I bought a (probably used) computer with windows 98 containing one
large hard disk fdisked to 32 format. The top of setup is "ROM PCI/ISA
(2A69KD42)". In the beginning when booting from hard disk the cd rom
installed as drive d: but after attempting to install the printer
(Epson 860) and deleting the win386.swp file the cdrom no longer
installed when booting from hard drive. It installed however when
booting from the floppy which came with the window 98 installation
kit, but that did not install windows. Could anybody tell me what
damage I did, and how can I undo it so that cdrom should again install
from booting from hard disk?

---

Clarification of Question by vaac-ga on 14 Jan 2006 21:37 PST

Thank you Hardtofindbooks.ga for your comment but I do not know how to proceed.
The hard disk does not have an autoexec.bat or config.sys in the root
directory but it has them in the c:\windows\command\ebd as follows:
Autoexec.bat:
@ECHO OFF
set EXPAND=YES
SET DIRCMD=/O:N
set LglDrv=27 * 26 Z 25 Y 24 X 23 W 22 V 21 U 20 T 19 S 18 R 17 Q 16 P 15
set LglDrv=%LglDrv% O 14 N 13 M 12 L 11 K 10 J 9 I 8 H 7 G 6 F 5 E 4 D 3 C
cls
call setramd.bat %LglDrv%
set temp=c:\
set tmp=c:\
path=%RAMD%:\;a:\;%CDROM%:\
copy command.com %RAMD%:\ > NUL
set comspec=%RAMD%:\command.com
copy extract.exe %RAMD%:\ > NUL
copy readme.txt %RAMD%:\ > NUL

:ERROR
IF EXIST ebd.cab GOTO EXT
echo Please insert Windows 98 Startup Disk 2
echo.
pause
GOTO ERROR

:EXT
%RAMD%:\extract /y /e /l %RAMD%: ebd.cab > NUL
echo The diagnostic tools were successfully loaded to drive %RAMD%.
echo.

IF "%config%"=="NOCD" GOTO QUIT
IF "%config%"=="HELP" GOTO HELP
LH %ramd%:\MSCDEX.EXE /D:mscd001 /L:%CDROM%
echo.
GOTO QUIT

:HELP
cls
call help.bat
echo Your computer will now restart and the startup menu will appear.
echo.
echo.
echo.
echo.
echo.
echo.
echo.
echo.
echo.
echo.
restart.com
GOTO QUIT

:QUIT
echo To get help, type HELP and press ENTER.
echo.
rem clean up environment variables
set CDROM=
set LglDrv=
-----------------------------------------------
Config.sys:
[menu]
menuitem=CD, Start computer with CD-ROM support.
menuitem=NOCD, Start computer without CD-ROM support.
menuitem=HELP, View the Help file.
menudefault=CD,30
menucolor=7,0

[CD]
device=himem.sys /testmem:off
device=oakcdrom.sys /D:mscd001 
device=btdosm.sys 
device=flashpt.sys
device=btcdrom.sys /D:mscd001
device=aspi2dos.sys
device=aspi8dos.sys
device=aspi4dos.sys
device=aspi8u2.sys
device=aspicd.sys /D:mscd001

[NOCD]
device=himem.sys /testmem:off

[HELP]
device=himem.sys /testmem:off

[COMMON]
files=10
buffers=10
dos=high,umb
stacks=9,256
devicehigh=ramdrive.sys /E 2048
lastdrive=z
-----------------------------------------
the floppy a: which installs the cdrom but does not start windows has
the following:
Autoexec.bat
@ECHO OFF
a:\doskey
set EXPAND=YES
SET DIRCMD=/O:N
set LglDrv=27 * 26 Z 25 Y 24 X 23 W 22 V 21 U 20 T 19 S 18 R 17 Q 16 P 15
set LglDrv=%LglDrv% O 14 N 13 M 12 L 11 K 10 J 9 I 8 H 7 G 6 F 5 E 4 D 3 C
cls
call setramd.bat %LglDrv%
set temp=c:\
set tmp=c:\
path=%RAMD%:\;a:\;%CDROM%:\
copy command.com %RAMD%:\ > NUL
set comspec=%RAMD%:\command.com
copy extract.exe %RAMD%:\ > NUL
copy readme.txt %RAMD%:\ > NUL

:ERROR
IF EXIST ebd.cab GOTO EXT
echo Please insert Windows 98 Startup Disk 2
echo.
pause
GOTO ERROR

:EXT
%RAMD%:\extract /y /e /l %RAMD%: ebd.cab > NUL
echo The diagnostic tools were successfully loaded to drive %RAMD%.
echo.

