The win95 computer would not boot because of registry/configuration error.
We then put the hard drive into a win98se computer as a second hard drive in an attempt to look inside the win95 hard drive for user files.
When we turned the computer on, unfortunately, it saw that win95 Hard drive as the master and attempted to boot into windows95.
The HD has jumpers on the bottom that we do not know how to set.

The registry/config error displayed and scandisc proceeded to automatically check the drive.
Scandisk then reported it needs a floppy inserted so it can back up files while repairing the Hard drive.
We inserted the floppy and then scandisk proceeded for a few minutes but then the computer freezes up for some reason.

There is a file on the floppy called SCANUNDO.DAT, it is 0 bytes.

I removed the hard drive, and the floppy.

I do not feel safe doing anything more as I have not the expertise.

This disk appears compressed from DriveSpace 3 and it uses FAT and is 124mb capacity with 122mb used as reported by winXP and is a Maxtor 7131AT.


What we would like to happen is to copy this hard drive somehow for safety maybe, so we get a second chance in case of failure.
Would want to fix the registry/config error so it can boot up into windows95 back on the old machine.
Would like to somehow remove drivespace 3 compression if possible. There is an extra hard drive here to use if it helps.


Thank you much if someone can help

Start from the beginning with what you were doing, get the 98 PC to see the 95 drive

There should be 4 pins with the jumper you are talking about
1- master
2-slave
3-cs(cable select)
4-nothing

Apparently it is set as master now, just move the jumper to the next pin and try again, it should boot to 98 if it is set as slave or cable select then you cacn check the drive in 98.

If moving over 1 pin does not help, move to the next pin and repeat process till you can see what is on the drive in 98.

Also note that you must connect the 95 drive to the middle connector on the gray cable
Or whatever color it may be.

This could be very involved if you don't want to lose any data. I recommend you take the drive to a reputable computer service center.


We then put the hard drive into a win98se computer as a second hard drive in an attempt to look inside the win95 hard drive for user files.

The drivespace driver "compresses" all the files on a drive into one file in the root of the drive, typically dblspace.000 if I remember correctly. There is a drivespace driver that needs to be loaded to access this file. Simply putting the drive in another machine will not suffice. Note: damaging the dblspace.000 file results in data loss, often the entire contents of the drive. All your eggs (files) are in one basket (dblspace.000).


The HD has jumpers on the bottom that we do not know how to set.

There should be a label on the drive for how to set jumpers. If not, visit the drive manufacturer's web site and look in the support section for jumper settings. The drive on the end of the cable is usually set as master, and the drive in the middle of the cable is set as slave.


What we would like to happen is to copy this hard drive somehow for saftey maybe, so we get a second chance in case of failure. Would want to fix the registry/config error so it can boot up into windows95 back on the old machine.

The registry error may be the symptom of file corruption as the result of the drive becoming defective. How sudden was the error? If this is the case, the more you use it the less operable it will become. Again, taking the drive to a repair facility that can quickly back up the drive improves your odds of getting data back.

My process to recover this would go something like this:
1. Put drive back in original machine.

2. Backup drive with disk duplication software loaded from CD or diskette. I prefer Acronis TrueImage backing up over a network connection to another machine.

3. Locate drive diagnostic utility on drive manufacturer's web site and create diagnostic diskette.

4. Boot from diagnostic diskette and run full surface scan test. Any error decreases your chance of recovering data. You may need to "fix" the disk before #2 can complete.

5. Create a DOS boot diskette that has the necessary drivers to load drivespace. If I remember correctly, the drivespace/doublespace versions are not backward compatible and you'll have to use the Win95 version. Google for info on how to do this or search Microsoft's Support Knowledgebase (http://support.microsoft.com). This can be a challenge to get everything that needs to be loaded into conventional memory.

You can also try booting off the hard disk and hitting F8 during startup and selecting "command prompt only". I believe the drivespace driver should be loaded in this scenario, and you can simply copy your files elsewhere from DOS (like to the blank spare drive if you install, partition, and format it).

6. You can use DRVSPACE /UNCOMPRESS to uncompress a drive if enough space exists. However, I'd probably erase the drive after getting the data off and do a clean install of Windows again instead of trying to fix the registry error as the registry may take longer - depends on the error.

So I put the HD into a win98se computer in place of the cd rom [because I can't seem to make it work as a primary slave] to see what files I could salvage.
This is what I found.

Folder ~MSSETUP.T 0 bytes
Folder Failsafe.drv 1.57mb
Recycled
BOOTLOG.PRV
Bootlog.txt
Command.com
DBLSPACE.BIN
Dblespace.ini
Drvspace.000
DRVSPACE.BIN
Io.sys
Logo.sys
Msdos.sys
READTHIS.TXT

I then copied these files to my flash drive just in case.
I cannot find my files. This does not look like a typical windows directory?
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx
This is contents on the readthis.txt file:
This disk was compressed using DriveSpace 3, which requires Windows 95.

To use this disk, you must first mount it. To mount it:

1. Run DriveSpace by choosing Run from the Windows 95 Start menu,
And then typing DRVSPACE.

2. In DriveSpace, click the drive that contains this disk,
Click the Advanced menu, and then click Mount.

(If this file is located on a drive other than the physical drive
That contains the disk, then the compressed drive is already mounted).

To automatically mount all available compressed drives, click the
Advanced menu, click Settings, and then check the "Automatically mount
new compressed drives" box.

IMPORTANT: To mount and use this compressed disk, you must be running
Windows 95 and DriveSpace 3.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It uses FAT and is 124mb capacity with 122mb used and is a Maxtor 7131AT.
I cannot coot into command prompt with f8, the boot does not seem to even get that far to do that.
I have Acronis 9.1 but it will not touch FAT file system. I have Norton 2003 and norton 10 and they will not also.

There is no competent repair faculty here where I live. I will have to attempt this myself and if I loose the drive, no worry to you, just thanks for whatever help you can offer.

I cannot find my files....

All of the files and contents you knew as C: on this drive are contained in the drvspace.000 file.

You might be in luck, I looked at my W98 machine; it uses Drivespace 3. So, do as the readme says. Run Drvspace in W98: Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Drvspace and try to mount the disk.

Or

Flash drives show up in the Drvspace utility as well. Since you pulled all the files off, if you format a flash drive and put just the files you pulled of the hard drive on it, you might be able to mount it.

Thanks for the info.
I formatted my flash drive and pasted the files on there from the compressed win95 HD.
Drvspace does see my flash drive but won't mount it anything else because it says it's not a compressed drive and also said that it cannot work on a fat32 drive.

What error did you get attempting to mount the Win95 drive installed as secondary master in the W98 machine? This option is the least work if the Drvspace versions are compatible.

I was able to compress and mount a 256MB flash drive in Windows 98 by first formatting it as FAT (not FAT32) in Windows XP. Your flash drive must be less than 2GB to format as FAT. The Windows 98 format utility formats based on the large disk support choice made in FDISK. I think to get a flash drive formatted as FAT in Windows 98 you'd have to disconnect all internal hard drives, boot from a floppy, run FDISK choosing no, and then formatting, but I haven't tried it. The flash drive might not show up in FDISK or be damaged by a partition attempt.