Help: new trouble with new hard drive

[sarahloggin]

In short, my laptop died on me and I kept getting a message that read:
PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable.
PXE-M0F: Exiting PXE ROM.

So with help from computer forums including this one, I was told that my hard drive is dead and needed to get a new one.

Well I did, and everything was going great. Had no trouble installing the new hard drive, and reinstalled windows XP.

But now I’m running into this problem. The laptop is just fine with everything installed now but every time I turn off my laptop and turn it back on, the first thing I get is the same message.
PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable.
PXE-M0F: Exiting PXE ROM.

What’s odd is that at that stage, if I reinsert my operating system CD (this is for HP), I get a message saying press any key to boot from CD, and after a few seconds, it shows that Windows XP page, and takes me to my start page as if nothing is wrong.

So I can use the laptop just fine, but I keep getting the same message but if I insert my operating system CD, then it takes me to the start page like any other laptops.

Yet obviously, I don’t want to have to insert this CD every time I turn on my laptop.

Can someone tell me what’s wrong? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

 

[Freestone]

Look in your laptop BIOS for Boot Order, Boot Options, or something similar. Within this you should make sure your hard drive is included in the boot sequence. At the moment it sounds as if the sequence is set to boot from your network card and CD. Perhaps when your old drive died, it was removed from the boot sequence.

 

[wahnula]

I agree check the BIOS, this is done by tapping the 'delete' or 'F2' key during boot. Boot Options are usually under 'Advanced" or, um, "Boot Options". There will be instructions on the BIOS screens for navigation, follow them, save changes and exit. Sometimes it's as easy as selecting 'Load Optimum Defaults".

If this does not work, one workaround would be to NOT shutdown the system, but Hibernate instead, this writes the system state to HDD. Right-click empty Desktop>Properties>Screen Saver>Power>Hibernate>Enable Hibernation>Apply, then go back to Advanced and set up Hibernation by assigning to the proper action, or select it manually, but this is a clumsy solution.

Best of luck.