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“No bootable devices”, can boot manually

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Computer is a C600 vintage 2001, bios version c21, running Windows 2000 Professional.

I get a “no bootable devices” message on booting, but can boot successfully into Windows 2000 if I pick the hard drive by using the F12 key. Hard drive is in the Setup listing of bootable devices (I moved it to first on the list). Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

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Download a boot disk from here: http://www.bootdisk.com and then run a check of Windows 2000 from the command prompt.

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i would see if it booted better with 2k installation cd in drive. if it did, i would suspect badly fragmented boot drive. then i would look to see if scsi or ide boot drive. i would see if had original controller. i would ponder the controller settings. then i would ask, anything changed in the bios? new hard drive or new device on the hard drive chain? i would try a new hard drive for a test if i had one lying around. i would study my bios settings and consider trying the reset to defaults. i would wonder if my drive were spinning up too slowly.

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Note that it boots fine if I manually pick the hd with the f12 key.

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You say the HD is listed under bootable devices, but is the HD listed under IDE devices? If you can for IDE devices does it correctly identify your HD? Sounds to me like your bios is just not correctly identifying your HD.

Reply To: “No bootable devices”, can boot manually

In reply to Reply To: “No bootable devices”, can boot manually

Note that it boots fine if I manually pick the hd with the f12 key.

Reply To: “No bootable devices”, can boot manually

In reply to “No bootable devices”, can boot manually

Search the web for a bios update also try to check if it just takes long for the drive to spin up. If it isn’t ready yet when the PC wants to access it you might get the described error message. Having to press F12 and selecting the drive by hand may give it more time to get ready.

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It has to be one of 3 things.

1. The cable from the hard drive to motherboard is either twisted or damaged. Disconnect the cable and thoroughly inspect it
2. You have a bad spot on the hard drive- i.e a failing hard drive. Try something like Western Digital Disk doctor or Nortons to check for this.
3. Your MBR is corrupt. You can boot on the CD and go into recovery console mode where you can run fixmbr to test for and repair this.

Reply To: “No bootable devices”, can boot manually

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Note that it boots fine if I manually pick the hd with the f12 key.

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