My computer stopped working yesterday after about a year with the same setup. I use a Maxtor (SATA) as primary and a Samsung (IDE) to store documents. At start up, my computer displays the following msg: Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\system32\config\SYSTEM You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows setup using the orig Setup CD-ROM. Select ‘r’ at the first screen to start repair.
Well, I’ve tried to repair and also tried to just overwrite the OS. As it turns out, my primary drive (Maxtor) is not recognized but my slave drive shows up (Samsung). I checked out the BIOS CMOS Setup Utility and under the MAIN MENU the “Primary IDE Master” shows as “None” but under the BOOT MENU –> Hard Disk Drives, the Maxtor HD shows up. Why? My real question is how can I reinstall Windows XP (Pro) to the Maxtor HD if it won’t show up at all? Been trying to figure out all day. HELP!