Re: Win XP SR2 requires System Disk to boot


"Ch33zst34k" <Gerry.Vogler@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1183918208.677291.45640@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Jul 8, 12:54 pm, "Pegasus \(MVP\)" <I...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
"Ch33zst34k" <Gerry.Vog...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

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On Jul 8, 6:34 am,Ch33zst34k<Gerry.Vog...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Jul 8, 12:50 am, "Pegasus \(MVP\)" <I...@xxxxxxx> wrote:

"Ch33zst34k" <Gerry.Vog...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

news:1183848558.042939.223270@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

On Jul 7, 5:14 pm, "Pegasus \(MVP\)" <I...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
"Ch33zst34k" <Gerry.Vog...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

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On Jul 7, 4:20 pm, "Pegasus \(MVP\)" <I...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
"Ch33zst34k" <Gerry.Vog...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

news:1183834852.180887.9460@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Guys - I need some help on this one...

I just purchased a new custom-built gaming rig that was
shipped
with
Vista. After experiencing all the headaches and non-working
apps, I
decided to wipe Vista and install XP. To do it properly I
had
to
eradicate all traces of Vista using Killdisk. I installed
XP
SR2
and
all drivers on the virgin system, however it will not boot
without
my
XP System disk in the dvd drive. If I attempt to boot
without
the
disk, it initiates the bios screen which is followed an all
black
screen with a single flashing cursor... and sits there until
I
reboot
with the CD in.

With the CD in, it asks to boot from cd, which I do not and
then XP
boots normally. This isn't a deal-killer but obviously
isn't
correct.
Any help on this ?

Thanks in advance...

Ch33zst34k(Gerry in Philadelphia)

A flashing cursor in the top left-hand corner is usually the
result of your boot partition not being "active". Run
diskmgmt.msc
to check/fix this.

Pegasus - I ran diskmgmt.msc and my c drive is shown as
"system"
while
my secondary drive is shown as "active" - is this the problem ?

Interesting. In your first post you never said anything about
a second disk. This is essential information!

As a first step I would disconnect the second disk, then make
the first disk the primary master. This should allow you to mark
the boot partition on the first disk as "active".

Sorry about the omission - I'm a newb when it comes to disk
management
- how do I mark it master? When you say remove the second disk, do
you
mean physically disconnect or via disk manager ? I've avoided
hardware
configuration for years until now... appreciate your help.

Making an IDE disk the primary master involves opening the
machine and making sure of two things:
a) That the disk is connected to the primary (rather than the
secondary) IDE controller, and
b) That the disk jumpered as a Master, not as a slave.

Since you appear to have run with the same configuration
for a long time, let's postpone this for a moment and start
by establishing your current status. Reboot the machine
and get into the BIOS setup, then check your IDE disk
configuration. One of the menus reports your disk structure.
Assuming you use one of your disks for Windows and the
other for your data, report the exact configuration shown
by the BIOS, i.e. which disk is primary, which is secondary,
which is master, which is slave.

Pegasus - appreciate your patience - I think we are getting to the
bottom of this.

One correction - this is a brand new computer but did operate fine
with Vista. Only after wiping the drives did the problems arise.
Here is what the Bios shows:

Primary IDE Master

The last post was prematurely posted....

Pegasus - appreciate your patience - I think we are getting to the
bottom of this.

One correction - this is a brand new computer but did operate fine
with Vista. Only after wiping the drives did the problems arise.

Primary IDE Master [None]
Primary IDE Slave [None]
Secondary IDE Master [DVD RW]
Secondary IDE Slave [None]
Sata 1 [WDC001] (C-drive) system
Sata 2 [None]
Sata 3 [WDC001] (second hard drive] data
Sata 4 [None]
HDD Smart Monitoring [enabled]

I have not touched any internal components since getting it from the
factory. Its a "boutique" rig purchased from ibuypower.com.

I would apprecaite any help in getting this configured correctly - I
keep telling myself I am learning something. :-)

G

Your reply tells me that you don't have any IDE disks, hence
there is no need to worry about masters / slaves. However,
you should ensure while in the BIOS that your Sata1 disk is
your boot disk. You should then do this:
- Boot the machine with your WinXP CD.
- Don't let it start Windows - force it to start the Windows
setup process.
- Select Repair when prompted, then Recovery Console.
- Type these commands:
fixboot
fixmbr
bootcfg /rebuild

We accomplished something... I did as prescribed and set it to boot to
the c:drive (the only install found) however the system still stalls
at reboot with the "Flashing cursor." I can boot with the cd in as
before, however now the OS offers two distinct configurations into
which to boot. The top is a blank description but the cursor flashes
in front of a blank line - and yes, I can select it and boot normally
with that. The second line says "Windows XP Configuration" which works
as well - again, as long as the cd is in.

Any thoughts now ? Thanks !

G


I return to my first reply: You must mark the boot partition "active".
If you cannot do it any other way, disconnect your second SATA
disk first, then do it.

After following Shenan's suggestion of editing boot.ini, post the
contents of this file in your reply.


.

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