Tuner Tech Men - pc issue

[skylinechild]

ok long story short....

the pc is an emachines....every time i install windows on it it would install....but when i remove the disc from the drive and shut down....
unplug it...power it back on and power it up..it would say disc boot failure....insert system disc and press enter...

however when i insert the windows installation disc and reboot with the disc in the drive, it would prompt to press any key, -i ignore this cause if i press the keyboard it would boot off the disc...and want to install windows

the press any key prompt times out, and mysteriously the desktop apprears...it seems that the pc cannot boot to the HDD without the windows disc being in the drive....

the CMOS battery is good and all BIOS settings are correct and the disc is an original xp disc..silver sided holographic disc.- yes it original...

why is it failing to start windows when there's no disc in the drive and why does it want the disc although it not going to use it to install from or copy from it while booting up...

the board and RAM and CPU is good...so is the on board controller...etc

question is why does it need the Xp disc to be in the drive for it to boot up properly....?

[oxidation]

try setting the hard drive as your 1st boot device in the bios and see what happens.

[skylinechild]

try setting the hard drive as your 1st boot device in the bios and see what happens.

already tried that..installed windows...got to my desktop....removed the disc..rebooted entered the bios....set the HDD to 1st boot device ....saved it....and rebooted...same thing...

no matter what it wants to have that XP disc in the drive in order to boot up properly....even though you not going to use it....it still wants it...

[Dragist]

Yeo gave these Instructions for someones Phone problems some time ago but I think they are applicable to your case .



1) Put PC in hand palm facing up .

2) Stand over dustbin turn hand facing down .......................... Problem Solved .

[skylinechild]

Yeo gave these Instructions for someones Phone problems some time ago but I think they are applicable to your case .



1) Put PC in hand palm facing up .

2) Stand over dustbin turn hand facing down .......................... Problem Solved .

thanks dragist.... but it's not my pc....i will however save these instructions for later use if it comes to it...

[original_lollybob]

questions:

1. If you stick a non windows cd in the drive will the machine boot?

2. what drive letter is windows installed on...

if your mobo is set to boot to drive C: and you have windows installed on E: F: etc etc... this could be the problem

3. SATA or IDE?

if IDE and u running a master/slave scenario with yuh HDD and CDROM make sure the jumpers correct and the cable properly connected.

[Dragist]

No Probs .




Did you format the disk or is there a previous Windows Installation on the Drive ?

If so make sure you are booting from the new Installation .



Oh and if it's Vista Repeat steps 1) and 2 )

[skylinechild]

questions:

1. If you stick a non windows cd in the drive will the machine boot?

2. what drive letter is windows installed on...

if your mobo is set to boot to drive C: and you have windows installed on E: F: etc etc... this could be the problem

3. SATA or IDE?

if IDE and u running a master/slave scenario with yuh HDD and CDROM make sure the jumpers correct and the cable properly connected.

1 NON windows disc... no it will not boot

2. it installed on letter C

3. IDE each device is on it's own IDE cable...and both set to master...setting them to cable select would not change a thing...still only one device per cable


come on....i'm not a noob...

[skylinechild]

No Probs .




Did you format the disk or is there a previous Windows Installation on the Drive ?

If so make sure you are booting from the new Installation .



Oh and if it's Vista Repeat steps 1) and 2 )

i formatted the disk....i even went as far and trying it in another pc just to make sure the HDD i using was good....i'm using my testing HDD....

i did a full format....removed all old partitions..did a full format on drive....same thing....

it wants the Xp disc in the drive in order to boot up normally.

[sfa8us]

Well if you are sure that your boot order is correct, then you may need to rebuild the boot config

Boot off the XP CD and when you see
Press any key to boot from CD
Well press a key.
Wait for the XP installer to finish loading and choose the option to press R to Repair.

Press R.
The next screen will ask you which Windows installation you would like to log on to. Normally the following will be listed:
1: C:\WINDOWS

You should only see 1 option unless you multibooting off the same HD or you install XP twice on the same drive


Press 1, then Enter to continue.
You may now be asked for the Administrator password.
Enter the admin password or leave it blank if you don't know it hmm...

At the command prompt type:

fixmbr and press Enter and wait till finished

fixboot and press Enter and wait till finished

Wait until you are returned to the Recovery Console.

Type bootcfg /rebuild

Once you are back to the Recovery Console remove the XP CD and restart your PC.


If that dont wont, try using another HD, check you jumper setting or even try booting with out the optical drive connected.

[sfa8us]

Btw are you using IDE or SATA?

If IDE Check you jumpers
If SATA make sure you install the correct 3rd Party Drivers during the WIndows XP install

[M_2NR]

too much porn

[original_lollybob]

come on....i'm not a noob...Laughing

sorry

i liking Dragist advice then...

[skylinechild]

Well if you are sure that your boot order is correct, then you may need to rebuild the boot config

Boot off the XP CD and when you see
Press any key to boot from CD
Well press a key.
Wait for the XP installer to finish loading and choose the option to press R to Repair.

Press R.
The next screen will ask you which Windows installation you would like to log on to. Normally the following will be listed:
1: C:\WINDOWS

You should only see 1 option unless you multibooting off the same HD or you install XP twice on the same drive


Press 1, then Enter to continue.
You may now be asked for the Administrator password.
Enter the admin password or leave it blank if you don't know it hmm...

At the command prompt type:

fixmbr and press Enter and wait till finished

fixboot and press Enter and wait till finished

Wait until you are returned to the Recovery Console.

Type bootcfg /rebuild

Once you are back to the Recovery Console remove the XP CD and restart your PC.


