Computer will not boot without the windows CD in tray
Ok ladies and gents, this is my frist post to this site, though i've been reading some threads for awhile.
I recently built a new computer and now when i try to boot, it goes past the bios screen, past the raid screen, then says "unable to find boot disk, insert boot disk and press enter" I believe it's the nvidia boot agent that produces this message.
Specs on the computer:
DFI Lanparty UT nf4 ultra-D
A64 3500+ Winchester
ATI x800 xl
2x512 OCZ PC 4000
2x36 gig raptors in raid 0
So, i really don't know what else i can say. If the windows cd is in the drive, it boots up normally. Otherwise i get the error previously stated. Once booted, everything seems to run fine, except HL2, which seems to have some error loading a file. Also, as soon as the windows boot screen appears it's possible to remove the disk and windows will continue booting. It's as if my computer can't find the boot sector on the raid array without the windows cd in there.
Thank in advance for any help.
I recently built a new computer and now when i try to boot, it goes past the bios screen, past the raid screen, then says "unable to find boot disk, insert boot disk and press enter" I believe it's the nvidia boot agent that produces this message.
Specs on the computer:
DFI Lanparty UT nf4 ultra-D
A64 3500+ Winchester
ATI x800 xl
2x512 OCZ PC 4000
2x36 gig raptors in raid 0
So, i really don't know what else i can say. If the windows cd is in the drive, it boots up normally. Otherwise i get the error previously stated. Once booted, everything seems to run fine, except HL2, which seems to have some error loading a file. Also, as soon as the windows boot screen appears it's possible to remove the disk and windows will continue booting. It's as if my computer can't find the boot sector on the raid array without the windows cd in there.
Thank in advance for any help.
0
Comments
What does the bios say about boot order?
::Once it's booted, what does it say in Device Manager about drivers installed for the raid controller? (Version #, location, etc.)
Name: NVIDIA STRIPE 68.95G
Device Type: Disk Drives
Manufacturer: (Standard Disk Drives)
Location: on NVIDIA nForce(tm) RAID Class Controller
"This device is working properly...."
Drivers....
Driver Provider: Microsoft
Driver Date: 7/1/2001
Driver Version 5.1.2535.0
Digital Signer: Microsoft Windows Publisher
C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\disk.sys
C:\Windows\system32\drivers\partmgr.sys
I assume that's what you wanted? If you need more, let me know. I appreciate the help guys.
-Wolf
When you created teh raid array in the raid bios did you make the array "bootable"?
If not sure you will need to enter the raid bios like when you set it up and go to details. If it isn't then you will need to make it bootable. It sounds like this is your problem as windows it simply finding the boot files from the CD. Without the array made bootable it will never boot from your raid array.
Thanks.
Note: This time, on boot (with cd in tray) the quicklaunch was still there....
-Wolf
the solution? in the dfi bios you can pick the hdd boot order OR you can also press escape when booting to bring up a boot menu.
I don't know what your setup is, but thats how we fixed Oreoflow's problem
Onoria
I recently built a computer for my friend and am having the same exact problem. However, I don't have a raid setup. The problem happend right after I isntalled Broadcom drivers from the mobo driver disc.
Specs:
AMD Athlon 64 3200+
Chaintech VNF4 non-Ultra
WD Raptor 36GB HD
Maxtor 80GB (PATA) HD
2GB Corsair XMS
Radeon X800
Just like the original poster, I'm getting this error. Before I was getting some error with nvidia trying to detect DHCP settings or some such. I disabled the lan boot up and now it simply gives the same error as the OP.
Having the windows disc in of course lets the comp go by fine, but I'd rather not make my friend put his WinCD in each time he wants to turn the comp on.
The boot order of the hard drives seem perfectly fine, the Raptor is booting first, it has the OS on it. Device boot order is Floppy -> CD -> HD. The device listing in Windows also seems to be perfectly fine. I just can't figure this out and this is the one thread on the net that I've found with the same problem.
Again, sorry for the old thread bump, and thanks.
I have no idea how to fix this though. Anyone have any answers? please email me if you can..thanks
Welcome to Icrontic! I wish I definitive advise for you, but this problem you describe is new to me. Do you know how to perform a Windows XP "repair installation?" (Not Recovery Console, but a repair installation) There may be an easier fix, but I'm not aware of it.
My advice would be to try the repair install also, if that doesn't fix it at least it will narrow down the alternatives.
Also, please post a little more detail about your specific scenario. Where does it get to if the CD isn't in, does it prompt for CD? etc...........
When you do boot up does device manager show any Unknown Devices or hardware without drivers installed. If you think it may be the mobo drivers, check you have the most up to date drivers via the company website and try running them.
Also, you could set your bios settings to use "Optimal Defaults" in case it is to do with a bios setting you have inadvertenly changed that is causing your problem.
This will narrow down if the issue is OS related, driver related or BIOS related.
Cheers........:D
After that it says "boot from CD"... If the windows cd is in the tray it spins up and my system starts. If its not, the system tries to boot from the hard drive and fails. It then prompts for me to put the system disk in and press enter. i tried the windows repair option.. didnt help. I tried fixmbr and fixboot commands. Still no help. I'm wondering if its the hard drive. I bought it about 5 years ago.
As far as the bios settings... Ive had it set to all the defaults so i know thats not the problem. It just seems like when the computer searches for the boot sector on the hard disk, it fails to see it. When I finished building the machine I did a clean install of XP Professional. Thats when I first noticed this. I then upgraded to vista which again gave me the same problem.
so now just to be on the safe side im leaving it as an XP OS with the vista transformation pack installed which essentially mimics the Vista environment which is fine by me since XP is a lot more stable and has faster data transfer rates anyway. Thanks for all your help.
I agree with you about XP being more stable etc. I recently set up a dual boot system so that you can boot into XP or Vista. That way you get the best of both worlds. It's real easy if you have two partitions and install XP first and then install Vista on the other partition. It allows you to "get to know" Vista and still run XP for you daily computing.
If you've already personalised XP and can't be bothered setting it all up again, simply Clone your current HDD onto a larger one using "HDClone Free" or something similar, then install Vista on the remaining space (which should automatically get set up as a second partition).
Glad it is all sorted........:D
I can type a long story about how the problem came to exist after formatting my pc and what I hadn't tried to fix it based on entries I read at several different forums. I won't though, because the only reason for this post is to let everyone know what eventually worked for me:
I arranged the jumpers on my hard drives so that the drive with XP installed was the master. Also, I put that drive first in the boot order. Sounds simple, doesn't it?
To anyone reading this and thinking that's not going to be the solution to your problem: Just go through the most basic of steps again and MAKE DAMN SURE that your jumpers and boot order are as they are supposed to be. I thought mine were and that cost me about 5 hours of unnecessary agrevation.
So good luck.
Just something you may want to check. Also check the jumpers thing like the guy above said, I've had that happen before. It's one of those things where you smack yourself in the forehead afterward...