk space that video work takes up, it is easy to add extra hard drives which you can use for video manipulation.I would guess that the old machine will not have a reasonable speed modem or internet connection (I remember my first W95 machine having a 16k modem later upgraded to 28). This alone would strongly tempt me to upgrade.It should also be borne in mind that computers do not last forever. Mechanical devices are subject to frictional wear and the most fundamental device in your machine, the hard drive, is mechanical, as is the floppy drive, cooling fans and CD drives.Batteries do not last forever either and some of these early machine had a sort of built in obsolesence by having the motherboard batteries (of sometimes very obscure design) soldered in place with the notion, probably, of replacing the machine rather than just the battery at the time of its failure. I'm not saying this is the case with yours, just that it was an attitude at the time.Before you go for your "Franklin Fix", consider the economics of what you intend to do. The financial value of the machine is probably a negative amount and you may have to pay to have it disposed of properly. An extra hard drive in your new machine would most likely be the most viable and economical way to proceed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dale001 Posted December 4, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2003 Someone give me some good news that just maybe this is part of my problem:Remember, I'm in SafeMode....In Device Manager, I have a yellow question mark after the plus sign and before the words "Other Devices". After clicking the plus sign, another yellow question mark appears next to "ARTEC AM12S" which is my flatbed scanner. Now I haven't used the scanner in weeks and it was working fine then. Would this be a part of the problem (I hope)??? If so, how do I get rid of the yellow question mark? Dale, a bit hopeful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted December 4, 2003 Report Share Posted December 4, 2003 Remove the scanner and see!You are in the best position to see whether that will work or not. Remember that there aren't many people still using W95.Whether the scanner is responsible or not, it will do no harm to un-hitch it and try to run the machine without. You could try un-hitching all other non-vital peripherals as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dale001 Posted December 5, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2003 Removing the scanner didn't help, but I may (underline that word) be making slight progress: After booting-up with the startup disk it says MSCDEX Version 2.25. Then it states: Drive R:=driver banana unit 0.Instead of typing D or E (and not having my CD drive read), I typed R: and guess what? I finally got it to read my CD drive. BUT, here comes the but:When I type R: setup or R:\setup, it reads the Win95 install CD (hooray), the PC turns-off, reboots, reads the floppy/CD disc, turns-off, and so on. What should I be typing at the R prompt to reinstall Win95. I even tried typing dir at the R prompt and after reading the CD, the PC restarts. Using "install" instead of "setup" also results in this same endless loop.Is this progress? Dale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dale001 Posted December 6, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2003 Any more ideas, gang, or are you almost as baffled as me at this point? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted December 6, 2003 Report Share Posted December 6, 2003 There have been numerous suggestions made. Have you considered them all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nellie2 Posted December 6, 2003 Report Share Posted December 6, 2003 Well I have found this about a W95 o/s being stuck in a MS-DOS loop on. I can't honestly say that this will fix your problem though. It has been a long time since I had a look at a W95 PC and I am just a bit worried that all this try this, try that business is making it worse. Here is the link anywayhttp://support.gateway.com/s/issues/660522480.shtmlI will endorse what -pops- has said... have you tried all the other suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dale001 Posted December 30, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2003 I just got the PC back from the technician. Some system files needed repaired and the technician removed some items from startup. That solved the problem. No hardware problem at all. No need to reformat or reinstall Win95. Works like a charm once again. Thanks again for all the help. It's appreciated.Dale :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted December 30, 2003 Report Share Posted December 30, 2003 It's good you got it working again but I'm still very dubious about the economics of what you have done and think that your ££££ or $$$$ paid to the technician would have been better spent on an extra hard drive for your more up-to-date machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Grim Reaper Posted December 30, 2003 Report Share Posted December 30, 2003 congratulations dale....i will mark this as resolved! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dale001 Posted December 30, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2003 I have a Win98 PC (I got given to me), a new laptop, and a brand new XPS with Win XP Professional with two 250 GB hard drives. So for what I use it for, forty bucks on this old clinker, that just got fixed, was money well spent.Thanks again everyone and Happy New Year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.