Disk Boot Failure

[Markoman01027]

Hey everybody,

I have a client who is having problems with her PC. I remember having this problem one time, although I don't remember the solution for it, so I rather have the solution fixed than trying and trying..here it goes..

My aunt's PC is a COMPAQ, and she just browses the web and talks on AOL. I am not sure if a virus hit her or anything like that, but it appers to me that she lost her boot information.

Whenever she tries to boot up, she gets a message saying " Disk Boot Failure. Please insert System Disk" . She is running Windows 98SE. I am going to send her a disk in the mail, and I am wondering if transfering system files to her C drive will make it bootable again?

I have a feeling she installed something and it deleted her system files to boot, and I believe I will need to transfer the system files from A: to C:.

Although she is computer illeterate(sp?) so I doubt she downloaded something, it could deal with Hard disc failure. It's hard to work with people if they dont got general knowledge of computers.

Thanks guys!

[grasshopperbe]

the first things id check for this are
-is the boot order in bios still ok
-boot up with a boot diskette and see if you can still access the HD.
-if it is still accessible, check if the autoexec.bat and config.sys are still present, and the windows directory.
-if it is not readable, the partition may have been lost or so (not a specialist on this either), so maybe repartition with fddisk.

off course there's also a chance that the HD is broken.

installing a new autoexec.bat and so on to the hd will prolly not work since these files get modified over time. there's a good chance that it wont work that way either i am afraid

[Markoman01027]

How can I install a new autoexec.bat onto the HD if the HD doesn't have one present? Never heard you were able to do this, as I thought each autoexec.bat was unique on each system. Thanks for the reply Grasshooperbe.

[Confused]

Could there be a floppy in the drive?
Chas

[GaryRouth]

It's possible that she inadvertently has left a disk in either the floppy drive or cd drive. She could get that message if they precede the hard drive in the boot order (which is why grasshopperbe mentioned boot order).

Back in the days of Win 3.1 and Win95, autoexec had more to do, and it would grow or shrink as hardware and programs changed. Many newer systems have nothing at all in either config.sys or autoexec.bat --anyway, it's likely you won't have to worry about that file just yet - I think grasshopperbe mentioned it because a broken program in it's list of things to start can hold up Windows startup. You'll find out if it's OK if you can get past the "Disk Failure" message.

The rest of grasshopper's list looks pretty good: if there are no wayward disks left in drives, I'd also recommend running disk diagnostics - they run from bootable floppies created from the download at the hard drive manufacturer's website (you know them pretty well, I imagine: DataLifeGuard, Powermax, SeaTools, etc)

Best of luck - hope it's just a floppy left in by accident (much easier to fix)
. . . Gary

[p.s. Hi Chas - now, if I didn't talk/type so darn much, I'd have seen your post and saved myself some keystrokes :) ]

[Markoman01027]

The problem is that it is a COMPAQ, and I don't know what the manufacterer of the hard drive is. She will need to get a new computer if the hard drive is dead, because the BIOS information is stored on that hard drive. That is why if the solutions that I am going to try and what solutions you guys suggested, if they all fail, then I assume that the hard drive is dead, and that she will need to call Compaq about it. She doesn't even have a Windows 98SE compaq recovery CD, as it is an old compaq.

Thanks for the reply guys. Gary, havent seen you on the forums for a while LOL Welcome back!

[GaryRouth]

Hi Matt -

You're right, I haven't been around as much lately. Between the kids having a lot going on at school lately, the lab needing me to work extra hours, and fixing up some older - and somewhat incomplete (missing memory, drives, etc) Pentium 133 era computers that were donated to a local preschool - - - I haven't had as much time for fun here at the Mech.

You know, if you're feeling adventurous, you could close your eyes and just pick one disk diagnostic program from a hat: you've got about a 20 to 30 percent chance of being right. . . and sometimes the diagnostics will run on other drives, just not as thorough a test (some SeaTools versions can do a "Generic Test"), and most others will at least identify the drive & manufacturer. The nice thing about this is that it can all be done from the DOS on the floppy.

She can put a new drive in the Compaq, if she's willing to buy the Compaq Recovery set for her system. I think they still offer it even for discontinued models. Some of our forum members have mentioned a price in the $19 USD range. So: a new 40gb BestBuy or Fry's special ~$50 + $19 (Compaq Recovery CD & floppy) = ~$70. Not bad, if the rest of the system is OK.

Best of luck, especially since we're talking family :)
. . . Gary

[Markoman01027]

Thanks for the reply, Gary. I will do just that. I remember the IBM Hard Drive Diagnostic test can identify the manufacterer and model, aswell as maybe make a generic test aslong as I got a serial number for it or something..I will have to do that when I come over her house sometime, she lives in NY and I live in MA..so her PC will have to be down for a little bit.