Disk boot failure

Clarifications

Check that there is no CD/DVD, or Floppy disc is in the PC that could be causing the PC to try to boot from that disc.

Reset your CMOS back to default you should see something like press F5 to restore system settings or F6 Fail-Safe defaults. It will depend on your BIOS.

Set the jumper on the Hard Drive to cable select if it is on Master or swap it to Master if it is CS and have the drive attached to the last connector on the cable.

If it is a Sata Drive make sure that it is on the lowest Sata slot EG: Sata0

Check the Hard drive settings in the BIOS and if it is being detected properly, try setting it as the first Boot Device. Remember to Save the settings on exit.

If you still have problems make sure that the BIOS is set to Boot from CD. Insert your XP CD and when you see ?Press any key to boot from CD? press a key. Now wait for the XP installer to finish loading up and you will be presented with the option to press R to Repair.

Press R.

The next screen will ask you which Windows installation you would like to log on to. Normally the following will be listed:

1: C:\WINDOWS

Press 1, then Enter to continue.

You may now be asked for the Administrator password. If you know this type it and press Enter. If you don't know the Administrators password it may be blank. Just press Enter or type your username and password.

At the command prompt type:

fixmbr and press Enter

fixboot and press Enter

Wait until you are returned to the Recovery Console. Restart the PC and see what happens. You could also do a chkdsk /r while you were there.

You can use the Hard Drive Makers Testing Utility to Test the Drive

Hitachi / IBM - DFT "Drive Fitness Test"

http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm

Works with all manufacturers

Western Digital "Data Lifeguard"

http://support.wdc.com/download/index.asp#dlgtools

Works with WD drives only

Fujitsu "FJDT"

http://www.fel.fujitsu.com/home/drivers.asp?L=en&CID=1

Works with fujitsu models only

Samsung "hutil"

http://www.samsung.com/Products/Hard...ties/hutil.htm

Compatability unknown...

Seagate "Seatools"

http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools

Works with Seagate drives only

Keep us informed as to your progress if you require further assistance.

If you think that any of the posts that have been made by all TR Members, have solved or contributed to solving the problem, please Mark them as Helpful so that others may benefit from the outcome. ;) :D

Make sure that you actually have the right Disc in the Optical Drive and that the Data Face is clean of finger prints and scratches.

If you have the M$ Branded Windows Install Disc and the BIOS is correctly set with a working Optical Drive the system should boot. So if it doesn't first check the install Disc's Data Surface. If you have a System Makers Recovery Disc the steps are the same.

You can try this but only if you have a M$ Branded Install Disc

[i]Method 2: Repair install of Windows XP by starting your computer from the Windows XP CD
Note If Windows XP was preinstalled on your computer, you may need the installation CD to reinstall. Contact your computer manufacturer to make sure that you have the installation CD for a repair installation.

To reinstall Windows XP by starting your computer from the Windows XP CD, follow these steps: 1. Insert the Windows XP CD into your computer's CD drive or DVD drive, and then restart your computer.
2. When you receive the "Press any key to boot from CD" message on the screen, press a key to start your computer from the Windows XP CD.
3. The following message on the Welcome to Setup screen will appear:
This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft Windows XP to run on your computer: To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER. To repair a Windows XP installation by using Recovery Console, press R. To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.
4. Press ENTER to set up Windows XP.
5. On the Windows XP Licensing Agreement screen, press F8 to agree to the license agreement.
6. Make sure that your current installation of Windows XP is selected in the box, and then press R to repair Windows XP.
7. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to reinstall Windows XP. After you repair Windows XP, you may have to reactivate your copy of Windows XP. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
310064 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310064/) How to troubleshoot Windows XP Setup problems when you upgrade from Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition
If you successfully completed the reinstallation, congratulations. You are almost done. Please continue to the "After you reinstall Windows XP" section to finish.

If you received an error or if the reinstallation did not finish, unfortunately, this article did not resolve your problem. For your next steps, you may want to ask someone whom you know for help. Or, you may want to contact Microsoft Support to help you resolve this problem.
Back to the top

After you reinstall Windows XP
After you finish the reinstallation, complete the following final tasks.

Note You may also want to enable the firewall in Internet Explorer. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
283673 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/283673/) How to turn on or turn off the firewall in Windows XP [/i]

The Full M$ Knowledge Base Article is posted here

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315341

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