disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter

GLO · 09-August-08, 10:07 PM

Hi All,

My no so little brother's Acer Aspire SA10 is giving me the
disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter

error.

I have pulled the HDD and reformatted it, and then used the Acer Recovery discs but once that is complete i still get the above error.

I cant even load one of my slipstreamed XP installation CDs.

What could i have missed?

Thanks

edit: could a potential weak HDD motor cause this?

Rockin'male · 09-August-08, 10:39 PM

Hey glo!

It sounds like a borked drive to me. I could be wrong but that's my initial thought.

If possible attach the drive to another PC and run a chkdsk on it in dos (start, run, type cmd, press enter, type chkdsk x: (x=drive letter). This will validate the integrity of the drive. If it takes a long time or fails then its time for a replacement. Also try using another ide/sata cable, Its possible the cable could be bad.

I do hope this info helps....

BigAkita · 09-August-08, 10:45 PM

Borked drive or you haven not set the partition correctly. It needs to be set as a primary boot partition. I would delete all partitions first, then start from scratch with newly formatted partitions before I looked at getting another drive.

piscikeeper · 09-August-08, 11:05 PM

use the disk manufacturer's tools to do a low-level format. then run hitachi drive fitness test to check it.

GLO · 09-August-08, 11:14 PM

Hi Crew!

Once i pulled the drive i connected it via a USB to IDE adapter and separate power supply then formatted the drive i created 3 partitions, all primary partitions, OS, programs and data.

I also ran HDD Tune and check for bad sectors, which it didnt find any.

Will Hitachi Drive Fitness offer much insight over HDD Tune?

piscikeeper · 09-August-08, 11:20 PM

never used hdd tune so i don't know.........i do know dft let me use a bad hdd (13gb reformatted to about 7gb) to work around bad sectors and run linux distos on it.

GLO · 09-August-08, 11:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by piscikeeper


	never used hdd tune so i don't know.........i do know dft let me use a bad hdd (13gb reformatted to about 7gb) to work around bad sectors and run linux distos on it.

What is dft? (i have been looking to resurrect other HDDs with bad sectors)

edit: i just figured out drive fitness test.

Lokie · 10-August-08, 01:28 AM

I would recommend giving spinrite a try on all those bad drives.

GLO · 15-August-08, 10:50 AM

Guys, i figured that it was a weak motor in the 120gb Seagate, so i bought a new 160gb seagate and i am still having the same boot problems. I can load the recovery disks but it wont boot into the OS.

Could it be a Bios issue? or something else???

eascarface · 15-August-08, 12:37 PM

I don't think it's your BIOS but it can't hurt to reset it and see what happens. Which of your partitions is set as the system boot partition?

EDIT: Do you have a floppy loaded?

GLO · 15-August-08, 04:50 PM

It was a brand new disk, allowing the Recovery Disk to assign the single partition.

No floppy

piscikeeper · 15-August-08, 05:02 PM

either the new disk is bad too, cable or mobo.first thing to try would be to boot from an xp disk (not the recovery cd's) and run fixboot and fixmbr.

GLO · 15-August-08, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by piscikeeper


	either the new disk is bad too, cable or mobo.first thing to try would be to boot from an xp disk (not the recovery cd's) and run fixboot and fixmbr.

ok.,will give that a try, but dont you think the odd thing is that it will allow the full installation of the recovery disks and only when it has to boot into the OS that this fault occurs.

piscikeeper · 15-August-08, 07:47 PM

i think the "full install" from recovery disks is just a drive image, hence it may not re-write the mbr.
*not positive, every oem machine i get my hands on runs linux

BeetleMan · 15-August-08, 09:57 PM

Have you tried with an external cd drive?
I had same problem, couldn't load an OS on several hdd's, finally tried another dvd drive, and voila, it helped. Now my problem was sata drivers, my initial dvd drive was a sata drive, second one I tried(the one that worked) was an ide drive.....

