I BELIEVE I HAVE A VIRUS ON ONE OF MY COMPUTERS. IT CRASHED AND WHEN I GO TO START IT, A MESSAGE COMES UP "DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER." SO I TURN OFF MY COMPUTER, INSERT MY HP RECOVERY DISK AND RUN IT, BUT IT SAYS IN ALL THE FILES THAT IT CAN'T CREATE THE FILES. I USE A WIN98 BOOT DISK IT GIVES ME A MESSAGE THAT THE HARD DRIVE ISN'T BEING RECOGNIZED AND THAT IT COULD BE A VIRUS AND TO USE A VIRUS SCAN PROGRAM. I ALSO WHEN I TRIED TO USE THE WIN98 BOOT FLOPPY DISK ON A WARM BOOT IT KILLED THE DISK, THIS LEADS ME TO BELIEVE IT IS A VIRUS. IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO TO NOT FORMAT MY HARD DRIVE AND LOSE EVERYTHING. I SAW THIS SOFTWARE CALLED HARD DRIVE MECHANIC GOLD AND IT BOASTS THAT IT CAN FIX THE PROBLEM. THE ONLY PROBLEM IS THAT I HAVE NOT FOUND ANY RELIABLE SITES THAT BACK THIS PRODUCT THEY JUST HAVE THE AUTHOR AS A SPONSOR. I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE THE HELP I HAVE VERY IMPORTANT FILES I NEED TO RETRIEVE. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE TO WHOEVER CAN HELP.
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HARD DISK WON'T INITIALIZE, "DISK BOOT fAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK...
- Thread starter nkeegan
- Start date
Can you not type in CAPS please - its considered 'shouting'.
What o/s are you using? Is the filestore fat32 or ntfs? Does the recovery disk mean you haven't got a windows install disk?
Have you tried booting from win98 boot floppy (created on another defintely clean machine of course) with disk write protected (ie, move the little tab at bottom left corner so the hole is visible). Then run fdisk /mbr (writes a new master boot record - which cleans out most boot sector viruses - if that's what you've got. There is one that hides outside the boot sector on sector 0 of the disk which this method won't clean).
Have you downloaded and run (write protect the floppy) the driver manufacturer's diagnostic utility? The drive could be failing.
What o/s are you using? Is the filestore fat32 or ntfs? Does the recovery disk mean you haven't got a windows install disk?
Have you tried booting from win98 boot floppy (created on another defintely clean machine of course) with disk write protected (ie, move the little tab at bottom left corner so the hole is visible). Then run fdisk /mbr (writes a new master boot record - which cleans out most boot sector viruses - if that's what you've got. There is one that hides outside the boot sector on sector 0 of the disk which this method won't clean).
Have you downloaded and run (write protect the floppy) the driver manufacturer's diagnostic utility? The drive could be failing.
- Thread starter
- #3
I am running Win98se
it uses Fat32
I have tried to run the win98 boot disk and it told me that it could not initialize the hard disk and that it could possiblely be a virus and to use a virus scan program which I was wondering what I could use since I can't startup my computer?
I have not run fdisk because it says that if I run it I will lose all data. Is this true?
I can't afford to lose this data, and I know I should have backed it up, but it was in between backups that I create so of the work.
I have not run the diagnostic maxtor utility, where might I find that?
Thanks for your help.
it uses Fat32
I have tried to run the win98 boot disk and it told me that it could not initialize the hard disk and that it could possiblely be a virus and to use a virus scan program which I was wondering what I could use since I can't startup my computer?
I have not run fdisk because it says that if I run it I will lose all data. Is this true?
I can't afford to lose this data, and I know I should have backed it up, but it was in between backups that I create so of the work.
I have not run the diagnostic maxtor utility, where might I find that?
Thanks for your help.
Is the hard disk recognised in the BIOS? If it isn't, then you need to check that power is getting to the drive. Is it spinning up - can you hear it revolving? Check the data cable by replacement. Look to see that the drive interface is enabled in the BIOS - IDE? SCSI? Is BIOS set to boot off this hard drive?
Just typing FDISK alone at the DOS prompt will not format your drive. You'll probably be asked if you want to "enable large disk support". Answer yes "Y". Next you'll get a menu with the last item (probably Nbr 4) "Display Partition Information". Key in "4" or whatever that item number is, and you'll see partition file type(s), size etc. This will tell you if the partition with your files on it is likely to be easily accessible or not.
Let us know the answers before we head you off on the next step.
ROGER - G0AOZ.
Just typing FDISK alone at the DOS prompt will not format your drive. You'll probably be asked if you want to "enable large disk support". Answer yes "Y". Next you'll get a menu with the last item (probably Nbr 4) "Display Partition Information". Key in "4" or whatever that item number is, and you'll see partition file type(s), size etc. This will tell you if the partition with your files on it is likely to be easily accessible or not.
Let us know the answers before we head you off on the next step.
ROGER - G0AOZ.
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inutelinside
Technical User
yep it really sounds like a dead hard drive... check your cables.
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