Re: no operating system upon boot
From: R. C. White (rc_at_corridor.net)
Date: 11/03/04
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Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2004 08:42:14 -0600
Hi, Zattack.
I've waited a couple of days hoping someone would jump in with the tip for
setting a volume Active when you can't boot WinXP.
It's easy to do from WinXP Disk Management - but if you can't boot, that
doesn't help. :>( I'm pretty sure it can be done from the Recovery
Console, but I can't find it in the instructions in the WinXP Resource Kit.
(You might try FixMBR and FixBoot, but I'm not sure they would do this.)
I've often recommended that WinXP users "throw away the Win9x/ME boot disk,
or at least hide it so that you'll never be tempted to use it again" - but
that diskette may be the best solution to your problem. Boot into MS-DOS.
Don't expect to read any NTFS partitions with it, but FDISK creates and
deletes partitions without regard to their formatting. So, boot to MS-DOS
and run FDISK to change the Active partition on your hard drive. I've not
actually done this in a while, but it should work for you.
Please post back and let us know what results you get with this.
RC
-- R. C. White, CPA San Marcos, TX rc@corridor.net Microsoft Windows MVP "Zattack" <nospam@orionfirst.com> wrote in message news:ObLDUUFwEHA.2876@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl... > Setting the new partition to active may have indeed been what I did, > however > since I cannot boot up to see that I just don't know. What would I need > to > do to even investigate if the pointers are not going to the correct boot > drive? > > Z > > > "R. C. White" <rc@corridor.net> wrote in message > news:OD3aORgvEHA.1296@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl... >> Hi, Zattack. >> >> I've snipped most of the thread so far so that we can concentrate on your >> latest post. >> >> "Zattack" <nospam@orionfirst.com> wrote in message >> news:udYZ3mfvEHA.2192@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl... >> > >> > Thanks to everyone so far who have posted. I probably have not > explained >> > the situation as well as could have. Basically the laptop was setup > with >> > a >> > partitioned 14 gig drive. Just over 5 allocated as the primary drive c >> > and >> > less than 9 to an extended drive d. Problem is that everything, > programs, >> > files, windows updates, etc were all going to drive c and it was maxed > out >> > on space. >> >> Not an unusual situation at all. Many of us have wished for more space >> in >> Drive C:. >> >> > In an attempt on my part to try and find a solution so that the drive >> D >> > could be used more appropriately I ran across the disk management > utility. >> > My goal was to try and clear drive d and somehow merge it back with c, >> > which >> > I now know takes at least a separate piece of software such as >> > Partition >> > Magic. I didn't have anything like that so what I naively did was >> > unallocate drive d. Then I reallocated it as a primary partition and >> > formatted it while still in disk management. >> >> Unnecessary, because WinXP doesn't care whether any volume is primary or >> logical EXCEPT that the System Partition (almost always Drive C:) must be > a >> primary partition. The Boot Volume (where the \Windows folder, with its >> gigabytes of files, resides) may be Drive C: or any other volume on any >> HD >> in your computer. In your case, it apparently was Drive C:. As I said, >> this step was unnecessary and probably did no good, but it did no harm, >> either. >> >> > If you are familiar with the >> > disk management utility it has a little window that displays the drives >> > with >> > color codes and allows you to click on the drive you want to work with > and >> > such. Once drive d had formatted it was the same color as drive c, > listed >> > itself as a primary drive but still showed it with 9 gig of space as a >> > separate drive from that of drive c (also still listed as a primary > drive. >> >> OK. Situation normal. >> >> > After exiting the utility I was able to work on a word doc and jump on > the >> > internet. >> >> OK. >> >> > I closed down and upon reboot recieved the error message. >> >> NOT OK! >> >> Now it's time for a lesson in the boot process, but I'm pressed time for >> today. >> >> Some essential points: The few System Files (NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM and >> Boot.ini) must be in the Root of the System Partition: the Active > partition >> on the first HD, almost always Drive C:. The boot sector of the System >> Partition load C:\NTLDR, which uses C:\Boot.ini to find the Boot Volume > and >> load WinXP from there and start it. The error message you saw says that > the >> boot process cannot find an operating system in what it thinks is the > System >> Partition. It's getting lost on its way to Drive C:. :>( >> >> It's not a Windows problem, strictly speaking. It's a hardware/BIOS >> problem. The boot process can't find ANY operating system. Not WinXP, > not >> Win9x, not even MS-DOS. Most likely, it's looking in the wrong place. > Now >> you have to find out where it's looking and direct it back to your Drive > C:. >> >> > I am >> > fairly confident that the c drive is still intact since just shutting >> > it >> > down should not have erased anything and since as Colin stated windows >> > shouldn't allow you to delete its active drive while you are working in >> > it... >> >> Agreed. Whatever caused the problem, this wasn't it. >> >> > So my conclusion appears to be similar to yours, RC, that somehow the >> > partition format process I did screwed up the pointer for when I boot > the >> > system. Without the ability to even reach a dos prompt or navigate >> > outside >> > windows I don't even know how to fix the pointer problem or begin to >> > research it because Sony did not sell the Windows XP software, it built > it >> > into the recovery disk as far I understand it. The Sony recovery disk > has >> > only two options upon inserting it and rebooting: Format drive C and >> > begin >> > new install or format all drives and begin install... >> > >> > Does Fixboot provide a solution to this and if so is a new copy of >> > WinXp >> > the >> > only option? I will most likely start a new thread if I ever get the >> > system >> > to boot correctly to fix the partitioned allocations but until then I > want >> > to at least try to recovery the system as it was... >> >> >> Hey, I just thought of something! When you used Disk Management to >> create >> and format the primary partition that became Drive D:, did you "Mark >> Partition as Active"? Each HD can have only ONE Active (bootable) > partition >> at any one time. If you marked D: as Active, C: would have had to have > lost >> that designation. The next time you booted, the system would have looked >> for NTLDR, etc., on Drive D:, the active partition. Not finding them > there, >> it would have given you that "no operating system" message and died - >> just >> what you saw. I have to run now, but I'll bet that's the answer. >> >> Sorry to leave you at this point, but I have to run. I'll check back >> when > I >> have time tomorrow. >> >> RC
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