I was given an IBM Aptiva E85. Specs below

Motherboard: V58XA ATX
CPU: AMD K6-2 300MHz
RAM: 64MB PC-66 (2x32MB)
HDD: Quantum Bigfoot 5.25" IDE 6.4GB
Video: ATI Rage 3D+DVD 2MB (on MB)
3dfx: Diamond Monster 3D II 8MB PCI
Sound: Crystal CS-4237B (on MB)

It has a CD-ROM and a standard floppy drive. The case's power button couldn't reach the case's internal power button and there was no floppy drive eject button, as it was originally attached to a flat spring. So I did a little bit of case modding. I used part of a cork and a screw to extend the power button so it works again. I also took a small wooden dowel rod, cut it to the right length, then drilled a small hole. I used a paper clip wire to attached the wood button to the eject spring. Now I can eject a floppy drive with the case fully in place. Go me.

Anyway, the current issue is that when I installed the 3dfx card and installed the drivers, then Windows 98 stopped booting completely. I used a floppy boot disk and found that Config.sys and Autoexec.bat were both empty. I've never seen that before, so I thought that was weird, but nothing I did would solve the issue. Apparently, a driver file was missing that prevented Windows from booting.

So.... back to scratch. I formatted the hard drive and reinstalled Windows 98 again. This time, installing all drivers including the Diamond Voodoo2 drivers. Everything works fine. Except...

Config.sys and Autoexec.bat are still empty.

OK, so let's start filling them in manually. For Config,sys, I put in the following:

DOS=HIGH,UMB
DEVICE=C:\Windows\Himem.sys
DEVICE=C:\Windows\Emm386.exe RAM I=B000-B7FF
LASTDRIVE=F
NUMLOCK=ON

With this, Windows 98 still boots fine. Cool. I go to Command Prompt and check MEM and I'm only using 31K of Conventional Memory. Win for old DOS gaming! I have both Extended and Expanded memory available. Yes, I have ONE game that requires a certain amount of Expanded memory: Master of Magic.

Nothing is in Autoexec.bat currently, nor is the file DOSSTART.BAT that I put in C:\Windows for use later. In DOSSTART.BAT, I added the following:

LH C:\Windows\Command\MSCDEX.EXE D:MSCD0001
LH C:\Windows\Command\Mouse.com

Yes, I added the Mouse.com file, but here's the problem. When I try to add the following line to Config.sys:

DEVICEHIGH=C:\Windows\Command\MSCDEX.EXE /D:MSCD0001

Windows refuses to boot, but at least it's not complaining about any missing files. It just stops at the Windows 98 loading screen and no HDD activity registers.

Any advice? Any extra information you guys need to assist me in diagnosing? Eventually, I want to add Autoexec.bat tags for BLASTER. It should be A220 D1 I5 H3.....that's as far as I could get from Device Manager for the Crystal sound CODEC.