New build, old harddrive

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BlueCat57

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Apr 7, 2009
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I just built a new system but am reusing my old drive with Windows XP installed on it.

The system will boot to the screen that asks which mode I want to start in. I have tried all of them. It will also go to the advanced options mode when I hit F8 and I can go to the operating system screen and see Windows XP Professional there.

I have set the system to boot from DVD drive first and have tried my XP installation disk, an Ultimate Boot CD and the motherboard disk but the system doesn't even ask if I want to boot from CD.

The DVD drive appears to be working and both the harddrive and DVD drive show up in the BIOS screens.

The old system stopped booting before I was able to take the data off the drive so I don't want to boot and reinstall.

And suggestions or ideas?
 
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That's what I'm trying to do but I can't get the system to boot to the installation disk.

I have a 4GB USB key, but I'm not sure XP can be installed from a USB key. And I'm not sure I can create the installation on the key. I'll do some research.

I guess another way to ask the original question is:

If the system boots to a screen asking if which mode I want to boot to (Safe, Normal, etc.) can I assume that all the parts of the system are working, at least marginally?

Then, since I have the CD/DVD drive as the first boot drive, why would the system not recognize a bootable disk in that drive? Or even ask me if I want to boot from a CD?

I just did another build and had the same trouble getting the system to boot from a CD. What could I be doing wrong? I eventually got the system to boot from CD after fiddling around with settings in BIOS. I did something to "boot from LAN ROM" or something like that. The next time I restarted it asked about booting from CD. Maybe I'll try that again.

Any thoughts are appreciated.
 
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Legal yes, bootable XP CD probably not. I found another forum that asked a similar question. You're asking if the disk is bootable. I thought it was but now that I'm reading more it is possibly not a bootable disk.
 
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Haven't tried that yet, but I did try a USB key, I think.

I created a bootable USB key using WinToFlash (A scary experience but I'm desperate. See my future post in the Storage forum.). I set the BIOS to only boot from Removable Dev. (other two boot devices disabled) and Boot Other Device set to Yes. (I'm going to read the user manual again.).

The light on the key flashed and the system just ignored it and went to the screen to select how you want to start Windows.

I have several other systems available so I'll try the disks on those to see if I can boot from them.
 
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This mystery may remain unsolved.

Item 1: Files recovered - daughter happy
After sleeping on it I decided to try the hard disk on another system. I didn't try to boot from it, but the system recognized it. Since I had access to the files I decided to just copy them all over and format the disk.

Item 2: Optical Drive Working
Since I had the hard drive out I followed aford10's advice and cleaned the tray. I then tried the following disks with the indicated results:
Windows XP installation disk: Booted to the installation
Ultimate Boot CD: Booted
Rescue Kit 9.0 Express: Booted
Windows 7 installation disk: Booted to the installation
Motherboard Support CD: Not bootable

Item 3: Boot from USB Key
I then reset BIOS to boot from a Removable Dev. and inserted the USB Key I prepared using WinToFlash and the Windows XP installation disk. The system booted with some interesting options. I tried the one that came up and it didn't go any further so I tried the first option on the list and it booted to the installation.

So Item 4: Can you install Windows XP from a USB key - Probably

I am still transferring files from the old drive. I'll update this thread after I've reinstalled the drive in my new system.
 
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Gremlins it was. I just reinstalled the drive and everything works as advertised. Haven't heard gremlins blamed since I worked in mainframe computer operations. Our facility was one of the first to get a TeraData drive. Cost over a million dollars and took 3 install engineers and several systems programmers from our department to get up and running over a few months. Now I can go to Staples and buy a 2TB drive for a couple of hundred dollars, come home and plug it in. God, I'm old!

Thanks for the suggestions.
 
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More gremlins. Installation starts then I get a message that says "A required CD/DVD drive device driver is missing." Now how can the driver be missing when it is using the drive to give me the message?

I tried the Motherboard and several other disks, but the disks didn't even show up when I browsed. I downloaded a CD driver onto a USB key, and saw the USB key but no drivers.

Off to the Internet to search for answers.
 
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OK, the bloom is off the rose. I'm starting to hate Microsoft again after a flush of good feelings following the installation of Windows 7 on two other systems.

I typed that error message into search and got the following results:

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/10/04/missing-cddvd-device-driver-problem-while-installing-vista-on-vmware-serveresx/

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/itprovistasetup/thread/4d906f85-7650-4eff-8bd2-13ec2b0bd2ae/

You've got to read the posts to understand the obscurity of this error. I have n IDE DVD drive and SATA hard drive so the posts make sense.

This is what keeps tech support in business.

PS - I don't know if this solves the problem. He!! I haven't even figured out what it means yet. I might try reinstalling XP on the drive if I can't figure out another way. I still haven't run the MoBo support disk so maybe an XP install makes sense so I can do that. I have a SATA DVD drive that I can take out of one system and use to install, but if that works I'm worried that since I can't leave it installed on that system (the other system only has one IDE on the MoBo and I have two hard drives in it so I need to use a SATA DVD) that if I need to fix the installation that it will require me to reinstall the SATA DVD because that is what I used to install it and the installation somehow knows which DVD drive I used. Yeah it sounds paranoid but I recall having problems years ago trying to reinstall things after hardware changes. And I'm currently having problems with my laptop because I'm running Vista on a cloned drive and the updates won't install.
 
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OK, let's hope this post doesn't jinx it, but Windows 7 is installing. I ended up moving the SATA DVD drive to the system.

Another side note for posterity. I also received the "Boot mgr is missing" message. A search on that led me to the "Repair your computer" option of the installation process. This will get you to a command prompt if you need one for some reason.

I'll submit a final post if the installation completes successfully.
 
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Well the installation was a success! Mr. Gates might not need that restraining order after all.

Here's another side note. I reinstalled the IDE DVD drive. They system recognizes it, going so far as to give me the manufacturer and model number and then the error message that the driver can't be installed. I tried downloading a driver from the manufacturer's site but when I run it it tells me the drive isn't there. Looks like I'm getting a new drive for Christmas. The HTPC needs a Blu-Ray drive and I'm sure someone has them on sale.

I guess its all over except reloading files and applications and picking a Best Answer.

Again thanks for sticking with me. Sometimes you just need to talk through a problem.
 
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They appear to be enabled. The BIOS sees the drive. Are there any sub-menus I need to check for these settings?

Not sure what is meant by legacy settings.

I have the drive jumpered as Master and it is connected to the end of the IDE cable. It is the only IDE device on the system.

I'm not sure how the SATA is set. I know it isn't RAID and I seem to recall reading something about different settings for (ah that's what I was going to do) how the MoBo handles the SATA drives. I still haven't installed the MoBo support disk. I either need to switch the drives again or figure out how to copy the CD onto a USB key, or maybe run or transfer the files over the network. Sounds like it is time to learn about ISOs and how to make them.
 
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Tried that and it didn't work. Device manager gives it a Code 10 which is basically "I don' know either."

Current CMOS settings are:
LBA Supported
PIO 4
Async Multi-Word DMA-2
Type Auto
tIO Auto
DMA Auto

I've e-mailed Samsung to ask about a driver and Win 7 compatibility, but daddy wants a Blu-Ray DVD player.

I'm going to keep plugging at this for posterity and try to install the MoBo software (or until I can replace the drive) but sometimes new hardware is the answer. Gotta stimulate the economy.
 
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