If that dont wont, try using another HD, check you jumper setting or even try booting with out the optical drive connected.

you telling me after i finish installing a clean copy of windows using the original cd silver side holographic disc....the MBR corrupt.?

i tried all those steps already and nope...it doesnt work.....

also tried booting without the optical drive connected...same thing...

it wants the xp disc in the drive to boot up normally..

[original_lollybob]

Btw are you using IDE or SATA?

If IDE Check you jumpers
If SATA make sure you install the correct 3rd Party Drivers during the WIndows XP install

he pass that stage already

[skylinechild]

it always seems to want the Xp disc in the optical drive to boot up porperly...to get to the desktop...

[sfa8us]

hoss sorry they, when i was tying the post it only had 4 replys to it, now i click post and see other people post before me lol, sorry they partner

[skylinechild]

hoss sorry they, when i was tying the post it only had 4 replys to it, now i click post and see other people post before me lol, sorry they partner

is ok man...i just want a solution to the problem....

[skylinechild]

hoss sorry they, when i was tying the post it only had 4 replys to it, now i click post and see other people post before me lol, sorry they partner

is ok man...i just want a solution to the problem....

kerosene and a match...

dragist solution better....

soundwave....you think optimus cud help here.?

[jackson5]

Re: strange problem, xp won't boot without a cd in the drive
I just conquered the same issue. If you are able to boot to the SATA drive while the XP Install disc is in the drive, try the following:

1. Make sure explorer options are set to show system files
2. Check to see if you have the following files on your SATA XP install (root of drive):
- boot.ini
- ntdetect.com
- ntldr

3. If you're missing any of the above files, copy them from a working XP install using a USB drive (or burn a disc, use a floppy, etc.). You may need to modify the boot.ini file to match your disk confiuration.

I followed the above steps and was able to reboot without using the CD. Good luck.

taken from here - http://www.techsupportforum.com/microso ... drive.html

if dat eh work try using ah different version ah windows.. ah bootleg or sumthing..

[skylinechild]

Re: strange problem, xp won't boot without a cd in the drive
I just conquered the same issue. If you are able to boot to the SATA drive while the XP Install disc is in the drive, try the following:

1. Make sure explorer options are set to show system files
2. Check to see if you have the following files on your SATA XP install (root of drive):
- boot.ini
- ntdetect.com
- ntldr

3. If you're missing any of the above files, copy them from a working XP install using a USB drive (or burn a disc, use a floppy, etc.). You may need to modify the boot.ini file to match your disk confiuration.

I followed the above steps and was able to reboot without using the CD. Good luck.

taken from here - http://www.techsupportforum.com/microso ... drive.html

if dat eh work try using ah different version ah windows.. ah bootleg or sumthing..

I'm using an IDE drive....tried a bootleg xp pro...same thing...

[auto-novice]

sounds like machine suffering with alzeimers.. a wild card might be to try changing the cmos battery..

[stephengobin]

first step, make sure you dont have any usb mass storage plugin on system.
reset the bios by changing the jumper setting on the board.
go to your setup and change your first boot device to harddrive.
second boot device to harddrive.
third boot device to cd.
after that remove your keyboard from your system and then boot up.
if it boots up to windows xp please run a disk check to fix the errors on your harddrive.

[audioholicz.co]

i got this problem already on a dell.. problem was the install cd it self.. changed the cd and installed from another xp cd and it worked fine after..

if you don't get true pm me..

[skylinechild]

first step, make sure you dont have any usb mass storage plugin on system.
reset the bios by changing the jumper setting on the board.
go to your setup and change your first boot device to harddrive.
second boot device to harddrive.
third boot device to cd.
after that remove your keyboard from your system and then boot up.
if it boots up to windows xp please run a disk check to fix the errors on your harddrive.

i will try resetting the BIOS
already tired changing boot device orders

what will removing the keyboard do...?i asking...

what ever i do it still wants the xp disc in the drive to boot up normally...

[skylinechild]

i got this problem already on a dell.. problem was the install cd it self.. changed the cd and installed from another xp cd and it worked fine after..

if you don't get true pm me..

it cant be the disc cause when i tried my bootleg xp dis same thing...it refuses to load unless the xp disc is inside the optical drive...

if it not there windows wont start and you get disc boot failure..

dells are easy to fix..just gotta be sure to get the dell xp home / pro cd and that's it....

[Rebelb14]

Does emachines create a partition on their system hardrive to store drivers and other files? Maybe their is a file their that will fix this problem. Never encountered a problem like yours, Is jus that these brand name computers like my hp laptop love to have a partition for their files on the harddrive and u deleted it when u did your clean format and reinstall of windows.

[skylinechild]

Does emachines create a partition on their system hardrive to store drivers and other files? Maybe their is a file their that will fix this problem. Never encountered a problem like yours, Is jus that these brand name computers like my hp laptop love to have a partition for their files on the harddrive and u deleted it when u did your clean format and reinstall of windows.

well you see the pc needs a clean reinstall of the operating system.

the hard drive has a recovery partition and i trying not to use that so i connect up my own HDD and trying to install different versions of xp from different OEM makers to se which one will work but all of them same thing...

if it comes down to it i will have to use the recovery partition from the HDD to restore the computer which i dont want to do.

i prefer to use the hard copy discs

is either i get the original discs.....get my original xp to work....or use the recovery partition to restore the files.

[3.5v6]

only thing nobody mentioned is, HDD Sector Zero (Master Boot Sector) is damaged. no matter how many times you format and reinstall it will not make any difference.

change the HDD and reinstall your windows and your problem will solve.

other cheap option to try...boot your windows and run a hard disk master boot repair utility...u can download it from internet free...

once your master boot sector is damaged, anytime you reformat the HDD you will face the same issue.