OS reinstall problem -dell inspiron 3500

Arjay13 · March 15th, 2002, 03:31 PM

This laptop has a removable floppy that you can swap with a cd-rom. To reinstall win98se I need BOTH but with this arrangement I can only have one or the other. I usually boot from the floppy with a startup disk and then run setup from the cd-rom. How do I get around this problem. I tried copying the floppy files to the c: drive root directory and rebooting from the hd but that isnt working. It still wont see the cd-rom. Help

cstierhoff · March 15th, 2002, 03:41 PM

If the CD is bootable just startup with the CD in and have BIOS set to boot from CD.
If it is not bootable I haven't a clue on how to do this.

edit> IMO most OEM CDs are bootable.
cstierhoff

amdkt7 · March 15th, 2002, 04:31 PM

If the cd is not bootable then you will need dos drivers for the cdrom. Get the drivers from dell and install them on the hard drive, reboot and you will now have acess to the cd.

Ptrper · March 15th, 2002, 10:35 PM

Hey,

Have you thought about using a USB hub?

Arjay13 · March 18th, 2002, 09:59 AM

Yes, I did think about connecting a USB floppy but since I don't own one that wasn't a viable option. However, what DID work was copying the Win98se startup floppy disk config.sys and autoexec.bat files along with the files they required over to the C: drive root directory. I modified them so that they would still select the proper cdrom driver but not setup the RAM disk. After about 6 iterations and a couple of overt threats the pc booted from the hd. I was then able to copy the win98se files to the hd and run the install from there.

Thanks for the input Guys.

2afestic · June 24th, 2003, 04:11 PM

This laptop has a removable floppy that you can swap with a cd-rom. To reinstall win98se I need BOTH but with this arrangement I can only have one or the other. I usually boot from the floppy with a startup disk and then run setup from the cd-rom. How do I get around this problem. I tried copying the floppy files to the c: drive root directory and rebooting from the hd but that isnt working. It still wont see the cd-rom.

Charlie06 · December 8th, 2003, 02:37 PM

Arjay13

Sent you a PM. Wondering if you can help me?

dmoore@dkad.ca · May 5th, 2008, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arjay13

This laptop has a removable floppy that you can swap with a cd-rom. To reinstall win98se I need BOTH but with this arrangement I can only have one or the other. I usually boot from the floppy with a startup disk and then run setup from the cd-rom. How do I get around this problem. I tried copying the floppy files to the c: drive root directory and rebooting from the hd but that isnt working. It still wont see the cd-rom. Help

I have the same unit, got it New a long time ago, but I still use it, it's great. Ok, here's what you need to do,
1. use the Windows CD that came with the Unit, it's bootable, I've done it many times
or.
2. if you don't have a bootable Win98 SE CD then use the Cable that came with the 3.5 floppy drive, it connects to the port on the back of the Dell 3500 and supplies power, and date to the drive, ( now you have the internal Floppy, pluged into the back of the laptop and it works as an external drive ) My cable came with the Floppy Drive at the time of purchase.