Disk boot failure...

May 24, 2008

The HD on one of my computers recently crapped out & after replacing it,

reloaded XP Pro.

My boot sequence is set to C, CD-ROM, A, but unless I have the CD in the

machine, I get the message:

DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER

If I leave the CD in, it will give me the option to boot from the CD, even

though C is my first boot option.

Once it times out, it boots to windows.

Any ideas why?

--

This post made under sniper fire.

May 24, 2008

Re: Disk boot failure...

"Mike" <mikey117@hotmail.com> wrote in message

news:enKBt5bvIHA.5892@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

> The HD on one of my computers recently crapped out & after replacing it,

> reloaded XP Pro.

> My boot sequence is set to C, CD-ROM, A, but unless I have the CD in the

> machine, I get the message:

> DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER

> If I leave the CD in, it will give me the option to boot from the CD, even

> though C is my first boot option.

> Once it times out, it boots to windows.

> Any ideas why?

>

The System partition on your new disk is probably not marked "active".

May 24, 2008

Re: Disk boot failure...

> "Mike" <mikey117@hotmail.com> wrote in message

> news:enKBt5bvIHA.5892@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>> The HD on one of my computers recently crapped out & after replacing it,

>> reloaded XP Pro.

>> My boot sequence is set to C, CD-ROM, A, but unless I have the CD in the

>> machine, I get the message:

>> DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER

>> If I leave the CD in, it will give me the option to boot from the CD,

>> even though C is my first boot option.

>> Once it times out, it boots to windows.

>> Any ideas why?

"Pegasus (MVP)" <I.can@fly.com.oz> wrote in message

news:egDSvDcvIHA.2360@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

> The System partition on your new disk is probably not marked "active".

Mike:

Assuming that's not the problem...

So what happened after you installed the XP OS onto that new HDD? After it

completed the setup (and there were no error messages along the way were

there?) did it boot then to a Desktop? Or did you get the "Disk boot

failure..." message even then?

And of course, you don't have a floppy disk inserted in your floppy drive,

do you?

Anyway, just as a test, try this...

Access your BIOS and change the boot priority order so that the CD-ROM is

first, the HDD second, and the floppy disk last. Ensure that you save the

changes when you exit the BIOS. Still the same problem when the bootable CD

is not present?

If there's still a problem tell us something about your HDD. Make & model?

PATA or SATA? Correctly jumpered (if jumpering necessary)? Properly

connected to the motherboard's correct IDE channel or SATA connector if it's

a SATA HDD?

Anna

May 25, 2008

Re: Disk boot failure...

On Sat, 24 May 2008 11:49:31 -0500, "Mike" <mikey117@hotmail.com>

wrote:

>The HD on one of my computers recently crapped out & after replacing it,

>reloaded XP Pro.

>My boot sequence is set to C, CD-ROM, A, but unless I have the CD in the

>machine, I get the message:

>DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER

>If I leave the CD in, it will give me the option to boot from the CD, even

>though C is my first boot option.

>Once it times out, it boots to windows.

>Any ideas why?

What motherboard do you have? Based on the C, CD-ROM, A nomenclature,

I would say it's a little old.

The way Windows setup is supposed to work is the BIOS tells Windows

setup which drive the BIOS is set to boot from. Windows setup then

uses the active primary partition on this drive as the Windows system

partition, viz., the one in which ntldr, ntdetect.com, and boot.ini

are stored, making the drive bootable. If the motherboard BIOS does

not provide the correct information to Windows setup, then the system

partition will be placed on the wrong disk drive.

Therefore, your C drive is not bootable, causing the BIOS to skip it

and boot from the XP CD. The startup code on the XP CD detects the

Windows system partition on the drive that the BIOS wrongly says is

the bootable drive, presenting you the option to boot from either the

XP CD or the hard drive.

To make the C drive bootable, use Disk Management to make the primary

partition active. Copy ntldr, ntdetect.com, and boot.ini to the

partition.

May 25, 2008

Re: Disk boot failure...

"Anna" <myname@myisp.net> wrote in message

news:u9etMGdvIHA.4736@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

>

>> "Mike" <mikey117@hotmail.com> wrote in message

>> news:enKBt5bvIHA.5892@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>>> The HD on one of my computers recently crapped out & after replacing it,

>>> reloaded XP Pro.

