Solve : fixing....?

1.	Solve : fixing....?
Answer» I am trying to fix my sisters old computer. when I start up the computer it says that there is an invalid system disk. then when i unplug the hard drive and put in another one, it goes to the screen where it says "start windows normally, safe mode, and all that other stuff, no matter which one i click it just starts the boot sequence again and goes to the same screen. I'm not sure what operating system is on the old hard drive but the one that i put in has XP on it....any help would be greatly appreciated... Thanks, Mike QUOTE from: boredom113 on December 08, 2007, 02:30:27 PM I am trying to fix my sisters old computer. when I start up the computer it says that there is an invalid system disk. then when i unplug the hard drive and put in another one, it goes to the screen where it says "start windows normally, safe mode, and all that other stuff, no matter which one i click it just starts the boot sequence again and goes to the same screen. I'm not sure what operating system is on the old hard drive but the one that i put in has XP on it....any help would be greatly appreciated... Thanks, Mike i know the problem... defrag C: completely or yust delete whole C: that should workhow would i do this?you need to delete the C:.., let me think how you would do that.. cant you mess arround with the DOS settings in the beginning to delete C:? Quote from: boredom113 on December 08, 2007, 02:30:27 PM I am trying to fix my sisters old computer. when I start up the computer it says that there is an invalid system disk. then when i unplug the hard drive and put in another one, it goes to the screen where it says "start windows normally, safe mode, and all that other stuff, no matter which one i click it just starts the boot sequence again and goes to the same screen. I'm not sure what operating system is on the old hard drive but the one that i put in has XP on it....any help would be greatly appreciated... Thanks, Mike it isnt very often that you can place another HD in another computer and get it to work without some serious side effects. from what you are telling us, it seems to me that either the harddrive got corrupted or the harddrive just died. my suggestion would be to place whatever HD(s) you want in that computer and do a reformat/reinstall. mohkiller, he stated that he cannot boot into windows. even if he could, it would be better to reformat than to "mess around" in DOS....and you need some Windows CD to start with...all im trying to do is see whats wrong with the old hard drive....the NEW one with windows is for my computer....i just put it in to see if it would work.....with the old hard drive in, if i put the xp cd in the computer and start it up it still goes to the invalid system disk.....whats wrong with the old hardrive is that it needs to be reformatted. if reformatting does not solve the problem then the HD is toast. DONT use another comp to troubleshoot the HD. leave it in your sisters comp and reformat it and reinstall windows.i can reformat when i put the xp disk in...usually....but when i put the xp cd in and try to start up....it takes me to the invalid system screen again....how do i reformat w/o windows...or knowing what was on it b4 i got my hands on it?? Quote from: homer on December 08, 2007, 05:35:21 PM Quote from: boredom113 on December 08, 2007, 02:30:27 PM I am trying to fix my sisters old computer. when I start up the computer it says that there is an invalid system disk. then when i unplug the hard drive and put in another one, it goes to the screen where it says "start windows normally, safe mode, and all that other stuff, no matter which one i click it just starts the boot sequence again and goes to the same screen. I'm not sure what operating system is on the old hard drive but the one that i put in has XP on it....any help would be greatly appreciated... Thanks, Mike it isnt very often that you can place another HD in another computer and get it to work without some serious side effects. from what you are telling us, it seems to me that either the harddrive got corrupted or the harddrive just died. my suggestion would be to place whatever HD(s) you want in that computer and do a reformat/reinstall. mohkiller, he stated that he cannot boot into windows. even if he could, it would be better to reformat than to "mess around" in DOS. he did not say that the HD was from another computer now said he? a friend of my had the same problem, after plugging in his mouse windows couldn't take it anymore and restarted and gave the same screen as with this dude here the C: was fully deleted (because there came an error between some files there) and the computer started to work again..., and for your last question how can i kno how the computer was before i got my hands on it.. it was broken, does it matter Quote from: boredom113 on December 09, 2007, 12:09:53 AM i can reformat when i put the xp disk in...usually....but when i put the xp cd in and try to start up....it takes me to the invalid system screen again....how do i reformat w/o windows...or knowing what was on it b4 i got my hands on it?? you need to setup your BIOS to boot from the CD first. to ENTER the BIOS, follow the directions on your screen at the startup. you are looking for something along the lines of "push __ to enter system settings" or "push __ to enter BIOS". different BIOS manufacturers use different keys to enter the BIOS, but the most usual keys are DEL, F1, or F12. upon entering the BIOS, look for something along the lines of "boot priority" or "boot sequence". make the optical drive that you have your XP CD in boot first. save then exit. your comp will restart and will now boot off of your windows CD. Quote from: mohkiller on December 08, 2007, 03:07:09 PM you need to delete the C:.., let me think how you would do that.. cant you mess arround with the DOS settings in the beginning to delete C:? Please ignore this advice. Travel to the drive manuf. site and DLoad their free diagnostics. Use this to create a bootable floppy/CD. Then follow Homer's instructions to set the boot priority. Put the bootable CD in and restart and run the diagnostics on that drive. Report back with your findings. Quote from: patio on December 09, 2007, 08:12:04 AM Quote from: mohkiller on December 08, 2007, 03:07:09 PM you need to delete the C:.., let me think how you would do that.. cant you mess arround with the DOS settings in the beginning to delete C:? Please ignore this advice. Travel to the drive manuf. site and DLoad their free diagnostics. Use this to create a bootable floppy/CD. Then follow Homer's instructions to set the boot priority. Put the bootable CD in and restart and run the diagnostics on that drive. Report back with your findings. i did not say it RIGHT i ment when startup with dos take the windows cd.., i said it wrong ke? Quote from: mohkiller on December 09, 2007, 08:42:23 AM Quote from: patio on December 09, 2007, 08:12:04 AM Quote from: mohkiller on December 08, 2007, 03:07:09 PM you need to delete the C:.., let me think how you would do that.. cant you mess arround with the DOS settings in the beginning to delete C:? Please ignore this advice. Travel to the drive manuf. site and DLoad their free diagnostics. Use this to create a bootable floppy/CD. Then follow Homer's instructions to set the boot priority. Put the bootable CD in and restart and run the diagnostics on that drive. Report back with your findings. i did not say it right i ment when startup with dos take the windows cd.., i said it wrong ke? It matters when it is other people's equipment and data... If you don't have a workable solution don't hit the POST button just to post. This is not the first batch of shaky advice. patio. ModeratorI have gotten into bios...but when i go to boot order, it has no optical drive....all it has is floppy drive and hard drive...is there any way to add a device....or somethin so i can boot to my xp disk..... Thanks, Mike

