Thanx, but I have one little problem.
I can't Enter Safe Mode - On Startup I keep pressing F8 but It wont go into the menu.
I succedd to enter it on my old comp - it just doesn't work on the new one.

That's really weird. You're positive you begin tapping it just after your BIOS beeps (indicating hardware has finished loading and now the OS is), correct?

Try holding down CTRL. That, from what I've read, should also do the trick.

If all else fails, press F6. That *should* load the line-by-line verification mode.

Snover wrote:

If all else fails, press F6. That *should* load the line-by-line verification mode.

And won't F5 force it straight into SAFE mode?

Perhaps ... I've never not had F8 work and I never had to get into safe mode more than once or twice, so I don't know all the function keys.

I don't have a regular BIOS - I have a big IBM logo when I startup my comp. It says "press F1 for configuration" and it doesn't beep.

Ooh, sexy, an IBM Aptiva BIOS. Those are fun.
Well, keep trying those keys. They're sure to work eventually... I hope...

Snover wrote:

Ooh, sexy, an IBM Aptiva BIOS. Those are fun.
Well, keep trying those keys. They're sure to work eventually... I hope...

He could hand-edit his MSDOS.SYS file. Maybe the delay for the Boot menu is set too low, or not set to appear at all. Besides, there's an entry in there to set the Boot Menu to appear automatically, if worse comes to worse.

http://users.aol.com/axcel216/msdos.htm

Ah, there it is...

Originally posted by Snover
Ooh, sexy, an IBM Aptiva BIOS. Those are fun.

As a former computer technician, I can officially say, I hated working on IBM Aptiva's because of their BIOSes. Their delay for pressing the right key was way too low, and that key seemed to change with every new model. Arrrggg...

You don't have to tell ME that. We (well, my dad) had a P100 Aptiva with one of those shitty mWave modem/sound card hybrids (which there was a class action against because they totally sucked -- "you're online? well then, listen to STUTTERY SOUND, MWAHAHA!") and, aside from the Aptiva update CD that incapacitated the machine for one reason or another, the BIOS was fucking impossible to work with. Granted I was only probably 9 or 10 at the time, but my god...

Sometimes when I reset my comp in windows I get to the screen and I can choose.
does that help?

Just do that, then.

But it only happens sometimes...

If I chane me config.sys and my comp freezes, can I chane it back using nc and a boot disc?

"NC"? If you made a boot disk you could easily change it. Boot disk loads pure DOS, which means you can then mess around with your files (including the faulty config.sys). As a matter-of-fact, you could probably use the boot disk to test the new config.sys.

So what you are saying is to do to dos, write
FORMAT A: /s
and then edit the config.sys file in the disk?

Yeah.

What the heck is "NC"?

Norton Commander.

You should upload it to this site...

Snover wrote:

Yeah.

What the heck is "NC"?

The original inspiration for Linux' MC I think. 😀

V

As it's a DOS Tool (and 8.3 filename limited) I'll stick with my PowerDesk (It has a completely free variant "PowerDesk4Free" that has few minor tools missing).

I know there was also a Norton Navigator (which was more like a plain Windows Explorer window) and there was a NC for Windows 95/98/2000 outside the USA. Don't know any details though.

Which of those are explorer replacements and how is that related to getting Aladdin working? 😜

Well, they're more like Explorer "alternatives". Except PowerDesk which can actually replace the Explorer interface if you wish. That option's only designed for Win9x, however. If your tried it on an NT OS, it would probably cause an explosion.

This all branched away from the "NC" question.

I use LiteStep as my shell (yummy delicious simplicity goodness...now if only I could keep the taskbar from trying to be always on top) and have been looking for a better explorer for a while, but haven't found one.

You recommend PowerDesk, then?