> When I start up the machine, there is sometimes a few sharp beeps
> followed by an error message:
> Boot failed.
> Please insert BOOT DISK?
> How do you cure this problem (is it a sign of an aging machine -
> computer purchased in 1999!)

It might be worth just making sure the HD cable is in properly - i`ve
found in some cases the connections can oxidise, and removing the
connector and replacing it can get it working again quite happily.

Technically they shouldn`t oxidise, but its worked for me on occasions
:-}

If that doesn`t work, do you have SMART available as an option in the
bios ? - its a way of monitoring the health of a HD if it supports it,
and can warn of impending failure in some cases.

There`s also a chance that the drive itself is on the way out - when the
bearings or the motor start to fail the drive may struggle spinning up,
which can lead to it not being detected properly when you first boot.

If that`s the case, you need to get your data off it *urgently* - to the
point where if you can get the machine to boot up, don`t switch it off,
or the drive may never spin up again :-} (I had that happen to a machine
in 1993 and lost a lot of data - I learned to make backups after that...)

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asif_givashi@yahoo.com wrote:
> I have a 400 MHz Celeron processor running Windows 98.

Ah, curator of the Smithsonian's History of Computing exhibits are we?

> Most of the time, the computer runs fine. Only recently has this
> problem arisen.

That is surprising, since it's been obsolete for much longer, and the
warranty expired some time towards the end of the last millennium.

> How do you cure this problem (is it a sign of an aging machine -
> computer purchased in 1999!)

You put that overgrown sub-GHz desktop calculator out to pasture and get
a real computer.

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Colin Wilson wrote:
> Technically they shouldn`t oxidise, but its worked for me on occasions
> :-}

They shouldn't oxidise during the expected service life of a machine;
one that's been sitting in a museum for a decade or so and then,
mysteriously, is booted up is another story entirely.

> If that`s the case, you need to get your data off it *urgently* - to the
> point where if you can get the machine to boot up, don`t switch it off,
> or the drive may never spin up again :-} (I had that happen to a machine
> in 1993 and lost a lot of data - I learned to make backups after that...)

Data loss? If the motor fails the platters should be intact. Just
replace the motor.

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> > I have a 400 MHz Celeron processor running Windows 98.
> Ah, curator of the Smithsonian's History of Computing exhibits are we?

Damn, what do I do with the Amiga I was programming on from 1993 ?

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> Data loss? If the motor fails the platters should be intact. Just
> replace the motor.

This is beyond the capability of most users - and I wouldn`t attempt it
myself.

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Colin Wilson wrote:
>>Data loss? If the motor fails the platters should be intact. Just
>>replace the motor.
>
> This is beyond the capability of most users - and I wouldn`t attempt it
> myself.

It shouldn't be beyond the capability of qualified service people though.

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One ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them."