"Disk Error, press any key..." is a generic message;
it means that the system cannot find a boot instruction on the disk(s) in the boot sequence.
With the A (floppy) drive light blinking, it just means the system is looking there for a disk.
If there is any disk in any drive - take it out. That is the most common cause for this error.
If you're sure there are no disks in any drives - even remove USB drives - then check the boot order. In the BIOS [ usually hit F2 when you power on - go into System Setup] -- change the boot device list.
The default will usually be something like floppy first, CD next, then hard disk. Other devices that could be bootable include Zip drives, USB devices, and boot-over-network. Examine and write down what yours is set for, so you can restore it later.
Make the hard disk the only valid boot device for now. Save these settings and restart your machine. If the machine still gives you a Disk Error - you have got a damaged hard disk.
How you proceed with a bad drive depends on how important your data is.
OTOH - if you can boot successfully with only the hard disk active - then there's a problem with one of the other drives. See if you can access those disks from inside windows - and figure out if one is behaving badly. Or, you can go back into the CMOS /Bios setup, and add one device (floppy or CD) back to the boot list and see if the error comes back.
JoiseyBill
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December 31st, 2006 17:00