Microsoft Windows 98 for PC Logo
Posted on Sep 14, 2007
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Win98 device MSCD001 missing

When a newbe tried to delete unwanted things from a full disk, too much was deleted & the computer stopped working, mouse stopped, disk drive wouldn't open. I put the drive in my external & reformatted it but when putting it back into the original computer I had the same result. The disk drive still wouldn't open & I luckily had a win98 start up floppy. It couldn't install 98 because it said the device MSCD001 was missing. I've never tried to fix anything like this before & I am clearly not an experience in this area so I'm not sure what else to do. I tried several different things that were listed in the help section of the 98 startup floppy. What I did find out is that in MS-DOS when I put in FDISK.exe the message I got was "no fixed disks present". When I did a scandisk.exe it said "there were no problems with the A or C drive." when putting in sys.com it said "required parameter missing". when I did ext enter, E:\win98 it went through alot of things that I said yes or no to, I said yes to most of them & the last thing I got was it wanted the names of the files to extract. I have no clue. I'm thinking that this computer is just dead, I know MS isn't supporting 98 anymore that is what was on the drive. I do have a 98se disk that I was going to install if the disk drive door opened. I don't know what she deleted but I know that this is a huge problem. She has no money so I was going to try to fix it but at this point I don't know if it is possible. It also told me that it needed to be partitioned but I couldn't find out how to do it in the help. What do you think? Should I just forget it cause it's dead? Anything I can do to fix it? She's now using my computer.

  • 3 more comments 
  • crystalsnow Sep 16, 2007

    I opened the disk drive with the paper clip as suggested & put the windows 98se disk in but the computer still would not recognize the disk. I went through all the steps I did before plus tried some new ideas that came to me with no change. One thing I didn't mention before was that it said there was no FAT or FAT32 partition. So far I haven't figured out how to do that. I appreciate all of your help, thank you

  • crystalsnow Sep 18, 2007

    Since my drives aren't being recognized and I can't find anything in the help part of the floppy on BIOS/CMOS, I used this website to enter the BIOS/CMOS;http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000... I tried everything that was suggested with the same results as before, with nothing working. It also seems that if it doesn't recognize a drive I can't do a fat32. Is there another solution or something I'm missing or doing wrong?
    I was going to try the boot disk you mentioned but then remembered my new computer doesn't have a floppy drive (I don't know why). I will see if I can get my old computer to download it & then let you know what happens. Thank you for all of the help :-) Shirley

  • crystalsnow Sep 24, 2007

    I was advised to reformat the drive again & make sure it was done in FAT32 which I did & I also found out that the first time I reformatted it, it was also done in FAT32. The computer still does not recognize the drives or the Fat32.

    When checking on the OS that was suggested below, it says it needs to be downloaded & put on a dvd. The computer I'm trying to work on doesn't have a dvd drive and since the cd disk drive isn't being recognized, I don't think I can put it there and have it recognized or do any good. Also I am not able to get into safe mode at all which might have helped me with the installation process. "posted on Sep 23, 2007,
    By Master askanything, Reinstall your OS in the safe mode dos prompt by booting it with OS cd."

    Thank you all for your help & time, I really appreciate it. I think that computer is probably dead. I don't know what she did to it, & being a newbee, she didn't know either. Shirley

  • Anonymous May 08, 2008

    device mscd001 missing , enter bootable disk

  • crystalsnow May 10, 2008

    Thank you everybody for responding, it was a lost cause. Nothing worked & she gave it to somebody else to try & she is now going to buy a new computer.
    Thank you

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  • Posted on May 10, 2008
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I want know window-98 cmmmand.

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  • Posted on Sep 16, 2007
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If I may add to the two other posts. 1. MSCD001.sys is a systems file that tells your DOS that you have a CD drive. It goes with the command MSCDEX.exe. Both are necessary to run with your autoexec.bat & config.sys for you to access the CD in DOS; 2. FDIsk will delete the old partition and create a new one. You should make sure however that the newly created partition is also set to Active, otherwise it will not be bootable; 3. DOS Format command will format the newly created partition to FAT32; 4. If drives are not recognized, then you should go to your BIOS/CMOS setup and let the PC autodetect what drives are installed. Please remember that you have to set your HD as master and your CD as slave (jumpers) if using a single IDE flat cable. Likewise, save the configuration before exiting the CMOS/BIOS. If still undetected (both HD and CD), then perhaps you have a dead HD/CD or defective IDE cable; 5. A nice bootdisk is provided by NerdLabs (http://www.nerdlabs.org/bootdisks/). It has also a few utilities that you can use to check the HD as well as have CD support when booting; 6. You of course have to set your PC to boot from the CD drive in your CMOS/BIOS if using the 98CD or A if using the boot98 diskette; and 7. some comments on your initial post: a. ...FDISK.exe..."no fixed disks present" - the HD was not detected, let the PC autodetect in CMOS/BIOS (press del to enter during POST); b...sys.com..."required parameter missing" - the complete syntax should be sys.com c: when you format you can also do format.com c: /s to automatically transfer system files after formatting. Hope this be of additional help/idea. Pls post back how things turn up or should you need further information. good luck and kind regards.

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  • Posted on Sep 14, 2007
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I think its a virus problem.so scan all your drives.

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She probably deleted C:\WIndows directory. Try using a paperclip on the Bypass Eject hole of your CD Drive. http://www-304.ibm.com/jct01004c/systems/support/supportsite.wss/migr-41559.jpg

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  • Posted on Sep 23, 2007
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Reinstall your OS in the safe mode dos prompt by booting it with OS cd.

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