Disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter

[chaoticabyss99]

I haven't used my desktop in over a year because something was wrong. It would start, but only for under a minute. I assumed it was a heat issue and noticed the fan on my power supply wasn't moving. So, I replaced the power supply. Then something else appeared to be wrong so I took it to the shop. They said my mobo was bad and then said my brand new power supply was shot too. I just replaced my mobo tonight and fired it up. It let me get into the setup screen when I pressed f1, or I could continue by pressing f2. First, I pressed f1 and got into the setup screen. Then about a minute later, the computer shut off. I fired it up again and hit f2 this time. I get a message saying, "disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter." The fan on my power supply is spinning like it's normal. My questions are why us it shutting down and why do I get the message I got?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Ryan

[sparkax]

Before considering a faulty drive-
Check the boot sequence in the BIOS.
set CD rom Drive as first choice.
I this fails -the mbr file may be corrupt.
Use the Repair Consol and try "fixmbr"

Good Luck

[Rik from RCE]

Unless the new mobo is identical to the old one, it will need a new windows install anyhow.

[chaoticabyss99]

I changed the boot sequence and put cd rom first. I saved and continued. Again I got the "disk boot failure" message. I put in my recovery cd and it said could not perform recovery because no hard drive was found. Is it safe to assume my hdd is dead and I need a new one? And if so, I just bought an external hdd. Could I just use that? Or is that only good for backups and I do need an internal hdd?

To Rik from RCE: it is an identical motherboard that I just put in. Thanks for the info though. It might come in handy in the future.

Thanks
Ryan

[Rik from RCE]

You either have a dodgy data cable or a dead hard drive if it does the same thing with 2 mobo's. A new data cable will be the cheapest thing to try.

[chaoticabyss99]

Is the cable red by any chance? I don't know if there's a standardized color chart for different cables or not so this could be something else. But after I got my computer back from the shop there's a red cable connected to the mobo but nothing else. Does this go to the hdd? The shop said my hdd had multiple viruses but they recovered all the data I requested. Did they just not put the cable back in place?

[Rik from RCE]

That does indeed sound like the data cable.
http://www.endpcnoise.com/e/images/sata_cable.jpg
If it looks like that then it should be plugged in to your hard drive provided the hard drive is also SATA.

[chaoticabyss99]

So I opened up the case again. Apparently the red cable goes to the hdd. And I didn't have any power to the hdd. I connected the two cables and tried again. On the initial screen that comes up, towards the bottom it says "floppy disk(s) fail (80)". I press f2 to continue. Now I get the option to start windows normally, safe mode, etc. I try normal start. I get the Microsoft Windows XP screen like it's loading. Then it shuts off. Y does it keep shutting off?

[Rik from RCE]

Try safe mode.

[chaoticabyss99]

I tried safe mode. I got to the screen that says "windows is starting up" then it shuts off. WTF? If I plugged in my external hdd do u think that would make any difference?

[Rik from RCE]

The external will make absolutely no difference at all. You probably need to boot from your windows CD and do a repair.

[chaoticabyss99]

Ok thanks. I'll try that tonight when I get home from work.

[chaoticabyss99]

I tried booting from my windows cd. I got to a blue screen that said Windows Setup in the top left corner and at the bottom where the task bar usually is it said Setup Is Loading Files. Then it was showing all kinds of different drivers, controllers, adapters, etc. that were being loaded. After that it said Setup Is Starting Windows...then it shut off. I tried again, but didn't get as far before it shut off again. On the windows setup screen there was an option to hit f2 for Automated System Recovery. I tried this the third time, but yet again it shut off. Any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks

[Rik from RCE]

In that case you may have faulty ram. Google and get memtest and run it for at least 7 passes. If you get any errors at all then your ram needs to be replaced.

[chaoticabyss99]

I can't download memtest cuz my CPU won't stay on long enough. I have 2 512mb sticks and four slots. I tried each stick separately in each of the slots. One pass performed a chkdsk and it stayed on for about 6 1/2 minutes but then shut off when chkdsk was done. Every other time it shut down in under 2 minutes.

[Rik from RCE]

There is something very seriously wrong with your system, you may well need to take it to a professional.

[chaoticabyss99]

You may be right. One last thing. Is it possible that if the hdd has numerous viruses, that could be the cause of it shutting down all the time?

[Rik from RCE]

Nope! It's not possible if it shuts off while installing from your windows cd.

One thought occurs. The ram sticks, do they have any labels on them showing their speeds?

[chaoticabyss99]

Pc2-3200 ddr2 sdram

[Rik from RCE]

Are both sticks identical?