disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter

[tpspoons]

Before posting I searched google but none of the solutions I found worked

Long story short, I have 2 hdd's, one with xp home installed on it. Basicly, I deleted one of the partitions on my second hdd, then resized the other partition to fit. I formatted it before. (Never touched the hdd with xp installed on it) Then when I restarted, it came up with the error:

DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER

I checked the bios, set the hdd with xp installed to boot first, didn't work. I tried unplugging the second hdd, didn't work. So then I booted into the xp recovery cd, and entered recovery mode. I tried various things, firstly chkdsk, which didn't work. So I tried bootcfg /rebuild, which came up with another error:



Error: Failed to successfully scan disks for Windows installation. This error may be caused by a corrupt file system, which would prevent Bootcfg from scanning. Use chkdsk to detect any errors.

Note: This operation must complete successfully in order for the /add or /rebuild commands to be utilized


The weird thing is, I can (in the recovery mode) browse through the hdd with xp on it, open some files and they seem fine. Anyway I tried chkdsk again and wasn't suprised when it didn't work (still same error). Well I tried a few other things but nothing worked.

So any ideas why this might be happening?

edit: oh and I plugged in an old windows 98 hd (:P), which booted fine. Open my computer to check out if I could access my old hd, backup my stuff and re-install windows. But it wasn't there, which is weird. Might be important...

edit2: Oh and I also tried fixboot, and fixmbr, but when I tried fixmbr it came up with an error. Il run it again and copy the error.

[Butters]

Are you sure it's plugged in right?

When I removed a HD from my old PC I had to change some connections around...

[tpspoons]

Yep pritty sure, just double checked but it was working fine before I rebooted. I tried unplugging all the other drives but it didn't work either :(

Edit: I'm thinking of copying my files from my hd to the the other one, theres enough space. The only problem being is that I can't access Documents and Settings (Access denied), I could still copy the whole folder as a backup, then reinstall windows. Right? Even if I did though I still wouldn't be able to open it and get my files, right?

[Gundark]

One reason why win 98 wouldn't be able to read your hard drive is that it can't read the NTFS file system which is the standard for XP.

[tpspoons]

Heres the warning I get when I try fixmbr:

** CAUTION **

This computer appears to have a non-standard or invalid master boot record.
FIXMBR may damage your partition tables if you proceed.

This could cause all the partitions on the current harddisk to become inaccessible.

If you are not having problems accessing your drive, do not continue.

edit:
One reason why win 98 wouldn't be able to read your hard drive is that it can't read the NTFS file system which is the standard for XP.

Well that would explain it. Thanks.

[tpspoons]

Bump? :(

[killahert]

are you sure it wasn't raided?

hmm but no it wasn't :) answered my own question.. because it wouldn't allow you to. hmm its so weird, checked bios=ok, are you on a network? if you are - I have some suggestions, if not than hmmm... ummm...if you say that you can access that disk some other ways than try this: install Acronis Image on another computer or HD, run it and perfom entire XPHome full back up( the entire C drive) than after you do that try to check this image with Acronis just to make sure its all good, than try to load that image back see if this will help - pretty sure it will.

if you can't access Documents and Settings than you have to replace system ownership (owners) if you need help with that I will post reply upon your request.
other than that man I wish I had my aasss in front of your PC to get a better feeling on what's happening. good luck,

[andrewfitz]

If you had 2 hds, your bootloader may have been on the other drive. I don't know, just a suggestion. Try a boot restoratino cd with a bootloader on it, see if that works.

[tpspoons]

hmm but no it wasn't answered my own question.. because it wouldn't allow you to. hmm its so weird, checked bios=ok, are you on a network? if you are - I have some suggestions, if not than hmmm... ummm...if you say that you can access that disk some other ways than try this: install Acronis Image on another computer or HD, run it and perfom entire XPHome full back up( the entire C drive) than after you do that try to check this image with Acronis just to make sure its all good, than try to load that image back see if this will help - pretty sure it will.

if you can't access Documents and Settings than you have to replace system ownership (owners) if you need help with that I will post reply upon your request.
other than that man I wish I had my aasss in front of your PC to get a better feeling on what's happening. good luck,

Thanks Il try that, also could you show me how to replace system ownership? If I can access my files, I could just back them up and reinstall windows. + Im not on a network.


If you had 2 hds, your bootloader may have been on the other drive. I don't know, just a suggestion. Try a boot restoratino cd with a bootloader on it, see if that works.

That could be possible, but I checked the drive for anything important before I formatted it. Il try that though, thanks. Where can I download a boot restoration cd with a bootloader on it?

Thanks all!

[Theros]

Thanks Il try that, also could you show me how to replace system ownership? If I can access my files, I could just back them up and reinstall windows. + Im not on a network.



That could be possible, but I checked the drive for anything important before I formatted it. Il try that though, thanks. Where can I download a boot restoration cd with a bootloader on it?

Thanks all!

http://www.bootdisk.com/

?

[andrewfitz]

Something like this: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

[hybrid101]

isn't it worth it to reformat since you just backed up?:)

[tpspoons]

I still havn't backed it up. I'm waiting for killahert to show me how to access my files :P

Pfft just went to the local PC repair place, been there a couple of times before. It used to be really good and cheap, but now theres a new guy, he was expecting me to pay him £30 to format the drive and reinstall windows (using my xp disk). And £15 to run chkdsk lol

[tpspoons]

Well I just finished reinstalling windows on the second hd, and it seems I can access all my files fine from here (no 'access denied) :D So Il just backup all my stuff and reinstall windows again back on the 1st hd (this one is really slow).

Thanks again for the help!