Primary HD won't boot

Fliplm0de · 05-25-2008, 05:06 PM

Alright for some odd reason my computer ran into a problem that I'm not sure how to resolve.

I was normally using my computer and decided to restart. So it starts to resetart and while the XP screen boots up i noticed it didn't full load and its restarting itself. But forsure i can hear it spinning and working. So I figured I'd trying booting off my 2nd HD. Boots fine and I am able to access the files on the primary so I'm gussing its all there it just won't seem to boot. I also when to comp management and it said it was active and heatlhy but I guess that doesn't mean anything. Anyway heres the model its a Seagate ST3120814A

I'm totally stuck on this and would appreciate any help. Thank you in advance.

**manic** · 05-25-2008, 08:54 PM

Are you dual booting, using two different operating systems...?

Fliplm0de · 05-25-2008, 09:53 PM

nope both are on XP since i ghosted my C; to my primary now however when i went back to C i had to update up to sp2 while my primary was up to date. Could this lead to a problem?

Would reformating the drive help in this situation?

**manic** · 05-26-2008, 05:49 AM

You ghosted, if thats a word, your c: to d:. You installed sp2 on your
d:. Now the c: drive will not boot. Is windows calling your d: drive
c:? Pretty confusing to me, but if that is the case I would say that
the master boot record got altered when you installed sp2. The drive
with sp2 is probably your main drive now. Pull the drive that is
booting out of the machine, then set the jumpers to the drive that
isnt booting to master and see if it boots. If it does then you know
that your drive is ok, its just that xp is getting confused as to what
to boot to beings how it is looking at two master boot records,.

Fliplm0de · 05-26-2008, 10:08 AM

Sorry for confusing you manic, I ment I used Norton Ghost to ghost over my OLD Primary (Which is C:) to my Seagate which I named J: The thing is after that I had already had J set as master and the primary drive so it booted off that during start off. J: was already up to date to SP2 while C; wasn't and I've never ran into problems. Since I don't usually boot of C:, it wasn't up to date so when I did that yesterday I updated to SP2. If XP is the problem how would I update if my drive isn't booting. The jumper is already set to master on J: ( the one that won't boot).

Am I missing anything? Appreciate it.

**manic** · 05-26-2008, 02:50 PM

Must be that the master boot record is on c:, which is where xp
will look to boot from. If you can access the other drive I would not
worry about it, as you can only boot to one xp home installation at
a time anyway, whats the difference...

Fliplm0de · 05-26-2008, 08:33 PM

Well it makes a world difference to me because this 2nd HD im booting off is only 40gigs while the primary was a 120 so this 40 has stuff from only 2006 which is missing alot of original files im use to accessing through my regular primary. I guess i'll just reformat and see if that helps some programs arne't running properly anyway.

05-25-2008, 05:06 PM	#1 (permalink)
Fliplm0de Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 4 OS: XP	Primary HD won't boot Alright for some odd reason my computer ran into a problem that I'm not sure how to resolve. I was normally using my computer and decided to restart. So it starts to resetart and while the XP screen boots up i noticed it didn't full load and its restarting itself. But forsure i can hear it spinning and working. So I figured I'd trying booting off my 2nd HD. Boots fine and I am able to access the files on the primary so I'm gussing its all there it just won't seem to boot. I also when to comp management and it said it was active and heatlhy but I guess that doesn't mean anything. Anyway heres the model its a Seagate ST3120814A I'm totally stuck on this and would appreciate any help. Thank you in advance. Last edited by Fliplm0de; 05-25-2008 at 05:31 PM.

05-25-2008, 08:54 PM	#2 (permalink)
manic Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Florida Posts: 5,228 OS: xp	Re: Primary HD won't boot Are you dual booting, using two different operating systems...? __________________

05-25-2008, 09:53 PM	#3 (permalink)
Fliplm0de Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 4 OS: XP	Re: Primary HD won't boot nope both are on XP since i ghosted my C; to my primary now however when i went back to C i had to update up to sp2 while my primary was up to date. Could this lead to a problem? Would reformating the drive help in this situation? Last edited by Fliplm0de; 05-25-2008 at 09:56 PM.

05-26-2008, 05:49 AM	#4 (permalink)
manic Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Florida Posts: 5,228 OS: xp	Re: Primary HD won't boot You ghosted, if thats a word, your c: to d:. You installed sp2 on your d:. Now the c: drive will not boot. Is windows calling your d: drive c:? Pretty confusing to me, but if that is the case I would say that the master boot record got altered when you installed sp2. The drive with sp2 is probably your main drive now. Pull the drive that is booting out of the machine, then set the jumpers to the drive that isnt booting to master and see if it boots. If it does then you know that your drive is ok, its just that xp is getting confused as to what to boot to beings how it is looking at two master boot records,. __________________

05-26-2008, 10:08 AM	#5 (permalink)
Fliplm0de Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 4 OS: XP	Re: Primary HD won't boot Sorry for confusing you manic, I ment I used Norton Ghost to ghost over my OLD Primary (Which is C:) to my Seagate which I named J: The thing is after that I had already had J set as master and the primary drive so it booted off that during start off. J: was already up to date to SP2 while C; wasn't and I've never ran into problems. Since I don't usually boot of C:, it wasn't up to date so when I did that yesterday I updated to SP2. If XP is the problem how would I update if my drive isn't booting. The jumper is already set to master on J: ( the one that won't boot). Am I missing anything? Appreciate it.

05-26-2008, 02:50 PM	#6 (permalink)
manic Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Florida Posts: 5,228 OS: xp	Re: Primary HD won't boot Must be that the master boot record is on c:, which is where xp will look to boot from. If you can access the other drive I would not worry about it, as you can only boot to one xp home installation at a time anyway, whats the difference... __________________

05-26-2008, 08:33 PM	#7 (permalink)
Fliplm0de Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 4 OS: XP	Re: Primary HD won't boot Well it makes a world difference to me because this 2nd HD im booting off is only 40gigs while the primary was a 120 so this 40 has stuff from only 2006 which is missing alot of original files im use to accessing through my regular primary. I guess i'll just reformat and see if that helps some programs arne't running properly anyway.