>>> My boot sequence is set to C, CD-ROM, A, but unless I have the CD in the

>>> machine, I get the message:

>>> DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER

>>> If I leave the CD in, it will give me the option to boot from the CD,

>>> even though C is my first boot option.

>>> Once it times out, it boots to windows.

>>> Any ideas why?

>

> "Pegasus (MVP)" <I.can@fly.com.oz> wrote in message

> news:egDSvDcvIHA.2360@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

>

>> The System partition on your new disk is probably not marked "active".

>

Mark as active is grayed out, so I'm assuming it already is.

>

> Mike:

> Assuming that's not the problem...

>

> So what happened after you installed the XP OS onto that new HDD? After it

> completed the setup (and there were no error messages along the way were

> there?) did it boot then to a Desktop? Or did you get the "Disk boot

> failure..." message even then?

No error messages.

>

> And of course, you don't have a floppy disk inserted in your floppy drive,

> do you?

Nope

>

> Anyway, just as a test, try this...

>

> Access your BIOS and change the boot priority order so that the CD-ROM is

> first, the HDD second, and the floppy disk last. Ensure that you save the

> changes when you exit the BIOS. Still the same problem when the bootable

> CD is not present?

Yep.

>

> If there's still a problem tell us something about your HDD. Make & model?

> PATA or SATA? Correctly jumpered (if jumpering necessary)? Properly

> connected to the motherboard's correct IDE channel or SATA connector if

> it's a SATA HDD?

WD 40G, PATA, set to Cable select.

Nothing changed since before old HD crapped out on me...

> Anna

>

May 25, 2008

Re: Disk boot failure...

--

This post made under sniper fire.

"Andy" <1@2.3> wrote in message

news:r2ki34lekfe7u045joeeegemacbuq24kco@4ax.com...

> On Sat, 24 May 2008 11:49:31 -0500, "Mike" <mikey117@hotmail.com>

> wrote:

>

>>The HD on one of my computers recently crapped out & after replacing it,

>>reloaded XP Pro.

>>My boot sequence is set to C, CD-ROM, A, but unless I have the CD in the

>>machine, I get the message:

>>DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER

>>If I leave the CD in, it will give me the option to boot from the CD, even

>>though C is my first boot option.

>>Once it times out, it boots to windows.

>>Any ideas why?

>

> What motherboard do you have? Based on the C, CD-ROM, A nomenclature,

> I would say it's a little old.

Yes, an older Tyan, not sure of the model, but the CPU is a 600MHz Pentium

Yes, I know it's ancient, but it's always been ol' reliable for me!

>

> The way Windows setup is supposed to work is the BIOS tells Windows

> setup which drive the BIOS is set to boot from. Windows setup then

> uses the active primary partition on this drive as the Windows system

> partition, viz., the one in which ntldr, ntdetect.com, and boot.ini

> are stored, making the drive bootable. If the motherboard BIOS does

> not provide the correct information to Windows setup, then the system

> partition will be placed on the wrong disk drive.

>

> Therefore, your C drive is not bootable, causing the BIOS to skip it

> and boot from the XP CD. The startup code on the XP CD detects the

> Windows system partition on the drive that the BIOS wrongly says is

> the bootable drive, presenting you the option to boot from either the

> XP CD or the hard drive.

>

> To make the C drive bootable, use Disk Management to make the primary

> partition active. Copy ntldr, ntdetect.com, and boot.ini to the

> partition.

May 25, 2008

Re: Disk boot failure...

"Mike" <mikey117@hotmail.com> wrote in message

news:eKWtPemvIHA.1236@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

> "Anna" <myname@myisp.net> wrote in message

> news:u9etMGdvIHA.4736@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

>>

>>> "Mike" <mikey117@hotmail.com> wrote in message

>>> news:enKBt5bvIHA.5892@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>>>> The HD on one of my computers recently crapped out & after replacing

>>>> it, reloaded XP Pro.

>>>> My boot sequence is set to C, CD-ROM, A, but unless I have the CD in

>>>> the machine, I get the message:

>>>> DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER

>>>> If I leave the CD in, it will give me the option to boot from the CD,

>>>> even though C is my first boot option.

