"System Boot Disk Failure" - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

User Name · 01-10-2004, 08:16 PM

This morning, I turned on my system, and while it was going through POST, it couldn't detect my C drive, and said the following message: "System Boot Disk Failure", or something very close. I almost pissed in my pants. It kept happening. I tried to use the XP Recovery Console to repair the boot sector, but to no avail. The BIOS couldn't detect the hard drive either. Then, I resetted the BIOS, but again, the same. I then formatted the hard drive, which was also innefective. So I opened up the case, and switched the IDE channels. I plugged the cable that was connected to my hard drives and put it in the slot that was occupied by the cable connecting CD-ROM drives, and vice versa. My computer went through post fine, and both the HDs and the CD-ROMs were detected, but then there was something about "NTLDR not found", but I'm not sure if that was before or after the cable changing. I then installed Windows 2000 Pro, and all was well once again, except for a minor incident when the screen turned black while the computer was booting and almost at the desktop. It restarted by itself, and then booted just fine.
Can anyone please explain the cause of the "System Boot Disk Failure" and how to prevent such occurences, and if the black screen and self-reboot were related to this problem.

Specs:
Athlon XP 2500+ Barton
ATI Radeon 9000 non-Pro
256MB of cheap DDR SDRAM
Asus A7V8X-X
IDE channel 1 master: Western Digital 80gb 7200 RPM HD (only 3 months old)
Slave: 8gb Seagate from an older Compaq system.
IDE channel 2 master: Acer 48/24/48 CD-RW DVD Combo (I think it's made by Lite-On)
Slave: Lite-On 16/12/40 CD-RW
OS: Windows XP Pro at the time of the incident, Windows 2000 Pro now.

I apologize for the length of this post, but I needed a lot of space to give all the details.

djtestudo · 01-10-2004, 08:37 PM

Without being an expert, it sounds like something simply may have come loose. If that is how it was fixed, it was probably one of the wires slightly pulled out.

User Name · 01-10-2004, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by djtestudo
Without being an expert, it sounds like something simply may have come loose. If that is how it was fixed, it was probably one of the wires slightly pulled out.

Hmm, but why was the hard drive able to be formatted in that situation?

djtestudo · 01-10-2004, 09:01 PM

Oh, I thought you ment you tried to format the HD, but you couldn't.

I dunno then...

yodapaul · 01-10-2004, 09:17 PM

It could be a sign that the Hard Drive is going bad. Or it could have been damaged by a virus.

BuDDaH · 01-11-2004, 06:22 PM

No, thats not what happened.. (And I'd like you peple to QUIT with the "That might be a virus" answers. Talk about being PARANOID.)
What most likely happened was that you just SHUT the machine off without giving it time to "write-back" the information it either "Swapped" or was in the RAM.

So that information was "missplaced" because it wasn't in the assigned place, so when you booted back up, Windows couldn't find the bootstrap ( the info WindowsXP writes for itself to tell how to read the FAT and which OS and so on..)

You shouldn't have reformatted the hard-drive because you did more harm than good, you knocked out the WHOLE OS and the BIOS then couldn't read the POST info, so when you reinstalled the newer OS, the OS detected your old partitions and searched fro the bootstrap.

NTLDR ( or windowsNT LoaDer) was still at the head of the hard-drive but with no info of the current OS, so when you reinstalled the 2K, it over written it with the new info.

Don't stress about it, it looks like you just had learned something new the hard way..

yodapaul · 01-11-2004, 08:17 PM

I'm sorry BuDDaH but the files that make a system disk in WinXP are not changed at shutdown. Infact, they are almost never changed, the only time that they would be changed is if the user added a new OS and wanted to dual boot. So powering down the computer without shutting it down will have no effect on the boot files of the computer. The ONLY reason that this could have happened is that either the files were damaged or destroyed. So ether the Hard Disk is going bad, he had a virus, or the computer had help from another human.

Even if the computer was going into Hiberation and lost power Winxp should have recovered by itself. (I should know I have done it before. )

And I have seen first hand how a virus destroys a boot sector and making the disk unbootable.

So I respectfully disagree with you.

BuDDaH · 01-12-2004, 08:49 AM

Inwhich you are intitled to..

But...
We aren't talking about hibernation. Have you ever noticed when you do hibernate, when you return to the session you had, some of the hardware aren't being initalized until you DO a "true" reboot? Because you are only saving the previous session or what is in the RAM and what has been swapped to the hard-drive
TO the hard-drive. The power goes off and when it comes back on the hardware isn't reinitalized because it wasn't initalized from the bootstrap..

