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Windows Doesn't Recognize Drive After it Partitions It

1K views 25 replies 4 participants last post by  brooks2 
#1 ·
I don't really understand it. I initially used G-parted to partition my 250gb drive into a 100, 75, and 55. Then I tried installing Windows XP SP3 and it says it doesn't recognize them, so I deleted those partitions and made new ones (the same size though) and it asked me to reboot. After I rebooted it prompted me again with Press Enter to install Windows, so I do and it says some crap about how it doesn't recognize any hard drive plugged in. BIOS recognizes the drive and its size.
 
#2 ·
ok now windows recognizes the drive and it installed. now how do i boot off the hdd? it just installed windows and then rebooted without prompting me for anything. i went into bios and reset the order to hdd0 -> hdd1 -> cdrom. but it's still loading off windows. it says there is windows xp professional on the drive, but how do i get to it exactly?

noob question i know, but i'm so very frustrated and its been a long day.
 
#5 ·
Trying to support beta patches is not really advisable here. Better to take it to microsofts SP3 beta forums.

you call your disks hdd0 and hdd1, which almost sounds like your dual booting linux. There are so many articles on this I wouldn't even know where to point you.

Best to go to the linux distros support site and check there for instructions on partitioning and dual booting.
 
#6 ·
i just realized it was sp2 all along :eek:

when i say hdd 0 and hdd1, those are presets by BIOS. I dont know exactly which one of those is the hard drive (only 1, a 250gb western digital)

Update:

Ok well I left my computer off overnight, and when I rebooted it this morning it didn't prompt me to "Press any key to boot." It just goes straight to initializing my hardware and goes to the partitioning and installing windows thing again. But, here is the kicker, it says it can't identify the HDD when I go to make a new partition and reinstall windows.

HELP!
 
#10 ·
It started booting to windows again after I unplugged my wireless keyboard/mouse combo thing. But, now I can't get it to just boot off the HDD. It always has to have the windows xp cd in there and I have to wait for it to say and skip "Press any key to boot from CD."

I also need some help setting up the internet on this computer. I am using a netgear router and the internet is up and running, as my laptop is connected through the wireless and the computer I'm working on is hardwired to the router.
 
#11 ·
If at all possible, use XP to do the partitioning. GParted is a good partitioner, especially for free, but whenever you can use the operating system's own tools, the more you can be assured of compatibility with the partition structure.

As I mentioned to you before, I really beginning to wonder about that drive. Have you run any tests on it?
 
#12 ·
If the only problem now is that you need to have the CD in the drive, then probably your boot.ini is pointing to the wrong drive.

Do you have a floppy drive? Try booting with one of these in the drive. They contain the XP boot files, and if they work, you can copy the files to your installation.

Bootable XP Sysboot Floppy
XP Sysboot CD Image
 
#13 ·
Memory tests all passed. I'm loading the xpboot now. How do I run this? How do I repair/install the boot.ini ?

Update: Elvandil, that program is in spanish >.<

Update 2:

First Option: Went to windows, is that good?
Second Option: Said it couldn't work because of hardware configuration.
Third Option: Said I am missing <windows root>\system32\hal.dll
Fourth Option: Same as 2nd
Fifth Option: Same as 2nd
Six Option: Reboots
Seventh Option: Same as 2nd
Eighth Option: Same as 2nd
Ninth Option: I/O error accessing boot sector file multi(0)disk(0)fdisk(0)\bootsect.dos
Tenth Option: Reboots
 
#15 ·
The program is in a lot of languages. He wanted to cover a lot of languages, so the first line is English, and each after that is a new language. He assumed you could figure it out since the numbers are still numbers. The first line is first partition/first drive, the second line is second partition/first drive, and so on. See the pattern? It cahnges to second drive/first partition down the list. Try them. Most people would use the first, but if another works, then we know where boot.ini needs to send your boot.
 
#16 ·
Hal.dll is not mssing and can't be restored because there are 7 different ones, renamed to hal.dll when you run setup. If it says it is missing, it is because it is trying to boot to the wrong partition.
 
#17 ·
so how do I fix this? I tried what I found from some other website:

1. Configure the computer to start from the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive. For information about how to do this, see your computer documentation, or contact your computer manufacturer.
2. Insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, and then restart your computer.
3. When you receive the "Press any key to boot from CD" message, press a key to start your computer from the Windows XP CD-ROM.
4. When you receive the "Welcome to Setup" message, press R to start the Recovery Console.
5. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the installation that you have to use from the Recovery Console.
6. When you are prompted, type the administrator password, and then press ENTER (if none was set, leave it blank and press ENTER).
7. At the command prompt, type bootcfg /list, and then press ENTER. The entries in your current Boot.ini file appear on the screen.
8. At the command prompt, type bootcfg /rebuild, and then press ENTER. This command scans the hard disks of the computer for Windows XP, Microsoft Windows 2000, or Microsoft Windows NT installations, and then displays the results. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to add the Windows installations to the Boot.ini file. For example, follow these steps to add a Windows XP installation to the Boot.ini file:

a. When you receive a message that is similar to the following message:
Total Identified Windows Installs: 1
[1] C:\Windows
Add installation to boot list? (Yes/No/All)
Press Y hit ENTER.

b. When, you receive a message that is similar to the following message:
Enter Load Identifier
This is the name of the operating system. Type the name of your operating system, and then press ENTER. The name is either Microsoft Windows XP Professional or Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition.

c. When you receive a message that is similar to the following:
Enter OS Load options
Type /fastdetect, and then press ENTER.

