> our WIN98 system will not boot up..
>
> once powered, it gets the message
>
> :Serial Presence detect missing"
>
> then will not go any further and we cannot get a dos prompt to load a
> system disk or anything,,,

        That is most likely a problem with your RAM. Serial Presence refers to the
small serial EEPROM located on all new DIMMs which carries information on
the type of DIMM installed. Is this a new system or is this one that has
worked for a while and now all of a sudden no longer works?

If it is new or recently upgraded try going into the bios and disabling
auto-ram config and set all the settings at their lowest performance levels.
If the system then boots then you can determine what settings you should
have.

If it is an older system that has always worked and nothing has been changed
then try reseating the RAM, perhaps one of the modules is not making good
contact. If that doesn't work reset the BIOS to original defaults. TTYL

         PCBUILD maintains hundreds of useful files for download
                     visit our download web page at:
                  http://freepctech.com/downloads.shtml