[SOLVED] Disk Boot Error

veaviticus · 08-15-2008, 06:47 PM

Hi guys. I have a problem with my computer. I had a 180 GB HDD along with a DVD drive installed in my computer when i installed XP. I then took out the DVD drive and put a second HDD (750 GB) in. They're both IDE and my MOBO only has one IDE plug-in so I can't have both. I have a SATA dvd drive coming in the mail. XP saw both hard drives and i fully formated the second hard drive to NTFS. I then shut my computer off and turned it back on but I recieved a "Disk boot error. Please insert boot CD and press enter" error every time i turned the computer on. Nothing had changed physically. So i put my DVD drive back in, put XP in and rebooted, but got the same error. Every boot CD i try (regardless of type aka Ultimate Boot Disk, linux, Vista) all give the same error. Ive tried swapping hard drives with no result. I've tried putting in a diffferent CD drive that i had with the same error. I plugged an external DVD drive into the USB port and that managed to boot, run the windows setup to the point where the installation actually begins, then it BSOD every single time. I've also tried changing the jumpers from cable select to master/slave and back again with no result. I've tried setting the boot order to CD first, HDD first and every combo i can think of.
So at this point, i have a computer that can't boot any disk at all. I've exhausted all my thoughts...
I have a SATA dvd drive coming in the mail, so maybe that might help? I don't see why though... any help you guys can give would be great!

Tumbleweed36 · 08-15-2008, 07:45 PM

Have you made sure the HARD DRIVE PRIORITY is set with the boot drive as FIRST in that section of the boot menu.

I am not talking about the Boot sequence like you mentioned which should be CDRom - 1st....Floppy - 2nd....Hard Drive 3rd (boot drive), but further down the menu, the Priority issue. Give that a check because when you switch drives around, some times that changes and it is looking for a boot drive that is not listed to come up first.

veaviticus · 08-15-2008, 07:51 PM

my current boot drive priority (just checked) is cd-rom, floppy, hard disk

Tumbleweed36 · 08-15-2008, 08:49 PM

I hope you aren't confusing two parts of the Boot area in the bios setup menu. Unfortunately, some boards list these areas differently, so you need to see what is in yours to change.

I don't know what motherboard you have, but tonight I am on my spare computer (A8N-sli deluxe) and here are the options we have in there with this board:

Boot Menu

Boot Device Priority
Removeable Drives
Hard Disk Drives
CDRom Drives
Boot Settings Configuration
Security

The two I am concerned about would be the ones I highlighted.

Boot Device Priority

CDRom - 1st
Floppy - 2nd (if any)
Hard Disk Drive - 3rd (the boot drive)

Hard Disk Drives

Under this heading, you MUST have the boot drive listed FIRST under this area or it won't boot properly.

Check those areas specifically and I repeat, yours may say something different, but these areas must be addressed.

veaviticus · 08-15-2008, 09:41 PM

on my mobo (Asus p5n32e sli) It lists boot priority, boot setting config and security. the boot priority is set at cd-rom, removable, hard disk. the only drive that is connected is the boot drive right now. i cant even get to the point where i can boot off the CD to reinstall windows

AquariusFX · 08-16-2008, 12:20 AM

If you have floppy, make sure no disk inside. (it's happened.)

I would also just connect CDROM by itself to see if it boot.

**vladimirb** · 08-16-2008, 02:44 AM

What you see under boot setting config???
Since you have two HDDs there must be some kind of options where you can choose which one HDD will be boot HDD...
When you insert new HDD BIOS probably messes up and choose new HDD to be primary HDD for booting...
probably that is why you can not boot...

veaviticus · 08-16-2008, 07:11 AM

Here's what my BOOT menu under bios looks like

-Boot Device Priority

-1st CDROM
- 2nd Removable
-3rd Hard Disk

-Removable Drives

-Floppy Disks

-Boot Settings Configuration

-Case Open Warning - Enabled
-Quick Boot - Enabled
-Boot Up Floppy Seek - Disabled
-Typematic Rate Setting - On
-OS select for DRAM >64MB - NON-OS2
-Full Screen LOGO - Enabled
-Halt on - All Errors

-Security

-Password Check - Setup

I only have 1 hard drive connected right now along with a DVD drive. It is connected in the exact same fashion as when it used to boot. I do not have a floppy drive installed.

veaviticus · 08-16-2008, 07:33 AM

YAY! i figured it out! apparently my IDE cable went bad somehow...the end that always went into my DVD drives musta died somehow. I replaced the cable and everything works!

Tumbleweed36 · 08-16-2008, 09:01 AM

That is great news. Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

veaviticus · 08-16-2008, 12:37 PM

thank you for all your help! hope you have a good wweekend too

08-15-2008, 06:47 PM	#1 (permalink)
veaviticus Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 52 OS: XP	[SOLVED] Disk Boot Error Hi guys. I have a problem with my computer. I had a 180 GB HDD along with a DVD drive installed in my computer when i installed XP. I then took out the DVD drive and put a second HDD (750 GB) in. They're both IDE and my MOBO only has one IDE plug-in so I can't have both. I have a SATA dvd drive coming in the mail. XP saw both hard drives and i fully formated the second hard drive to NTFS. I then shut my computer off and turned it back on but I recieved a "Disk boot error. Please insert boot CD and press enter" error every time i turned the computer on. Nothing had changed physically. So i put my DVD drive back in, put XP in and rebooted, but got the same error. Every boot CD i try (regardless of type aka Ultimate Boot Disk, linux, Vista) all give the same error. Ive tried swapping hard drives with no result. I've tried putting in a diffferent CD drive that i had with the same error. I plugged an external DVD drive into the USB port and that managed to boot, run the windows setup to the point where the installation actually begins, then it BSOD every single time. I've also tried changing the jumpers from cable select to master/slave and back again with no result. I've tried setting the boot order to CD first, HDD first and every combo i can think of. So at this point, i have a computer that can't boot any disk at all. I've exhausted all my thoughts... I have a SATA dvd drive coming in the mail, so maybe that might help? I don't see why though... any help you guys can give would be great!

