Cannot Interactively Boot Windows 95 with Hardcard Drives (120139)
The information in this article applies to:
This article was previously published under Q120139 SYMPTOMS
After you press the F8 key at the "Starting Windows" message or choose
Previous Operating System from the Windows Startup menu, Windows 95 still
loads.
CAUSE
If a hard disk drive requires that device drivers (such as a hardcard
driver) load from the CONFIG.SYS file, an interactive boot is not possible.
Such devices are read-only until their drivers are loaded.
WORKAROUND
To work around this situation, use a system disk from the previous
operating system and boot from the floppy disk drive.
MORE INFORMATION
Most hardcards must load drivers from the CONFIG.SYS file to provide read
and write capabilities. If these device drivers do not load, you can only
read information from the hard disk. Without the ability to write
information to the hard disk, Windows 95 cannot rename the CONFIG.DOS,
AUTOEXEC.DOS, IO.DOS, and MSDOS.DOS files to boot to MS-DOS. (Other
operating systems may use different filenames.) This forces Windows 95 to
boot using the Windows 95 IO.SYS file. Because the file-rename process
occurs before the CONFIG.SYS file is read, the device drivers are not yet
loaded; therefore, the files cannot be renamed.
| Modification Type: | Major | Last Reviewed: | 12/17/2000 |
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| Keywords: | KB120139 |
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