XP Boot - strange startup???

[455sl2]

I hope someone can tell me what is going on.

I did a low level format on the hard drive then installed XP Pro from the CD. All went well until reboot, when it asks to "install boot disk in drive A". I did a "ctrl-alt-del" and it rebooted into the XP Pro start-up srceen followed all the way into the desktop screen. It operates normally from there.

hard drive: quantum Fireball lct 20 on gateway P3/1000 w/ 512mb ram

How do I eliminate the "ctrl-alt-del" step?

[ThePoor]

Try to disable floppy disk in your BIOS to see if that works?

[455sl2]

Thanks for the suggestion but I've done that and the "install boot disk in drive A" still persists.

[glc]

Do you get that when the hard drive is very first in the bios boot order? What did you use to do this "low level format"?

[455sl2]

Thanks for your interest!

a. The Cd-Rom is first in the sequence.

b. When I selected repair off the xp cd, I got to the c: drive and did a format from there. I ran "fixmbr" prior to formatting. I thought this was a "low level format" being that I was in dos. Is there something else I should try?

[glc]

Yes, a true zero fill. All you did was a logical format. Your MBR or your boot sector is still hosed.

http://dban.sourceforge.net

[455sl2]

Thanks for the scrutiny! I'll try this tonight and post the outcome!

[455sl2]

I ran dban and it did wipe everything. Thanks again!

I re-installed XP Pro and it still won't boot up without asking for the boot diskette.

I'm starting to think that the bios is corrupted. I can put a 98 based hd in and it boots fine. Any ideas?

System:
Gateway P3 1000 w/ 768mb ram, quantum fireball lct20 (20G) hard drive, intel mb, I have the original system restoration cd's that came with it (WIN98).

[glc]

Have you checked the Gateway site for a bios update? It may need one for full XP compatibility.

[ITlover]

There might be something wrong either with your floppy drive or with your motherboard.
Do one thing, try using a new HDD,connect that HDD into that motherboard and install WinXP on that New HDD and then see if you still get the same error messege or not.
If you still get the same error messege, than their might be something wrong with the BIOS of your motherboard.
It seems more like a hardware issue. Try booting your computer in safe mode, if your computer successfully boots in safe mode, than their is something wrong with your floppy drive.

[455sl2]

Thanks to all for the great suggestions!

Now, here's my update:

I finally found a utility that I had at home on a "Tech Cd" purchased on ebay some years back.
It contained a utility called "Dead Rescue". It had me run: 1. low-level format, 2. fdisk and 3. format c: of which I finally got it to a clean state. All the utilities were installed onto a floppy. It's now ready for the new XP Pro installation.

Thanks again!!!

[455sl2]

Well, my quest for this fix is still on!!! I've installed XP Pro and it still won't boot normally. I've changed out the floppy drive. I've removed and installed different ram...still the same. It still requires a reboot after the initial cold boot.

I've acquired a bios update from Intel's site for my D815EEA mobo and am unsure how to proceed. Any help to explain this procedure is greatly appreciated? Thanks!