08-15-2008, 07:45 PM	#2 (permalink)
Tumbleweed36 Asst Manager Hardware Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA Posts: 19,672 OS: XP Professional	Re: Disk Boot Error Have you made sure the HARD DRIVE PRIORITY is set with the boot drive as FIRST in that section of the boot menu. I am not talking about the Boot sequence like you mentioned which should be CDRom - 1st....Floppy - 2nd....Hard Drive 3rd (boot drive), but further down the menu, the Priority issue. Give that a check because when you switch drives around, some times that changes and it is looking for a boot drive that is not listed to come up first. __________________ ---------- I don't receive email notifications of replies to subscribed threads. (Internet provider policy) Therefore, if I don't respond to your post within 24 hours, please send me a reminder PM and include the link to your thread.

08-15-2008, 07:51 PM	#3 (permalink)
veaviticus Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 52 OS: XP	Re: Disk Boot Error my current boot drive priority (just checked) is cd-rom, floppy, hard disk

08-15-2008, 08:49 PM	#4 (permalink)
Tumbleweed36 Asst Manager Hardware Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA Posts: 19,672 OS: XP Professional	Re: Disk Boot Error I hope you aren't confusing two parts of the Boot area in the bios setup menu. Unfortunately, some boards list these areas differently, so you need to see what is in yours to change. I don't know what motherboard you have, but tonight I am on my spare computer (A8N-sli deluxe) and here are the options we have in there with this board: Boot Menu Boot Device Priority Removeable Drives Hard Disk Drives CDRom Drives Boot Settings Configuration Security The two I am concerned about would be the ones I highlighted. Boot Device Priority CDRom - 1st Floppy - 2nd (if any) Hard Disk Drive - 3rd (the boot drive) Hard Disk Drives Under this heading, you MUST have the boot drive listed FIRST under this area or it won't boot properly. Check those areas specifically and I repeat, yours may say something different, but these areas must be addressed. __________________ ---------- I don't receive email notifications of replies to subscribed threads. (Internet provider policy) Therefore, if I don't respond to your post within 24 hours, please send me a reminder PM and include the link to your thread.

08-15-2008, 09:41 PM	#5 (permalink)
veaviticus Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 52 OS: XP	Re: Disk Boot Error on my mobo (Asus p5n32e sli) It lists boot priority, boot setting config and security. the boot priority is set at cd-rom, removable, hard disk. the only drive that is connected is the boot drive right now. i cant even get to the point where i can boot off the CD to reinstall windows

08-16-2008, 12:20 AM	#6 (permalink)
AquariusFX Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 148 OS: XP SP3 / Vista SP1 My System	Re: Disk Boot Error If you have floppy, make sure no disk inside. (it's happened.) I would also just connect CDROM by itself to see if it boot. Last edited by AquariusFX; 08-16-2008 at 12:26 AM.

08-16-2008, 02:44 AM	#7 (permalink)
vladimirb Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Banja Luka, Serb Republic Posts: 3,691 OS: xp pro sp3, Server 2003, Windows 7 Professional x64bit My System	Re: Disk Boot Error What you see under boot setting config??? Since you have two HDDs there must be some kind of options where you can choose which one HDD will be boot HDD... When you insert new HDD BIOS probably messes up and choose new HDD to be primary HDD for booting... probably that is why you can not boot... __________________ MCP - MCSA Cisco SMB Account Manager Last edited by vladimirb; 08-16-2008 at 02:49 AM.

08-16-2008, 07:11 AM	#8 (permalink)
veaviticus Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 52 OS: XP	Re: Disk Boot Error Here's what my BOOT menu under bios looks like -Boot Device Priority -1st CDROM - 2nd Removable -3rd Hard Disk -Removable Drives -Floppy Disks -Boot Settings Configuration -Case Open Warning - Enabled -Quick Boot - Enabled -Boot Up Floppy Seek - Disabled -Typematic Rate Setting - On -OS select for DRAM >64MB - NON-OS2 -Full Screen LOGO - Enabled -Halt on - All Errors -Security -Password Check - Setup I only have 1 hard drive connected right now along with a DVD drive. It is connected in the exact same fashion as when it used to boot. I do not have a floppy drive installed. Last edited by veaviticus; 08-16-2008 at 07:12 AM.

08-16-2008, 07:33 AM	#9 (permalink)
veaviticus Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 52 OS: XP	Re: Disk Boot Error YAY! i figured it out! apparently my IDE cable went bad somehow...the end that always went into my DVD drives musta died somehow. I replaced the cable and everything works!

08-16-2008, 09:01 AM	#10 (permalink)
Tumbleweed36 Asst Manager Hardware Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA Posts: 19,672 OS: XP Professional	Re: Disk Boot Error That is great news. Hope you have a wonderful weekend. __________________ ---------- I don't receive email notifications of replies to subscribed threads. (Internet provider policy) Therefore, if I don't respond to your post within 24 hours, please send me a reminder PM and include the link to your thread.

08-16-2008, 12:37 PM	#11 (permalink)
veaviticus Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 52 OS: XP	Re: [SOLVED] Disk Boot Error thank you for all your help! hope you have a good wweekend too