[RESOLVED] Boot Disk Failure

[buf]

During the past 2 weeks I have seen nothing but the error Boot Disk Failure when trying to boot my HP Compaq CQ5210f. I can overcome it by putting the IOS 7 disk in the DVD CD drive and let it boot so that I can then run the repair on the computer. I even borrowed an OEM OS 7 install disk and the same thing happens. After a series of checking the system I am informed that nothing wrong was found by the repair disk. If I leave either of the OS or IOS disk in the drive, even while rebooting, the machine runs just fine. If I take the disk out of the drive, I am dead in the water until I put it back in the drive, reboot and let the tests start over again and all is then fine again.
I considered using the 3 System Recovery DVD disks I burned just after first setting up this machine and start out wih a fresh install. Well I did just that a few days ago and my problem still exists. I thought this included a format of the hard drive and in fact I recall seeing that taking place--took only a few minutes to do it and I suspect it was a quick format. Even after this was done, I was greeted with the same problem. I would have thought after formatting the internal hard drive this problem would have gone away. I will really be up the creek if I should need the DVD CD drive. Please, can anyone help me? As usual, TIA.

[Train]

Looks like the hdd needs replacing. Sad to say!

[SpywareDr]

I'd run the hard drive manufacturer's hard drive diagnostics next. If you see errors there as well, the hard drive is failing and needs to be replaced.

To run the HD diags, download and burn the Ultimate Boot CD to CD. It has all the hard drive manufacturer's diagnostic utilities, memory (RAM) diagnostics, plus much more. Simply boot your computer from this CD and select the utility you want to run.

Note: If you aren't sure who made the hard drive in your computer, Seagate's Seatools will work with most any make of drive.

The following instructions may prove helpful for burning the UBCD .iso file to disc:
How can I write (burn) ISO files to CD or DVD?

--

Note: If a hard drive is physically damaged somehow, or its internal mechanical components are so worn that they simply cannot function correctly, there is no software that can solve the problem.

[buf]

Doc, I ran the Seagate scan on the internal hdd last night. I used the short generic-pass and the report was good; there were no problems shown with the hdd. I had read that such a scan could be relied upon as being sufficient. Then I tried experimenting with some of the shortcuts I have on my desktop without the ISO CD for windows 7 in the drive and I had no problems opening the wanted program. I got the same results when I removed the OEM windows 7 DVD from the drive. If I reboot I then I have to have one of the two items in drive to get the PC to boot. Odd happenings right!!?

[wonderinguy34]

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/win...mbr,10036.html

[buf]

I was finally able to change the boot order in BIOS to have the CDRom to boot first and, of course, the hdd to boot second. After doing this I rebooted [B]without any disk in the drive and bingo, my bootup was as it should be. First time I have seen a bootup without having a disk in the drive and not seeing the Boot Disk Failure in many days!!! Maybe I can now go about using my PC as before after I finish installing the rest of my apps.
Thanks to all of you for your help. I'll wait a couple of days before marking this resolved.

[Train]

Good news indeed! Hope things hold up for you!

[buf]

That goes for a least several of us Train. Thanks. I shudder to think what well happen if I should have to change my boot order because I suspect that error is still on the hard drive and will become active should I have to the hdd. Oh well.

[Robert M]

Buf
I think your problem was due to a floppy disk left in a floppy drive.

When you changed the boot order, the floppy disk drive was ignored. Therefore, you did not see the error message. Check your floppy drive for a diskette which you may have forgotten about. By the way, if you find a diskette in a drive, (or possibly a thumb drive inserted), the floppy was probably formatted with an older version of MS-DOS such as version 3.3

This explains why the reformat of your hard drive did not work to remove the message.
If this was the problem, there is no need to worry about changing the boot order in the future .....as long as that diskette or thumb drive is not inserted!

[buf]

Perhaps a good guess but I don't have a floppy drive in this machine and in fact, I haven't had one for several years. I do miss them tho'. Thanks for your reply.

[Robert M]

Be sure the hard disk is specified as a bootable device in the BIOS setup.
The example below shows an error like yours, and that was the problem.

http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/e...c-b15205e67d6f

[Train]

buf was finally able to get things changed in the BIOS. That stopped his problem.

Compaq again!