[BZellner]

Since day two of owning this free computer I have had nothing but problems. First day was fine. I didn't have internet yet but could play solitaire and such. Day two, I turn it on and it asks me to insert system disk. I didn't have one. I called local tech support and a few computer stores in town. They all told me to obtain a Windows95(yes it's old, but what it asked for) cd and a boot disk. I have both. Neither of them make a difference. For a while all I would get was a cursor in the top left-hand corner but I couldn't type anything. It would only beep. Now I get an invalid system disk message. I read in some book that maybe I will need a DOS system disk. Who knows? If anyone can help, I would gladly appreciate it.

[codejockey]

Your computer apparently can't read your boot floppy, which could happen for several reasons. I'd guess either (1) your floppy disk could be bad (2) your floppy drive could be bad. If you have access to another computer, try inserting your boot floppy and see if that computer will boot. If it does, the problem is not with the boot disk but more likely with the floppy drive itself (they do wear out, eventually). Then, try the reverse experiment: if you have another boot disk (or can borrow one), try inserting that disk in your computer and see if it will boot (the operating system doesn't matter -- it can be Windoze 95, Windoze 98, DOS, CP/M, anything). If it does, your floppy drive is likely OK. Note that this test assumes the new boot floppy is known to work.

If both tests succeed (i.e., a computer boots) then the boot floppy may have been created on a system whose floppy drive is out-of-tolerance with respect to yours. You can try replacing the boot floppy with another copy (hopefully made on a different system) or replacing the floppy drive (about $10.00).

The real issue, however, is why you needed to boot from floppy at all. From your description, it sounds like you were (initially) able to run Windoze, but now you can't. If you try to run Windoze (without any floppy being inserted) and you receive a message such as "insert system disk and hit enter to continue", that means that your hard drive has problems (possibly minor but also could require replacement of the hard drive and reloading everything). I'd check that out first -- you'll want to know what you're getting into before you start throwing time and money at this beast.

Hope this helps -- additional info appreciated.