Hello all and happy holidays. Just got a new Maxtor 20 gig hard drive for my old computer. I guess its so old it only sees 8.4 of the gigs. I fdisked the 8.4 gigs (dont know what happened to the rest??) formated, and installed windows 98. Loaded office 2000 and upgraded IE to 6.0. Ran great for several hours (better than it has for a long time!) shut it down (shut down just fine), and when I came out and started it up again, it started up just fine until it said verifying DMI pool data and the next line says, and I quote "type the name of the command interpreter (e.g., C:\windows\command.com) It gives me a C prompt but whatever I type in it says the same thing, "type the name of the command interpreter (e.g., C:\windows\command.com). Can anyone help???

It can't find your COMMAND.COM. You're going to have to partition and format and reload. And there may be other ways to do this but I would fdisk and create a partition at 8 gigs, and that will be the C: drive. Go ahead and reload Win and work with that to get startd until you can get the rest of it working.
I don't know how old the board is but if you can get a copy of PM you should be able to get a visual concept of what's going on....It's easier to see what's happening.

Let's see what some of the others will have to say........

You have already said you cant format past 8.4 Gig. That is a bios limitation.
A couple of options you have:
Go to Maxtor.com and download Maxblast.exe so you can use the
full capacity of the drive. Know that this will add a overlay file
to your hard drive, and in some cases may be a hinderance.

The other option is to upgrade the bios. Some add in cards are availible for older computers from Mr. Bios.

The missing command.com wasn't copied as a system file. Normally
this is copied from your startup disk as follows a:\ sys a: c: enter.

Your choice...good luck...

I agree, start over.

The Maxblast software should be included on a CD or floppy with the new drive. (Latest version is 1.27S)

Maxblast has options to create multiple partitions if your bios won't support a single partition on the 20Gig drive.

I would not use the drive overlay software as long as there are other options.

Here's an excerpt from the instructions:
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Document #: 24022
Subject: MaxBlast Plus version 1.27S initial installation Procedures for a Windows 9.x/ME computer
Summary: This Technical Procedure provides the detailed instructions for an initial, standard installation of a new hard drive using MaxBlast Plus version 1.27S for use Windows 9.x/ME computer.
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Excerpt from Doc. 24022:

9. MaxBlast Plus will identify which partition type can be used to prepare the drive. If you used a Windows 95B, 95C, 98 or Windows ME floppy, you will asked if you want to allow for FAT 32 partitions or limit partitions to FAT 16. Take a moment to review the information provided on the screen. Most users will be preparing their drive for use with FAT 32. If this is the case, click on the continue button for FAT 32 preparation.

10. MaxBlast Plus will check the cylinder count of your hard drive. Upon completion, you will be given partition creation options. These options are:

Standard Partitions: This creates the minimum number of partitions allowed by the operating system.

Create Equal Size Partitions: This allows you to create up to 24 partitions of equal size on the hard drive.

For Advanced Users: Create the partition sizes defined in the Window to the right.

After making your preferred choice, the Finish Screen will appear. Click on the finish button to continue.

11. A new pop-up window will appear that prompts you to continue with the partitioning process. Click the Continue button partition and format the hard drive.

NOTE: Click Cancel to abort the installation process.

12. At this point, your hard drive is prepared for use with your operating system. Remove the diskette from the floppy disk drive. Your computer will automatically restart and bring you to a C: prompt.

13. Install your operating system
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Here's the url for the whole document...

http://www.maxtor.com/products/DiamondMax/techsupport/TechnicalProcedures/24022.html

NytOwl