I had to remark out the real mode drivers in config.sys and/or install an IDE BUS MASTER driver from dell.com
Windows 98 is quirky and best of luck finding this out elsewhere.
About drive A: That's how the PC is. The Macintosh doesn't do that so you may want to try one.
Bob
I recently bought a Dell Inspiron 3200 Notebook off of eBay. It has Windows 98. Right away I swapped out the floppy for the CD-Rom and was going to test it out. For some reason, the CD-Rom drive does not appear anywhere in the OS. Even though the floppy was disconnected, the A drive still appears (but is unaccessible).
I thought maybe if I re-formatted, it would work. Luckily the CD-Rom is recognized in BIOS and I was able to re-install Windows 98 via CD by having it boot with the CD-ROM. On the first start-up, everything was as it should be. The CD-Rom drive was present and the floppy drive (A) was not. But after the next restart, it went right back to the same old problem.
Any suggestions?

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