>>>> Once it times out, it boots to windows.

>>>> Any ideas why?

>>

>> "Pegasus (MVP)" <I.can@fly.com.oz> wrote in message

>> news:egDSvDcvIHA.2360@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

>>

>>> The System partition on your new disk is probably not marked "active".

>>

>

> Mark as active is grayed out, so I'm assuming it already is.

>

Boot the machine with a Win98 boot diskette from http://www.bootdisk.com,

then run fdisk.exe to force the system partition to an active

state. And no - it does not matter if this is a FAT32 or an

NTFS partition.

If this makes no difference then you can turn the Win98 boot

disk into a WinXP boot disk and use it to boot the machine.

Post again if you need further instructions.

May 25, 2008

Re: Disk boot failure...

"Mike" <mikey117@hotmail.com> wrote in message

>>> news:enKBt5bvIHA.5892@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>>>> The HD on one of my computers recently crapped out & after replacing

>>>> it, reloaded XP Pro.

>>>> My boot sequence is set to C, CD-ROM, A, but unless I have the CD in

>>>> the machine, I get the message:

>>>> DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER

>>>> If I leave the CD in, it will give me the option to boot from the CD,

>>>> even though C is my first boot option.

>>>> Once it times out, it boots to windows.

>>>> Any ideas why?

>>

>

>>

>> "Anna" <myname@myisp.net> wrote in message Mike:

>> So what happened after you installed the XP OS onto that new HDD? After

>> >> it completed the setup (and there were no error messages along the way

>> were there?) did it boot then to a Desktop? Or did you get the "Disk boot

>> failure..." message even then?

>"Mike" responds...

> No error messages.

>> "Anna" <myname@myisp.net> wrote in message And of course, you don't have

>> a floppy disk inserted in your floppy drive, do you?

>"Mike" responds...

> Nope

>> "Anna" <myname@myisp.net> wrote in message Anyway, just as a test, try

>> this...

>> Access your BIOS and change the boot priority order so that the CD-ROM >>

>> is first, the HDD second, and the floppy disk last. Ensure that you save

>> the changes when you exit the BIOS. Still the same problem when the

>> bootable CD is not present?

>"Mike" responds...

> Yep.

>> "Anna" <myname@myisp.net> wrote in message If there's still a problem

>> tell us something about your HDD. Make & model? PATA or SATA? Correctly

>> jumpered (if jumpering necessary)? Properly connected to the

>> motherboard's correct IDE channel or SATA connector if it's a SATA HDD?

>> Anna

>"Mike" responds...

> WD 40G, PATA, set to Cable select.

> Nothing changed since before old HD crapped out on me.

Mike:

Set the WD HDD as Primary Master rather than Cable Select. CS should work

but every so often especially with an older motherboard (and I think you

said in another post that you were dealing with an older MB) CS runs into

problems. So try PM just to see what happens. I assume the drive is

connected on your Primary IDE channel. If there's no Slave on that same

channel ensure that the WD HDD is set as a Single (unjumpered). If still no

go, try connecting the HDD as Master on your Secondary IDE channel.

Also, just in case you might be dealing with a defective HDD (although it

doesn't sound like that's the problem since you apparently were able to

install the XP OS on that drive without a problem - that's right, isn't

it?), download the WD HDD diagnostic utility and check out the drive

assuming you haven't already done that.

And you never answered my question as to whether *immediately* after you

installed the OS onto that drive whether the system booted to a Desktop at

that point. Did it?

And I don't suppose you have another HDD handy as an alternate?

Anna

May 25, 2008

Re: Disk boot failure...

"Mike" <mikey117@hotmail.com> wrote in message

news:enKBt5bvIHA.5892@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

> The HD on one of my computers recently crapped out & after replacing it,

> reloaded XP Pro.

> My boot sequence is set to C, CD-ROM, A, but unless I have the CD in the

> machine, I get the message:

> DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER

> If I leave the CD in, it will give me the option to boot from the CD, even

> though C is my first boot option.

> Once it times out, it boots to windows.

> Any ideas why?

>

> --

> This post made under sniper fire.

>

Telltale hint is the CD boot timeout, followed by booting XP. You made no

mention of any problems after that happened.

Suggest you remove CD and A from the bootable order in the bios setup.

--

Dave

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