dolly1

Hi I have tried that & cant seenm to do it!!
The error message is
disc boot failure insert system disc & press enter
can any one help?
Thanks

jrwclark

This sounds like a hardware problem, as it not even loading the operating system. Maybe the a disk drive IDE cable has come loose during transit.
It may be worth taking the case off the PC (unplugged from the mains!) and checking the cables are securely connected. If you do not feel confident doing this then take it into a computer repair shop.

bondipom

Possibilities are
1 You have a floppy disk in the drive
2 Your hard drive has failed (get new drive or warranty replacement)
3 Your hard drive has become disconnected (open up and reseat cables)
4 You boot sector has become corrupted (reinstall windows)

If you can boot of the XP CD and it can see a hard drive then 4 four is the answer.

dolly1

Hi thanks for the reply - ill let you know if it works!!

cherry6

Wow Deja Vu! That is exactly what happned to my PC when I unpacked it after moving here from the UK. I have an Emachine (PC World). When I tried to run the disc that came with it (which had XP and restore on it) it wouldnt do a thing. My PC was only a few months old so I rang PC World and they basically guessed that maybe the disc that was supplied was faulty, so I couldnt reinstall the XP. So now my machine was restored, but I needed the disc in order to have the XP. In the end I contacted a great PC guy down here in Rockingham, he ran some tests on the PC and could find nothing wrong with it, he installed XP on it and burnt me my own copy. And I claimed the cost of that off the removal company, as I told them it was due to their crap removals.

markeh

Dolly,
did it work?

If not then reinstall XP. Never had a problem with it not installing, but getting updates online may be a problem because the known "copied / pirated" serial no's are blocked.

I'm facing doing the same on my machine upstairs that had a virus.
I've put it off for 6 months, buying a new laptop instead!

bye
Mark

bondipom

Having the system recognise that a hard drive is there is the first step.

stephenwhite68

Not having a go ...
and maybe its because i work with computers and am abit of a geek.
But surely you should unpack your drive from the case before you ship it and wrap it in a Static bag and carry it with you on the plane?
Thats what i am doing ?

Then just put the thing back together when you get there ?

(for anyone who is thinking of this, its really not that hard)

cherry6

I am sure its not that hard - if you think of it or know enough about computers to consider it!!! I came out here with 3 young kids on my own, left husband behind and had enough to sort out without dismantling a PC. Besides I wouldnt know a hard drive if it ran over me in a Chevy.

cherry6

What I had with mine was complete non recognition of everything. When I switched it on it never really booted, just displayed the message Dolly mentioned she had on hers. The only thing I thought to do was insert the disc that had Windows XP on it, this was also the restore disc and so i ahd to restore the system before it would install XP. Of course what I didnt realise was that the XP was corrupted and therefore wouldnt load anyway. I lost all my files for nothing

stephenwhite68

Lol ...
like i said, i was not having a go ....
and in your circumstances im sure you did the correct thing, my comments where more aimed at any people who are still to leave (try and make them realise that they can take it out and if they want to, to ask and someone can tell them how)
Hope all is going well in Perth now ...

2 weeks and counting !!!

cherry6

Oh I know you werent having a go

And what you have suggested is a great idea for those who are still to leave. Certainly if you rely on your computer (as I do) you should do all you can to keep it OK.
And Perth is great, I love it here and we are just about to buy our first house here

worzel

I had a similar problem a few years ago (Win 98) after I installed a new CD-RW drive. After an hours panicing I discovered that the cable connecting all the drives together was barely long enough and I had managed to pull it away from the hard drive. I gave it a push and it worked fine after that.

But don't get me started on Norton Anti-Virus. Every year for the last 3 years I have either installed it or updated it and in 2 of those years I ended up spending hours surfing the net for tips on how to improve speed, stop it crashing etc and one year I had to go for a complete reformat of the hard drive. It took about 6 hours to download IE6 and all the patches using dial up, a similar time to download everything else and about a week before I had it running the way I liked it. Having said that I put McAfee Security Suite on my parents PC last weekend and it was awful to use when you are used to Norton.