If scandisk (boot from floppy with scandisk)won't cure your problem,
look in the bios setup utility for hard drive setup/format.
If there is the option, will should also have ability to scan
& mark disk surface defects.  3rd party software like spinrite or
drivepro will also do this for you.

Richard Quilhot, C.N.A.
[log in to unmask]

-----Original Message-----
Now, now, don't laugh too loud.

I was given an old 286 with a 40 mb Hard Drive.
<snip>
I can boot to the C: drive and see the directory (dir/w) without a
problem. I can run other programs that are on the hard drive and
in other directories.
<snip>
However, if I change to the "windows" directory (win 3.1) and then
try to view the directory the following errror message pops up.
"general failure reading drive C: abort, retry, fail?"
This error message pops up every time in the "WINDOWS" directory
only. Any ideas?
<snip>
Any help is sincerely appreciated.

Dave Thuillier    Chief scripter & Master of the arcane web at
Dreamer's Den Game Shoppe  - Hillsboro, New Hampshire
http://www.dreamersden.com   mailto:[log in to unmask]


         The PCBUILD web site always needs good submissions.  If
          you would like to contribute to the website, send any
               hardware tech tips or hardware reviews to:
                           [log in to unmask]