Forum

> > Off Topic > Boot Failure. Help!
Forums overviewOff Topic overviewLog in to reply

English Boot Failure. Help!

19 replies
To the start Previous 1 Next To the start

old Boot Failure. Help!

palomino
User Off Offline

Quote
A'ight guys, this is my friend here. His friend sent him a link to some site, which would help him in his school project. After following the link, his PC got screwed up, so he had to restart the PC. After turned on, his PC gives him "Boot failure, insert diskette in A: Press any key" The problem is that it happens every time his PC turns on. He is on Windows XP.
He doesn't have the OS disc, nor does he know much about hardware stuff, like me, so don't say "Just pull this pin into another and that's it". It's his parent's PC, so he is pretty much screwed. Anyone, please help.

old Re: Boot Failure. Help!

Surplus
User Off Offline

Quote
More info? What created it etc.

The only current way i know is to click F6 or F8 (dont remember witch one) and enter safe mode, then restore a point.

If it sayes it DIRECTLY when you start the PC (Without showing the boot thing). Your friend is screwed.

old Re: Boot Failure. Help!

Refresh
User Off Offline

Quote
Maybe the BIOS has been modified so it won't load Windows. There is a place like 'boot device priority' and you can fix this problem, but I'm not sure if this works.

old Re: Boot Failure. Help!

DannyDeth
User Off Offline

Quote
Here is a little tip for you, Sunny, seeing you are a Linux fan.

Being a Linux dude, you should know GRUB.
Create a Live GRUB installer CD and insert it into his drive. It should boot automagically ( ), if not, change the boot order in the BIOS, or, if it is a Dell computer, press F12 and and select the CD drive from the menu.

Then, once installed, get a Linux LiveCD and edit the /boot/grub/menu.lst file to include this code:
1
2
3
title Windows_XP
root (hd0,0)
chainloader +1
And it should boot. Unless Windows got corrupted. If that happened, then you are just plain screwed

old Re: Boot Failure. Help!

palomino
User Off Offline

Quote
He went into the BIOS, and found Advanced BIOS Features. There he found the First, Second and Third Boot devices. All of them are Disabled. The problem is that he can only set them to either "Disabled" or "CD something-really-long-name". There is no HDD-0 option.
DannyDeth has written
Here is a little tip for you, Sunny, seeing you are a Linux fan.

Being a Linux dude, you should know GRUB.
Create a Live GRUB installer CD and insert it into his drive. It should boot automagically ( ), if not, change the boot order in the BIOS, or, if it is a Dell computer, press F12 and and select the CD drive from the menu.

Then, once installed, get a Linux LiveCD and edit the /boot/grub/menu.lst file to include this code:
1
2
3
title Windows_XP
root (hd0,0)
chainloader +1
And it should boot. Unless Windows got corrupted. If that happened, then you are just plain screwed

I of course know GRUB. Problem is, he lives 45 km from me. Any other ideas?

old Re: Boot Failure. Help!

DannyDeth
User Off Offline

Quote
Rewrite the entire thing and mail that along with the CD's to his house?

Idk really, if you cannot boot into an operating system then there is no high-level support and therefore I cannot give you a way to do it that will be easy for a non-technical guy like him. Either drive the 45 kilometres or he will have to call Dial-A-Nerd

old Re: Boot Failure. Help!

palomino
User Off Offline

Quote
DannyDeth has written
he will have to call Dial-A-Nerd

He already did. He called me.
Anyways, as he doesn't have any other options than Disabled or the crappy-cd-thing-that-has-a-long-name, my guess is that his HD is fucked up. That's bad.
I told him to tell his parents that his friend is a fucktard, sent him a screw-up-link and it fucked up.
Maybe you guys got any other ideas?

old Re: Boot Failure. Help!

DannyDeth
User Off Offline

Quote
"God, do I have to double explain?" : "Yes, you do." : "Aww, okay!"

Change it to crappy-cd-thing-long-name!!!
Jesus! Save my temper for the funeral.

old Re: Boot Failure. Help!

palomino
User Off Offline

Quote
The third device is changed to the crappy-cd-thing-long-name. So, the PC goes for the first, sees it's disabled, goes to the second, same thing, goes to the third, tries it and fails.

old Re: Boot Failure. Help!

Surplus
User Off Offline

Quote
1. Kick your PC with your leg
2. ???
3. Profit?

Just let him confess it to his parents. In Estonia day is over so He/She is proprably busted.

old Re: Boot Failure. Help!

KimKat
GAME BANNED Off Offline

Quote
Well, all I can say is this "you walked on a mine, lost the battle, but not the war" unless you decide now to give up and not go through all the painful fixes and all that. What I could recommend to you right now is to save the files from the infected PC of course you'd need some sort of Live CD of let's say Ubuntu, it's a OS that will pretty much save you, I have experienced no crashes so far, so it's pretty reliable and runs of a CD, USB-stick, so please use Ubuntu for saving files. It's quick and easy to boot up, from there you'd perhaps need a USB or CD which you can use to store the files in. For the infected PC I'd recommend getting it fixed by installing Windows XP again using a CD, last option would be to leave it as it is and explain what has happened to your parents and hope that nothing will happen to you.

Success! √
edited 1×, last 29.03.11 08:17:14 pm

old Re: Boot Failure. Help!

palomino
User Off Offline

Quote
I am using Ubuntu.

Anyways, by the look of everything, it seems that his HD got wiped clean. That's bad.
Oh and, PPP, I live in Estonia too

old Re: Boot Failure. Help!

palomino
User Off Offline

Quote
PartyPooPer has written
@Winter Autumn

I already knew that you lived in Estonia...

Stalker next door?

old Re: Boot Failure. Help!

KimKat
GAME BANNED Off Offline

Quote
Sunny Autumn has written
I am using Ubuntu.

Anyways, by the look of everything, it seems that his HD got wiped clean. That's bad.
Oh and, PPP, I live in Estonia too
You sure? the harddrive is located at /dev/sda. hd0 is the main harddrive, so if you've missed it just a heads up. Hopefully all files didn't get deleted? right?

sda = hd0
sdb = hd1

old Re: Boot Failure. Help!

palomino
User Off Offline

Quote
KimKat7 has written
Sunny Autumn has written
I am using Ubuntu.

Anyways, by the look of everything, it seems that his HD got wiped clean. That's bad.
Oh and, PPP, I live in Estonia too
You sure? the harddrive is located at /dev/sda. hd0 is the main harddrive, so if you've missed it just a heads up. Hopefully all files didn't get deleted? right?

sda = hd0
sdb = hd1

HIS hd got wiped, not MINE. If it was mine I wouldn't be so calm
To the start Previous 1 Next To the start
Log in to replyOff Topic overviewForums overview