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Boot disk failure ... problems

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  • 26-12-2003 11:26am
    #1
    Rancid
    Registered Users Posts: 1,434 ✭✭✭


    I'm using XP Pro and accidentally restarted my pc with a disk in the cd drive that happened to have a couple winrar files on it.
    No problems. Later I turned off pc. Turned it on after 20 mins and I get this error message:

    Boot disk failure. Insert system disk and press enter.

    Tried that several times and same message comes up every time.

    Eventually I got it to start by inserting the XP disk *just* after I click restart and it boots into windows giving me the message:
    Press any key to boot from cd
    Without any keypress it starts up normally.

    How do I fix this?
    Damned if I want to have to go through all this every time I restart my pc! :(


Comments

  • Options
    #2
    tribble
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,478 ✭✭✭tribble


    Is there a flopply in the floppy drive?


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    #3
    Rancid
    Registered Users Posts: 1,434 ✭✭✭Rancid


    Originally posted by tribble
    Is there a flopply in the floppy drive?
    Nope. And there wasn't at the time, either.


  • Options
    #4
    Eurorunner
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,393 ✭✭✭Eurorunner


    You need to repair boot files -when you insert disk and boot off the disk, you should be given some options which you can follow to get you to the xp repair function. Sorry, i cant remember specific steps - either someone will come back and post a step by step or invest 30mins in a google search on the subject - its one thats well covered (even a boards search will probably throw up the info on this).

    On a side note..one for the future is the option to select Last Known Good Configuration - this can be used where you experience the boot up problem for the first time and havnt subsequently managed to get the system booted up since encountering problem - in this case you've booted up using the disk so its to late to use this option. Again, do a quick search on this option to see how it can be used.


    Also theres xp's 'system restore' feature which can take the system back to the state it was in at the last restore point - although i'm not 100% sure if its relevant with regard to boot problems?

    hth.


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    #5
    Giblet
    Registered Users Posts: 11,980 ✭✭✭✭Giblet


    If you can get into dos try
    fdisk /mbr
    And see if that works.

    Or else do a repair install of windows.


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    #6
    Capt'n Midnight
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 91,793 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    If you do want to use a boot floppy get a disk formatted on an NT/2K/Xp machine (quick format will do)
    copy
    \ntldr
    \ntdetect.com
    \boot.ini
    to the floppy

    Alternatively
    Boot off the XP cd - choose the option for recovery console - type help
    IIRC there should be an option for fixboot or some such


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