Answer»

I am trying to fix my sisters old computer. when I start up the computer it says that there is an invalid system disk. then when i unplug the hard drive and put in another one, it goes to the screen where it says "start windows normally, safe mode, and all that other stuff, no matter which one i click it just starts the boot sequence again and goes to the same screen. I'm not sure what operating system is on the old hard drive but the one that i put in has XP on it....any help would be greatly appreciated...
Thanks, Mike QUOTE from: boredom113 on December 08, 2007, 02:30:27 PM

I am trying to fix my sisters old computer. when I start up the computer it says that there is an invalid system disk. then when i unplug the hard drive and put in another one, it goes to the screen where it says "start windows normally, safe mode, and all that other stuff, no matter which one i click it just starts the boot sequence again and goes to the same screen. I'm not sure what operating system is on the old hard drive but the one that i put in has XP on it....any help would be greatly appreciated...
Thanks, Mike

i know the problem...
defrag C: completely or yust delete whole C: that should workhow would i do this?you need to delete the C:.., let me think how you would do that..
cant you mess arround with the DOS settings in the beginning to delete C:? Quote from: boredom113 on December 08, 2007, 02:30:27 PM

I am trying to fix my sisters old computer. when I start up the computer it says that there is an invalid system disk. then when i unplug the hard drive and put in another one, it goes to the screen where it says "start windows normally, safe mode, and all that other stuff, no matter which one i click it just starts the boot sequence again and goes to the same screen. I'm not sure what operating system is on the old hard drive but the one that i put in has XP on it....any help would be greatly appreciated...
Thanks, Mike

it isnt very often that you can place another HD in another computer and get it to work without some serious side effects. from what you are telling us, it seems to me that either the harddrive got corrupted or the harddrive just died. my suggestion would be to place whatever HD(s) you want in that computer and do a reformat/reinstall.

mohkiller, he stated that he cannot boot into windows. even if he could, it would be better to reformat than to "mess around" in DOS....and you need some Windows CD to start with...all im trying to do is see whats wrong with the old hard drive....the NEW one with windows is for my computer....i just put it in to see if it would work.....with the old hard drive in, if i put the xp cd in the computer and start it up it still goes to the invalid system disk.....whats wrong with the old hardrive is that it needs to be reformatted. if reformatting does not solve the problem then the HD is toast. DONT use another comp to troubleshoot the HD. leave it in your sisters comp and reformat it and reinstall windows.i can reformat when i put the xp disk in...usually....but when i put the xp cd in and try to start up....it takes me to the invalid system screen again....how do i reformat w/o windows...or knowing what was on it b4 i got my hands on it?? Quote from: homer on December 08, 2007, 05:35:21 PM

