Acerpower F2 Won't boot without old HD

zelch · 10-12-2008, 01:09 PM

My wife's computer is an Acerpower F2. The hard drive died (most of the data lost, but some of it was recovered so it wasn't completely shot), so I just bought a new hard drive, slapped winxp on it and made it the master for the new system.

The weird thing is, without the old hard drive plugged in to the system, this acer won't boot at all. Winxp is on the new drive, and everything is working great, but the comp requires that old drive to be plugged in somewhere to boot to xp home.

Now the comp is running really slow and clicking noises are coming from that old drive. when we reboot it says insert system disk and after fiddling with it I can usually get it to boot.

It seems there are some system files on the old hard drive, (perhaps in an invisible partition? ) that the motherboard uses to boot and run the computer. I know my way around the inside of a comp pretty well but partitions and stuff are somewhat new to me.

Any advice? I'd like to get these system files off of the old drive and put them on the new drive before it completely fails and we have an unbootable system. I'm just not sure where to start or where to look

**simpswr** · 10-12-2008, 01:16 PM

and welcome to the Forum

When you installed XP on the new drive, did you leave the old one attached? Did you change the jumpers on the old one when you moved it to the slave position on the ide ribbon?

zelch · 10-12-2008, 01:25 PM

I can't remember if I left the old one attached. I probably did leave it in there because I wanted to try and pull files off it. (it was a few months ago). I think I probably put the new drive in as master, the old one as the slave, and installed xp.

UPDATE: Jumpers are correct.

However, the jumper setting shouldn't matter, because no matter where I put the jumper, the computer will not boot if I pull that old hard drive completely out, right?

zelch · 10-12-2008, 06:14 PM

taking a look at other forums, it looks like others have this problem, but its not clear what the solution is.. any ideas?

**simpswr** · 10-12-2008, 06:25 PM

You should have disconnected the old drive . . you may be able to fix by disconnectinhg the old drive, boot from the XP install cd and press R at the first prompt to enter the repair consol . . at the C:> prompt, type fixmbr.

Alternately, reinstall XP with the second drive disconnected

zelch · 10-12-2008, 07:20 PM

I'll give that a shot, thanks!

Will fixmbr change my xp install substantially? Like will I need to reinstall software etc.. or does it leave xp untouched and just fix the boot settings?

**simpswr** · 10-12-2008, 08:28 PM

Should just put a MBR on the drive . . nothing else should change

10-12-2008, 01:09 PM	#1 (permalink)
zelch Registered User Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 6 OS: win xp sp2	Acerpower F2 Won't boot without old HD My wife's computer is an Acerpower F2. The hard drive died (most of the data lost, but some of it was recovered so it wasn't completely shot), so I just bought a new hard drive, slapped winxp on it and made it the master for the new system. The weird thing is, without the old hard drive plugged in to the system, this acer won't boot at all. Winxp is on the new drive, and everything is working great, but the comp requires that old drive to be plugged in somewhere to boot to xp home. Now the comp is running really slow and clicking noises are coming from that old drive. when we reboot it says insert system disk and after fiddling with it I can usually get it to boot. It seems there are some system files on the old hard drive, (perhaps in an invisible partition? ) that the motherboard uses to boot and run the computer. I know my way around the inside of a comp pretty well but partitions and stuff are somewhat new to me. Any advice? I'd like to get these system files off of the old drive and put them on the new drive before it completely fails and we have an unbootable system. I'm just not sure where to start or where to look Last edited by zelch; 10-12-2008 at 01:11 PM.

10-12-2008, 01:16 PM	#2 (permalink)
simpswr Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: May 2007 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 12,267 OS: XP, Vista, Win 7	Re: Acerpower F2 Won't boot without old HD and welcome to the Forum When you installed XP on the new drive, did you leave the old one attached? Did you change the jumpers on the old one when you moved it to the slave position on the ide ribbon? __________________ Rich MemTest86 \| BenchTest \| Virus/Trojan/Spyware Help How to post a Screen Shot \| PC running slow?

10-12-2008, 01:25 PM	#3 (permalink)
zelch Registered User Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 6 OS: win xp sp2	Re: Acerpower F2 Won't boot without old HD I can't remember if I left the old one attached. I probably did leave it in there because I wanted to try and pull files off it. (it was a few months ago). I think I probably put the new drive in as master, the old one as the slave, and installed xp. UPDATE: Jumpers are correct. However, the jumper setting shouldn't matter, because no matter where I put the jumper, the computer will not boot if I pull that old hard drive completely out, right? Last edited by zelch; 10-12-2008 at 01:36 PM.

10-12-2008, 06:14 PM	#4 (permalink)
zelch Registered User Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 6 OS: win xp sp2	Re: Acerpower F2 Won't boot without old HD taking a look at other forums, it looks like others have this problem, but its not clear what the solution is.. any ideas?

10-12-2008, 06:25 PM	#5 (permalink)
simpswr Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: May 2007 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 12,267 OS: XP, Vista, Win 7	Re: Acerpower F2 Won't boot without old HD You should have disconnected the old drive . . you may be able to fix by disconnectinhg the old drive, boot from the XP install cd and press R at the first prompt to enter the repair consol . . at the C:> prompt, type fixmbr. Alternately, reinstall XP with the second drive disconnected __________________ Rich MemTest86 \| BenchTest \| Virus/Trojan/Spyware Help How to post a Screen Shot \| PC running slow?

10-12-2008, 07:20 PM	#6 (permalink)
zelch Registered User Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 6 OS: win xp sp2	Re: Acerpower F2 Won't boot without old HD I'll give that a shot, thanks! Will fixmbr change my xp install substantially? Like will I need to reinstall software etc.. or does it leave xp untouched and just fix the boot settings?

10-12-2008, 08:28 PM	#7 (permalink)
simpswr Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: May 2007 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 12,267 OS: XP, Vista, Win 7	Re: Acerpower F2 Won't boot without old HD Should just put a MBR on the drive . . nothing else should change __________________ Rich MemTest86 \| BenchTest \| Virus/Trojan/Spyware Help How to post a Screen Shot \| PC running slow?