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Windows Forum / Windows XP / Basics / February 2006xpp home wont boot from HD
My Father got a computer from my brother with xp home on it. I spent some time removing all the junk on it and adding things for him to use. I added a new network dialup for an ISP I signed him up for and it checked ok, I was then changing the email login when the computer locked up. I rebooted and it would not recognize the HD. I just get a - at the top of the screen. I removed the HD and put it on my computer and it looked ok. I copied the HD (files) to my HD. I then reformatted and copied back all his files. It still wont boot from his HD. So I downloaded a XP boot disk that has > boot.ini > ntdetect.com > ntldr on it, it boots from the floppy and loads into XP on his computer with his HD as long as I boot to the floppy first. So I know everything is ok. However I cant make it boot from his HD Drive 0 without booting to the floppy first. I also tried booting into safe mode. Same problem. I copied all the files to C: but it still wont boot. I tried booting with my XP pro cd into the recovery consol but it wants the Admin password and I dont know it nor does he and my brother forgot it. I tried to change it with a linux floppy that goes through the motions except changing the password which doesnt change. I only have XP pro and nobody has a xp home CD. I am guessing that the MBR is bad but dont know how to fix it without the recovery consol. If I cant find an answer soon Ill have to put a copy of XP pro on it but it wont be legal which the XP home was. Does anybody know how to get the computer to boot from the HD? Thanks I also used part magic to check the HD that drive C was active and it was. I also checked the admin tools drive info and its also active there and OK. > My Father got a computer from my brother with xp home on it. I spent > some time removing all the junk on it and adding things for him to use. [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > > Thanks Hi, If you suspect the problem is the mbr (and it certainly sounds like it could be), boot with a Win98 floppy and run fdisk /mbr. This has the same effect as running fixmbr from the recovery console.  SignatureBest of Luck, Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/ Windows help - www.rickrogers.org > My Father got a computer from my brother with xp home on it. I spent some > time removing all the junk on it and adding things for him to use. I added [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > > Thanks Didn't work, I still just get a - and no boot. Larry > Hi, > > If you suspect the problem is the mbr (and it certainly sounds like it could > be), boot with a Win98 floppy and run fdisk /mbr. This has the same effect > as running fixmbr from the recovery console. Hi Larry, My next step would be to run fixboot from the Recovery Console, but since you don't know the admin password..... SignatureBest of Luck, Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/ Windows help - www.rickrogers.org > Didn't work, I still just get a - and no boot. > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >> could be), boot with a Win98 floppy and run fdisk /mbr. This has the same >> effect as running fixmbr from the recovery console. A wild thought, but any chance there is a small hidden partition before the XP partition? Some recovery/restoration programs use such things. I understand that Norton GHOST 2003 played with somehting like this, and could leave a PC unbootable, until one used a Symnatec tool to fix it. Anyway, if such a partition exists, then fixing the MBR might simply make it the boot partition. Of course, you want the XP partition to be the boot partiton. Thus, try running FDISK to see what partitions you have, and maybe that will lead to some insight. The second link below has good screen shots of FDISK in action, with info about options. In fact, you can walk-through a simulated FDISK session on their website, without actually running FDISK. Links to using FDISK: http://www.fdisk.com/home/ http://www.computerhope.com/sfdisk1.htm http://www.onecomputerguy.com/install/fdisk.htm http://www.karbosguide.com/hardware/module6a6.htm See the following for bootable floppy images, include a special FDISK for disks > 64 Gig. Link also has "setup disks for XP", which can run its recovery console form a multi-flopy set. http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm > My Father got a computer from my brother with xp home on it. I spent some > time removing all the junk on it and adding things for him to use. I added [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > > Thanks Yes you were right, there was a small partition in front. It was an IBM computer. Too late now I wiped the HD and reformatted it and installed win XP pro. Although they will not be able to update it since its not activated on that computer. Thanks > A wild thought, but any chance there is a small hidden partition before the > XP partition? Some recovery/restoration programs use such things. I [quoted text clipped - 52 lines] >> >> Thanks |
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