[PhoenixDown]

Hey guys newbie to the boards here. My uncles computer broke down so I tried to fix it but I keep hitting a brick wall.

So I fdisk it, partition the maxtor 40gb drive
format it, then start the install for XP pro
it copies the files, then once its done you get the normal message
" if there is a disk in the A: drive remove it now and restart"
so I remove the boot disk, and reboot, then I get the error
Operating system not found please insert boot disk or something like that"

I tried different OS's, and still the same problem, is there a way to fix this problem? I found some fix on the net where you insert the boot disk and then type ......sys c: will that work, or does anyone have any answers o nthis problem besides buying a new hdd. Thanx!!!.

 

[SuperCub]

Use Killdisk first then use your XP installation disk to set the partition size and do the format. This way you are reasonable sure that you have a fresh build, any residual problems from your broken build will be removed.

Hope it works
SuperCub

 

[PhoenixDown]

ok I'll give it a shot, thanks

 

[idtent]

Another thing before you do that is to run FDISK and set the partition as active. It may have been a second harddrive and that partition was not marked active before you tried to install the os.

After you make the partition active, it should boot without having to resetup the os.

 

[PhoenixDown]

no theres only 1 HDD, jumper is correct, is set to active for the primary partition

 

[idtent]

try FDISK /mbr

Past that I have only seen that type of error on a partition that was not marked active.

Or maybe the bios is not set to boot from the harddrive???

 

[PhoenixDown]

OK I'll try that also, if I get stuck, I'll be back