Well, we all will differ about HOW he shut down his machine and how the info got corrupted, but I can tell you this: He lost his bootstrap, his BIOS didn't or couldn't read this info, so it couldn't initialize his hard-drive.
Win2K or XP aren't the "old" Windows Filesystems and they aren't "Boot-diskable" anymore, they emulate *NIX filesystems now and need a loader just like a UNIX-based OS. (Hence, the NTLDR. I can almost bet my life he formatted his hard-drives in NTFS.) The system files on his NTLDR weren't written back and gotten corrupted, so when he switched drives and installed 2K on the new master, his BIOS detected both bootstraps but ran the more recent and correct one because the new information pointed it so.

The screen going blank, was the OS initializing the monitor, don't worry about it.
Anyone else who disagrees...?

arch13 · 01-12-2004, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BuDDaH
No, thats not what happened.. (And I'd like you peple to QUIT with the "That might be a virus" answers. Talk about being PARANOID.)

Adding to that, the boot sector in both Windows and *nix is not part of the file system you can see (well some nix can...), and but for a small amount of viri, most are not capable of accessing the boot sector. Further, windows blocks access to the boot sector for non system based services (ie user installed programs and scripts). Unless your logged in as admin and gave a script or program inherant permission to access the boot sector, they cannot by defualt.

jumpingbeans · 01-13-2004, 10:30 AM

can you say a corrupted boot.ini file?

boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect

Delete yours as see what message you get. Copy to a floppy 1st so you can add it back.
If the disk is NTFS, simply go to FDISK and see if there is a Fat part. or a Non-Dos.
Either way ----the drive was reformated and that ='s start from scratch.....

yodapaul · 01-13-2004, 08:44 PM

Ok, BuddaH I understand where you are comming from.

A friend of mine, however suggested that the Cmos battery might be low or dead. If the Cmos battery is dead and the computer was off for a long period that could be the cause of the first faliure.

But after reading your post I am not sure...

I need to do some more research.

arch13 · 01-13-2004, 09:09 PM

If the Bios is Pheonix or AMI, a dead batttery would have thrown you into the bios to adjust the time at boot. It's the default config for a bios to open it's setting window before the post count when no battery power is detected.

01-10-2004, 08:16 PM	#1 (permalink)
User Name Banned Location: Urf	"System Boot Disk Failure" This morning, I turned on my system, and while it was going through POST, it couldn't detect my C drive, and said the following message: "System Boot Disk Failure", or something very close. I almost pissed in my pants. It kept happening. I tried to use the XP Recovery Console to repair the boot sector, but to no avail. The BIOS couldn't detect the hard drive either. Then, I resetted the BIOS, but again, the same. I then formatted the hard drive, which was also innefective. So I opened up the case, and switched the IDE channels. I plugged the cable that was connected to my hard drives and put it in the slot that was occupied by the cable connecting CD-ROM drives, and vice versa. My computer went through post fine, and both the HDs and the CD-ROMs were detected, but then there was something about "NTLDR not found", but I'm not sure if that was before or after the cable changing. I then installed Windows 2000 Pro, and all was well once again, except for a minor incident when the screen turned black while the computer was booting and almost at the desktop. It restarted by itself, and then booted just fine. Can anyone please explain the cause of the "System Boot Disk Failure" and how to prevent such occurences, and if the black screen and self-reboot were related to this problem. Specs: Athlon XP 2500+ Barton ATI Radeon 9000 non-Pro 256MB of cheap DDR SDRAM Asus A7V8X-X IDE channel 1 master: Western Digital 80gb 7200 RPM HD (only 3 months old) Slave: 8gb Seagate from an older Compaq system. IDE channel 2 master: Acer 48/24/48 CD-RW DVD Combo (I think it's made by Lite-On) Slave: Lite-On 16/12/40 CD-RW OS: Windows XP Pro at the time of the incident, Windows 2000 Pro now. I apologize for the length of this post, but I needed a lot of space to give all the details. Last edited by User Name; 01-10-2004 at 08:38 PM..

01-10-2004, 08:37 PM	#2 (permalink)
djtestudo Baltimoron Location: Beeeeeautiful Bel Air, MD	Without being an expert, it sounds like something simply may have come loose. If that is how it was fixed, it was probably one of the wires slightly pulled out. __________________ "Final thought: I just rented Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. Frankly, it was the worst sports movie I've ever seen." --Peter Schmuck, The (Baltimore) Sun

01-10-2004, 09:01 PM	#4 (permalink)
djtestudo Baltimoron Location: Beeeeeautiful Bel Air, MD	Oh, I thought you ment you tried to format the HD, but you couldn't. I dunno then... __________________ "Final thought: I just rented Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. Frankly, it was the worst sports movie I've ever seen." --Peter Schmuck, The (Baltimore) Sun

01-10-2004, 09:17 PM	#5 (permalink)
yodapaul Insane Location: MN	It could be a sign that the Hard Drive is going bad. Or it could have been damaged by a virus. __________________ I'm Just here to help. Now, Where is your problem?

