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problem reformatting


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#1
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im using windows xp and recently, my computer got a virus and windows explorer basically has to shut down every 5 seconds. anyway, ive backed up the files that i wanted to keep, and now, id like to reformat my computer. so i insert the recovery cd into an external cd drive (because my internal cd drive has stopped working since i got this virus) and when i reboot my computer, it automatically reboots from the hard drive, even when i put "usb cd drive" as priority for boot device. so i tried taking hard drive away from the boot sequence altogether, and now i get the message: DISK BOOT FAILURE [...] INSERT SYSTEM DISK. its as if my computer cant read cd roms anymore... well, pls reply if u have any suggestions. thnk u!
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#2
Tyger

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The problem probably is that you don't have the drivers loaded for the usb device. You might be able to borrow a cd-rom from another computer and temporarily install it in yours. Actually from your description your cd-rom should work with the XP disk. It won't work with Windows but with the disk it might.

Can you tell us more about your system?
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#3
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Acer computer
Windows Xp SP2
3.0 GHz
512Mb RAM

But when im in windows, i can explore the recovery cd in "my computer"... so that means that the drivers are installed, right? i dont see why it doesnt detect the recovery cd when i reboot...
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#4
Kalian

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i agree with tyger. the virus shouldnt affect ure optical drive prior to windows load.

go to ure system bios and verify that the bios recognizes ure optical drive. it should be under primary for sata or ide. if its being recognized (if you see the name of ur optical drive under either category) then change the boot sequence so that it boots to the cdrom drive first.

insert the cd and exit and save changes to bios. upon restart it should say something like "press any key to boot to cd-rom drive"

from there press any key and follow the directions that the microsoft give you. Microsoft did an excellent job in facilitating the reformat process so you shouldnt have any problem from there.

anyways good luck and hope this helps somewhat
Kalian
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#5
peterm

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The problem is windows can not boot from an external device.
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#6
flexoman

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Does your internal CD show up in BIOS?

If so then your internal CD is working fine...Just set it as the first boot device.

If not then you might have a loose data cable (Or worse...Bad Data Cable).

Are you able to press eject button and the tray opens?....(You don't need to be in Windows to check this)

If so..Power is there...

If not then you're not getting power to the CD.

Open case and check all connections for being seated firmly.

If the CD Rom worked prior to the virus it should still work. There are viruses that are boot sector viruses but this only affects the HD.
I personally don't know or haven't heard of any viruses that infect the Bios code.

You can also reset the CMOS by lifting the jumper off and remounting it but you need to know where on your MB this jumper is.

Food For Thought.

Edited by flexoman, 29 July 2005 - 03:10 PM.

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#7
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thx evryone, i hope ur advice will help.

and...yes my internal cd drive does open and close but when i go to my computer, and i click on the internal cd drive icon, it always says, insert a disc into the drive...so im guessing the drive isnt reading cdroms...
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#8
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peter m....u said that windows cannot boot from an external device, but when i go to boot sequence, "USB CDROM" is an option for boot device. im guessing that "CDROM" is the internal cd drive and "USB CDROM" is the external cd drive...?
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#9
flexoman

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Actually you should be able to boot from the external CD Rom...

I have an external USB Floppy and I can boot from it so there's no reason you can't boot from your ext CD Rom unless of course there is a problem with your USB ports.....Maybe try another port....
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#10
Kalian

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The problem is windows can not boot from an external device.

View Post


i didnt know that :tazz:

anyways jpg?? you shouldnt even have to be booting to windows. Theres no need to check "my computer" and look to see if it recognizes the cd-rom drive or not.

the important thing is that the bios recognizes the internal drive, so that you can use that drive, to reformat the currently installed windows, so that next time around it will recognize ure optical drive that u used to reformat the hard disk.

because this is all happening prior to the hard disk boot, thus prior the windows loading stage, as long as the bios recognizes your optical drive, setting it as the primary boot device and loading it with the xp cd should do the trick.

