error loading operating system

[lozina]

So I rebuilt an older computer tonight to use it as a server and one thing I changed was used a big hard drive instead of the little dinky one it used to have. After using the Windows XP setup disc to format the drive and copy initial windows files it reboots but fails to load XP - says "error loading operating system"

So I google that message and come across this nice explanation here: http://www.tech-faq.com/error-...operating-system.shtml
which basically says my BIOS should be updated because it is not handling the large HD with windows properly

But now here's where I'm stuck.. how do I use ASUS's Award flash BIOS utility without a floppy drive? I haven't had a floppy drive in years now... I thought I could just copy the BIOS utility and BIOS bin files to a CD and then use the windows XP setup cd to boot into the repair console but this is a no-go. When I boot off that setup CD now it totally skips the menu which has the Repair windows option - it goes straight to the screen where it list my partitions. So I don't know how to use it to get a DOS prompt now.

What can I do? Please don't tell me I need to run out and buy a floppy drive!


PS, it's a ASUS A8N SLI mobo

 

[mechBgon]

As a quick test, when you see the POST screen, begin tapping the F8 key until it says it's loading the boot menu. Now wait for the blue boot-device selection screen to come up, and manually choose your HDD. If that worked, you probably just need to change your boot-device priority in the BIOS.

Any good?

 

[lozina]

Hey mechBgon, thanks for replying!

Unfortunately that's not working, I enter a boot menu and I choose my hard drive manually but it still says "error loading operating system"

I did manage to flash my BIOS to the latest version with the help of some boot disk I found on the net but I am still getting the same error, even after deleting the partition/formatting/running windows xp setup all over again.

I notice when my PC boots up and displays my SATA devices (only two: the hard drive and my DVD drive) the hard drive is listed as:
First SATA, Master Disk : CHS, ATA 133, 250 Gb

But from reading some forums with other ppl who had this problem they say the drive should be set as LBA...

One thing I did was go into my BIOS config and change the Access Type for my drive from 'Auto' to 'Large'. When I reboot it now shows LBA instead of CHS, but once I get to the point where it either starts loading XP or gives that "error loading operating system" message nothing happens besides some funky characters randomly appearing on the screen: some purple smiley face char, a red right arrow char, some blue border piece.. just a few random colored charcaters scattered on the screen and the system just sits there until I power off.

I did try again deleting the partition, formatting (Quick format this time), and re-run the winxp setup but again, same error.

man this is killing me.

see this hard drive used to be my E: drive for the same system but I took out the C: drive and put it in another system (it was a SCSI drive) and I only left this drive to become the C: for a fresh new install. So I know the drive is OK, and it installs windows fine... but it just refuses to boot once I run the WindowsXP setup! There are no jumper setting changes on this driver either, it is set as master not slave.

 

[lozina]

Ok, problem solved.

I download samsung hard drive utility software and ran a zero fill across the boot sectors. then I undid my BIOS changes back to default and I saw the drive is now showing up as LBA automatically! I setup winxp yet again and this time my PC is rebooting!

whew... what a load of time I wasted on this