Hi, Geoffeg!
As a long-time computer retailer I can assure you, you're not alone.
This sort of thing happens all the time to the guys selling them and
putting them together, believe me! That's how all my hair got pulled
out, over the years.
The most straightforward way out of your problem does not require a
fancy program, just the use of another computer. You may need to call
in a favour, or drop in on your computer store of choice for some
assistance. In my neck of the woods, the retailers are usually happy
to help as long as you call first and don't arrive unannounced at the
busiest time of the day/week.
The problem basically breaks down this way: You can't load your OS
until you boot from the CD, you can't boot from the CD because of the
PCMCIA issue, and if you boot from a floppy, the restore won't work
right unless it's the OS's coincide. So here's Plan A:
Manufacturers often put a "hedge" into their restore CD's for just
such occasions. It's a program to create a bootable diskette which
will intitiate your restore for you. Put your restore CD in the
borrowed computer. Browse it in Windows Explorer, or use the
START/FIND program, (whichever you prefer) and look for a program
called "bootdisk" or some variation thereof. On my restore CD, for
example, it is in the "command" directory. If a program like that is
on your CD, you're home and cooled out. Pop in a disk, and go to it!
If you're not that lucky, there is a Plan B. What I've done
(successfully)in similar circumstances:
1) Lay hands on the other computer, through a friend or at your
computer store of choice.
2) Boot the other computer from your Master Restore CD. These are not
usually transferrable from one machine to another, but you don't need
to boot completely...
3) Interrupt the boot process by holding down the right shift key as
the machine boots. You want to choose the "command line" option.
4) Place a blank, formatted disk in the A: drive.
5) Type in at the prompt: "sys a:" (no quotes). This command
transfers the system files you've booted with (restore CD) to the
blank diskette.
At this point, you will have a diskette that can be used to boot your
computer to a DOS prompt. Essentially, what we've done is what takes
place **up to this point** when your system boots from the recovery
CD.
Now, on your recovery CD there will be startup files to take you the
rest of the way. On the ones I've worked with, it was usually our old
DOS friend, autoexec.bat. So, from the command prompt, type
<driveletter>:\autoexec.bat
and you should be on your way.
I've made the assumption here (because you mentioned DOS in your
question) that you are familiar with basic DOS functions. If this is
not the case, or if you find my instructions difficult to follow,
please request clarification and we'll do this some more.
This is an inelegant workaround, but it has the advantage that it
works, and I can verify that from personal experience.
Good luck, and let me know if you encounter any complications! |
