Boot problems and Repair Installation not working?

[delluser07]

Hi,

I am having a frustrated time at trying to get my PC (Windows XP with Service Pack 2) booting up.  Having booted up the day before, I suddenly got the following error after the dell splash screen,

Invalid Boot Diskette
Insert Boot Diskette in A:


In the BIOS settings, the boot order is hard-drive, cd-rom, then floppy (I have also tried changing the order).  I first inserted a floppy boot disk, but the following message occurred,

Starting Caldera DR-DOS

HIMEM.SYS 2.34

Bad or missing command interpreter

Please enter a valid filename (e.g. C:\command.com)


After this failed, I decided to put in my XP CD, and it got to the installation options screen.  I don't want to do a fresh install as I have data on the hard drive that has not been backed up.  But when I try and do a Repair Installation, it goes to a screen where it recognizes my current hard drive, with the the total amount and free space available, but for some reason, its says this partition cannot be accessed.

Does anyone know why this happens?  Is my hard drive locked or something?  Does anyone have any ideas I could try.


I have looked at other forums and one possible solution is to go to the recovery console and type in the following,

FIXMBR C:
FIXBOOT C:
COPY CDDrive:I386NTLDR C:
COPY CDDrive:I386|NTDETECT.COM C:
BOOTCFG /rebuild

but I am not sure it will not corrupt any data I have saved on my hard drive.  Can anyone confirm this?  Is this a good solution?


Thanks

[Raptor]

In the BIOS settings, the boot order is hard-drive, cd-rom, then floppy (I have also tried changing the order).  I first inserted a floppy boot disk, but the following message occurred,

Completely unrelated, faulty installation on your bootable diskette.

I am having a frustrated time at trying to get my PC (Windows XP with Service Pack 2) booting up.  Having booted up the day before, I suddenly got the following error after the dell splash screen,

Invalid Boot Diskette
Insert Boot Diskette in A:

This would lead me to believe you're trying to boot from diskette drives only.

Is your HDD still detected in the BIOS?

[delluser07]

Yes, my HDD is detected in my BIOS.  I opened up the case to make sure the cables and connectors were not loose, and they are fine.

[alca]

Yes, my HDD is detected in my BIOS.  I opened up the case to make sure the cables and connectors were not losse, and they are fine.

is there a diskette in the floppydrive? this would explain why it refused to boot, cause bios in most cases are set to boot from floppy first, by default.

[delluser07]

No, there is no floppy disk in the drive.  I tried the floppy boot disk I had, which is where I got the other error about the "Bad or missing command interpreter".

[alca]

No, there is no floppy disk in the drive.  I tried the floppy boot disk I had, which is where I got the other error about the "Bad or missing command interpreter".

reset your bios chip using jumpers, unplug the floppy drive ... i remember having problems somewhat the same a long time ago, but i cant remember how i solved it..

[delluser07]

What do you mean by "reset your bios chip using jumpers"?

[Raptor]

Just load the default values, no need to do that with the jumpers.

You should diagnose your HDD using software provided by the HDD manufacturer.

[delluser07]

I have actually tried to "Load Default Setup" in the BIOS but that didn't work either. 

I'll try to diagnose my hard drive, I'm assuming the software is loaded onto a floppy and I insert it when I start my PC up. 

Are there any other possible solutions?  I won't have access to the internet until next Tuesday, so I would like to try as many things as possible before then.

[Raptor]

We don't have enough information, but if you're eager to get the problem solved or just short of time I'd do the following:

1. Hook up the HDD as a slave in another PC and copy all the files you want back-upped to that machine
2. Diagnose the HDD to see if it is failing
3. If it isn't, reformat and reinstall
4. If it is, buy a new HDD.

Notes;

1. Scan the HDD for viruses when hooking it up to the other PC to see if that could possibly be the problem
2. Install AVG Free right after you reinstalled Windows.

Just a reminder; this is one possible solution, there are more but since you're not going to be here I'd stick to that plan as it's bound to solve your problem and make sure your files remain safe. If they can still be salvaged.

As for your diagnostic diskette; yes, you need a bootable 1.44MB diskette. You can find the diagnostic software here

[delluser07]

OK, I'll give it a go, thanks.

I'll let you know what happens.

[delluser07]

Unfortunately, it looks my hard disk is damaged.  I added it to my friend's computer but the hard drive couldn't even load.  It keeps on clicking, trying to boot up. 

And as mentioned before, when I get to the reinstall screen, it displays "setup cannot access this disk".  When I press Install from here, I get the blue screen of death .

Any other possible solutions?  There is data that needs to be recovered.

[ale52]

One thing I've tried in the past..and it is hit-and-miss if it works.  Put the drive in the freezer (that's right, the freezer) and let it set for a few hours.  Pull it out and slave it again.  Otherwise, you will need to look into a data recovery company to retrieve your data.  And they're not cheap.

Alan <>< 

[delluser07]

A freezer !!!!!:o

I've never heard of that one before.  Why should that work?  I'll give it a go anyway in the next couple of days.  I'm assuming it won't damage a thing.  Just a quick note, the BIOS does recognize the hard drive, just can't read from it.

In terms of data recovery, isn't there any software on the internet that could do the job?

[patio]

Not if the drive is making the "click of Death" and not spinning up properly....

If you try Alan's method be prepared ahead of time to copy/image or back up the drive. Sometimes you will have as little as 3 or 4 minutes to work with.