re boot problem after replacing hard drive

[Guest]

I am looking for any help with the following problem. I recently bought a
new hard drive. I fitted it, and used a cd from the manufacturers to format
it. My PC recognised it and I reloaded all my embedded software on to the
new drive.

The OC seemed to work normally until I tried to restart and I received the
following message on restarting my PC.

unmountable boot drive:

this was on a blue screen with white writing. The was firther text stating
that if I had changed any software or hardware to try again or remove it.

My system is a
packard bell i media 5096
intel pentium 4 2. 66 Ghz

The new drive appears to be working properly but will not re boot.

Can any one help please or point me in the direction of someone who can?

Thank you for taking the time to read this

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I am looking for any help with the following problem. I recently bought a
new hard drive. I fitted it, and used a cd from the manufacturers to format
it. My PC recognised it and I reloaded all my embedded software on to the
new drive.

The OC seemed to work normally until I tried to restart and I received the
following message on restarting my PC.

unmountable boot drive:

this was on a blue screen with white writing. The was firther text stating
that if I had changed any software or hardware to try again or remove it.

My system is a
packard bell i media 5096
intel pentium 4 2. 66 Ghz

The new drive appears to be working properly but will not re boot.

Can any one help please or point me in the direction of someone who can?

Thank you for taking the time to read this

I assume that you left your system disk intact. The immediate
question then is: What happens when you disconnect the new
disk?

 

[Guest]

Hi Pegasus,

Thank you for getting back to me.

I did a straight swap, took the old disc out and fitted the new one in its
place. The old one works okay but is a little small.

I only wanted to increase my storage but unles I wanted to remove my DVD or
CD drives there was no where else to fit the drive. So I decided to fit the
new drive as my main drive.

So to answer your question when I do not disconnect my new drive as such, I
swap t over.

mikec

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

This is getting a little confusing. Initially you gave the impression
that you ***added*** a disk to your PC. Now you say that
you are ***replacing*** your original disk. That's a huge
difference!

A good starting point would be to describe exactly how you
transferred the operating system from the old disk to the new
disk. So far your posts contain no details whatsoever about
the process you used.

 

[Guest]

I am sorry that my text is causing some confusion.

I did not transfer the operating system from my old disc it would be
impossible to do that as the old disc is not in the PC anymore. So I am not
sure what you mean but I will outline the processes I did to fit the new disc.

I physically installed in the PC, having removed the old one.

I then turned my PC with the system discette in and did a complete system
restore using packard bell's CD's. This appeared to work as it loaded the
windows system and embedded programes. I was able to use the PC as normal
until I went to restart and got the error message.

I have also contacted Maxtor and got their software for configuring the
drive plus their reboot disc. Again I used my Packard Bell Cd's to restore
the PC and once again it worked normally untill restart.

I have also tested the drive which my PC recognises using maxtors software,
so I am not sure why it will not reboot as it appears to work normally to
that point.

Thanks for taking the time to look at this Pegasus and I am again sorry if I
am confusing you. This is beyond my level of competance and I am struglling.
I have contacted maxtor and packard bell but they are in no rush to help.
Well they have got my money so why bother.

 

[Guest]

you installed the new hard drive in your computer (only HD due to space).
Booted from MFG Recovery CD?
Installed Windows?
windows did reboot during setup process to finish loading files?
it rebooted okay then?

Installed embedded sfotware? okay?

what is "OC"?

Now will not boot.

have you installed any new hardware? sound, video, dvd etc. ?
if so remove it and reboot.

 

[Mike Fields]

The "restore version" would not by chance happen to be
Windows XP without either SP1 or 2 on it AND the disk
is larger than 128 gig by chance ?? Windows XP before
SP1 could not handle drives over 128 gig and there have
been some interesting results for those that have tried.

mikey

 

[Guest]

the jumper is set to cable select or master?

