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XP won't boot


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#1
dennis3484

dennis3484

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Hello,

unfortunately I had to reinstall Windows cause PartitionMagic [bleep]ed up the MFT of 2 partitions, but I could restore the whole data with "Restorer2000".

At this chance I've changed the whole partitions of my main HDD and reinstalled Windows XP. Now there's a problem: Windows won't boot without the Windows CD! If it's not inserted, there comes the following error: "DISK BOOT FAILURE. INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER".


I've tried something else. After installing ubuntu, it writes GRUB into the MBR. But same problem here: GRUB doesn't appear when I reboot. If I try to boot the 1st Harddisk from the ubuntu-CD, there comes the following error:
Booting from local disk
isolinux: Disk error 05, AX = 0000, drive 80

Boot failed: press a key to retry...

I've found something in the Ubuntu forums and made a BIOS upgrade, but didn't help.
If I boot from the Windows-CD, GRUB is there and I can boot what I want (Linux, Windows).

Last but not least: I've disconnected the IDE drive for a while and installed Windows XP on one of the SATA drives. Same problem here: It doesn't boot! Only when the CD is inserted and the following boot sequence is configured:

1st: Floppy
2nd: CD
3rd: HDD

If I swap the 2nd and 3rd the CD boots into the Windows installation.

What could this be? It seems the MBR is corrupted and can't be repaired the normal ways. I've also tried "fixmbr" and "fixboot" without any success and the MBR options of "TestDisk" too.


Please help me! Thanks a lot,
Dennis
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#2
-OCM770-

-OCM770-

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I dont know why anyone posted in reply but i just read this and, well i had a very similar problem with a partitioning tool, the difference? i made my main my main partition smaller by accident, causing it not to boot, "Windows has encountered a hardware error please contact the administrator for assistence press any key to reboot."

It was the worse shock of my life.

Anyway, Youre pretty much stuck i believe, so if you can make a backup of all your stuff and reformate your HD with XP CD and install XP, then Unbuntu.
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