Computer wont boot due to 'EISA configuration'

[benn686]

I have a dell that died on me, I removed its hard drive (ntfs), and put
it in as a slave (via jumper) in another computer. With the new
computer, I accessed the drive's data, never deleting or changing
anything about it.

When I finally got my dell back (motherboard was replaced), I popped
the original drive back in (setting the jumper to master) but it wont
boot. The bios says that its an 'unknown device' and doesnt list any
heads/cylinders/etc.

I decided to put the drive onto a usb enclosure, and check it on
another computer using disk managment. This revealed that first 31MB
show up as a FAT HEALTH EISA Configuration partition. The remaining 32
GB show NTFS HEALTHY. I can map (assign a letter) to the NTFS part
with the drive in a usb enclosure and access all my files, but the
first FAT partition it can do nothing with it.

As far as I know, Ive always had only one NTFS partition, so, Im
wondering...
1) How did this EISA partition get there (when I used it as a slave),
or is it likely that its always been there?
2) Is this the problem why my computer can no longer boot from it, and
if so, how can I make it back to the way it was?

Thanks!

 

[Nepatsfan]

(e-mail address removed),

I have a dell that died on me, I removed its hard drive
(ntfs), and put it in as a slave (via jumper) in another
computer. With the new computer, I accessed the drive's
data, never deleting or changing anything about it.

When I finally got my dell back (motherboard was replaced),
I popped the original drive back in (setting the jumper to
master) but it wont boot. The bios says that its an
'unknown device' and doesnt list any heads/cylinders/etc.

I decided to put the drive onto a usb enclosure, and check
it on another computer using disk managment. This revealed
that first 31MB show up as a FAT HEALTH EISA Configuration
partition. The remaining 32 GB show NTFS HEALTHY. I can
map (assign a letter) to the NTFS part with the drive in a
usb enclosure and access all my files, but the first FAT
partition it can do nothing with it.

As far as I know, Ive always had only one NTFS partition,
so, Im wondering...
1) How did this EISA partition get there (when I used it as
a slave), or is it likely that its always been there?
2) Is this the problem why my computer can no longer boot
from it, and if so, how can I make it back to the way it was?

Thanks!

The EISA partition was always there. It contains Dell
diagnostic programs that can be run by hitting a certain key
when the computer first boots. The same programs are usually
available on a bootable CD that ships with the computer in case
the partition is deleted.

Was the replacement motherboard identical to the original? If
not, you may have to perform a repair installation of Windows
XP.

Courtesy of Michael Stevens MS-MVP
Changing a Motherboard
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html

XP Repair Install
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

Good luck

Nepatsfan

 

[Richard in AZ]

All Dell computers come with a hidden partition of approximately 31 megs. This partition has the
diagnostics program on it.
As to why it won't boot with the new MB, I suspect the Boot.ini file.
Can you get to the disk and read the boot.ini file (note this file will normally be a hidden file.)
On my Dell, the boot.ini file reads.

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect
/NoExecute=OptIn

Note the second line has the default to the windows OS on the (2) partition.

 

[paulmd]

Newer dells use the Cable Select setting, and do not work well with
master/slave settings.