Laptop Os (winxp) Boot Problems Refusing to boot from HDD and CD-Drive

So, I'm not sure if this is the right board to post this but since it primarily involves my laptop not running the operating system, i'll post it here.Currently, or previously I should say, my laptop ran Windows XP. I have been recommended by some people to try Linux so after downloading a version of it and put it on a CD, i was ready to go. If all failed I was going to install "2000 Pro" again because it ran better on my laptop. One day last week I went to turn it on and it said a file in the system directory was missing. "Oh deary me" i thought so I turned it off and back on again. Same error. The problem arises because I took the DVD Boot option off so I can't boot anything from CD. So the linux CD won't work either. So I went and got the four Diskettes and put the first one in only to get an I/O error. So now I am completely stuck. Nowhere to go.So I was wondering if there was a floppy disk I could download that would allow me access to some of the laptop so I could at least make it so it boots up from CD first. Any ideas?

Edited April 15, 2005 by microscopic^earthling (see edit history)

Wouldn't your Boot Order Options be in your Laptop's BIOS ? That's how it is determined on all systems - and you don't really need to boot to get to your BIOS. For most systems, right after the POST (Power On Self Test) Screen, pressing the Del key or the F10 key takes you to your BIOS Setup - and you can make the system boot from CD again by changing the Boot Order in there. Just set the first boot device to be your CD/DVD Drive. Try this first - this is the most likely solution.

 

Also you need to let us know what exactly did you do to your system - i.e. how far did you go with your linux installation, which partition did you install it to and what your present partitioning scheme is. Without all these information it won't be possible to help you recover your data.

No that's the problem, I didn't install Linux. I went to turn on the computer one day and it wouldn't load. It was just a conincidence that I wanted to turn on my laptop to save work so I could install Linux. Maybe Bill is spying on me. But it doesn't get to the screen where I have to press DELETE, its way before many things load up.And was my title really that bad that it needed to be changed? It takes away the freedom community feel. I mean, on the list of 20 new topics at the bottom, I don't have a clue what at least ten of them are about. At least mine did that. I guess I just find it annoying.

Lol.. don't worry about the title. It's not about being good or bad - we're just modifying them a little bit - to make them more search engine sensitive. It's got nothing to do with your titling abilities Besides we do that to only interesting threads - the rest remain the same. The earlier title simply read Operating System Problem - that didn't say much about what kind of problem you have or what platform you're using. In order for this thread to get a good ranking on search engines, the title must contain a few keywords that can relate to the body of the message - thus I snipped it a little bit. Don't be offended.

Sorry! I was a bit cranky earlier

Sorry! I was a bit cranky earlier 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's perfectly alright. Could you possibly provide us with a console view of all the messages your laptop displays on boot up? An I'm assuming it doesn't get to the part of the bootup process in which the screen scrolls, but I fit does, make a note of that, and put those messages up as well. Then we can have a better understanding of what exactly going on. Also, system specs (especially manufacturer, model, and year of laptop) would be helpful.

 

~Viz

I beleive you have more of a hardware problem. This kind of error usualy only occurs when your hard drive is corupt, or is not recognised properly by your BIOS.I suggest, first, using a Windows 98/ME bootdisk, if you have one available to you. The bootdisks from those systems actualy load a version of DOS into your RAM, which I have found to be quite useful, especialy since they also load CD-ROM support.From DOS, after using the bootdisk, you can try reinstalling Windows 2000. You will need four formatted floppy disks to make the windows 2000 instalation bootdisks which are required for installation from DOS.Just insert the Windows 2000 CD after booting up with CD ROM Support, and type MAKEBOOT at the prompt. If that does not work, try switching to drive D by typing D: at the command prompt before typing MAKEBOOT again.Just follow the instructions from there, which will appear on the screen.If you dont have access to a Windows 98/ME Bootdisk, than the next best thing would be an installation diskette for MS DOS.If you go through the installation, but upon restarting your computer, you get the same error, than I would see about getting your BIOS Updated, before trying the same thing again. If again it does not work, than it is definatly your Hard Drive, and you will need to have it replaced.

I beleive you have more of a hardware problem. This kind of error usualy only occurs when your hard drive is corupt, or is not recognised properly by your BIOS.

 

I suggest, first, using a Windows 98/ME bootdisk, if you have one available to you. The bootdisks from those systems actualy load a version of DOS into your RAM, which I have found to be quite useful, especialy since they also load CD-ROM support.

 

From DOS, after using the bootdisk, you can try reinstalling Windows 2000. You will need four formatted floppy disks to make the windows 2000 instalation bootdisks which are required for installation from DOS.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

An earlier post mentioned using DEL or F10 to access the BIOS - although this may not apply to you, PhoenixBIOS is usually accessed by pressing F2.

 

Go to AllBootDisks.com and to BootDisk.com.

 

There are a number of possible solutions and disk images listed there.