 

[Guest]

Hello Dixonian69

Thank you for getting back to me. In all honesty I am not sure about the
jumper settings. I assume that is the switch thing on the hard drive itself.
I had a look at the software I downloaded from Maxtor and they have a
illustrated guide but I could not see anything that corresponded to my hard
drive.

 

[Guest]

Hi Mickey,

Thank you for your input,

yes the restore discs are pre sp2 but I think they sp1 on them as they are
2003 but I am not certain.

Yes the disc is 250gb

thanks again Mike

 

[Guest]

To All,

Thank you for helping me as it is very difficult for mke to do this and
frankly I am getting no help from:

packard bell
maxtor

so I do appreciate all of your input.

I am sorry about the delay in responding but I did not realise I had to
click a link to get notification of updates to the thread.

I am registered disabled and cannot get out to find information so this is a
lifeline for me.

Mikec

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I suggest you find out if the problem you see is caused
by the boot process or by Windows itself. To do this
you need to boot the machine with a WinXP floppy
boot disk. Here is how you make one:

- Format a floppy disk on some other WinXP/2000 PC via
Explorer or a Command Prompt. Don't do it on a Win9x PC -
it won't work.
- Copy these files from the \i386 folder of your WinXP CD to A:\
ntldr
ntdetect.com
- Create a file a:\boot.ini with these lines
[Boot Loader]
Timeout=3
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
- Boot the machine with this floppy

What do you get?

 

[Guest]

Hi Pegasus,

Good shout it seems a logical step to take thanks. However a couple of minor
questions.

1. I do not have a windows xp disc as it is embedded. Are the files in the
system discs that I use to restore my PC?

2. I take it that both ntldr ntdetect.com are located in that disc.

3. What tool do I use to create the boot.ini, wordpad or similar and save
it as a .inin file. Will it not just be a text file.

4. Do I substitute home for professional as I have the home edition?

Sorry to be thick but I have never done this before. I thank for your
patience.

Mike

I suggest you find out if the problem you see is caused
by the boot process or by Windows itself. To do this
you need to boot the machine with a WinXP floppy
boot disk. Here is how you make one:

- Format a floppy disk on some other WinXP/2000 PC via
Explorer or a Command Prompt. Don't do it on a Win9x PC -
it won't work.
- Copy these files from the \i386 folder of your WinXP CD to A:\
ntldr
ntdetect.com
- Create a file a:\boot.ini with these lines
[Boot Loader]
Timeout=3
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
- Boot the machine with this floppy

What do you get?

Hi Mickey,

Thank you for your input,

yes the restore discs are pre sp2 but I think they sp1 on them as they are
2003 but I am not certain.

Yes the disc is 250gb

thanks again Mike

 

[Guest]

hi P,

I have inserted my old disc and taken the files from the windows folder
i386, is that okay. I could not find them in the Packerd bell cd's.

Mike

Hi Pegasus,

Good shout it seems a logical step to take thanks. However a couple of minor
questions.

1. I do not have a windows xp disc as it is embedded. Are the files in the
system discs that I use to restore my PC?

2. I take it that both ntldr ntdetect.com are located in that disc.

3. What tool do I use to create the boot.ini, wordpad or similar and save
it as a .inin file. Will it not just be a text file.

4. Do I substitute home for professional as I have the home edition?

Sorry to be thick but I have never done this before. I thank for your
patience.

Mike

I suggest you find out if the problem you see is caused
by the boot process or by Windows itself. To do this
you need to boot the machine with a WinXP floppy
boot disk. Here is how you make one:

- Format a floppy disk on some other WinXP/2000 PC via
Explorer or a Command Prompt. Don't do it on a Win9x PC -
it won't work.
- Copy these files from the \i386 folder of your WinXP CD to A:\
ntldr
ntdetect.com
- Create a file a:\boot.ini with these lines
[Boot Loader]
Timeout=3
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
- Boot the machine with this floppy

What do you get?

Hi Mickey,

Thank you for your input,

yes the restore discs are pre sp2 but I think they sp1 on them as they are
2003 but I am not certain.

