Boot Failure Message

Question

I got a new Dimension 4400 yesterday, and when I start up the system, I get a 'boot failure - system halting' message, then nothing. Just a black screen with that message. If I boot with the Windows XP CD in the drive, it comes up fine, but I'd like to get rid of boot failure. Can anyone tell me how to do that?

Kanuk001 · Answer

Do you mean that if you put the XP CD in, it boots properly from the hard drive?

If so, make sure the hard drive is in the boot sequence in the BIOS.

Charles,
Tag # 6VMY111

Dimension 8200, Bios A03
1.8 ghz P4
256 mb Ram
80 gb HD
NVidia GEForce3 TI200
Dell M991 monitor
Sanyo 308B DVD/CDRW combo
Telephony modem
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz Sound (SCR4142 driver)
Altec Lansing ADA995 (1BT)
Windows XP Home
Office XP Pro (retail)
Power DVD 4 (retail upgrade)
Norton SystemWorks 2002 (retail)

gtucholl · Answer

Without the CD in place, the system starts to load, then the screen goes black and I get the boot failure message. If I put the CD in, I get a screen that says "Press any key to boot from CD" ...If I don't press any key, the system loads just fine. If I do press a key, then I get the Windows XP setup starting.

Gary

gtucholl · Answer

Disregard...I feel like an idiot...somehow I had changed the system to boot from CD and floppy, and left the hard drive out of the loop. I set it to boot from the hard drive, and all is well. DUH!

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

Gary

Kanuk001 · Answer

Hey. Don't feel so bad!

Only smart people can feel like idiots. Idiots feel smart all the time!

Charles,
Tag # 6VMY111

Dimension 8200, Bios A03
1.8 ghz P4
256 mb Ram
80 gb HD
NVidia GEForce3 TI200
Dell M991 monitor
Sanyo 308B DVD/CDRW combo
Telephony modem
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz Sound (SCR4142 driver)
Altec Lansing ADA995 (1BT)
Windows XP Home
Office XP Pro (retail)
Power DVD 4 (retail upgrade)
Norton SystemWorks 2002 (retail)

Locked Topics – Desktops General

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