HDD Format, no boot from cd,1.44,or zip HELP!!!!

[romans10913]

All right, this is one of the oddest things I have ever seen. I had a w2k box with a 2gig partition. With the software that I use this partion is to small. I decided to install WXP PRO. When I did I war partially complete and I received a character map error. It said cannot install character map. I skipped this error did not really care about it. Well the computer froze at some point. Therefore I turned it off and restarted the installation. The next error I received said ASMS error. I checked all the threads and found one that said go to Microsoft’s website and find the solution there I did and I did what it said (

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;311755)

I used method 1. After I rebooted I started receiving other errors cannot find boot disk. I cannot boot from anything no mater what I change. One the errors were it was trying to boot from the lan. I disabled that and it cleared that error but the other, I am not sure how to get around it. I need your help and I am new to this forum. Thank you very much

 

[wolluf]

Can you boot machine if you disconnect the hard drive (ie, to floppy or CD)?

 

[romans10913]

No, I do not think so. I have done so many different things that I have lost track. I will try that tonight. The problem is I do not want to purchase a new hdd and have the same problem occur. I have never seen this happen.

If it does boot what should I do or what does that mean? Thank you very much for your reply.

 

[edfair]

When you boot, you go out and read the hard drive's boot sector prior to actually booting. If there is certain code on the boot sector you can get locked out of further operation.

One solution is to disable the hard drive in CMOS and run the manufacturer's low level program. It will search out the drive and fill all sectors with zeros.

Ed Fair
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[romans10913]

Oh okay, so when it goes and fills the sector with all zeros. That is in a since resetting the hdd or that sector. How will I know if this is successful or not? Would I then be able to boot from my cd. I just do not understand what caused this to happen. I have probably formatted 100 hdds and it does not make since. Thank you very much.

 

[edfair]

If the problem is monkey that will clean up all sectors on the hard drive to as new. Then you should be able to boot to any boot device, floppy or CD, depending on the BIOS capabilities.
Program will tell you when it is finished but expect a while.

If it was monkey, it moves the partition table and loads a program to access the table at the new location. So you never see it as long as you boot off the hard drive.
I haven't looked, but suspect that it may infect the floppy and allow access with an infected floppy. But not with an uninfected floppy.

Ed Fair
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[romans10913]

I am not sure that I understand. What is monkey? What do you mean infect? Please forgive my ignorance. Thanks.

 

[edfair]

Not your problem, mine. Was thinking about how the boot sector can get corrupted (which is what it appears to be) and the sub-concious picked up on the corruption that a virus can do. Maybe because somebody else here had the stoned.monkey virus. I don't know.
In any case, the correction is the zero fill/low level and a new install of the OS. The zero fill will put zeros on all sectors and make it ready for loading. May require you clear CMOS drive specs to keep the corruption from stopping floppy boot.



Ed Fair
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[romans10913]

Sure no problem. I will try this later on this evening. I will post again and let you know how it goes.

 

[romans10913]

okay under bios I changed the IDE primary Master from auto to none. That did not really do anything. I am not 100% sure I did the right thing. I was not able to boot to anything still. Thanks

 

[wolluf]

Ok - asking again - will the machine boot with the hard drive disconnected? If it will - suggests hard drive is causing the probelm - if not you've got another hardware issue that needs resolving first. If its the drive, have you another machine you could try it in (as slave - just to see if you can access it).

Also, has your bios got a 'failsafe' setting (automatically makes bios settings 'mimimum' - least likely to cause a problem while booting) - if so you could try that.

 

[romans10913]

If I understand properly, I disconnected the hdd's ide cable and power connector. When I did this, obviously it did not detect the hdd. It says.

veryfying dmi..
boot from atapi cd-romm :
disk boot failure, Insert system disk and press enter

When I do this it just repeats

boot from atapi cd-romm :
disk boot failure, Insert system disk and press enter

Therefore I assume, no it will not boot. I have attached it as a slave to another box. I was able to access it and format it. No I do not have fail safe, I have load optimized. I did try that also with out success. I also tried what edfair suggested, with out success. Thank you very much for your help.

 

[wolluf]

did you get:-

boot from atapi cd-romm :
disk boot failure, Insert system disk and press enter

when the hard drive was connected (I thought it wasn't getting that far, but..)?

As you've now formatted drive (which suggests its ok), it obviously won't boot - so will machine boot from XP install CD (bios set to boot from CD - but it looks that way from your message) with the hard drive connected now its been formatted?

 

[romans10913]

Yes, I got

boot from atapi cd-romm :
disk boot failure, Insert system disk and press enter

No, when it is connected I get the same message. However,I will try again.

I can't tell you how much I appreciate your time. Thanks.

 

[edfair]

How about going back into CMOS settings, normally on the second page, but depends on hardware, and see if the floppy is in the boot chain. Preferably set as a:,C:,cdrom. The message you have now kind of indicates that it is not trying from the floppy.
And while you are setting up CMOS for that, how about looking to see if the floppy controller is enabled , if seek on boot is enabled, and that swap drives is NOT enabled.

Then on the next reboot, you should hear the floppy seek and see the light, then a couple of seconds later you should see and hear it again.

This is an attempt to figure out if the basic stuff is working.


Ed Fair
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[romans10913]

Yes, I do see the light and hear it hit the floppy. Yet, it does not allow me to boot from my w98 boot disk and I receive the same message as before.

 

[edfair]

And on the first page it is set as 1.44mb?
This sounds like the floppy is broken. But you might want to try another boot disk. Sometimes they have problems
reading.


Ed Fair
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[romans10913]

Excellent! I did try other floppies as well. I did not think it would be the W98 boot disk. However, I tried it and the floppy was bad. When I inserted another W98 floppy it worked. Then I tried to start with cd-rom support and the cd-rom would not start. Prior to installing WXP the cd-rom worked. When I encountered the ASMS eror and applied MicroSoft's solution, it stopped working. This does not make any since at all. Is there any thought on what would be the cause of these errors and failures other than it is "MicroSoft". I thank everyone who helped me out, and after I buy a new cd-rom and get it running I will let you know how it works out.

 

[edfair]

And the messages that tell you status during bootup? Drive found? Where did it put it? Usually as e: but may be elsewhere if there are valid partitions found on the hard drive.
Sometimes they break, but I think it unlikely. Would be more concerned at this point with CMOS settings or possible cable problem since you've wiggled other cables in the box.

Ed Fair
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[romans10913]

I have now replaced the cd-rom and it tells me that it is found. (Only after checking all of the cables) I have installed WXP successfully w/o any errors. Initially it put it on the d:, I changed it to the f: to allow for my partitions. Wow this really kicked my tail. None of this makes any since to me still. Could you explain this to me?

1. disconnect and boot
I still do not understand this process. Should I have disconnected all cables to the hard drive or just put it to none in the bios?

Once again please forgive my ignorance. Thank you very much.