Old Compaq won't boot HD, please advise - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Prince · 09-23-2004, 02:49 AM

I removed a 3.2 GB HD from an old Compaq and replaced it with a 20 GB one. This new drive had an XP installation already, but I wanted to use Win2k instead so that is what I installed.

However, the system will not boot from the HD. Not before the 2k installation, and not after it. I've logged in via 2k's repair console and used fixboot and fixmbr, but this hasn't helped. There's no error message or anything, it simply will not boot from the HD. The BIOS (686T3) is what I understand to be the most recent version (9/22/99).

I don't know if it is necessary to format the entire HD and then install 2k, but I'd prefer not to have to do that.

Any questions, ideas? I'm not too familiar with HDs and boot probs.

If I recall correctly I set the jumper on the HD to "single/master", as it is the only HD/device on IDE0. IDE1 has two cdrom drives.

Tandem · 09-23-2004, 03:12 AM

Try using PartitionMagic ??

Boot the sysem using a set of PartitionMagic floopies, then clean out the existing partitions using SecureErase. It's slow, but is more than effective.

Still seems weird though. HTH's

Cataclysm · 09-23-2004, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tandem

Try using PartitionMagic ??

Boot the sysem using a set of PartitionMagic floopies, then clean out the existing partitions using SecureErase. It's slow, but is more than effective.

Still seems weird though. HTH's

Sounds to me that you have 1 big partition, 20gb.. and it has Windows XP on it and Windows 2k.. your computer needs to have 1 OS on the primary partition, then setup a second partition to install other OS's. Then I'd recommend getting a 3rd party program to select which OS to run from. Otherwise your best bet is to format, then reinstall 2k.

zynyxx · 09-23-2004, 02:39 PM

first go into the BIOS and see what the system is recognizing the Hard Drive as. If the system is too old it won't recognize the Hard drive properly and you will have all sorts of problems trying to boot to it. Then
if you have nothing on the drive you care about and assuming you have a windows 98 boot disk, boot the system and then from the dos prompt type:
'Fdisk' and check the partition information again make sure you can properly partition the full size of the drive, installing windows from the CD doesn't always set this up correctly. I would delete any current partition information and create a whole new one. Make sure it sets the partition as active or it won't boot. Then reboot the system from the floppy boot disk and type 'format c:' from the dos prompt. This is the only way to make sure the partition is set up correctly. From here you should be able to load any OS you would like without worrying about anything.

09-23-2004, 02:49 AM	#1 (permalink)
Prince /nɑndəsˈkrɪpt/ Location: LV-426	Old Compaq won't boot HD, please advise I removed a 3.2 GB HD from an old Compaq and replaced it with a 20 GB one. This new drive had an XP installation already, but I wanted to use Win2k instead so that is what I installed. However, the system will not boot from the HD. Not before the 2k installation, and not after it. I've logged in via 2k's repair console and used fixboot and fixmbr, but this hasn't helped. There's no error message or anything, it simply will not boot from the HD. The BIOS (686T3) is what I understand to be the most recent version (9/22/99). I don't know if it is necessary to format the entire HD and then install 2k, but I'd prefer not to have to do that. Any questions, ideas? I'm not too familiar with HDs and boot probs. If I recall correctly I set the jumper on the HD to "single/master", as it is the only HD/device on IDE0. IDE1 has two cdrom drives. __________________ Who is John Galt?

09-23-2004, 03:12 AM	#2 (permalink)
Tandem Insane Location: Brisbane, Australia	Try using PartitionMagic ?? Boot the sysem using a set of PartitionMagic floopies, then clean out the existing partitions using SecureErase. It's slow, but is more than effective. Still seems weird though. HTH's

09-23-2004, 02:39 PM	#4 (permalink)
zynyxx Tilted	first go into the BIOS and see what the system is recognizing the Hard Drive as. If the system is too old it won't recognize the Hard drive properly and you will have all sorts of problems trying to boot to it. Then if you have nothing on the drive you care about and assuming you have a windows 98 boot disk, boot the system and then from the dos prompt type: 'Fdisk' and check the partition information again make sure you can properly partition the full size of the drive, installing windows from the CD doesn't always set this up correctly. I would delete any current partition information and create a whole new one. Make sure it sets the partition as active or it won't boot. Then reboot the system from the floppy boot disk and type 'format c:' from the dos prompt. This is the only way to make sure the partition is set up correctly. From here you should be able to load any OS you would like without worrying about anything.