09-August-08, 10:07 PM		#1 (permalink)
GLO Apex Tech Fanatic	disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter Hi All, My no so little brother's Acer Aspire SA10 is giving me the disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter error. I have pulled the HDD and reformatted it, and then used the Acer Recovery discs but once that is complete i still get the above error. I cant even load one of my slipstreamed XP installation CDs. What could i have missed? Thanks edit: could a potential weak HDD motor cause this?

09-August-08, 10:39 PM		#2 (permalink)
Rockin'male Apex Master Tech	Re: disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter Hey glo! It sounds like a borked drive to me. I could be wrong but that's my initial thought. If possible attach the drive to another PC and run a chkdsk on it in dos (start, run, type cmd, press enter, type chkdsk x: (x=drive letter). This will validate the integrity of the drive. If it takes a long time or fails then its time for a replacement. Also try using another ide/sata cable, Its possible the cable could be bad. I do hope this info helps....

09-August-08, 10:45 PM		#3 (permalink)
BigAkita n00b-ass reviewer	Re: disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter Borked drive or you haven not set the partition correctly. It needs to be set as a primary boot partition. I would delete all partitions first, then start from scratch with newly formatted partitions before I looked at getting another drive.

09-August-08, 11:05 PM		#4 (permalink)
piscikeeper Apex Tech Fanatic	Re: disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter use the disk manufacturer's tools to do a low-level format. then run hitachi drive fitness test to check it.

09-August-08, 11:14 PM		#5 (permalink)
GLO Apex Tech Fanatic	Re: disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter Hi Crew! Once i pulled the drive i connected it via a USB to IDE adapter and separate power supply then formatted the drive i created 3 partitions, all primary partitions, OS, programs and data. I also ran HDD Tune and check for bad sectors, which it didnt find any. Will Hitachi Drive Fitness offer much insight over HDD Tune?

09-August-08, 11:20 PM		#6 (permalink)
piscikeeper Apex Tech Fanatic	Re: disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter never used hdd tune so i don't know.........i do know dft let me use a bad hdd (13gb reformatted to about 7gb) to work around bad sectors and run linux distos on it.

10-August-08, 01:28 AM		#8 (permalink)
Lokie Custom What?	Re: disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter I would recommend giving spinrite a try on all those bad drives.

15-August-08, 10:50 AM		#9 (permalink)
GLO Apex Tech Fanatic	Re: disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter Guys, i figured that it was a weak motor in the 120gb Seagate, so i bought a new 160gb seagate and i am still having the same boot problems. I can load the recovery disks but it wont boot into the OS. Could it be a Bios issue? or something else???

15-August-08, 12:37 PM		#10 (permalink)
eascarface Apex Tech God	Re: disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter I don't think it's your BIOS but it can't hurt to reset it and see what happens. Which of your partitions is set as the system boot partition? EDIT: Do you have a floppy loaded?

15-August-08, 04:50 PM		#11 (permalink)
GLO Apex Tech Fanatic	Re: disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter It was a brand new disk, allowing the Recovery Disk to assign the single partition. No floppy

15-August-08, 05:02 PM		#12 (permalink)
piscikeeper Apex Tech Fanatic	Re: disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter either the new disk is bad too, cable or mobo.first thing to try would be to boot from an xp disk (not the recovery cd's) and run fixboot and fixmbr.

15-August-08, 07:47 PM		#14 (permalink)
piscikeeper Apex Tech Fanatic	Re: disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter i think the "full install" from recovery disks is just a drive image, hence it may not re-write the mbr. *not positive, every oem machine i get my hands on runs linux

15-August-08, 09:57 PM		#15 (permalink)
BeetleMan PCApex Corr-Hoe-spondent	Re: disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter Have you tried with an external cd drive? I had same problem, couldn't load an OS on several hdd's, finally tried another dvd drive, and voila, it helped. Now my problem was sata drivers, my initial dvd drive was a sata drive, second one I tried(the one that worked) was an ide drive.....

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