I'll admit that this is an odd question, but I am trying to get me old Meridian-based AVID MC11.2 system up and running again.  For years it ran flawlessly and even though I up graded to an HD system 4 years ago (MC5.5 on an HP laptop) I still kept the old system around and occasionally used it to re-digitize some older projects or pull shots off of old betacam tapes.

Last week I tried to start it to digitize some old tapes and found it wouldn't boot.  The BIOS error message tells me that a certain "sys" file need for Windows 2000 to boot up is corrupt.  I bought the system used and didn't get the WIN 2000 CD that came with the original machine nor did I ever make a set of recovery discs.  (seriously, I don't even know where I could find some 1.5MB floppies to use to make a set of recovery discs!)

So - has any one out there faced this situation?  If I buy a used Windows 2000 CD ($20 on Amazon) do you think I could use it to boot my ailing system and fix the corrupt file?  Are there any other suggestions on how I can get this antique system running again?

Thanks.

Really -

Wow, my right eye is starting to twitch.  :)  Can you roll back in safe mode?  I would expect that a Win 2000 CD would allow you to repair and or redo the OS on the system.

Let us know how it goes.... and email me off forum if you need assistance.

marianna 

Assuming the system is isolated from internet, might be the boot drive has a random degraded bit in a really annoying place.

[edit clarification]

Really Interesting:

 I bought the system used and didn't get the WIN 2000 CD

I was on that beta ( yes, already in those days , they sent discs to me ) and I still have an installation disc , please pm me if you need an iso of it .

One of the most stabile OS I´ve been using btw

add ...  and I do have a license key for that disc in case you need it , OS is 2000 Professional

I am inclined to believe that hardware going south instigated the sys file error. You may be lucky, usually problems like that require a fresh drive.

EDIT: Come to think of it I HAVE seen this when the MoBO BIOS Battery runs down. It may be that your system had custom Settings for the Harddrive ie. cylinder, sectors, when the mobo battery runs down these things revert to safe default. First replace the battery, then go to the BIOS screen and note the settings. See if the Harddrive settings match the label on the hardrive.

If the BIOS is not reading the drive structure, it will say you have missing sys files.

Good luck!

Thanks for this suggestion - I expect the battery is very old and needs to be replaced.  I got a Windows 2000 disc from a seller on Amazon in the mail yesterday (but sadly, no product key with it...) and right now as I try to boot from the CD the machine doesn't even seem to be able to find the CD drive. 

I'll try replacing the battery and see if I can move on to the next steps.

You may have to change the device boot order in BIOS.

Same thing in a way, my XW8200's battery went flat and now can' load my raid bck-up drives. Tweaking the Bios has not helped.

There are some Dos commands you can run that might be of some help in Win2000, you may still need the CD though, do a search of the Web. There is a command that verify's all the system files and can replace, been some time for me!

Radman.

Well, I repaced the battery today - and boy what a pain that was!  On this old IBM Intelestation ProM you have to remove every PCI card, dismantle the fan housing and yank out the memory chasis just to get to where they've hidden the battery.  (And this is a replaceable part?)

Anyway, I no longer get an error message or a warning from the BIOS that "the configuration has changed".  Now all the SCSI controllers load, the hard dive and the ATTO channels areidentified in the start up, and then it just freezes - no boot from hard drive or from the CD.  Just....freezes....

I try hitting F1 at start up to try to get to edit the BIOS settings for boot order, but the machine doesn't seem to want to respond to the keyboard.

Any other suggestions on how to get this antique running again? 

Try running only with Graphics card. Also can you get into safemode. Boot there first.

If you do get into system running update intel and all other system drivers.

Radman.