Can't boot: Invalid FAT or FAT32

[petey]

Problem is fixed, but it scared me to death and I'd like to know what happened: (Win 98, 64mb RAM)

The machine locked up cold, so I forced reboot. Startup prompted to insert boot disk because of invalid FAT or FAT32. I did a floppy boot with CDROM support, got warnings of bad partitions, and was unable to read from the CDROM even though I was at the D prompt. (couldn't even get E prompt) I could access the c:\ drive, but it was really just some sort of virtual ram disk or something, so scandisk didn't detect problems.

After multiple restarts, I lapsed into the mode where you get mad and try random things, and booted w/o CDROM support. No dice, but then booted with CDROM support again and was suddenly able to read from CDROM, ran setup, and filesystem was fixed.

My questions: What would cause a corrupt FAT, or was it just freakishly bad luck? Can this be prevented or the risk minimized?

Thanks,
petey

 

[wolluf]

I'd check the IDE cable connecting drive to motherboard (firmly connected at both ends, and no broken plastic tabs on the connectors). Then I'd run a virus scan on the MBR (if the system couldn't find valid FAT partition, it may have been having trouble reading MBR - particularly partition table - may be been 'corrupted' by virus). Then I'd run a thorough Scandisk (your disk may be failing). If no problems show up - keep an eye out for future unusual behaviour - if there is any in next few days, I'd think about replacing drive (certainly backup critical data). Otherwise, I'd think it was just a blip.