Member Avatar for ArtChess

OK here's my scenario - I just recenlty started worknig for a company - and they have Dell 260 Towers with 2 HD's in it. The OS is XP Pro - SP2 *this company doesn't believe in SP3*??? WTF right?

Anyway. Everytime I go to start>Run>msconfig and choose the Boot.ini tab and choose SAFE boot - the computer totally hangs and never makes it out of the POST and never boots up all the way??

I also notice that both HD have the same jumper settings all the way to the RIGHT of course if I'm holding it down upside down it's all the way to the left ..i'm holding it in a way that the writiing WD200 Western Digital is facing up.

So how should the jumpers be set on the HD and how should the boot.ini read?

  • 2 Contributors
  • 2 Replies
  • 123 Views
  • 1 Day Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by ArtChess

Dani AI

Generated

A POST hang after toggling a Windows boot option usually means the problem is at the firmware/hardware level rather than the OS loader. Given 's note that both disks share the same jumper setting and ' direction toward normal Safe Mode access, focus first on isolating IDE/drive issues (jumper/cable/BIOS) before changing boot.ini further.

Practical isolation steps:

  • Power down, unplug, ground yourself, then remove power and data cables before touching jumpers.
  • Check the sticker or silk-screen on each drive for the exact jumper positions for “master”, “slave”, and “cable select” for that model; set the intended boot drive to the single/master position and the second drive to slave (or both to CS only if the ribbon is a cable-select-equipped assembly).
  • Re-seat the ribbon cable so the end connector goes to the boot/master drive; confirm the cable’s red stripe aligns to pin 1 on the motherboard. Try booting with only the primary drive connected to see if POST completes.

BIOS and diagnostics:

  • Enter BIOS/CMOS and confirm the drives are enumerated correctly. Note any beep codes or POST messages and consult the motherboard manual.
  • If POST still fails, clear CMOS, remove extra RAM and peripherals, and try again. Once POST completes, run a drive manufacturer diagnostic (bootable media) to rule out a failing drive. After hardware is healthy, use the F8 menu for Safe Mode or edit msconfig/boot.ini back to normal.

Typical minimal boot.ini for a single-NTLDR XP installation looks like this:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
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

Avoid adding a /safeboot switch until the machine reliably passes POST; hardware issues must be resolved first.

Recommended Answers

All 2 Replies

Member Avatar for OlyComputers

If it's working like that then all the way to the right must be "cable select".

I'm a little confused here, are you talking about one system or all of their systems (you used both tenses)? If it's just one system convince them to let you install SP3 on that one. It's not at all uncommon to wait for service packs, if you're not experiencing issues with your system and there isn't a new feature you need there's no point to rush on a service pack installation. I usually wait 2-6 months to install a new service packs on existing systems.

As for the safeboot option, you should never have to set this manually since selecting options from the F8 Menu will do the same thing on a case by case basis.

Member Avatar for ArtChess

Thank you your the BEST! If your ever in NJ area mid Jersey shoot me an email and I'll buy you lunch!

If it's working like that then all the way to the right must be "cable select".

I'm a little confused here, are you talking about one system or all of their systems (you used both tenses)? If it's just one system convince them to let you install SP3 on that one. It's not at all uncommon to wait for service packs, if you're not experiencing issues with your system and there isn't a new feature you need there's no point to rush on a service pack installation. I usually wait 2-6 months to install a new service packs on existing systems.

As for the safeboot option, you should never have to set this manually since selecting options from the F8 Menu will do the same thing on a case by case basis.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.