Yes the disc is 250gb

thanks again Mike



:

the jumper is set to cable select or master?

:

I am looking for any help with the following problem. I recently bought a
new hard drive. I fitted it, and used a cd from the manufacturers to format
it. My PC recognised it and I reloaded all my embedded software on to the
new drive.

The OC seemed to work normally until I tried to restart and I received the
following message on restarting my PC.

unmountable boot drive:

this was on a blue screen with white writing. The was firther text stating
that if I had changed any software or hardware to try again or remove it.

My system is a
packard bell i media 5096
intel pentium 4 2. 66 Ghz

The new drive appears to be working properly but will not re boot.

Can any one help please or point me in the direction of someone who can?

Thank you for taking the time to read this

 

[Guest]

hi P,

Having engaged that small partof my brain that still works I take it I
create the file dos?

mike

hi P,

I have inserted my old disc and taken the files from the windows folder
i386, is that okay. I could not find them in the Packerd bell cd's.

Mike

Hi Pegasus,

Good shout it seems a logical step to take thanks. However a couple of minor
questions.

1. I do not have a windows xp disc as it is embedded. Are the files in the
system discs that I use to restore my PC?

2. I take it that both ntldr ntdetect.com are located in that disc.

3. What tool do I use to create the boot.ini, wordpad or similar and save
it as a .inin file. Will it not just be a text file.

4. Do I substitute home for professional as I have the home edition?

Sorry to be thick but I have never done this before. I thank for your
patience.

Mike

I suggest you find out if the problem you see is caused
by the boot process or by Windows itself. To do this
you need to boot the machine with a WinXP floppy
boot disk. Here is how you make one:

- Format a floppy disk on some other WinXP/2000 PC via
Explorer or a Command Prompt. Don't do it on a Win9x PC -
it won't work.
- Copy these files from the \i386 folder of your WinXP CD to A:\
ntldr
ntdetect.com
- Create a file a:\boot.ini with these lines
[Boot Loader]
Timeout=3
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
- Boot the machine with this floppy

What do you get?



Hi Mickey,

Thank you for your input,

yes the restore discs are pre sp2 but I think they sp1 on them as they are
2003 but I am not certain.

Yes the disc is 250gb

thanks again Mike



:

the jumper is set to cable select or master?

:

I am looking for any help with the following problem. I recently
bought a
new hard drive. I fitted it, and used a cd from the manufacturers to
format
it. My PC recognised it and I reloaded all my embedded software on to
the
new drive.

The OC seemed to work normally until I tried to restart and I received
the
following message on restarting my PC.

unmountable boot drive:

this was on a blue screen with white writing. The was firther text
stating
that if I had changed any software or hardware to try again or remove
it.

My system is a
packard bell i media 5096
intel pentium 4 2. 66 Ghz

The new drive appears to be working properly but will not re boot.

Can any one help please or point me in the direction of someone who
can?

Thank you for taking the time to read this

 

[Guest]

where is Pegasus?

you formatted a floppy using XP system.
copied ntdetect.com and ntldr to formatted floppy

create or copy a boot.ini file to floppy
yes. use wordpad or notepad to create. type in text or copy from post.
substitute Win XP Home in place of xp pro. it just the title/name. no biggy.

Before saving, use "Save as" , for select "Save in" , chose "A" floppy drive.

then in "file name", type boot.ini then select save.

you don't want to overwrite boot.ini on computer that you are using.

hi P,

I have inserted my old disc and taken the files from the windows folder
i386, is that okay. I could not find them in the Packerd bell cd's.

Mike

Hi Pegasus,

Good shout it seems a logical step to take thanks. However a couple of minor
questions.

1. I do not have a windows xp disc as it is embedded. Are the files in the
system discs that I use to restore my PC?

2. I take it that both ntldr ntdetect.com are located in that disc.

3. What tool do I use to create the boot.ini, wordpad or similar and save
it as a .inin file. Will it not just be a text file.