Take the CD out of the drive.

Type exit then press ENTER.
My Boot order is HDD0 -> HDD1 -> CDROM, and it still can't load off my HDD.
When I type bootcfg /list it looks like:

Total entries in boot list: 3

[1] "Microsoft Windows XP Professional"
OS Load Options: /fastdetect
OS Location: C:\WINDOWS

[2] ""
OS Load Options:
OS Location: C:\WINDOWS

[3] "Microsoft Windows XP Professional"
OS Load Options: /nonexecute=optin /fastdetect
OS Location: C:\WINDOWS
I screwed up once, that's why theres the empty one on the second one, is there a way to delete that?
 
#18 ·
So you have 3 entries in your boot.ini that all point to the same place. How did that happen?

How many drives do you have connected right now?

Is your system time correct and does it stay set when you set it?

Have you tested the drive for corruption or bad sectors?

Have you tested the memory and updated the BIOS lately?
 
#19 ·
Back at the beginning, it looks like you had it running since you finished the installation. Then you changed the boot order when it was booting OK. Why?

There is still some serious problem here, probably a hardware problem. If the memory tests came back OK, try testing the hard drive with a bootbale CD or floppy:

Bootable Hitachi Drive Fitness Test Floppy or CD Image (works on most drives).

Do you have a different drive you could try just for the installation? Set the boot order to CD-ROM, HD0, HD1 and then leave it that way. And be sure to double-check those jumpers. The machine will not run properly if one is in the wrong position.

(Note: If the first option worked, then your installation is on partition1 of drive 1. That's good.)
 
#20 ·
In response to your posts:

1.) There is only the 250gb Hard Drive and the Sony CD-ROM/RW drive I bought on Friday (the one I used to install windows).
2.) The system time is right and is always right (even in windows), it also stays correct as well.
3.) I'm testing for bad sectors and corruption now.
4.) I tested the memory, but how do I update BIOS?

---------------

Well when I boot in order: CDROM-> HDD0 -> HDD1 it goes to the "Press any key to boot from CD" then it loads windows. But, if i set the boot order to HDD0 -> HDD1 ->CDROM it doesn't say "Press any key to boot from CD" it just goes to initializing hardware and then it launches the install windows stuff (repair, partition, etc.)

I'm going to try to boot off that other CD to test the hard drive.

Right now it says:

S.M.A.R.T. status : Good
Max. ultra DMA mode : 5
Acoustic management: Disabled
Power management: Not supported
Write cache: Enabled
Red look-ahead: Enabled


How do I determine if the hard drive has bad sectors or corruptions?
 
#21 ·
If it is set to HD0, HD1, CD-ROM, then it will check the first 2 drives for boot and then boot from CD if it finds nothing. Why is HD1 in the sequence? That is the second drive and really should be further down on the list so it doesn't even try.

What is your board model (and revision) so we can look for a BIOS update?

Manufacturers have drive tests. The Hitachi on I posted in #19 should work on any drive, but you can find a more specific one here:

Hard Drive Manufacturers' Diagnostic Utilities Links:
TachTech
BleepingComputer
 
#22 ·
Then you changed the boot order when it was booting OK. Why?
I changed it because I always needed the windows xp cd in there to boot. Even when all it said was "Press any key to boot from CD" and I'd just skip that anyhow.

Hal.dll is not mssing and can't be restored because there are 7 different ones, renamed to hal.dll when you run setup. If it says it is missing, it is because it is trying to boot to the wrong partition.
Well how do I fix that hal.dll thing? Shouldn't i remove 2 of those entries?
When I get to windows and try to install the drivers for my hp printer/scanner C3100 it goes through a lot of errors. That's why I was thinking it had something to do with the hal.dll file.

What is your board model (and revision) so we can look for a BIOS update?
This is what my bios says when it starts up:
ASUS A7N8X2.0 DELUXE ACPI BIOS rev 1006

Manufacturers have drive tests.
I have the utilities disk that came with my new hdd, the Data Lifeguard Tools. But, when I boot from CD with that one in there, it gets to a point where it says "IDE CD-ROM device driver installed." It doesn't go any futher than that (after waiting fifteen minutes).

Should I just exchange my HDD for a fresh one? Is there a way to set up through SATA with my motherboard instead of IDE, it seems IDE has more problems.
The only way I can get to Windows is to set the boot order to CDROM -> HDD0 -> HDD1 and have the windows cd in the drive so that it says "Press any key to boot from CD."
 
#26 ·
This is starting to get weird.

Every time I boot I need the same configuration (hardware wise) I can't add anything or it doesn't boot off the hard drive. I need the Windows CD in there to boot, also. I inserted my D-Link wireless internet card, and instead of saying "Press any key to boot from CD" which I normally have to go through to get to windows now, it boots off the CD and goes to that blue windows screen.
 
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