Re: Error Loading OS

I take it that you have 4 IDE devices in there and that they are connected on 2 IDE controllers on the motherboard. These devices are connected with data cables like this: http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/if/ide/conf_Cable.htm

We now know that you System drive is properly configured, active and that the files necessary to boot Windows are correctly installed on the drive. The reason your computer doesn't boot when all the devices are attached to the motherboard is because the IDE chain is not correctly setup or that the Boot Order in the BIOS is set to pass the boot to the wrong drive. Keep in mind that the first hard drive is always identified as drive 0 (zero) the second as 1, etc.

The system drive is either:

- attached to the wrong IDE controller on the board,
- at the wrong position on the IDE cable
- has an incorrect jumper setting and incorrect Master/Slave relationship.
- a combination of any of the above

To correct the situation you will have to make sure that the above possibilities don't exist. Unless you know exactly how to set it up it will be a trial and error process from here on. Start with the instructions at http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/if/ide/conf_Cable.htm to familiarize yourself with IDE configurations.

Place the hard drive where Windows is installed on the first motherboard IDE controller and make sure that it has the Master position. If you remember the contents of the boot.ini file when we began:

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

indicates that the computer will boot the operating system on the first partition on HDD0 (the first hard drive). Now make sure that the drives/devices are properly cabled and that the jumpers are correct. Keep in mind that your setup may be using cable select and that the positions on cable select may be different than with Master/Slave. Also the if the drives are set to cable select the cables must be cable select capable. So, to recap, make the Windows drive Master HDD0, and make sure you see it as so in the BIOS. Try to boot the computer with only HDD0 attached, if the computer boots then attach the other devices, one at a time if need be.

John

jclay wrote:

John,

Something very strange has happened - I couldnt manually disconnect drive 2 because the pc wouldnt boot up (Power Cable Links - I think) - so once reconnected I went into the BIOS

I tried to disconnect Disk 2 from within the BIOS. Channel 1 Slave was set to Auto where it found FX482T (which I thought was drive 2). So I reset the channel to None and re-set Boot to Hard Disk. And it WORKED, so I went into Disk Management to see if Disk 2 was gone, but it was still there ?

Today I have found out that FX482T is my CD-Rom drive, I re-set Channel 1 Slave back to Auto and again it has found FX482T, but the pc still boots up correctly ???

Very Odd any Ideas ?


"John John" wrote:


Hmmm. Lets remove the other drive from the picture for further trouble shooting. Disconnect disk 2 and see what happens. At the very least it will be eliminated as a possible cause of the problem. Verify with the Disk Management tool to make sure that only the SystemDrive remains on the computer. Can you toggle the Active flag on the SystemDrive? Does your computer has a diskette drive?

John

jclay wrote:

John,

I disconnected disk 3 - booted up from CD to make sure that drive had gone. Then reset BIOS to boot from Hard Disk - I got the same Error LOading OS



"John John" wrote:



Can you go in the BIOS and temporarily disable disk 3 and reboot? (It will most likely be shown as HDD2). Or can you otherwise temporarily disconnect the drive and try booting the pc and see what happens?

John

jclay wrote:



John

The command return for set system is:
SYSTEMDRIVE=C:
SYSTEMROOT=C:\WINDOWS

boot.ini is in C:\ folder only
NTDETECT.COM is in C:\ folder only
ntldr is in C:\folder only

I found the Disk Management Tool and some info I gave you before was slighty
incorrect:

Info from the Disk Management Tool is as follows:

Hard Disk 1:
C: Partition Basic NTFS Healthy (system) 19.08 GB

Hard Disk 2:
E:(F:) Partition Basic FAT32 Healthy 5.94 GB

Hard Disk 3:
C:(D:) Partition Basic FAT32 Healthy (active) 9.31 GB
D:(E:) Partition Basic FAT32 Healthy 9.75 GB

I hope the above info helps

thank you

"John John" wrote:




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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