Re: Can Only Boot with Boot CD in Drive

Pegasus gave you the answer. Where are the files: ntdetect.com, ntldr and boot.ini located?

John

Paige Miller wrote:

On 10/3/2006 6:58 PM, Pegasus (MVP) wrote:

"Paige Miller" <pmiller5NOSPAM@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:goBUg.57041$uH6.47620@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I recently did a clean install of Windows XP, because my old Windows
XP was unstable. The installations seems to have been successful, but
... I can only boot the computer with the Windows XP Recovery CD in
the drive.

If I try to boot without the CD in the drive, I get an error message
that says

DISK BOOT FAILURE
INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER

Now, I know how to change the BIOS so that it should boot from the
hard drive, and not the CD ROM. When I make this change, so that it is
supposed to boot from the hard drive, I get the above error message
regardless of whether or not the disk is in the drive.

How do I fix this?

--
Paige Miller
pmiller5@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Run diskmgmt.msc via the Run box, then make sure that your
system partition is marked as active.


I solved this by accident. I will explain what happened, and maybe someone much smarter than I can provide an explanation. I certainly would appreciate knowing why this happened in case I ever want to do this again, as I would really like to understand what happened.

1) I perform a clean install of Windows XP. The install program recognizes my 80gig C: drive as the D: drive. This drive is located on the third IDE master (I don't know why, that's the way the computer manufacturer built it), while my 160gig D: drive, the primary drive on the first IDE channel, was identified as the C: drive. Why?
2) I go ahead and wipe the 80gig drive clean, perform the install.
3) When I boot up, the computer now recognizes the 80gig drive with the Windows XP installation as the D: drive. The 160gig drive is now the C: drive. Why?
4) I try to boot without the CD in the drive, and the computer will not boot. I change the boot up sequence to have the 80 gig drive (with the new Windows XP installation) first, but it will not boot. It will only boot if the boot up sequence has the CDROM first and the CD is in the drive. Why?
5) As a lark, I try making the boot up sequence to look at the 160gig drive first (even though there is no Windows installation there), the 80gig second (where the Windows installation is) and floppy third (no CDROM in the sequence). Now things boot properly without the CD in the drive. Why?

Thanks!

.

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