Disk Boot Failure Insert System Disk, New HDD

[RyanSuttman]

I am having a problem with a build I am doing.

Everything is brand new, out of the box yesterday.

The problem is stated in the subject. I've looked around the forums for problems like it, but I can't seem to find one that is exactly like mine.

I've just finished building this PC Yesterday and started attempting to install Windows 7 to it. However, whenever I put the disk in it gives me the error message "Disk Boot Failure, Insert System Disk And Press Enter"

I've noticed several things with the posts that I looked at, and took their advice.

The CD drive is set to boot first, then the HDD. I've made sure BIOS is recognizing the HDD and the CD drive.

I don't really know what else to do, I can't partition the new drive because I cannot get to the setup screen, I've tried using other install disks for different operating systems, with no result except for one Reinstall disk for a different computer, which I did not use because it is tooled for the Dell PC it came with.

I can't get any of the CD's to work, and why the reinstall CD was the only one that let me even get to a partition screen, even if I didn't use it. Is there something I am missing?

Specs:
GIGABYTE GA-H55M-S2H LGA 1156 Intel H55 HDMI Micro ATX Motherboard

OCZ ModXStreamPro OCZ600MXSP 600W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC

Intel Core i3-530 Clarkdale 2.93GHz LGA 1156 73W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Model BX80616I3530

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

POWERCOLOR AX5770 512MD5-H Radeon HD 5770 512MB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 CrossFire Support Video Card

Patriot Gaming series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240 Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC310666) Desktop Memory Model PGS34G1333ELK

 

[Paperdoc]

This is the way it's supposed to work: You boot into BIOS Setup and ensure that the SATA ports are enabled, then set them to AHCI mode (or Native SATA if there is no AHCI). Win 7 can handle both types of devices.

I am assuming your optical drive also is connected to SATA. If not, if it is connected to an IDE (or PATA) port, you need to ensure its jumpers are set correctly. That is, on any IDE port, there MUST be one Master device with its jumpers set to Master (or possibly to Master with No Slave Present or Master with Slave, as appropriate, if those are the choices) and plugged into the END connector on the ribbon cable. IF there is a second IDE device on the same cable / port then it MUST be set to Slave and connected to the middle connector. Alternative is to have BOTH devices set to "CS" and connected as above. NOTE: Master and Slave are relevant only to IDE devices. There is no such thing, and no jumper adjustment, on SATA drives. And a SATA drive is NOT a "Slave" to any IDE port Master.

Back to main thread, now, with optical drives connected appropriately. With ports and devices configured and connected AND power cables connected to them, you look for the Boot Priority Sequence and set it to use the optical drive first, the HDD second, and NO other options allowed. Save and Exit to boot.

Now, your post says you did all that. Next point is, the Windows 7 Install Disk must be in the optical drive when you boot. The BIOS is set to look there for a bootable disk and, if it finds none, to look at the HDD for a bootable file set. Your system is giving you a message that it cannot find such a thing. MOST LIKELY that message is from failure at the second boot device, the HDD. In a normal boot sequence it will NOT give you that message when the optical drive fails - it will simply and without blinking go on to the second device. This must mean that it did NOT find a bootable CD or DVD in the optical drive. So, is the drive alive? Is the Win 7 Install Disk in it when you turn on?

If you have done this right and it still does not work, suspicion falls on the optical drive somehow because your machine cannot find a bootable disk in it.

 

[RyanSuttman]

Best answer selected by RyanSuttman.