Copying disskette from hard drive

The message refers to the CD/DVD drive being unable to read from the CD itself. That could mean that either the disk is in bad condition and cannot be read (i.e. scratches, old disk, etc) OR that the drive has difficulty reading from the disk.
In the later case, it's the drive's fault and not the disk's (since you mention it's in perfect condition).
You could try cleaning up the drive but it's usually not worth it and since they're quite cheap, I would recommend getting a new DVD drive instead.
Hope that helps!

Sounds like you've got some corrupted files. If you have your Windows disc, try a reinstall/repair or try to drop back to a previous restore point.

If those don't work, you might try to reformat/re-install your software. (backup your data if you can beforehand as reformatting will wipe all data from the drive).

This can even be a hardware problem, like the HD controller bad, which caused the file problem in the first place. Or a virus can cause such issues, which would make reformatting/reinstalling a good idea as well.

Make sure you have a defragment task running every month, if not every week. You can schedule to run at night or during the day, whenever you're not at the computer. If you turn it off when you're not using it, just leave it on that one day (or night) that the defragment needs to run... or start it manually before you go to sleep and unless it's a large drive, it should be done when you get up.

Good Luck!

8^)

When formatting a floppy diskette, users have the option of creating a MS-DOS startup disk, follow the below steps to do this.

1. Place diskette in the computer.
   
2. Open My Computer, right-click the A: drive and click Format.
   
3. In the Format window, check Create an MS-DOS startup disk.
   
4. Click Start
   

Windows 2000 users If your computer is using Microsoft Windows 2000 and you are encountering the NTLDR error. Create the below boot.ini file on the floppy diskette drive.
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect
Copy the NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM files from another computer using the same operating system. Both of these files are located in the rootdirectory of the primary hard disk drive. For example, C:NTLDR andC:NTDETECT.COM should be the locations of these files on manycomputers.

• Please keep in mind thatthese files are hidden system files, if you need additional help withviewing hidden files in Windows please see document CH000516.
  

Oncethese files have been copied to a floppy diskette reboot the computerand copy the NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM files to the root directory of theprimary hard disk drive. Below is an example of what commonly should beperformed from the A:> drive.
copy ntldr c:
copy ntdetect.com c:
After the above two files have been copied, remove the floppy diskette and reboot the computer.

Windows 2000 users If your computer is using Microsoft Windows 2000 and you are encountering the NTLDR error. Create the below boot.ini file on the floppy diskette drive. [boot loader] timeout=30 default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT [operating systems] multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect Copy the NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM files from another computer using the same operating system. Both of these files are located in the root directory of the primary hard disk drive. For example, C:\NTLDR and C:\NTDETECT.COM should be the locations of these files on many computers. Please keep in mind that these files are hidden system files, if you need additional help with viewing hidden files in Windows please see document CH000516. Once these files have been copied to a floppy diskette reboot the computer and copy the NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM files to the root directory of the primary hard disk drive. Below is an example of what commonly should be performed from the A:\> drive. copy ntldr c: copy ntdetect.com c: After the above two files have been copied, remove the floppy diskette and reboot the computer. Windows XP users Insert the Windows XP bootable CD into the computer. When prompted to press any key to boot from the CD, press any key. Once in the Windows XP setup menu press the "R" key to repair Windows. Log into your Windows installation by pressing the "1" key and pressing enter. You will then be prompted for your administrator password, enter that password. Copy the below two files to the root directory of the primary hard disk. In the below example we are copying these files from the CD-ROM drive letter, which in this case is "e." This letter may be different on your computer. copy e:\i386\ntldr c:\ copy e:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\ Once both of these files have been successfully copied, remove the CD from the computer and reboot.

You should be able to slave the old harddrive to the new one regardless of manufacturer. In the event that the drive is not "browseable" via Windows explorer, you should still be able to use DOS commands to copy the data files from the old harddrive to the new one.

Hi,
I am not sure if this will work. But worth a try.

http://www.allbootdisks.com/downloads/Disks/Windows_98_Boot_Disk_Download49/Automatic%20Boot%20Disk/Windows98.exe

download the link and create a boot disk (floppy)

Insert a blank floppy and run the exe file to create it.
You need to create this some computer having floppy drive.

Insert this disk into your laptop and boot using this disk.

You should be able to boot in dos prompt.

now, you could browse through the harddisk contents by accessing C: or D: or etc ....

I assume you know basic DOS commands :)

lemme know if it works .

The new hard drive will not have an OS on it until you install one, so expect a no OS found message.

The old hard dirve may have lost its master boot record or the boot cylinder is bad.

You mentioned DOS. Do you have bootable DOS diskettes available?

First plug the old drive into the desk top and copy off any data you wish to save.

Depending on the operating system on the desktop and utilities available you might be able to recreate the master boot record on the old drive. Be very careful you know which drive is which or you could cause problems with the desktop drive.

You might also be able to run DISK MANAGER and test the drive for errors.

If you can boot the DOS diskettes the command you need to run is FDISK /MBR with the old hard drive installed.

Sorry, I really need a lot more info to be more specific.

Just because an installation may hang does not mean the board is dead. If possible I would connect the hard drive into another PC and check for a virus. While in another pc you can remove important data from the drive & copy to a CD/DVD. Than download the drives Mfg's drive software setup program that will run in Dos mode from a diskett. Reformat the drive and install a fresh copy of windows. You might find that is the only problem. Xp does not always install correctly. There may be a software or hard ware making windows hang.

No that wont work.  :)

You will never be able to copy all the files from windows.

Here is my suggestion.

Their are several programs out their to help you accomplish a disk to disk copy. I personally use Norton Ghost. Action True image is another.

This particular program i have found extremely reliable.is Norton Ghost 2003. This is a hard drive cloning software that runs from dos.

When you are running windows, you cant copy by drag and drop, all the files. Windows just wont let you move the important files.

You could purchase norton ghost 2007. That software is designed to work from windows. You can install it and then clone the running drive onto the new fresh drive.

After you clone the drive, you can just set it to "active" and switch the boot order in the bios. Or just unplug the old drive.

I can assist you in getting a copy of norton ghost dos edition, and clone the drive. However it would require direct connection to your pc, and phone support to walk you threw it once your into dos.