I would suggest you restart the computer and press F2 when you see the Dell screen. This will take you into the Bios. Use the arrows and go across until you see boot sequence. Make it so the computer will boot from CD/DVD rom first, then the HDD or Hard drive. Have it boot from the USB next then network. Save changes and exit. This should stop the message from appearing.
I think the computer is trying to boot from the USB Adapter. My son had this issue when he had his ipod connected and the computer was trying to boot from the ipod.
Hi Rick, This is not the answer I was expecting, so before I try it, let me expand on what I originally wrote. I had thought this machine had two separate problems that I would solve separately, but now I'm thinking maybe they are related. So here is the other problem:
I had originally posted my Linksys problem on a different forum. The person who was helping me suggested that I run msconfig and check the system startup, then look for PCARMDrv.exe and uncheck it. So I ran msconfig, but PCARMDrv.exe was not listed. While running msconfig, I also looked at the Services tab and clicked "Hide Microsoft services", examined the list, then de-selected "Hide Microsoft services" and hit OK.
Even though I made no changes, somehow this put it into Diagnostic or Selective Startup mode (I forget what it was called). I got a message about access denied and needing administrator privileges, even though I was logged in as a user with admin privileges, so I restarted the machine and set it back to Normal mode. However, now every time I restart the machine, I am prompted to choose which operating system I want to start, and the list contains two identical entries: Windows XP Media Center Edition.
I did the "check boot paths" thing, and it said the second entry was invalid. My memory is a little fuzzy here, but I believe it offered me the option of fixing/removing that path, so I said OK. But when I restarted the machine, I got the same message about needing admin privileges and I set it back to Normal mode. As a result, I am still being prompted to choose one on startup. This is mostly just an inconvenience, but maybe it's related to the adapter issue?
I could sit here and try different thing. They can take hours. Here is a simple soultion.
Put the Operating system disk in the computer and restart your computer.
Press any key to boot from CD.
Choose install.
Do the agreement.
Now choose repair. Leave the disk in until you see the Welcome Screen. Takes about 35 minutes. Now for the painful part, you'll have to get all your Windows Updates, again.
This will put the system back to like it was when you first got it. Doing it this way, you will not lose any files and folders on a Dell Computer.
Rick
I always preach, ALWAYS make copies of files and folders that you cannot afford to lose.
Rick, That sounds like a scary solution for problems that are just annoyances. My son will be getting a laptop in 6-9 months as he gets ready to head off to college, so maybe we'll just continue to live with these. When he has transferred anything he cares about to his laptop, maybe then I'll reformat and start over (or give the machine away :emotion-1: ). Thanks for your help though!
Last thought: when I look at the boot.ini file, there are two lines, which I assume is where the second boot entry is coming from. When I did "check boot paths", it was the second entry that was reported as invalid. If I delete that line from boot.ini, will my problem be fixed? Or will I have created new headaches for myself?
PudgyOne
9 Legend
•
30.3K Posts
0
September 5th, 2009 19:00
leh0201,
I would suggest you restart the computer and press F2 when you see the Dell screen. This will take you into the Bios. Use the arrows and go across until you see boot sequence. Make it so the computer will boot from CD/DVD rom first, then the HDD or Hard drive. Have it boot from the USB next then network. Save changes and exit. This should stop the message from appearing.
I think the computer is trying to boot from the USB Adapter. My son had this issue when he had his ipod connected and the computer was trying to boot from the ipod.
Rick
leh0201
19 Posts
0
September 6th, 2009 08:00
Hi Rick, This is not the answer I was expecting, so before I try it, let me expand on what I originally wrote. I had thought this machine had two separate problems that I would solve separately, but now I'm thinking maybe they are related. So here is the other problem:
I had originally posted my Linksys problem on a different forum. The person who was helping me suggested that I run msconfig and check the system startup, then look for PCARMDrv.exe and uncheck it. So I ran msconfig, but PCARMDrv.exe was not listed. While running msconfig, I also looked at the Services tab and clicked "Hide Microsoft services", examined the list, then de-selected "Hide Microsoft services" and hit OK.
Even though I made no changes, somehow this put it into Diagnostic or Selective Startup mode (I forget what it was called). I got a message about access denied and needing administrator privileges, even though I was logged in as a user with admin privileges, so I restarted the machine and set it back to Normal mode. However, now every time I restart the machine, I am prompted to choose which operating system I want to start, and the list contains two identical entries: Windows XP Media Center Edition.
I did the "check boot paths" thing, and it said the second entry was invalid. My memory is a little fuzzy here, but I believe it offered me the option of fixing/removing that path, so I said OK. But when I restarted the machine, I got the same message about needing admin privileges and I set it back to Normal mode. As a result, I am still being prompted to choose one on startup. This is mostly just an inconvenience, but maybe it's related to the adapter issue?
PudgyOne
9 Legend
•
30.3K Posts
0
September 6th, 2009 09:00
leh0201,
What do you see when you click start, computer?
How many hard drives and what do they say.
Rick
leh0201
19 Posts
0
September 6th, 2009 14:00
It says this (I hope this is what you were asking):
Hard Disk Drives
Local Disk (C:) Local Disk
Devices with Removable Storage
DVD/CD-RW Drive (D:) CD Drive
RockSt☆r-Rick
286 Posts
0
September 6th, 2009 17:00
leh0201,
You only have one Local Disk, correct?
Rick
leh0201
19 Posts
0
September 6th, 2009 19:00
Yes. One internal hard drive, not partitioned. No external hard drive. Only one entry shows up as "Local DIsk"
PudgyOne
9 Legend
•
30.3K Posts
0
September 6th, 2009 22:00
leh0201,
I could sit here and try different thing. They can take hours. Here is a simple soultion.
Put the Operating system disk in the computer and restart your computer.
Press any key to boot from CD.
Choose install.
Do the agreement.
Now choose repair. Leave the disk in until you see the Welcome Screen. Takes about 35 minutes. Now for the painful part, you'll have to get all your Windows Updates, again.
This will put the system back to like it was when you first got it. Doing it this way, you will not lose any files and folders on a Dell Computer.
Rick
I always preach, ALWAYS make copies of files and folders that you cannot afford to lose.
leh0201
19 Posts
0
September 7th, 2009 11:00
Rick, That sounds like a scary solution for problems that are just annoyances. My son will be getting a laptop in 6-9 months as he gets ready to head off to college, so maybe we'll just continue to live with these. When he has transferred anything he cares about to his laptop, maybe then I'll reformat and start over (or give the machine away :emotion-1: ). Thanks for your help though!
leh0201
19 Posts
0
September 9th, 2009 17:00
Last thought: when I look at the boot.ini file, there are two lines, which I assume is where the second boot entry is coming from. When I did "check boot paths", it was the second entry that was reported as invalid. If I delete that line from boot.ini, will my problem be fixed? Or will I have created new headaches for myself?