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disk boot failure insert system disk and press enter

Appledrop

Appledrop

Platinum Member
hi, so it gets to the stage - boot from CD.... then it shows "disk boot failure insert system disk and press enter"

im unsure if this is a hard drive error, or a problem with the DVD drive

its a SATA seagate 320gb drive and is detected properly in bios
and an IDE dvd drive which is also detected in bios

using GA-P35-DS3R mobo with the hdd connected to the orange ICHR9 sata 0 port

google hasnt been so helpful, so wondering anyone come across this error? and is the problem more likely to do with HDD or dvd drive

also i tried just booting from xp cd without connecting the HDD, and got the same error
 
That usually means that the MBR is corrupted or misplaced. It is usually an easy fix - boot with the OS CD/DVD, then do a repair install.
 
Zero format the HDD as an extra precaution. Set optical drive as 1st boot device in BIOS. Reboot PC. You may have a defective disc. Are you using the factory CD/DVD? Any scratches or dirt on media?
 
hey thanks for replies, but ive just figured out that it was due to the DVD drive - swapped in my cd from other pc and hey presto
im happy its only an el cheap ide dvd drive .. actually i have to admit, i dropped it down 3-4 stairs when i first got it, 😉 so it isnt a huge surprise
sorry, i should have tried that first!
 
Hi, I am encountering a similar problem on a machine that I'm trying to fix for a friend. Their ATA hard drive crapped out and I'm attempting to replace it with a new ATA hard drive and reinstall Windows XP Home Edition. Unfortunately, when I installed the new HD, I got the notorious "Boot Disk Failure. Insert System disk and press enter" error. I have a copy of XP Home here, but the comp will not allow me to boot from CD for some reason. It's a Compaq SR1720NX. I am hoping to have this comp fixed by tomorrow, so any posts you have tonight are greatly appreciated!
 
As an update, I attempted installing the old hard drive and booting up, which led to the same result. My HD and DVD drive are both set to Cable Select. I additionally attempted swapping out the power supply, but I still get the dreaded boot disk failure problem. I also tried removing the CMOS battery and placing it back in to reset BIOS, but I still have no luck. Does anyone have any ideas? Thank you very much for your time.
 
I tried a new cable and additionally tried setting the HDD to master and the DVD drive to slave. Any additional ideas?
 
I figured out the problem. I had downloaded the winxp iso from Microsoft's website to a computer at work. Since the comp at work didn't have burner software that took an ISO, I attempted to use Daemon Tools to mimic a DVD drive and attempted to copy all of the ISO files to another CD. Of course, there were missing hidden files, namely the hidden files required to boot the CD. I ended up re-downloading winxp on my home computer and burned the ISO itself. That worked like a charm.
 
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