if the bios is picking up your optical drive, but the optical drive still wont allow you to boot the windows xp cd, then you may want to trouble shoot a little further and try what tyger suggested. borrowing a working optical drive from another computer, temporarily installing it into you computer and seeing if that works. if it does then it is safe to conclude that you have a faulty cd-rom drive. and if it still doesnt pick up the new drive, then... well there are alot of things to look at.
such as did you connect all the cables correctly. pin settings on the drive. ide controller. etc etc.

but seriously. ive encountered this problem before and it was a quick fix. i had uninstalled sp2 in its beta stages because i was having alot of bug problems with it. and when i uninstalled it, it took the drivers with the cd-rom drive with it. the solution? i went into bios and saw that it still read the optical drive. so i set it as the primary boot device, inserted the windows xp cd, rebooted, reformated, and enjoyed my almost brand new, fully restored laptop.

anyways. take a look in the bios and let us know what you see.
kalian
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#11
peterm

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CD-ROM Drives
USB is an acceptable storage bus for CD-ROM drives. Currently, many USB CD-ROM drives are targeted as external attachments for laptops that are valuable because of their small form factors. In the future, CD-ROM drives may take advantage of USB inside the case to create constant connections much like AT Attachment (ATA) is used today or as Serial ATA (SATA) may be used in the future.

The natural scenario for booting from a USB CD-ROM drive will still be for initiating operating system setup. Operating system recovery would also be an expected use, for instance for the Windows Recovery Console used from a USB CD-ROM drive.

Top of page
Windows Requirements for Boot Devices
The best thing about adding another bootable bus to Windows is that manufacturers can take advantage of much of the existing Windows boot process. As long as a new device looks and behaves like existing devices while NT Loader loads the system, new devices can be made to work like old devices. The goal for booting Windows from a USB device is to use as much of the existing Windows boot process with as little change as possible.

This paper focuses solely on booting from hard disk drives and CD-ROM drives for recovery and deployment purposes. Windows as it exists today is currently not optimized to run as an installed operating system from USB attached mass-storage or CD.

The USB Mass Storage support consists of storage protocols over USB that enable USB hard disk drives and USB CD-ROM drives. All storage devices that are to be boot devices for Windows should behave like one of those two categories to take advantage of the existing boot process. DVD-ROM drives fit into the category of CD-ROM drives for the purpose of this document.

BIOS must support INT 13h During the boot process, Windows assumes that support for communicating with the boot device, either hard disk drive or CD-ROM drive, is present in INT 13h when Windows loads because the NT Loader uses calls to INT 13h to access the disk. INT 13h support must comply with the "BIOS Enhanced Disk Drive Services - 2" specification and the "USB Mass Storage Specification for Bootability," The newer specification is considered the authority if the two specifications contradict each other.

Accurate drive numbering by BIOS Windows also requires that the assignment of drive numbers follows "Compaq Phoenix Intel BIOS Boot Specification version 1.01." Hard disk drives should begin numbering at 80h and CD-ROM drives should begin numbering at 82h, as in the past.

In this paper, the remainder of the requirements, along with recommendations for component manufacturers, has been organized by the different components that play a part in booting.
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#12
flexoman

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This is about starting the setup with a USB external device which is outlined in that article as an acceptable means of windows initialization.....This is NOT about running a full fledged Windows OS from a USB Mass Storage device.

The initialization of XP setup should be valid as well as the copying of needed files to the local HD media for the finalization of the install.

By the time the installation reaches a point of needing the XP installation disk again all recognized hardware should be installed in (at least) RAM therefore rendering any internal/external CD Rom a valid device for insertion of XP installation disk.

Most Cd Roms can be handled with generic drivers whether they're writers or not as the native slave code is to read the contents of the media inserted.

The article presented by Peter is indeed very informative but omits the fact that later versions of the Windows OS has taken into account the misfortunes of some BIOS code therefore have special drivers (work-arounds) supporting what the BIOS chip cannot support directly.
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#13
peterm

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If you can see the drive from inside windows why not do a repair.
Instaed of booting from the usb cd drive load the windows disc in the usb
go to the setup.exe and click on that then follow the repair method.
Repair xp

Edited by peterm, 30 July 2005 - 01:26 AM.

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#14
Kalian

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would repairing windows bring back the drivers for windows to recognize the existing internal optical drive?
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