01-11-2004, 06:22 PM	#6 (permalink)
BuDDaH The Matrix had a point... Moderator Emeritus Location: 10th Mountain ASB Fort Drum, N.Y.	No, thats not what happened.. (And I'd like you peple to QUIT with the "That might be a virus" answers. Talk about being PARANOID.) What most likely happened was that you just SHUT the machine off without giving it time to "write-back" the information it either "Swapped" or was in the RAM. So that information was "missplaced" because it wasn't in the assigned place, so when you booted back up, Windows couldn't find the bootstrap ( the info WindowsXP writes for itself to tell how to read the FAT and which OS and so on..) You shouldn't have reformatted the hard-drive because you did more harm than good, you knocked out the WHOLE OS and the BIOS then couldn't read the POST info, so when you reinstalled the newer OS, the OS detected your old partitions and searched fro the bootstrap. NTLDR ( or windowsNT LoaDer) was still at the head of the hard-drive but with no info of the current OS, so when you reinstalled the 2K, it over written it with the new info. Don't stress about it, it looks like you just had learned something new the hard way.. __________________ I'd hit that so hard whoever could pull me out would become King of England!

01-11-2004, 08:17 PM	#7 (permalink)
yodapaul Insane Location: MN	I'm sorry BuDDaH but the files that make a system disk in WinXP are not changed at shutdown. Infact, they are almost never changed, the only time that they would be changed is if the user added a new OS and wanted to dual boot. So powering down the computer without shutting it down will have no effect on the boot files of the computer. The ONLY reason that this could have happened is that either the files were damaged or destroyed. So ether the Hard Disk is going bad, he had a virus, or the computer had help from another human. Even if the computer was going into Hiberation and lost power Winxp should have recovered by itself. (I should know I have done it before. ) And I have seen first hand how a virus destroys a boot sector and making the disk unbootable. So I respectfully disagree with you. __________________ I'm Just here to help. Now, Where is your problem? Last edited by yodapaul; 01-11-2004 at 08:19 PM..

01-12-2004, 08:49 AM	#8 (permalink)
BuDDaH The Matrix had a point... Moderator Emeritus Location: 10th Mountain ASB Fort Drum, N.Y.	Inwhich you are intitled to.. But... We aren't talking about hibernation. Have you ever noticed when you do hibernate, when you return to the session you had, some of the hardware aren't being initalized until you DO a "true" reboot? Because you are only saving the previous session or what is in the RAM and what has been swapped to the hard-drive TO the hard-drive. The power goes off and when it comes back on the hardware isn't reinitalized because it wasn't initalized from the bootstrap.. Well, we all will differ about HOW he shut down his machine and how the info got corrupted, but I can tell you this: He lost his bootstrap, his BIOS didn't or couldn't read this info, so it couldn't initialize his hard-drive. Win2K or XP aren't the "old" Windows Filesystems and they aren't "Boot-diskable" anymore, they emulate *NIX filesystems now and need a loader just like a UNIX-based OS. (Hence, the NTLDR. I can almost bet my life he formatted his hard-drives in NTFS.) The system files on his NTLDR weren't written back and gotten corrupted, so when he switched drives and installed 2K on the new master, his BIOS detected both bootstraps but ran the more recent and correct one because the new information pointed it so. The screen going blank, was the OS initializing the monitor, don't worry about it. Anyone else who disagrees...? __________________ I'd hit that so hard whoever could pull me out would become King of England!

01-13-2004, 10:30 AM	#10 (permalink)
jumpingbeans Tilted	can you say a corrupted boot.ini file? boot loader] timeout=30 default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS [operating systems] multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect Delete yours as see what message you get. Copy to a floppy 1st so you can add it back. If the disk is NTFS, simply go to FDISK and see if there is a Fat part. or a Non-Dos. Either way ----the drive was reformated and that ='s start from scratch..... __________________ USA, USA,USA, USA,USA, USA,USA, USA,USA, USA,USA, USA,USA, USA,USA, USA,USA, USA,USA, USA,USA, USA,USA, USA,USA, USA, Last edited by jumpingbeans; 01-13-2004 at 10:32 AM..

01-13-2004, 08:44 PM	#11 (permalink)
yodapaul Insane Location: MN	Ok, BuddaH I understand where you are comming from. A friend of mine, however suggested that the Cmos battery might be low or dead. If the Cmos battery is dead and the computer was off for a long period that could be the cause of the first faliure. But after reading your post I am not sure... I need to do some more research. __________________ I'm Just here to help. Now, Where is your problem?

01-13-2004, 09:09 PM	#12 (permalink)
arch13 Loves my girl in thongs Location: North of Mexico, South of Canada	If the Bios is Pheonix or AMI, a dead batttery would have thrown you into the bios to adjust the time at boot. It's the default config for a bios to open it's setting window before the post count when no battery power is detected. __________________ Seen on an employer evaluation: "The wheel is turning but the hamsters dead" ____________________________ Is arch13 really a porn diety ? find out after the film at 11. -Nanofever