installing XP "Error Loading Operating System"

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fej180

New Member
I have 2 hard drives. One is 80gb and the other is 400gb. I have windows installed on my 80gb and wanted to put it on my other one instead. So I unplugged my 80gb and left the 400gb in and started installing windows. Everything was going fine and got through format and loading files, then goes to reboot and I get that message right after Verifying DMI Data Pool or whatever, then I can do nothing. I can still boot XP from my 80gb drive, but only when the other when isn't plugged in. If it is plugged in then I get the message. They used to work together perfectly. I did a little bit of Google research, and it seems like I might have to clear my Master Boot Record (I don't know what that is or how to find it, or how to clear it) but my guess is when i have the 400gb in and try to boot it looks for the 80gb, and when they're both in it doesn't know what to do. How can I fix this? I went through my BIOS and set the boot priorities to the hard drive. Thanks

Jeff
 
First of all is the 400gb model an ide or sata type drive? For sata with XP you first need to prepare a boot floppy with the sata drivers on it. Two methods for this were tried to see XP Pro installed onto a 500gb sata drive here. The boot up from the mother board's software disk in order to create the floppy failed one driver wouldn't copy to the 1.44mb disk for some reason.

The second attempt(successful) was to choose the format and then create floppy options while Windows was running having the board's cd in the drive at the time. The XP installer fully loaded the drivers and installed easily. To boot from any drive installed other then by changing the boot order in the bios is to look for the board's own boot menu upon first seeing the first post screen where the option to press DEL to enter the bios setup or press F8 to enter the boot menu are usually right next to each other.

Once in that boot menu you simply use one of the arrow keys to highlight the 400gb drive by model number seen and press the enter key. This will force the bootup by that drive until the installation is complete. But you unplugged the 80gb ide primary while installing Windows there. The option to load either installation won't be seen in the 80gb's boot.ini file. To correct the mbr on the 400gb you will want the 80gb unplugged unless you plan to install Windows again to see the dual boot there. Otherwise having the 80gb unplugged you would boot with the XP to the recovery console to enter these two commands; "Fixboot" and "Fixmbr" if the 400gb fails to boot after the installation is complete.
 
Hey PC Eye, thanks for the reply. Both hard drives are Sata, the the 400gb is SATA2 and the 80gb isn't. Some of my backed up information which was on my 400gb drive is now on my 80gb, also on other computers and ipods and things, but once I get windows on the 400gb drive I want to plug in my 80gb drive and take off the backed up files I have and then format it to get that version of windows off. I don't have a floppy disk drive on this computer, but I could put one in if it is necessary. To be honest, I got kinda lost in your instructions...what it seemed you were telling me to do is to go unplug my 80gb drive and plug in the other one, and go into the bios and tell it to boot specifically from the model number of the 400gb drive. I am still not sure how to or if I need to fix the MBR. I think Im supposed to go to the recovery counsel and type in this "Fixboot" and "Fixmbr". How do I get to the recovery counsel, and do I need a floppy drive to get there, or do I need it at all? Thanks again.

Jeff
 
Check jumpers on HD which one is master and which one is slave.
To get to recovery console boot with OS CD and press R when prompted.
 
subtle said:
Check jumpers on HD which one is master and which one is slave.
To get to recovery console boot with OS CD and press R when prompted.
Click to expand...

On sata drives there are no jumper to change. You have sata master #1, sata master #2, sata master #3, and so forth unless setting up an array.

With both being sata you go to the boot order and highlight "hard drives" and press the enter key to see the listing of hard drives installed. You may also see "card bus" as one of the items there. Using the + and - keys seen on the NUMPAD on the right side of the keyboard you can set the one you choose as the first at the top of the list. Once done simply press F10 or esc to scroll to the exit and save option. The posts will then search for the mbr on that drive.
 
At first I thought the 80gb may have been an ide drive. That is the more common size seen in prebuilds as well as many custom cases. But...? The one advantage that Vista has over XP seems to be the lack of the need for a sata driver disk in order for the installer to see the drive. But you lose out on the option to custom size by reducing the total partition size or delete current partitions? GParted live for cd saved the day a few times here already!
 
by plugging the 400gb drive into a 1 of the 2 SATA Ports on the lower end of my MB (opposed to the 2 in the middle) I was able to boot windows with my 80gb drive and still be able to access the 400gb. I am now doing a low level hard drive format to it, hopefully that might help. Thanks again

Jeff
 
PC Eye, I always have had my HD's plugged into 1&2, but noticed that the bios treats 3&4 differently for whatever reason. So by plugging the 400gb into 3 and the 80gb into 1 I was able to log into windows with the 80gb and low level format the 400gb. After that I installed windows with no problems at all. Then I went into windows and formatted my 80gb drive and now have things the way I wanted. Thanks for the help guys

Jeff
 
If 1 and 2 were set in array and not as individual that would explain the problem there since an array is made up of two identical drives. 3 and 4 are for creating a second array if not individual there. This may be the reason why they both didn't work together with the 400gb on #2. A possible size limitation for 1+2 would also explain this. Look over the manual or support site on this.
 
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