Boot Fault

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Guest

Today I copied a couple of large video files to a CD. Then I changed users.
When I went to the second user, the computer crashed. Tried to boot up and
got the message there was a boot fault and to place a system boot CD (or
words like that) to boot up. I have WInXPHome. Unfortunately, I don't seem to
have a system disk or CD. What should I do? I am at a loss to understand why
this event happened. Prior to this, the computer appeared to work quite well.

I look forward to some help. Many thanks. Norm.
 
Hi Norm,

Turn the system off and unplug it for a few minutes, then plug it back in
and power up. How far does it get? If Windows never even begins to load,
then the problem may be with the drive or file system, if it does begin, but
then fails, it may be with the installation itself.

The error message may be indicating that it cannot find a valid boot device
and is looking for something to start the system with. You may have a
corrupt file system (not good), or simply need to run chkdsk. See this link:

Using the WinXP Boot floppy set:
http://www.rickrogers.org/fixes.htm#Boot floppy

and download the appropriate file and create the floppies on a different
machine, then use them to boot your system. From the prompt, you should run
"chkdsk c: /r" to correct drive problems. If it balks, please post back with
the error message. If it cannot find the installation partition (C:\), then
you may need to see a professional.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
 
Thanks Rick. Later today, I'll give this a try. My only other computer is my
notebook which doesn't have a floppy. So I'll burn a CD instead of a floppy.
Norm.
 
Hi Rick,

I have now had a chance to try the problem PC again. I unplugged it as you
suggested and the replugged. Turned it on. It did not seem to get out of DOS
- no Windows logo, etc. The message at the bottom of the DOS screen was: Boot
from CD. Disk Boot failure, insert system disk & Press Enter.

As I mentioned, the only other computer is my notebook and I don't have an
"A drive". Your website looks wonderful. Can I download to a CD rather than
the floppies? I also have the XP Home installation CD. Should I simply
re-install the OS? Back-up the data and format the HDD and re-install XP -
"start from square 1"?

Thanks for your help and consideration. Norm.
 
Hi Norm,

My thoughts are leaning toward a hard drive issue. Before you bother to
reinstall, first run a drive diagnostic (these are commonly available for
free to download from the web site of the manufacturer). You want to assess
the state of the drive and make sure it is not a candidate for replacement
before going through the hassle of a reinstall. If it passes, then you would
next want to run the chkdsk I already mentioned (and no, you can't burn the
startup floppy set to a CD, but if you have access to a retail or generic
OEM disk you can use that to load the Recovery Console instead).

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
 
Rick "Nutcase" Rogers said:
Hi Norm,

My thoughts are leaning toward a hard drive issue. Before you bother to
reinstall, first run a drive diagnostic (these are commonly available for
free to download from the web site of the manufacturer). You want to assess
the state of the drive and make sure it is not a candidate for replacement
before going through the hassle of a reinstall. If it passes, then you would
next want to run the chkdsk I already mentioned (and no, you can't burn the
startup floppy set to a CD, but if you have access to a retail or generic
OEM disk you can use that to load the Recovery Console instead).

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
Click to expand...

From Clifford

On start-up, the PC shows the Boot-Up screen, but no desk-top or other
screen or files/folders, etc.

After backing up data (933,962,974 Bytes) on a memory stick, I used the
function Add or Remove to delete the pre-existing unfunctional Windows XP
with a view to reinstalling it from the Set-Up CD. At present, the computer
will not accept the backed up data.

The Boot-Up appears to begin normally, with one beep, followed by the prompt
“Insert Set-Up CDâ€, after which the normal screens followed:-
Set-Up is loading Windows
Welcome to Set-Up
Inspecting Hardware
Loading Files, Etc.
On the appearance of the End User Licence Agreement I pressed key F8 to
accept , and the screen advised “completing new XP installationâ€, but then
“Windows set-up failure-Disc Boot Failure. XP not installedâ€.

All that now appears when switching on is the Boot-Up screen, with its
eventual instruction to insert the set-up CD, which in turn merely repeats
its previous performance! .

Can you advise on this please? Many thanks.
Clifford

..
 
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