IF "%config%"=="NOCD" GOTO QUIT
IF "%config%"=="HELP" GOTO HELP
LH %ramd%:\MSCDEX.EXE /D:mscd001 /L:%CDROM%
echo.
GOTO QUIT

:HELP
cls
call help.bat
echo Your computer will now restart and the startup menu will appear.
echo.
echo.
echo.
echo.
echo.
echo.
echo.
echo.
echo.
echo.
restart.com
GOTO QUIT

:QUIT
echo To get help, type HELP and press ENTER.
echo.
rem clean up environment variables
set CDROM=
set LglDrv=
---------------------------------
config.sys
[menu]
menuitem=CD, Start computer with CD-ROM support.
menuitem=NOCD, Start computer without CD-ROM support.
menuitem=HELP, View the Help file.
menudefault=CD,30
menucolor=7,0

[CD]
device=himem.sys /testmem:off
device=oakcdrom.sys /D:mscd001 
device=btdosm.sys 
device=flashpt.sys
device=btcdrom.sys /D:mscd001
device=aspi2dos.sys
device=aspi8dos.sys
device=aspi4dos.sys
device=aspi8u2.sys
device=aspicd.sys /D:mscd001

[NOCD]
device=himem.sys /testmem:off

[HELP]
device=himem.sys /testmem:off

[COMMON]
files=10
buffers=10
dos=high,umb
stacks=9,256
devicehigh=ramdrive.sys /E 2048
devicehigh=ramdrive.sys /E 2048
lastdrive=z
---------------------------------
Would the above tell you what I should modify in order to get cdrom to
load from the hard disk and install windows?

---

Clarification of Question by vaac-ga on 08 Feb 2006 17:54 PST

Since there was no acceptable answer till last week I hired a
technitian to fix it but he could not help me to install the cdrom
with a letter different from the one following the last partition. I
will therefore cacel this question and replace it with a question how
to install the cdrom with a letter different from the one following
the last partition when I get to it.

using Notepad or another text editor check the config.sys and
autoexec.bat files on the floppy that boots and mounts the CD-ROM
correctly

in the config.sys there will be a line of the form
DEVICEHIGH=A:\MTMCDAI.SYS /D:123

in the autoexec.bat htere will be a line of the form
LH A:\MSCDEX.EXE /D:123 

"/D:123" is the name of the driver name that loads in upper memory;
this can be anything, usually /D:MSCD0001
This is not an actual driver, this is just the NAME for the driver.
The name should be identical in both files

check the same files on your hard drive and see if they include
similar lines with identical names, something like

config.sys
DEVICEHIGH=C:\MTMCDAI.SYS /D:123

autoexec.bat
LH C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\MSCDEX.EXE /D:123 

you also need to check that the files (in this example) MTMCDAI.SYS
and MSCDEX.EXE are where the hard drive config.sys and autoexec.bat
are expecting to find them
if not you can copy them from the floppy to the hard drive and/or edit
the hard drive config.sys and autoexec.bat - remember to make backup
copies of the originals so you can restore the system if need be

the trick is what are the contents of the config.sys and autoexec.bat
on the bootable floppy that does work?

You might be able to rebuild your autoexec.bat and config.sys by
copying the ones from your c:\windows\command\ebd to c:\ and
rebooting.  Also, check to see if you have anything like
c:\autoexec.bak and config.bak - if so, change the extensions back to
.bat and .sys

let me know if it works, hope it helps