HDD faulty? Wrong drive boots up (amongst other issues...)

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YourPsycho

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Hey guys - small problem. My friend had her pc running for a few days and she switched it off. She typically runs Windows XP but suddenly it freezes on that start-up screen where you have the option to go into Bios. So I press ESC and this menu pop ups where I have a choice of 4 options: (Roughly)

1. Boot up without networking
2. something about starting up with networking
3. something about starting up with networking + Ethernet/LAN
4. starting up about PnP and something else...

SO I type in '1' for good measure. This menu had cropped up about 2 weeks earlier about and it booted fine into XP.

Now, today when I press '1' Windows 98 appears and I end up at the login screen, except the password doesn't work so I can't get in.

It is later revealed to me that she has 2 HDDs - and one didn't work for some reason so she got a new HDD. I'm guessing Win 98 came from this drive.

Anyway, I reinstall xp and it goes to the desktop and it's okay - her files are fine... and then I reboot. -sigh- Win 98 loads again.

I thought maybe the XP drive maybe accidentally got set to 'slave' - but you don't accidentally set a drive to slave so what is the problem? and how can I solve it?

When I disconnected the older drive, the screen froze at part where you get to press DEL.

I thought maybe I could reinstall XP again - and when I reach the desktop reformat the other drive, send all her data to that drive and then reformat - do a clean installation of XP.

But I'm not too sure. Are either of her drives faulty? What can I do? She has very important work so I can't just reformat before backing up.

Hellllllp?:eek::eek::eek:
 
YourPsycho said:
Hey guys - small problem. My friend had her pc running for a few days and she switched it off. She typically runs Windows XP but suddenly it freezes on that start-up screen where you have the option to go into Bios. So I press ESC and this menu pop ups where I have a choice of 4 options: (Roughly)

1. Boot up without networking
2. something about starting up with networking
3. something about starting up with networking + Ethernet/LAN
4. starting up about PnP and something else...

SO I type in '1' for good measure. This menu had cropped up about 2 weeks earlier about and it booted fine into XP.

Now, today when I press '1' Windows 98 appears and I end up at the login screen, except the password doesn't work so I can't get in.

It is later revealed to me that she has 2 HDDs - and one didn't work for some reason so she got a new HDD. I'm guessing Win 98 came from this drive.

Anyway, I reinstall xp and it goes to the desktop and it's okay - her files are fine... and then I reboot. -sigh- Win 98 loads again.

I thought maybe the XP drive maybe accidentally got set to 'slave' - but you don't accidentally set a drive to slave so what is the problem? and how can I solve it?

When I disconnected the older drive, the screen froze at part where you get to press DEL.

I thought maybe I could reinstall XP again - and when I reach the desktop reformat the other drive, send all her data to that drive and then reformat - do a clean installation of XP.

But I'm not too sure. Are either of her drives faulty? What can I do? She has very important work so I can't just reformat before backing up.

Hellllllp?:eek::eek::eek:
Click to expand...
With both drives connected, go into the BIOS and swap the order in which they boot from. With my motherboard, it allows me to choose if I want to boot from SATA1, SATA2 etc and I'm sure that would apply to IDE drives as well.
 
What feo said. And it does apply to IDE.

The Windows 98 install appears to be causing the hassles.

Also, make sure the XP drive is indeed set to master, and make sure the secondary drive is indeed set to slave by following the relevant diagrams on the drives. It's very easy, you just need to carefully remove the drives and unplug the cables, read the stickers, and use tweezers to set the jumper correctly.

I suspect the Windows 98 drive is set to master.
 
Thanks for your help guys - I will try it and report back tomorrow. How do you think such a mess happened anyway?
 
YourPsycho said:
I thought maybe the XP drive maybe accidentally got set to 'slave' - but you don't accidentally set a drive to slave so what is the problem? and how can I solve it?
Click to expand...

Well if the XP drive was on "Cable Select" and the 98 drive on Master, then that explains why it would boot to 98. Also, I think that the cable select jumper setting should only be used when there's more than one drive so that might even explain why it wouldn't boot without the other drive.

In any case, try swapping the boot sequence but fix the jumpers first and try not to use the "cable select" jumper config.
 
YourPsycho said:
Hey guys - small problem. My friend had her pc running for a few days and she switched it off. She typically runs Windows XP but suddenly it freezes on that start-up screen where you have the option to go into Bios. So I press ESC and this menu pop ups where I have a choice of 4 options: (Roughly)

1. Boot up without networking
2. something about starting up with networking
3. something about starting up with networking + Ethernet/LAN
4. starting up about PnP and something else...

SO I type in '1' for good measure. This menu had cropped up about 2 weeks earlier about and it booted fine into XP.

Now, today when I press '1' Windows 98 appears and I end up at the login screen, except the password doesn't work so I can't get in.

It is later revealed to me that she has 2 HDDs - and one didn't work for some reason so she got a new HDD. I'm guessing Win 98 came from this drive.

Anyway, I reinstall xp and it goes to the desktop and it's okay - her files are fine... and then I reboot. -sigh- Win 98 loads again.

I thought maybe the XP drive maybe accidentally got set to 'slave' - but you don't accidentally set a drive to slave so what is the problem? and how can I solve it?

When I disconnected the older drive, the screen froze at part where you get to press DEL.

I thought maybe I could reinstall XP again - and when I reach the desktop reformat the other drive, send all her data to that drive and then reformat - do a clean installation of XP.

