Master Boot Record/ Verifying DMI Pool

[dclaxton3000]

I recently had trouble where my computer froze at the 'verifying DMI Pool data.....' I was told this was due to the Master boot record missing or corrupt. I have now formatted the hard drive and trying to get windows installed. If I just turn the computer on I get the message 'NTLDR is missing' I get the same message when I try to boot from the CD. I have tried an original Vista and XP CD with no luck. I have managed to get into DOS using a usb stick but ti will not find a hard drive or cd drive when I'm in dos. It only has the C: drive which is the usb drive.

I have tried several programs, checks cables and connectors. Checked BIOS which has dvd drive and hard drive installed.

Both hard drive and dvd drive work in another computer as well as the cables. I have flashed the BIOS as per manufacturers instructions and that all seems fine.

Can anyone suggest anything that may help

 

[aford10]

1. Insert the Windows XP bootable CD into the computer.
2. When prompted to press any key to boot from the CD, press any key.
3. Once in the Windows XP setup menu press the "R" key to repair Windows.
4. Log into your Windows installation by pressing the "1" key and pressing enter.
5. You will then be prompted for your administrator password, enter that password.
6. Copy the below two files to the root directory of the primary hard disk. In the below example we are copying these files from the CD-ROM drive letter, which in this case is "e." This letter may be different on your computer.

copy e:\i386\ntldr c:\
copy e:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\

7. Once both of these files have been successfully copied, remove the CD from the computer and reboot.

 

[dclaxton3000]

1. Insert the Windows XP bootable CD into the computer.
2. When prompted to press any key to boot from the CD, press any key.
3. Once in the Windows XP setup menu press the "R" key to repair Windows.
4. Log into your Windows installation by pressing the "1" key and pressing enter.
5. You will then be prompted for your administrator password, enter that password.
6. Copy the below two files to the root directory of the primary hard disk. In the below example we are copying these files from the CD-ROM drive letter, which in this case is "e." This letter may be different on your computer.

copy e:\i386\ntldr c:\
copy e:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\

7. Once both of these files have been successfully copied, remove the CD from the computer and reboot.

Thanks for replying, when starting the computer I don't get an option to press any key to boot from CD. I can press Del to go into the BIOS or F12 to select first boot device. I first tried F12 and selected the DVD drive and also tried setting the first boot device to the DVD in the BIOS settings.

Whichever way I select the dvd drive it displays the following:



Verifying DMI Pool Data .....................

Boot from AHCI CD-ROM :

NTLDR is missing
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart

I thought I may have a corrupt XP disc so I have also tried a mate's copy and still no luck.

 

[aford10]

If you have a 2nd optical drive, unplug it to make sure it's not trying to boot from the wrong optical drive.

 

[dclaxton3000]

If you have a 2nd optical drive, unplug it to make sure it's not trying to boot from the wrong optical drive.

Don't have a 2nd drive, I have now tried win ME, win XP, win Vista & even windows 7 (beta) to try and boot. I even put the files from an old win 95 boot floppy onto a bootable cd, this gets me into DOS but I can not access any other drive and if I change the cd to anything else it just says disc read error.

 

[aford10]

Is this a retail PC or home built?

I know some retail PC's have an OS install mode, but I think it's mainly a Dell thing. It would be an option in the BIOS.

 

[aford10]

Another thing to try is putting that optical drive in another PC to see if it's reading cds AND dvds. If you're putting OS DVDs in it and the drive is malfunctioning or only reads CDs, that'd be why it's not booting off your OS discs (assuming they're DVDs).

 

[pat mcgroin]

Did this problem start when you flashed the bios?
If so you may need to reset the bios in order to get it to work.

When I flashed mine there was an option to set the dmi pool but it was a long time ago and I cant remember the exact steps.

Below is a couple of links that may be helpful.
http://www.dewassoc.com/support/win98/verify_dmi_data.htm
http://forums.techguy.org/windows-nt-2000-xp/353741-verifying-dmi-pool-data.html

 

[dclaxton3000]

Is this a retail PC or home built?

I know some retail PC's have an OS install mode, but I think it's mainly a Dell thing. It would be an option in the BIOS.

It's a retail PC, it's an Acer E700

 

[dclaxton3000]

The problem was before I flashed the BIOS, I tried flashing the BIOS as an option to try and solve the problem. I have tried the DVD drive, hard drive and cables in another pc and all work fine. I have even tried installing windows vista on the hard drive using another pc but it still wouldnt load.

The computer will load if I use an old hard drive with win xp on it but only into the blue screen of death. However the hard drive works fine in the pc i'm using now.