Help plz, PC error on start up

[Bon]

ello ello,

well i recently reformated PC like i normally do every few months, went thro it all like i normally do... insert windows XP disc, restart PC and load from disk etc...

the 1st part of installin windows all went fine (the part that does it all in dos or w/e)... then it reboots.... normally it would start up and go into the 2nd part where u change language settins and stuff like that.. and enter the windows identification thingy... but unfortunatly it aint happenin

basically it starts 2 load like normal, then gets an error

"Disk boot failure, Insert system disk and press enter"

so im kinda lost lol.... is the windows XP busted? is there a hardware fault with PC? do i need 2 go buy some boot disk? :s

thx for ne help x

 

[Janae]

Maybe its having problems reading disk or you have a bad sector on your local disk i.e c:\

 

[Bon]

wots that mean lol? :x

u sayin it might be the windows XP disk? it is a bit scratched

 

[Far]

install using another xp cd. but use your key. cd prob broken.

 

[StevieLCFC]

or maybe just maybe ur HDD is messed up

 

[Bon]

well i got 2 HDD... if i try install windows on the other 1 it says it aint combatable or something.
(got 2x 10k rpm raptor drives.. 72gb ish)

i tried usin another disk and still get same error (they r both pretty scratched rly :s)

cant see point in spendin money on a new windows XP disk and findin out that aint the problem lol...

so im gonna need a new HDD? :s they easy 2 install? :x

 

[emmille]

its not a disk error, during the 1st installation it copys all the files you need to your drives.

 

[Bon]

so its my HDD thats ****ed?

 

[forspinki]

ive never heard of this error but it cant be becuase the disk is a bit scratched

 

[Kaori]

"Disk boot failure, Insert system disk and press enter"

is this error from hard drive?
try install xp again. Make sure you choose full ntfs format

 

[forspinki]

yh never do the quick format it misses so much out its nt worth the risk

 

[linzi]

I get the disk read error when my computer doesn detect my hard drive, normally I have to press F2 (could be other button F8, F12) then I have to go into my drives etc (floppy, hd) and change the thingy to auto, restart pc and should pick it up, not sure on the xp tho never happened to me

 

[forspinki]

im lucky i never have any problems with my computer that i dont no bout

 

[emmille]

before you buy a new HDD, try the cables, if its SATA they have a habit of getting loose and causing this problem, if you have installed the files properly in the 1st section your HDD is working.

it sounds more like your boot partition is ****ed.

try Fdisking the drive and start again.

 

[Janae]

If it is getting past the 1st installtion part then your partition is fine after formatting it checks your disk anyways, so your problem is more complicated than i first thought, doubt it would be your cables, if it was it wouldnt do the first part at all.

all i can say is maybe take it in for a service it doesnt cost much and is cheaper than a new hdd.

 

[Senture]

If you suspect the hard drive, it may be worth while testing the disk to see if it has problems. Download this file and burn it to a cd with a program like Nero, don't use the built in windows cd writing software.

 

[emmille]

i posted earlier, boot partition is fked, get a m8 to bung you something on a floppy or usb pen so u can get into a cmd prompt fdisk and any other hdd scans u can

 

[Dr3AmScAp3]

Ive never known so many people actually get this wrong and google does usually help.

The problem your having is that though the first part of the instalation has worked, its unable to boot the boot menu on the hdd, this is ether due to a corrupt cd or a fault with the Hdd.

You need to completly remove the partition from the hdd, full format it and then create a new partition. But dont use the xp disk to do this, you need to get hold of ether a boot disk with with all the manual tools to help you manually re-format and partition it or by a new Hdd, but i would recomned getting a new xp disk as well though. Seeing as they are scratched to hell.

 

[emmille]

dreamscape

do you have any idea what fdisk is? i posted what you said twice.

you obviously dont work with computers, otherwise you wouldnt be telling him to buy new un needed items.

 

[Dr3AmScAp3]

dreamscape

do you have any idea what fdisk is? i posted what you said twice.

you obviously dont work with computers, otherwise you wouldnt be telling him to buy new un needed items.

And did you not read what ive put as well.

Theres 2 possible reasons why its not booting and one of them happens to be a corrupt Hdd and by the way putting a bootable device onto a flash drive doesnt always work and not everyone has a floopy drive. I for one dont.

And thirdly if its not a custom built machine then its got a recovery partition on it which can also be used to do the same as fdisk.

And yes i do know what fdisk is as well as chkdsk and all the other MSDOS command prompts, so im sure that makes me well and truly know what im doing and seeing as i have to know what im doing ne ways seeing as im a 1st line support engineer.

The problem your having is that though the first part of the instalation has worked, its unable to boot the boot menu on the hdd, this is ether due to a corrupt cd or a fault with the Hdd.

See by putting that, if it was the disk which he can run a chkdsk with then it would warrant a new disk and if it is the Hdd at fault after fdisk hasn't solved the problem then its gonna be a new hdd.

Oh and by the way i fix on average over 90 home user pc's over the phone as well as about 40 company systems per day, without warranting an engineer going out. So back at ya.

Oh i forgot to mention as well, which does contradict what you have said about the disk not being at fault. A system disk can still copy and transfer files onto a hdd during the initial instalation of the OS, but doesnt necessaryly means that it works correctly.