Re: Error Loading OS

First set Explorer Folder Options to display hidden files and folders: http://tinyurl.com/h4o87 Then you cand search for the files again.

Now do the following:

Open a Command Prompt:

Click on: Start | Run and type cmd in the dialogue box and press enter or click "OK".

At the command prompt type the following command then press <enter>:

set system


What does the command return? (Hint: You can copy and paste the contents of the command window using the mouse to highlight the text you want to copy.)

The 3 files mentioned in an earlier post should be on the SystemDrive= drive. Please report the results of the SET command and the search results for the files.

John

jclay wrote:

John

several things -

before when you asked me to find boot.ini I serached for this (including in hidden files) and it was NOT found. Secondly when I put it in the Run box Windows said it couldnt find it.

I have just searched for NTDETECT.COM and ntldr, again these fies could not be found.

I have 3 hard disks on my pc - C: (which I formatted and installed XP on) D: and E: - I think only D: is partitioned but I am not sure.

You obviosly know a lot more about XP than me, where do I find the Disk Management tool and how do I use it ?

thank you

"John John" wrote:


Yes, that's it. The contents of the file appears to be correct but you didn't tell us how many hard disks and or partitions are in the computer. If only 1 partition on 1 hard disk then the file is ok.

Go in the Disk Management tool and verify the Active status of the partition. Ensure that the following (also hidden) files are at C:\ along with the boot.ini file:

NTDETECT.COM
ntldr

John

jclay wrote:


I got this from My Computer/Properties/Advanced/Startup and Recovery Settings/Edit:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect

Is this what you mean ?


"John John" wrote:



It's a hidden system file, unhide it, or you should be able to have Notepad open it by clicking on:

Start | Run

and typing boot.ini in the run box and pressing enter or clicking on "OK". If not see here:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;289022

When you paste the contents of the file here also tell us how many drives and partitions you have in the computer.

John

jclay wrote:



I did a search on my C:\ drive for boot.ini - no results where found ?

"John John" wrote:




Let's have a look at your boot.ini file and see what it says in there.

John

jclay wrote:



I have recently reformatted my hard disk and re-installed XP Professional.

My BIOS is set to Hard Disk and when I start my pc I get the "Error Loading OS".

If I set the BIOS to CD Rom and insert the XP disc then the pc boots from the CD and Windows starts up ok. For the last week I have been using windows with the CD disc in the pc.

How do I get the pc to boot from the Hard Disk?


.

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