Boot problem on Presario S6000CL

Archived from groups: comp.sys.hp.hardware,comp.sys.hp.misc (More info?)

eliong@cura.net wrote:
> Presario S6000CL, Win XP Home.
>
> It will not boot from harddisk, giving "Master Boot Record Error".
> I asked HP/Compaq support for a recovery CD, got 8 Win XP Home CD's
> instead.
> When I boot with Disc 1 it says "Non-System disk or disk error".
> Any help/pointers appreciated.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Eric
>

1) Get into BIOS, make sure both the hard disk and CD drive are recognized.
Set boot order to CD first. Remove any floppies from the drive.

2) Take 8 Win XP Home CD's, put each in microwave oven for 4 seconds, then
deposit in nearest trash can.

3) Try a bootable CD of any flavor (anti-virus, other Windoze install, first
linux disk, etc), see if you can boot to verify drive is working.

4) Try to install Windows 2000 Pro, assuming you just can't live without Windoze.

5) If install fails, replace hard disk and repeat step 4.

6) Deal with any missing driver issues.

7) Reinstall user software.

8) Next time, build your own computer. It's easier than fixing the stuff you
bought at the big-box store.

The reason they sent 8 CD's is that machines these days are loaded with an incredible
array of garbage-ware that slows them down and makes makes for lots of crashes. This
is an excellent time to avoid the same mistake, even though that's not the cause of
the immediate problem.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.hp.hardware,comp.sys.hp.misc (More info?)

Go into the BIOS setup and change the order in which the motherboard attempts to
read from bootable devices. Put the CD-ROM drive first in the list. Then the
system should boot from a CD, if and only if the CD has been written as
bootable.

" 8 Win XP Home CD's"? All identical, or some different?

.... Ben Myers

On 29 Jan 2005 04:02:40 -0800, eliong@cura.net wrote:

>Presario S6000CL, Win XP Home.
>
>It will not boot from harddisk, giving "Master Boot Record Error".
>I asked HP/Compaq support for a recovery CD, got 8 Win XP Home CD's
>instead.
>When I boot with Disc 1 it says "Non-System disk or disk error".
>Any help/pointers appreciated.
>
>Thanks.
>
>Eric
>

Archived from groups: comp.sys.hp.hardware,comp.sys.hp.misc (More info?)

In article <1107000160.109302.25800@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com>,
eliong@cura.net writes
>Presario S6000CL, Win XP Home.
>
>It will not boot from harddisk, giving "Master Boot Record Error".

You may have problems with your hard drive. IT may be the drive has
failed or you have a virus. Do you have a virus check emergency set?

>I asked HP/Compaq support for a recovery CD, got 8 Win XP Home CD's
>instead.

Odd that, my copies of Windows XP Home and Professional both come on a
single CD each. Are you sure this is not a recovery set, my Recovery
set for a Compaq Presario 1525 comes on a four disk set?

>When I boot with Disc 1 it says "Non-System disk or disk error".
>Any help/pointers appreciated.

You did check/adjust the BIOS to boot from the CD drive before the hard
drive? Did you get a message to say 'Press any key to boot from the CR-
ROM' or words to that effect. Did you press a key in time?

You have nothing in the floppy drive?



>
>Thanks.
>
>Eric
>


--
Nicholas David Richards -

"Où sont les neiges d'antan?"

Archived from groups: comp.sys.hp.hardware,comp.sys.hp.misc (More info?)

reformat the hard drive and use the windows xp cds. its a better operating
system than windows 98. if you have the right ones. other than that do you
have any windows 98 cds at all. if so do a manual format on it and run them.
<eliong@cura.net> wrote in message
news:1107000160.109302.25800@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> Presario S6000CL, Win XP Home.
>
> It will not boot from harddisk, giving "Master Boot Record Error".
> I asked HP/Compaq support for a recovery CD, got 8 Win XP Home CD's
> instead.
> When I boot with Disc 1 it says "Non-System disk or disk error".
> Any help/pointers appreciated.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Eric
>