Quote from: boredom113 on December 08, 2007, 02:30:27 PM
I am trying to fix my sisters old computer. when I start up the computer it says that there is an invalid system disk. then when i unplug the hard drive and put in another one, it goes to the screen where it says "start windows normally, safe mode, and all that other stuff, no matter which one i click it just starts the boot sequence again and goes to the same screen. I'm not sure what operating system is on the old hard drive but the one that i put in has XP on it....any help would be greatly appreciated...
Thanks, Mike

it isnt very often that you can place another HD in another computer and get it to work without some serious side effects. from what you are telling us, it seems to me that either the harddrive got corrupted or the harddrive just died. my suggestion would be to place whatever HD(s) you want in that computer and do a reformat/reinstall.

mohkiller, he stated that he cannot boot into windows. even if he could, it would be better to reformat than to "mess around" in DOS.

he did not say that the HD was from another computer now said he?
a friend of my had the same problem, after plugging in his mouse windows couldn't take it anymore and
restarted and gave the same screen as with this dude here
the C: was fully deleted (because there came an error between some files there) and the computer started to work again...,

and for your last question how can i kno how the computer was before i got my hands on it..
it was broken, does it matter Quote from: boredom113 on December 09, 2007, 12:09:53 AM

i can reformat when i put the xp disk in...usually....but when i put the xp cd in and try to start up....it takes me to the invalid system screen again....how do i reformat w/o windows...or knowing what was on it b4 i got my hands on it??

you need to setup your BIOS to boot from the CD first.

to ENTER the BIOS, follow the directions on your screen at the startup. you are looking for something along the lines of "push __ to enter system settings" or "push __ to enter BIOS". different BIOS manufacturers use different keys to enter the BIOS, but the most usual keys are DEL, F1, or F12.

upon entering the BIOS, look for something along the lines of "boot priority" or "boot sequence". make the optical drive that you have your XP CD in boot first. save then exit. your comp will restart and will now boot off of your windows CD. Quote from: mohkiller on December 08, 2007, 03:07:09 PM

you need to delete the C:.., let me think how you would do that..
cant you mess arround with the DOS settings in the beginning to delete C:?

Please ignore this advice.
Travel to the drive manuf. site and DLoad their free diagnostics.
Use this to create a bootable floppy/CD.
Then follow Homer's instructions to set the boot priority.
Put the bootable CD in and restart and run the diagnostics on that drive.
Report back with your findings. Quote from: patio on December 09, 2007, 08:12:04 AM

Quote from: mohkiller on December 08, 2007, 03:07:09 PM
you need to delete the C:.., let me think how you would do that..
cant you mess arround with the DOS settings in the beginning to delete C:?

Please ignore this advice.
Travel to the drive manuf. site and DLoad their free diagnostics.
Use this to create a bootable floppy/CD.
Then follow Homer's instructions to set the boot priority.
Put the bootable CD in and restart and run the diagnostics on that drive.
Report back with your findings.

i did not say it RIGHT i ment when startup with dos take the windows cd..,
i said it wrong ke? Quote from: mohkiller on December 09, 2007, 08:42:23 AM

Quote from: patio on December 09, 2007, 08:12:04 AM
Quote from: mohkiller on December 08, 2007, 03:07:09 PM
you need to delete the C:.., let me think how you would do that..
cant you mess arround with the DOS settings in the beginning to delete C:?

Please ignore this advice.
Travel to the drive manuf. site and DLoad their free diagnostics.
Use this to create a bootable floppy/CD.
Then follow Homer's instructions to set the boot priority.
Put the bootable CD in and restart and run the diagnostics on that drive.
Report back with your findings.
i did not say it right i ment when startup with dos take the windows cd..,
i said it wrong ke?

It matters when it is other people's equipment and data...
If you don't have a workable solution don't hit the POST button just to post.
This is not the first batch of shaky advice.

patio.
ModeratorI have gotten into bios...but when i go to boot order, it has no optical drive....all it has is floppy drive and hard drive...is there any way to add a device....or somethin so i can boot to my xp disk.....
Thanks, Mike

Solve : fixing....?

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