4. Do I substitute home for professional as I have the home edition?

Sorry to be thick but I have never done this before. I thank for your
patience.

Mike

I suggest you find out if the problem you see is caused
by the boot process or by Windows itself. To do this
you need to boot the machine with a WinXP floppy
boot disk. Here is how you make one:

- Format a floppy disk on some other WinXP/2000 PC via
Explorer or a Command Prompt. Don't do it on a Win9x PC -
it won't work.
- Copy these files from the \i386 folder of your WinXP CD to A:\
ntldr
ntdetect.com
- Create a file a:\boot.ini with these lines
[Boot Loader]
Timeout=3
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
- Boot the machine with this floppy

What do you get?



Hi Mickey,

Thank you for your input,

yes the restore discs are pre sp2 but I think they sp1 on them as they are
2003 but I am not certain.

Yes the disc is 250gb

thanks again Mike



:

the jumper is set to cable select or master?

:

I am looking for any help with the following problem. I recently
bought a
new hard drive. I fitted it, and used a cd from the manufacturers to
format
it. My PC recognised it and I reloaded all my embedded software on to
the
new drive.

The OC seemed to work normally until I tried to restart and I received
the
following message on restarting my PC.

unmountable boot drive:

this was on a blue screen with white writing. The was firther text
stating
that if I had changed any software or hardware to try again or remove
it.

My system is a
packard bell i media 5096
intel pentium 4 2. 66 Ghz

The new drive appears to be working properly but will not re boot.

Can any one help please or point me in the direction of someone who
can?

Thank you for taking the time to read this

 

[Guest]

Hi D69,

Thank you for that it is a little clearer. I have done as you suggested and
created a boot.ini configuration file.

Do I now need to swap drives again and and when the new disc fails to boot,
reboot with the floppy in the drive? I will await further instructions.

I do not know where pegasus is. I am in the uk, I think he maybe in the us
but I am guessing.

Thanks again,

Mikec

where is Pegasus?

you formatted a floppy using XP system.
copied ntdetect.com and ntldr to formatted floppy

create or copy a boot.ini file to floppy
yes. use wordpad or notepad to create. type in text or copy from post.
substitute Win XP Home in place of xp pro. it just the title/name. no biggy.

Before saving, use "Save as" , for select "Save in" , chose "A" floppy drive.

then in "file name", type boot.ini then select save.

you don't want to overwrite boot.ini on computer that you are using.

hi P,

I have inserted my old disc and taken the files from the windows folder
i386, is that okay. I could not find them in the Packerd bell cd's.

Mike

Hi Pegasus,

Good shout it seems a logical step to take thanks. However a couple of minor
questions.

1. I do not have a windows xp disc as it is embedded. Are the files in the
system discs that I use to restore my PC?

2. I take it that both ntldr ntdetect.com are located in that disc.

3. What tool do I use to create the boot.ini, wordpad or similar and save
it as a .inin file. Will it not just be a text file.

4. Do I substitute home for professional as I have the home edition?

Sorry to be thick but I have never done this before. I thank for your
patience.

Mike

:

I suggest you find out if the problem you see is caused
by the boot process or by Windows itself. To do this
you need to boot the machine with a WinXP floppy
boot disk. Here is how you make one:

- Format a floppy disk on some other WinXP/2000 PC via
Explorer or a Command Prompt. Don't do it on a Win9x PC -
it won't work.
- Copy these files from the \i386 folder of your WinXP CD to A:\
ntldr
ntdetect.com
- Create a file a:\boot.ini with these lines
[Boot Loader]
Timeout=3
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
- Boot the machine with this floppy

What do you get?



Hi Mickey,

Thank you for your input,

yes the restore discs are pre sp2 but I think they sp1 on them as they are
2003 but I am not certain.

Yes the disc is 250gb

thanks again Mike



:

the jumper is set to cable select or master?

