"invalid system disk" replace disk .....

[wilpresto]

I am recycling an old computor!

I have set up the computor and double checked that everything is working properley, However when i try to boot up from cdrom i get a message that say's.

Invalid system disk. Replace disk and press any key..

The computor identifys my hard drive and the cdrom. Then it try's to boot from the cdrom and thats when i get the error message.

I have set the jumpers correctley, i know the power and ide cables are working properley and i know the hard drive is good, and i have changed the motherboard aswell as the hard drives and i keep getting the same message.

I have also entered the numbers and set the primary master to user and normal, this ended up in the computor finding the cdrom and saying hard disk fail??

Can you offer any advice.

The hard drive has windows 95 on it and i have tried booting from cdrom with windows xp on it neither have worked.

[Tadracket]

Is there a disk in the floppy drive?

[GX1_Man]

I would start with running hard drive diagnostics from the appropriate manufacturer's web site. With that error message I am not convince that the hard drive is good, or installed correctly at the least.

ANd the boot order is set to CDROM first in the BIOS?

[royphil345]

Are you sure it's trying to boot from the CD? Usually the BIOS will display a message telling you to press any key to boot from the CD. Try disconnecting the floppy drive? Check all drive cables for correct installation? Try the auto or CDROM settings in the BIOS for the CD drive, auto for the hard drive? Check boot order? Try the disk in another computer? Try another CD drive? A hard drive diagnostic check sounds like a good idea.

If all the hardware's good, everything's hooked up properly, the drives are being detected by the BIOS properly, the BIOS is set to boot from the CDROM first, and the CD is good.... You aren't having a problem!!!

[wilpresto]

i have made a few changes to the setup via the bios and now i have changed the hard drive i managed to half install windows xp on it.

now when i try to boot as normal from hard drive it says
NTLDR is missing

any advice?

And i would love to know how to run a hard drive diagnostic.

Thanks for the help guys!!!

[royphil345]

I think that's the message I've seen when a hard drive is detected, but no operating system is detected.

Was the drive cleared of any old partitions and formatted in the NTFS file system before you attempted to install XP? How does XP get half installed?

There is a list of hard drive diagnostic software at the top of this forum. I use TuffTEST which I didn't see on the list. Downloaded from the internet for about $10.00. Creates a bootable floppy disk that tests much of the computer's hardware (CPU, some mainboard components, memory, hard drive...) and saves alot of guessing. Simple to use. Was just telling another guy here about it. No... I don't have anything to do with the company... LOL!!!  Just a satisfied customer.

[GX1_Man]

Hard Drive Diagnostics. The only readable post by Merlin in the last 3 months.

http://www.computerhope.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=3;action=display;num=1122425778

[wilpresto]

Whats the simplest way to turn a downloaded movie into a dvd to watch on the teely.

I have had nero 5, through to nero 7, and i am having all sorts of problems with them all.

Is there a good alternative, for example cloned copy's one disk without any hastle.

Is anyone aware of a similar easy to use programme.

I have sorted the problem with that computer it was something to do with the hard disk.

[royphil345]

Usually, a downloaded movie will be in a in the Divx or Xvid format. Sometimes in the MPEG 1 format.  More compressed than the MPEG 2 format used for DVD.

Whatever program you use to make the DVD will have to convert the Divx or Xvid to MPEG 2 which could take some time. You do have to get to know some of the settings to get the best balance of quality / compression on the DVD, select the proper aspect ratio settings, etc... Helps to make sure you have good codecs installed for the file types you're trying to convert.

You can download a small, free app called AVIcodec. Drag and drop video files into the program to find out what type of compression was used for the file and the recommended codecs (audio and video).   http://avicodec.duby.info/

Had some success making DVDs from downloaded video files with NERO. Think I ran into a few files it just couldn't deal with. Been using Ulead DVD MovieFactory Disc Creator 4 lately. Easier to use, think more of the settings are automatic. No problems. The process shouldn't be any harder than ripping a DVD and compressing it to fit on a single-layer DVD-R with a different program. Maybe you just need the proper codecs or some updates for NERO. I started out with NERO 6 and I remember the DVD burning was pretty buggy before a few upgrades (6.6.0.8 now). Also have the Nero Vision Express DVD encoder plugin and Nero Ultra Edition serial which might be necessary for full-featured DVD burning. Might be easier just to try Ulead DVD MovieFactory Disc Creator 4. At least the program contains everything you need to convert file formats and burn DVDs without messing around.

Check out www.videohelp.com for anything you'd ever want to know about working with video files.