Can't fix boot error

mordeith

I haven't been able to boot into Windows because I get the following error "Disc boot failure, insert system disc and press any key". I have used the Recovery Console and used the FIXBOOT and FIXMBR commands but still no joy. I put the HD in another PC and I could access and backup all the files no problem. So am I looking at a format and re-installation or does anyone have any ideas what exactly the problem is?
Thanks.

pauln

Have you checked that the drive is powering up and its not a problem with the power lead?
Maybe the IDE cable is gone, try swapping it with another.
Maybe a setting in your BIOS is messed up?

Did the drive Boot up as a primary drive in the other PC or did you put it in as a slave just to backup?

KdjaCL

NTldr has become corrupt or deleted, take the drive out and see if you can access it in another pc.

If so rewrite the master boot record with the HD in the 2nd pc and try it in 1st (broken one). If still ****ed format it in the 2nd one and reinstall windows.

By sticking it in the 2nd you have access to files n stuff before formatting.


kdjac

mordeith

There's a very reliable PSU in the old PC so I'm pretty sure that it's not a power issue. Also as I said it can be accessed no bother in the second PC. Incidentally that was put in as a slave drive. The bios settings in the first PC also shows the drive as Primary IDE slave. It's the only HD in the machine so should that matter, i.e., should I set it to master. There is a CD-RW on the Secondary IDE cable.
If I try the rewrite the boot sector in the second PC will that work as the OS on it is XP Pro where as the HD with the problem has XP Home or is just a matter of using correct CD?

pauln

Set the hard drive to master on the very last IDE connector on the primary IDE cable in the PC, that might solve your problem. Should be master I think.

Edit: If that still doesn't do it, was the drive set as a slave when you did the FIXMBR command before? If so you might try doing it again with it as master this time.

Also check the order of your boot devices list in the BIOS too, maybe there is something not right in there. General it goes A: Floppy first, then either C: Primary HDD or CD-ROM then C: if you need to boot of a CD for repairs and such.

You would want to be careful rewriting the MBR using the second PC. You'd have to be sure you were operating on the right Hard drive otherwise you might write a XP PRO MBR to the XP Home hard drive. It wouldn't like it I'd say.

mordeith

pauln wrote:

Set the hard drive to master on the very last IDE connector on the primary IDE cable in the PC, that might solve your problem. Should be master I think.

I think I already tried all those combos but will give it a go again

pauln wrote:

Edit: If that still doesn't do it, was the drive set as a slave when you did the FIXMBR command before? If so you might try doing it again with it as master this time..

Ok I'll try that. It could well have been on slave at the time.

pauln wrote:

Also check the order of your boot devices list in the BIOS too, maybe there is something not right in there. General it goes A: Floppy first, then either C: Primary HDD or CD-ROM then C: if you need to boot of a CD for repairs and such.

This should be fine as it boots to the CD when needed no bother. One question though. I have the option to boot from HDD-0 or else from LS120 (hd model I assume). I should pick the second option right?

pauln wrote:

You would want to be careful rewriting the MBR using the second PC. You'd have to be sure you were operating on the right Hard drive otherwise you might write a XP PRO MBR to the XP Home hard drive. It wouldn't like it I'd say

That's what I figured. Reckon I'll forgo that option. If all else fails then a reinstall will have to do.

Thanks for all advice so far

eddhorse

Is there a floppy disk in the drive???

Take it out and boot it again

DonkeyStyle \o/

eddhorse wrote:

Is there a floppy disk in the drive???

Take it out and boot it again

hehe, woudn't you just kick yourself if it was a floppy in the drive after all that other troubleshooting and tinkering

pauln

DonkeyStyle \o/ wrote:

hehe, woudn't you just kick yourself if it was a floppy in the drive after all that other troubleshooting and tinkering

Yes, Yes I would!

mordeith

Sorry to dissappoint but no floppy in the drive. (I've had to point that mistake out to too many people myself to let it happen to me ). Actually there's no floppy drive at all so can't be that mistake. (I hope that's not the problem )

timeout

mordeith wrote:

One question though. I have the option to boot from HDD-0 or else from LS120 (hd model I assume). I should pick the second option right?

I doubt LS120 is the model number of the HD stick with HDD-0. Have you run a HD diagnostic tool on it. You can get them from the manufacturers website. Although you can access the drive and retrieve files does not mean that there are no bad sectors on the drive.

Also if you set bios to defaults it might be looking for floppy drive causing it feck up also. On the bios it should have an option to enable dissable floppy and make sure the order of the boot-up is cd and HD and whatever after that.

DonkeyStyle \o/

Yeah don't use LS120, they're just like zip drives or much higher capacity floppies... though I haven't heard of anyone using them in about 5 years.
HDD-0 should be fine if your harddrive is on the primary IDE channel as Master... if it's primary slave, it should be HDD-1 (afaicr).

There should be an area of your bios setup that'll let you specify how many heads/cylinders/etc your drive has, so take a look around and make sure they're left to auto. (unless you're 100% sure of these settings, and even then there's little point)

mordeith

I tried loads of differnt options last night but still nothing. In the end I just did a clean install of Windows 2000 Professional over the bugger. All good now. Will be a useful machine for doing the mundane stuff.
Thanks for all the advice given guys. Mucho appreciated