But I'm not too sure. Are either of her drives faulty? What can I do? She has very important work so I can't just reformat before backing up.

Hellllllp?:eek::eek::eek:
Click to expand...
Thinking laterally here (again). How do you know it has two drives? Does it say C: and D:?
 
lol - I'm not that much of a n00b... I'm a lot better than most guys when it comes to PC issues and I'm a GIRL ;P

Seriously though - both drives can be viewed in My Computer. I tried DC'ing the older drive but it never made it past that first screen where you can enter your BIOS.
 
YourPsycho said:
lol - I'm not that much of a n00b... I'm a lot better than most guys when it comes to PC issues and I'm a GIRL ;P

Seriously though - both drives can be viewed in My Computer. I tried DC'ing the older drive but it never made it past that first screen where you can enter your BIOS.
Click to expand...
It was worth a try (and I didn't know you were a girl geek :p)
I like those cases where you can see the inside.

Dual booting on dual drives is a bit new to me. I would also check the windows file that organises the boot as well. I forget the name.
 
Sackboy said:
It was worth a try (and I didn't know you were a girl geek :p)
I like those cases where you can see the inside.

Dual booting on dual drives is a bit new to me. I would also check the windows file that organises the boot as well. I forget the name.
Click to expand...
boot.ini?

Yoursycho, time to move into the big leagues now. Read this: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/289022
 
feo said:
boot.ini?

Yoursycho, time to move into the big leagues now. Read this: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/289022
Click to expand...
Think so, it's been a while.
I tried to reinstall windows but the install didn't work properly and I had two listed. Windows changes the file because it needs to reboot and then CONTINUE with the install, so it was a matter of having a look and removing the one I didn't want.
 
This article describes how to view and manually configure the Boot.ini file in Windows XP from within the Startup and Recovery dialog.

In Windows XP, you can quickly and easily locate the Boot.ini to verify and/or edit the file.

It is suggested to backup the Boot.ini file before editing. The first tasks will involve modifying folder option so as to view hidden files and then backing up the Boot.ini file.


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Save a Backup Copy of Boot.ini

1. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
-or-
Click Start, click Run, type sysdm.cpl, and then click OK.
2. On the Advanced tab, click Settings under Startup and Recovery.
3. Under System Startup, click Edit. This opens the file in Notepad ready for editing.
4. In Notepad, click File on the Menu bar, and then click Save As.
5. Right click in an empty area of the Save As dialog box, point to New in the context menu, and then click Folder.
6. Type a name for the new folder, for example temp, and then press the ENTER key to create the folder named temp.
7. Double-click the new folder named temp, and then click the Save button to save a backup copy of the Boot.ini file.


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Edit the Boot.ini File
To view and edit the Boot.ini file:

1. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
-or-
Click Start, click Run, type sysdm.cpl, and then click OK.
2. On the Advanced tab, click Settings under Startup and Recovery.
3. Under System Startup, click Edit.


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Sample Boot.ini File
This is a sample of a default Boot.ini file from a Windows XP Professional computer.
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect
This is a sample of the above Boot.ini file with a previous installation of Windows 2000 on a separate partition.
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT="Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect

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Modifying the Boot.ini
While you can modify the Boot.ini file using the Startup and Recovery dialog, where you can select the default operating system, change the timeout value, or manually edit the file, the following method uses the command line utility, Bootcfg.exe.

Note The Bootcfg.exe utility is only available in Windows XP Professional. This utility is not available in Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition. Therefore, this section does not apply to Windows XP Home Edition.

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open text box, type cmd.
3. At the command prompt, type bootcfg /?.
4. The help and parameters for BOOTCFG.exe will display.


Adding an Operating System
At the command prompt, type:
bootcfg /copy /d Operating System Description /ID#
Where Operating System Description is a text description (e.g. Windows XP Home Edition), and where # specifies the boot entry ID in the operating systems section of the BOOT.INI file from which the copy has to be made.


Removing an Operating System
At the command prompt, type:
bootcfg /delete /ID#
Where # specifies the boot entry ID that you want to be deleted from the operating systems section of the BOOT.INI file (e.g. 2 for the second Operating system that is listed.


Setting the Default Operating System
At the command prompt, type:
bootcfg /default /ID#
Where # specifies the boot entry id in the operating systems section of the BOOT.INI file to be made the default operating system.


Setting the Time Out
At the command prompt, type: bootcfg /timeout# Where # specifies the time in seconds after which default operating system will be loaded.


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Open the Boot.ini File to Verify Changes

1. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
-or-
Click Start, click Run, type sysdm.cpl, and then click OK.
2. On the Advanced tab, click Settings under Startup and Recovery.
3. Under System Startup, click Edit.




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REFERENCES
For additional information about this topic, click one of the following links:...
For additional information about this topic, click one of the following links:
Safe-Mode Boot Switches for Windows 2000 Boot.ini File (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q239780/)

How to Set Up a Remote Debug Session Using a Modem (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q148954/)


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APPLIES TO

* Microsoft Windows XP Professional
* Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Click to expand...
Just take a look for now.
 
Okay, so guess what - I had experimented with boot cfg on my pc before I used it on my friends and I first decided to individually link up the drives (long story short, my friend wondered if she reconnected her wires correctly since the computer wasn't registering any HDDs) so I connected a cable and amazing! XP is loading again! :eek::eek:

Btw: disconnected that retarded 98 drive...

Oh well, at least the PC runs now - thanks for the help guys! :)
 
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