strange HDD Problem

[wellmad]

My PC was working fine before I went away on holiday for two weeks. When I got back, I switched it on and got a system error, insert system disk message come up straight after the post. Im running a pentium 3/windows 98 set up. I've replaced the ide cable and tried a new hdd. The new hdd is recognised in the bios but when i boot into DOS from a boot-disk it only shows the cd and dvd drives...If i type format c it says c is an invalid or unknown variable. has anyone had this before?

[yamangman]

Welcome to Hexus. Try booting from your CD-ROM drive, with your Win 98 CD.