W2K3 only boots with install disk in drive

[Xyphious]

Howdy all,

since upgrading our secondary windows 2000 domain controller to windows 2003 the system will only boot with the install disk in the drive.

I've been told that using the fixboot and fixmbr commands could help in this situation but i've also been told to be very cautious, just wanted to see what the communities thoughts are on this issue?

Cheers

______________________________________________

--If something's worth doing, its worth doing right - HST RIP--

 

[rsacorp]

Kudos for being cautious - those two commands can get you into a lot of trouble very quickly.

Assuming you have good backups (and since I'm sure you're an excellent tech, you will make sure you have them), fixboot and fixmbr will repair any boot record issues on the drive.

I'm a little confused that the system will only boot if you boot from the Install disc first. When you do the boot, are you letting the "Press any key to boot from CD" message timeout, and the system boots afterwards?

RSA Corp - Houston, TX
Technical Assistance Center

http://www.rsacorp.com

 

[Xyphious]

Thanks for the reply RSA.

Yes we do indeed have backups just trying to avoid an unnecessary rebuild of the server.

I'm equally confused by just how this issue works, we don't press anything on boot but it does flash up the "press any key to boot from cd" option so in my eyes this is a perfectly normal boot process but as soon as you remove the CD it doesn't work


I may just take the plunge and run the fix commands *crosses fingers*

______________________________________________

--If something's worth doing, its worth doing right - HST RIP--

 

[rsacorp]

Here's another thing you may want to try - check the BIOS, and make sure you're on the latest version. It's usually the last thing I update unless I have exhausted all other options. If that doesn't work, try resetting the BIOS options to default and work it from there.

Best of luck!!!

Mike Molenda - TAC Analyst

RSA Corp - Houston, TX
Technical Assistance Center

http://www.rsacorp.com