:

I am looking for any help with the following problem. I recently
bought a
new hard drive. I fitted it, and used a cd from the manufacturers to
format
it. My PC recognised it and I reloaded all my embedded software on to
the
new drive.

The OC seemed to work normally until I tried to restart and I received
the
following message on restarting my PC.

unmountable boot drive:

this was on a blue screen with white writing. The was firther text
stating
that if I had changed any software or hardware to try again or remove
it.

My system is a
packard bell i media 5096
intel pentium 4 2. 66 Ghz

The new drive appears to be working properly but will not re boot.

Can any one help please or point me in the direction of someone who
can?

Thank you for taking the time to read this

 

[Guest]

I just meant , he hasn't responded back.

Do you need to swap drives again??
of course you have to put the hard drive back in the original PC.
what kind of question is that?

yes. put floppy in drive before booting. You should here floppy drive click
or floppy drive light come on. probably growl a little bit too. that way you
know it has booted from floppy.

if it doesn't boot from floppy, let me know.

if it worked copy 3 files to root directory (C:\ ). if prompted to
overwrite, say yes/ok.
obviously they worked or computer wouldn't have booted.

good luck.

Hi D69,

Thank you for that it is a little clearer. I have done as you suggested and
created a boot.ini configuration file.

Do I now need to swap drives again and and when the new disc fails to boot,
reboot with the floppy in the drive? I will await further instructions.

I do not know where pegasus is. I am in the uk, I think he maybe in the us
but I am guessing.

Thanks again,

Mikec

where is Pegasus?

you formatted a floppy using XP system.
copied ntdetect.com and ntldr to formatted floppy

create or copy a boot.ini file to floppy
yes. use wordpad or notepad to create. type in text or copy from post.
substitute Win XP Home in place of xp pro. it just the title/name. no biggy.

Before saving, use "Save as" , for select "Save in" , chose "A" floppy drive.

then in "file name", type boot.ini then select save.

you don't want to overwrite boot.ini on computer that you are using.

4. Do I substitute home for professional as I have the home edition

hi P,

I have inserted my old disc and taken the files from the windows folder
i386, is that okay. I could not find them in the Packerd bell cd's.

Mike

:

Hi Pegasus,

Good shout it seems a logical step to take thanks. However a couple of minor
questions.

1. I do not have a windows xp disc as it is embedded. Are the files in the
system discs that I use to restore my PC?

2. I take it that both ntldr ntdetect.com are located in that disc.

3. What tool do I use to create the boot.ini, wordpad or similar and save
it as a .inin file. Will it not just be a text file.

4. Do I substitute home for professional as I have the home edition?

Sorry to be thick but I have never done this before. I thank for your
patience.

Mike

:

I suggest you find out if the problem you see is caused
by the boot process or by Windows itself. To do this
you need to boot the machine with a WinXP floppy
boot disk. Here is how you make one:

- Format a floppy disk on some other WinXP/2000 PC via
Explorer or a Command Prompt. Don't do it on a Win9x PC -
it won't work.
- Copy these files from the \i386 folder of your WinXP CD to A:\
ntldr
ntdetect.com
- Create a file a:\boot.ini with these lines
[Boot Loader]
Timeout=3
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
- Boot the machine with this floppy

What do you get?



Hi Mickey,

Thank you for your input,

yes the restore discs are pre sp2 but I think they sp1 on them as they are
2003 but I am not certain.

Yes the disc is 250gb

thanks again Mike



:

the jumper is set to cable select or master?

:

I am looking for any help with the following problem. I recently
bought a
new hard drive. I fitted it, and used a cd from the manufacturers to
format
it. My PC recognised it and I reloaded all my embedded software on to
the
new drive.

The OC seemed to work normally until I tried to restart and I received
the
following message on restarting my PC.

unmountable boot drive:

this was on a blue screen with white writing. The was firther text
stating
that if I had changed any software or hardware to try again or remove
it.

My system is a
packard bell i media 5096
intel pentium 4 2. 66 Ghz

The new drive appears to be working properly but will not re boot.

