Boot Disk Problem

[rbriant]

I have a Dell 1500 desktop system running Win XP.  Frequently, the PC fails to reboot; giving a "boot disk not found" error - Press F1 ...".

Pressing F1 does not correct the problem.  So far, I can get the PC to boot by disconnecting the data cable from the hard drive and reconnecting it.  This is happening more and more frequently.

Are there any settings I can check or is replacing the hard disk the only option?

Appreciate your advice.

Ray Briant
California

[Dias de verano]

You may just need a new data cable - the fact that the system boots after you have handled the cable suggests that it may be damaged. Anyway it's a cheap thing to try.

[BKDC]

Try this:

*** you must have the Windows XP CD-ROM ***

1. Restart your pc in the safe mode.
2. Run a virus scanning program to verify that no virus is present.
3.Repair the master boot record by using the FIXMBR command from the Windows XP Recovery Console.
4. If the primary boot partition is a FAT partition, use the FIXBOOT command from the Windows XP Recovery Console to write a new boot sector on the system partition, and then use the FIXMBR command to repair the master boot record.

[squall_01]

you can also just do a repair after the windows xp disk boots if you have one or useing it.  also, has it done this previously?  It mite not be formatted correctly if you had done that yourself.