I have just reformated my PC and i am getting "disk boot failure insert system disk".... i have had this before so i just took it to a PC shop and they fixed it but i don't want to do that again. i know it was things like it was trying to boot from the other HDD i have 2 in the PC one is a SATA and the other is an IDE. i have tried putting XP on all of them but i keep gettting the same thing.

Boot sector corrupt?

 

Don't by any chance have a floppy disk inserted?

Try getting into your BIOS when it boots (usually says something like "Press F8 for setup or somesuch) and check the Boot Device Order. Make sure its booting from the right HDD, and not trying to boot from the CD-Rom or a floppy drive or something.

 

EDIT: Yeah a floppy or CD in the drive will mess up your boots. Once you've found the right option, disable everything else, it'll speed up your boot times.

Edited August 30, 200816 yr by Haydn_

Well yeah if you've just reformatted, you'll get that. There are a whole bunch of things to try, but first:

 

1. Confirm your XP disk is bootable - try it in another PC

2. Go into your BIOS and confirm booting from CD is enabled (if the option exists) and that your CD/DVD-ROM drive is first in the boot order

erm... AYB and I have assumed completely opposite things. I assumed you haven't yet installed an OS.

 

Have you successfully installed XP, and you get this after it's installed? (if so, do what AYB said)

 

Or are you trying to install and failing because you can't boot to the install disk (in which case, do what I said)

yes i have an OS on it but when i restarted the PC i get this. as i have send this has happened before and it was something to do with having 2 HDD's in the PC. i think it is trying to boot from the other drive. i tried setting all but the HDD to boot but it didnt work and i only get this when i take the XP CD out.

Have you tried clearing the cmos? check your master slave jumpers on HDD's take out 2nd HDD and leave the OS HDD in start up and then plug other HDD in and try again

Have you tried clearing the cmos? check your master slave jumpers on HDD's take out 2nd HDD and leave the OS HDD in start up and then plug other HDD in and try again

 

Oh i was hopping i would not have to try that but ok then

man i hate PC sometimes that worked but would will happen when i put that SATA drive back in? will it do the same thing becoz i dont like getting under my desk all the time i just hit my head again AHHHH

By the sounds you need to set the Boot Order so that it boots from the right HDD first up everytime. It might be trying to boot from HDD 1 (the IDE one, for arguments sake) and not finding a good boot sector, so its flipping out and crying in the corner. Find the HDD that boots (by unplugging HDD 1, booting, and if that doesnt work, unplug HDD 2 and boot etc). Find the one that works, set that as the ONLY boot device (you should be able to set all the others to Disabled) and you should be right.

Ah have you set the sata settings in your bios? having OS on multiple hard drives always causes problems

Sata and IDE together can be a bit of the proverbial though...I have my OS set on my IDE with 2 other SATA drives. Soon as I plug the SATA's in after a format they'll place themselves over the IDE, so I need to go into BIOS and reset the IDE as the master...I cant remember where off the top of my head...what motherboard you running?

 

I'll reboot and let you know where on my asus.

 

One other thing you can try is launching into recovery console from you windows disk and running Fixmbr and Fixboot on your OS drive...saved me on a number of occasions!

Just noticed this is what Allyourbase has said as well...for future reference on my asus you can change the hdd order in the boot menu under Hard Disk Drives.

 

Do you have your OS on your IDE or SATA?

 

Edit: to early in the morning and only one coffee...can you see the SATA drive in BIOS when you have it plugged in?

Edited August 31, 200816 yr by CptDavo

what is the make/model of your motherboard?

I has more questions but will leave you to work through the twenty items above first :-)

When my boot fails my feet get wet.

Smoke, get outta here with your cheeriness and happy. You're ruining my angry ihateuni-ness. lol. Any word on whats happening yet Magnet?

yes it is fixed now i did what u guys said and unplugged the SATA and it ran i put it back in and it is still working so i hope it will stay that way. thx for your help guys one down about 3 to go

I'm glad you where able to sort it.

 

nice one