Boot disk failure / [DR-DOS] A:\> XP Pro

[SSDelta]

Hi everyone, I wonder if you can help me out .

A few days ago when my PC was shutting down and the power was switched off corrupting some file and giving me this blue startup screen "Unmountable_Boot_Volume".

I tried many suggestions about using the recovery console to fix this, but to no avail. The file 'Autochk.exe' could not be found, and would not respond to any path I entered.This meant that using chkdsk wouldnt run, asking for the path to the above.

I used Fixboot, and wrote a new bootsector sucessfully, but this still gave me the blue screen"Unmountable..."

I tried using an old ME disk and installing that just to get the thing running, but it gives "Formatting hard disk- setup cannnot install windowsMe. An error as detected while formatting your primary hard disk partition"

I decided to get a friends XP Pro disk and format and reinstall everything as I need to have this PC working asap.( I have a lot of work on it,but its vital I get it working and then just start again with it all)

When I start the XP Pro disk I get to this point:~

..A lot of stuff runs and then this prompt appears on screen at the bottom

[DR-DOS] A:\>

This CD dosnt boot me into a normal setup, and I have to use the 6 boot disks to the reinstall point.I reformated the hard drive, and started reinstalling XP Pro, til I got a message warning setup file was corrupted and couldnt continue.

The PC is 1GHz , 512 Mb Ram , 20Gb hard drive.

Also, If I run the Bios as the hard drive first and no floppy or cd-rom inserted, I get this message~

PXE.E61: Media test failure, and
Disk Boot failure, replace system disk and press enter.

Its an utter nightmare, and I still cant believe its all because someone turned it off improperly.

Is there any way of getting it running again ?

I'd be prepared to wipe everything ( I believe its be formatted anyway during a failed reinstall of XP Pro as described) and just install windows Me to get it functioning again.

Very gratefull for any help,

SSDelta:sad:

[caperjack]

try opening the case ,remove the ribbon cable from the drive and motherboard and reinstall it ,seen it work as it happens to mine from time to time ,you may have lost everything allready

[SSDelta]

Hi, and thanks for your reply.

I done as instructed, and now the media test failure bit disapears leaving only

Disk Boot failure, replace system disk and press enter

A step up I guess.

I take it a new hard drive is in order then.

Will replacing this resolve my problems then ?

[caperjack]

not sure if you need a new hard drive ,did you try a win98 bootdisk ,if it detects drive , fdisk and create new partition and the reboot to win98 bootdisk,and format drive . not this will complete erase alll programs and data on the drive now ,if it isn't all ready gone .

[SSDelta]

Hi again,

I havnt tried this, so I'll give it a go.
If it gets the PC up again I'm happy to erase work on it.

Thanks again and I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Cheers,

SSDelta

[SSDelta]

Ahh, terrific stuff CaperJack !!

I went for a total wipe, even though there was still the partition there.I reckon a virus may be lurking inside, and its better off to have a clean slate.
Fdisk worked fine and sorted things out ready for a new partition.

I can install windows XP Home now as I have that CD from this PC.

The clean install is going well so far and there are no start up errors.
Tha hard drive is cool, and all seems well again.

Many thanks for your prompt assistance and with this nightmare,

Cheers,

SSDelta

[caperjack]

your welcome ,glad to have helped ,hope all goes well .

[djbeaver]

Alright, I've tried exactly what you have said on here, for help over [DR-DOS] A:\ problem. I can change it over to C:\ if need be, that's about it. What I'm looking for is the command I need in order to Boot from the Win XP disk. I tried unplugging the ribbon and reinstalling with no success from that either. Please Help!
THANK YOU
DJ Beaver

[caperjack]

hi link is almost 5 yrs old ,don't even remember how to use dr,dos any more ,lol
why not just set your bios first boot to cdrom and boot from winxp cd that way ,just google search how to set bios first boot to cdrom

[djbeaver]

I had a problem that first dealt with a BIOS password, and that took me plenty long to try back door passwords with no luck, and finally being able to find the jumper switch bypassing the password completly. I'm honestly trying to stay away from BIOS as much as possible, I'll use that info as a last resort. I'd like to know if I can boot from another hard drive that already has an existing/running version of WinXP on it?
Thank you again for information
DJ Beaver

[caperjack]

I'd like to know if I can boot from another hard drive that already has an existing/running version of WinXP on it?
Thank you again for information
DJ Beaver

that would only work if the computers had the same motherboard in them .
you should not have any bios issues just changing bood devices .
http://www.hiren.info/pages/bios-boot-cdrom

[djbeaver]

hi link is almost 5 yrs old ,don't even remember how to use dr,dos any more ,lol
why not just set your bios first boot to cdrom and boot from winxp cd that way ,just google search how to set bios first boot to cdrom

So, I've tried your advice with booting through bios and setting drive 1 to cdrom, yet I can't access the same screen as described, neither f1, f2, f9, f10, f11, f12 and del. with no accomplishments what so ever! Any help from that would be great for how to get into bios setup screen. The cdrom seems to be the primary boot anyhow. I've also tried adding a second hard drive, with failure of sata ports, it's an HP Compaq dc5100 flat form desktop. The hard drive (40G) seems to also be secured with two screws that are directly next to the motherboard, does this mean I have to take out the motherboard just to unscrew it, or is there an easier way? There's also a green tab, and people on other forums say just to lift the tab, but still nothing.
Sorry for the 5 year old bullshit problems, but it is difficult for me to find help over some of the most simplest things when it comes to hardware and bios problems.
Thanks again,
DJ Beaver

[djbeaver]

I have been trying to boot up winxp this whole time of course, and I had a boot disk with sp2, but the computer says there's hardware problems and won't boot from disk. I can boot up the older version of xp that was currently running, but there's a password screen and I can't bypass it, not through safe mode, or same mode with dos prompt either. If this method may be of any help other than the way I was trying before. thanks again for any and all info.
DJ Beaver

[caperjack]

sorry cant help with passwords ,