Disc boot error, insert system disc.....HELP!!!!!

[_Dave_]

My pc has gone tits up, getting this message on start up, don't have a system disc

What can I do to fix it? Have tons of stuff on there, just bought a load of dvd's to back up but never did.

Any help or suggestions will be appreciated.

[Plotloss]

On the face of it, it sounds like the disk is knackered

You can download a bootdisk from bootdisk.com

That should at least get you to a point that you can run a disk check utility that will expose whether its a software or hardware issue.

[aldi]

Did you leave a floppy in the drive?

[_Dave_]

aldi said:

Did you leave a floppy in the drive?

Nope haven't used floppys for about 8 years, if only it was that simple.

[ThePassenger]

USB Key? Try removing any USB storeage devices if you have them.

Otherwise yeah. Your hard drive is fecked.

[roy the boy]

Sometimes re-seating the IDE cables does the trick as they can develop something akin to a dry joint. Failing that - as above - HDD failure.

[softwaresorcerer]

Can you boot from CD?

Use the Windows CD and enter the Recovery Console - it should be one of the options as it boots.

Then type 'Fixmbr' to fix the master boot record.

[anonymous-user]

The best thing to do would be to move the HDD to a working PC as a slave drive and see if you can still access the contents, then take it from there. If you can't then the disk is probably beyond repair, if the drive works fine then there is some other problem with the original PC.

Have you checked the BIOS to see if the boot info is still present? Might be worth using the BIOS auto-HDD detection to see if it can still find the drive.

[k50 del]

jimsupersix said:

The best thing to do would be to move the HDD to a working PC as a slave drive and see if you can still access the contents, then take it from there. If you can't then the disk is probably beyond repair, if the drive works fine then there is some other problem with the original PC.

Have you checked the BIOS to see if the boot info is still present? Might be worth using the BIOS auto-HDD detection to see if it can still find the drive.

This would be the procedure I'd use at work, doesn't always work, but at least means you have a chance of saving your data.

[anonymous-user]

Always worth replugging in all the cables as well, just in case it's something as silly as a loose connection.

Of course, my next approach is usually to swear loudly and then thump the PC, but I don't think that's generally advisable