Discussion Locked

Invalid System Disk

0 helpful
7 replies
Closed to new repliesThis discussion is closed. It stays readable, but it takes no new replies.
When booting up the computer I get the error message "Invalid System Disk" but there is no disk in the floppy drive. I am able to get into the setup and I bypass the floppy on the startup sequence but I still get the error message. I only have a floppy drive on the computer so I can't boot up with the CD ROM support for windows. Does anyone have a suggestion on what may have happened on how do I fix it?

7 replies

by thechas

It sounds like the boot sector of your HD is corrupt.

Does your HD pass scandisk? If so, and you still have the problem, you need to re-install the boot sector files.

If you don't have one, create a boot floppy for your OS.

Boot from the floppy.
At the command promt, type sys c: then enter.

I haven't done this myself for a while, but I don't believe that it interferes with the OS startup files.

If it does, you may need to re-install the OS.
This could be a sign that your HD isstarting to go bad. Be sure to back up all critical files.

It could also indicate problems brewing with your MB or the drive cable.

by modijayesh01

It seems that your hard drive is not recognised by CMOS.
Boot PC.
Go to CMOS by del or F1 or F2 or F10 key.
GO to Auto detction of hard drive.
If it is not recognised after several attempts,
remove HDD & put on another PC & try to access inthe same way.
If it accessed by HDD & even though you get same error, boot with floppy & type sys c: from A:>
Even though it does not work, boot from floppy,
go to fdisk & check whether it is active or not.
This should resolve issues.

by dvdza

If the above fail, try the following. You have already created the startup disk and checked the hard drive detection in the bios. If those did not work it might be that your MBR (Master Boot Record, that is track 0 on the drive) might be damaged or corrupted as mentioned above. Once you have started your machine using the startup disk type the following at the command prompt FDISK /MBR that command will recreate track 0. Good luck

This discussion is closed to new replies.