Can any one help please or point me in the direction of someone who
can?

Thank you for taking the time to read this

 

[Guest]

Hi D69,

I shall give it ago after I have eaten. I will let you know what happens.

Mikec

I just meant , he hasn't responded back.

Do you need to swap drives again??
of course you have to put the hard drive back in the original PC.
what kind of question is that?

yes. put floppy in drive before booting. You should here floppy drive click
or floppy drive light come on. probably growl a little bit too. that way you
know it has booted from floppy.

if it doesn't boot from floppy, let me know.

if it worked copy 3 files to root directory (C:\ ). if prompted to
overwrite, say yes/ok.
obviously they worked or computer wouldn't have booted.

good luck.

Hi D69,

Thank you for that it is a little clearer. I have done as you suggested and
created a boot.ini configuration file.

Do I now need to swap drives again and and when the new disc fails to boot,
reboot with the floppy in the drive? I will await further instructions.

I do not know where pegasus is. I am in the uk, I think he maybe in the us
but I am guessing.

Thanks again,

Mikec

where is Pegasus?

you formatted a floppy using XP system.
copied ntdetect.com and ntldr to formatted floppy

create or copy a boot.ini file to floppy
yes. use wordpad or notepad to create. type in text or copy from post.
substitute Win XP Home in place of xp pro. it just the title/name. no biggy.

Before saving, use "Save as" , for select "Save in" , chose "A" floppy drive.

then in "file name", type boot.ini then select save.

you don't want to overwrite boot.ini on computer that you are using.



4. Do I substitute home for professional as I have the home edition

:

hi P,

I have inserted my old disc and taken the files from the windows folder
i386, is that okay. I could not find them in the Packerd bell cd's.

Mike

:

Hi Pegasus,

Good shout it seems a logical step to take thanks. However a couple of minor
questions.

1. I do not have a windows xp disc as it is embedded. Are the files in the
system discs that I use to restore my PC?

2. I take it that both ntldr ntdetect.com are located in that disc.

3. What tool do I use to create the boot.ini, wordpad or similar and save
it as a .inin file. Will it not just be a text file.

4. Do I substitute home for professional as I have the home edition?

Sorry to be thick but I have never done this before. I thank for your
patience.

Mike

:

I suggest you find out if the problem you see is caused
by the boot process or by Windows itself. To do this
you need to boot the machine with a WinXP floppy
boot disk. Here is how you make one:

- Format a floppy disk on some other WinXP/2000 PC via
Explorer or a Command Prompt. Don't do it on a Win9x PC -
it won't work.
- Copy these files from the \i386 folder of your WinXP CD to A:\
ntldr
ntdetect.com
- Create a file a:\boot.ini with these lines
[Boot Loader]
Timeout=3
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
- Boot the machine with this floppy

What do you get?



Hi Mickey,

Thank you for your input,

yes the restore discs are pre sp2 but I think they sp1 on them as they are
2003 but I am not certain.

Yes the disc is 250gb

thanks again Mike



:

the jumper is set to cable select or master?

:

I am looking for any help with the following problem. I recently
bought a
new hard drive. I fitted it, and used a cd from the manufacturers to
format
it. My PC recognised it and I reloaded all my embedded software on to
the
new drive.

The OC seemed to work normally until I tried to restart and I received
the
following message on restarting my PC.

unmountable boot drive:

this was on a blue screen with white writing. The was firther text
stating
that if I had changed any software or hardware to try again or remove
it.

My system is a
packard bell i media 5096
intel pentium 4 2. 66 Ghz

The new drive appears to be working properly but will not re boot.

Can any one help please or point me in the direction of someone who
can?

Thank you for taking the time to read this

 

[Guest]

Hi D69, Peg and All,

Firstly the good news, the boot floppy worked, yes I make good boot floppies
just the dog’s bollocks of floppys

However that was as good as it got. On booting up I was taken to screen
which gave me the option of starting xp or fastdetect.

