(Impossible) Hard Drive Problem

Discussion in 'Storage Devices' started by StavrosCO, Nov 23, 2006.

  1. StavrosCO

    StavrosCO Geek Trainee

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    The following is a problem that has taken every idea I could think of and stomped it into failure.

    I have a SATA Seagate ST3250823AS 250 GB Hard Drive that for some reason EVERY time I boot my boot process halts on:

    DISK BOOT FAILURE: INSERT SYSTEM DISC AND PRESS ENTER

    However if I have my Windows XP CD in drive and have the boot order set to check CD-ROM before Hard Disk, all I have to do is wait for it to tell me press any key to boot from CD and without doing anything it continues normally.

    Fortunately this isn't a crippling problem, however it is very annoying to need to have my XP cd in my drive for every boot, especially because I'm often moving my computer from college to home, and about for LAN parties.

    Here are my system specs:
    AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Processor @ 2.00Ghz
    Some kind of Corsair RAM 2X 512Mb sticks
    Seagate ST3250823AS 250 Gb SATA Hard Drive
    Maxtor 6L080J4 80 GB IDE Hard Drive
    Samsung SP0842N 80 Gb IDE Hard Drive
    ASUS A8N Deluxe SLI Motherboard
    Nvidia Geforce 6800 GT 256Mb

    And here's what I've tried so far:
    1.) All motherboard drivers are current
    2.) I tried removing the other two hard drives and definitely know the problem is with the SATA drive
    3.) I've tried using the Windows Recovery Console to repair the Master Boot Record and rewrite the Boot Sector
    4.) I've tried using the chkdsk /r command from Windows Recovery Console
    5.) I've tried using the Windows XP scan for Errors Tool
    6.) I've tried a clean format of the drive
    7.) I've tried two new SATA cables
    8.) I've tried all four of the SATA slots on my Motherboard
    9.) I read on some other website someone solved this problem by replacing the Motherboard battery, which didn't work for me

    So basically I'm at my wits end. Does anyone have any other ideas? Or did my Hard Drive just crap out on me? I've had it for probably 6 months and the problem started only recently but I can't think of anything else to try...

    Any help would be greatly appreciated!

    Cheers!
     
  2. Karanislove

    Karanislove It's D Grav80 Of Luv

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    Check your floppy drive......if there is any floppy inside?
     
  3. StavrosCO

    StavrosCO Geek Trainee

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    There is no floppy in my floppy drive...
     
  4. donkey42

    donkey42 plank

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    that would have been my first thought, you :swear:er karen

    but have you tried a BIOS reset ?[ot]obviously check the boot order after the reset[/ot]
     
  5. megamaced

    megamaced Geek Geek Geek!

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    I am not quite sure I understand your problem. Are you saying that booting from CD works fine but booting from hard disk does not?

    If that's the case, it sounds as if your boot partition has become corrupt.

    Boot your computer using the CD-ROM, choose 'Repair' and go into the Recovery Console. At the command line type:

    Code:
    fixmbr
    Restart your computer
     
  6. StavrosCO

    StavrosCO Geek Trainee

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    Yes booting normally from the Hard Drive results in the error, but if I have my XP CD in the drive, all it has to do is detect it's there, give me prompt to press any key to boot off of CD, but even if I don't press anything it still boots fine.

    Unfortunately I've already tried fixmbr and it didn't work...

    I haven't tried resetting the BIOS, I'll try that now
     
  7. StavrosCO

    StavrosCO Geek Trainee

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    Updating my BIOS did the trick! Thanks for all the help guys!

    Cheers!
     
  8. donkey42

    donkey42 plank

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    np, but a BIOS upgrade is not recomended, a BIOS reset is much safer, cos if anything goes wrong during a BIOS update you will perminently kill your mobo[ot]turn your mobo into a very pretty paperweight[/ot]but glad you fixed it :good:
     

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