First post, by RetroDAA
Hello,
I was wondering if any of you could help with this problem I have, as I am at a complete loss right now. Note: If this isn't the proper forum for general help, please let me know, and I'll move it (I am fairly new to this website).
I recently purchased a 1995 IBM Aptiva 2168 Model M61 (120 MHz) in great condition on Craigslist, and I have been attempting to get it set up with Windows 95 to play some classic games from my childhood.
The Problem:
The problem is that I can't seem to get any operating system installed on it. The original owner removed the hard drive, and I bought a period correct IBM replacement (3.2 GB IDE) which is recognized by the machine. As an aside, there are no errors in the POST and everything seems to be connected properly to my eyes upon internal inspection.
I received seemingly all of the manuals and recovery materials from the seller, including the IBM Aptiva Recovery CD, but the machine doesn't recognize the CD drive without drivers currently. In the manual for the recovery CD it states, "You will need to make a recovery diskette to use the backup software on the CD." To my knowledge, I don't have a 1.44MB recovery diskette, although I do have a mail-in "IBM Aptiva MPEG Upgrade" diskette which according to the diskette label allows one to "Restore original Aptiva Software" (see images below). I've tried using it, and it appears to load the CD drivers, but then the software tells me that the Windows 95 license has expired and that I need to insert a Windows 95 disk. When I insert an official Windows 95 startup disk, the computer still doesn't appear to recognize the disk in the tray, even though the drive lights up. This is as far as I've gotten with that method.
I've tried to find a copy of the IBM recovery diskette online that I could transfer to a 1.44MB floppy, but I've had no luck so far (I did find one here on Vogons, but the file size was 1.5MB, so I couldn't transfer it to a 1.44MB floppy. I also tried installing DOS 6.22 with setup disks that I have, with the intention that I could then upgrade to Windows 95 after the fact. That seemed promising initially, but as soon as the hard drive was set to be formatted, the screen went back to the startup image telling me to put in a floppy disk and press F1. Unfortunately, this seems to have lead to another problem, which may be more significant:
Biggest Issue:
Currently, immediately following startup I get the floppy image, and whenever I try to load any of the diskettes mentioned above and press F1, the computer beeps and reloads the screen telling me to insert a floppy disk. It doesn't seem to matter what diskette I put in there; the end result is the same (thus I cannot even recreate what I wrote above). Does anyone know how to circumvent this and/or what do do in general? I apologize for the novel, but I've been a Mac user for over a decade now, and so I'm not that familiar with the Windows/IBM ecosystem and workflow, especially when it comes to older hardware.
Thank You Very Much!