I tried both the windows xp option took me to a screen which said we
apologise for the inconvenience but windows did not start successfully. I
had some other options such as starting various safe modes or just opening
normally.

I tried all of these option but I was taken to the original blue screen with
the message unmountable boot disc.

The fast detect just looped around to the floppy and rebooted to the windows
did not start properly screen

All suggestions at this point gratefully received!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mikec

Hi D69,

I shall give it ago after I have eaten. I will let you know what happens.

Mikec

I just meant , he hasn't responded back.

Do you need to swap drives again??
of course you have to put the hard drive back in the original PC.
what kind of question is that?

yes. put floppy in drive before booting. You should here floppy drive click
or floppy drive light come on. probably growl a little bit too. that way you
know it has booted from floppy.

if it doesn't boot from floppy, let me know.

if it worked copy 3 files to root directory (C:\ ). if prompted to
overwrite, say yes/ok.
obviously they worked or computer wouldn't have booted.

good luck.

Hi D69,

Thank you for that it is a little clearer. I have done as you suggested and
created a boot.ini configuration file.

Do I now need to swap drives again and and when the new disc fails to boot,
reboot with the floppy in the drive? I will await further instructions.

I do not know where pegasus is. I am in the uk, I think he maybe in the us
but I am guessing.

Thanks again,

Mikec

:

where is Pegasus?

you formatted a floppy using XP system.
copied ntdetect.com and ntldr to formatted floppy

create or copy a boot.ini file to floppy
yes. use wordpad or notepad to create. type in text or copy from post.
substitute Win XP Home in place of xp pro. it just the title/name. no biggy.

Before saving, use "Save as" , for select "Save in" , chose "A" floppy drive.

then in "file name", type boot.ini then select save.

you don't want to overwrite boot.ini on computer that you are using.



4. Do I substitute home for professional as I have the home edition

:

hi P,

I have inserted my old disc and taken the files from the windows folder
i386, is that okay. I could not find them in the Packerd bell cd's.

Mike

:

Hi Pegasus,

Good shout it seems a logical step to take thanks. However a couple of minor
questions.

1. I do not have a windows xp disc as it is embedded. Are the files in the
system discs that I use to restore my PC?

2. I take it that both ntldr ntdetect.com are located in that disc.

3. What tool do I use to create the boot.ini, wordpad or similar and save
it as a .inin file. Will it not just be a text file.

4. Do I substitute home for professional as I have the home edition?

Sorry to be thick but I have never done this before. I thank for your
patience.

Mike

:

I suggest you find out if the problem you see is caused
by the boot process or by Windows itself. To do this
you need to boot the machine with a WinXP floppy
boot disk. Here is how you make one:

- Format a floppy disk on some other WinXP/2000 PC via
Explorer or a Command Prompt. Don't do it on a Win9x PC -
it won't work.
- Copy these files from the \i386 folder of your WinXP CD to A:\
ntldr
ntdetect.com
- Create a file a:\boot.ini with these lines
[Boot Loader]
Timeout=3
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
- Boot the machine with this floppy

What do you get?



Hi Mickey,

Thank you for your input,

yes the restore discs are pre sp2 but I think they sp1 on them as they are
2003 but I am not certain.

Yes the disc is 250gb

thanks again Mike



:

the jumper is set to cable select or master?

:

I am looking for any help with the following problem. I recently
bought a
new hard drive. I fitted it, and used a cd from the manufacturers to
format
it. My PC recognised it and I reloaded all my embedded software on to
the
new drive.

The OC seemed to work normally until I tried to restart and I received
the
following message on restarting my PC.

unmountable boot drive:

this was on a blue screen with white writing. The was firther text
stating
that if I had changed any software or hardware to try again or remove
it.

My system is a
packard bell i media 5096
intel pentium 4 2. 66 Ghz

The new drive appears to be working properly but will not re boot.

Can any one help please or point me in the direction of someone who
can?

Thank you for taking the time to read this