Ok, obviously there is a problem with your hard drive. Either the drive is bad or your NT loader is corrupt.
To test the drive, you need to boot to a CD, so let's try to get that working first. Reboot and hit F2 to go into system setup. Find the list of boot devices. The first boot device should be your CD drive. You do not need the floppy drive listed since you're not going to need it. Once you've set that up, put your XP disc in the drive and exit out of the BIOS saving changes. If you still get the error, it means your CD drive is not picking up the disc. But let me know if you can get this to work.
DO NOT attempt to install XP until we verify your drive is good.
I have done all of the above. With the CD drive and even tried an external CD drive to verify that the CD was working. The problem is the CD wont boot into XP. I cant get it to do anything except bring the error back up every time i boot.
I dont think i could even format the HD. No way that i can think of to get to it. The only thing i can get into is the BIOS. I have changed the order for every device. I am stuck at the error. That is why i am asking for help. Don't know what else to try. I cant even format. Any other suggestions?
An external drive is not bootable on this old machine.
Again, what is happening is that your CD drive is not accessing the bootable disc, so the boot drive defaults to your hard drive and the error repeats. Please try disabling the hard drive as a boot device. Then the only boot device listed will be the CD drive, and if it fails to access the bootable disc, you should get the old "hit any key" message and you can repeat the attempt.
Yes, the CD is in there. I am a Support Services Manger for 23 years. I have tried many differnt things. That is why i am at a loss and asking for suggestions. I have tried a different CD also. I cannot figure out how to format the drive either. I am asking for suggestion to correct the corrupt file. If you have any other suggestions, please let me know.
Even if you could format the drive, for example, in another system, you'd still be stuck since you cannot load the OS without booting to the CD drive. My only suggestion would be to try another CD or DVD drive.
My old Dimension 4100 served us well for years, then was handed down to a family who used it for several more before it was retired to the recycle bin. That was the heaviest case I've ever had.
osprey4
4 Operator
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34.2K Posts
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March 30th, 2011 13:00
Hi Fermage,
Please start by telling us the model of your Dell and your operating system.
fermage
6 Posts
0
March 30th, 2011 13:00
Sorry i thought i mentioned in last post. It is WinXP Pro.
fermage
6 Posts
0
March 30th, 2011 13:00
It is a Dell Dimension 4100.
osprey4
4 Operator
•
34.2K Posts
0
March 30th, 2011 17:00
Ok, obviously there is a problem with your hard drive. Either the drive is bad or your NT loader is corrupt.
To test the drive, you need to boot to a CD, so let's try to get that working first. Reboot and hit F2 to go into system setup. Find the list of boot devices. The first boot device should be your CD drive. You do not need the floppy drive listed since you're not going to need it. Once you've set that up, put your XP disc in the drive and exit out of the BIOS saving changes. If you still get the error, it means your CD drive is not picking up the disc. But let me know if you can get this to work.
DO NOT attempt to install XP until we verify your drive is good.
fermage
6 Posts
0
March 31st, 2011 08:00
I have done all of the above. With the CD drive and even tried an external CD drive to verify that the CD was working. The problem is the CD wont boot into XP. I cant get it to do anything except bring the error back up every time i boot.
I dont think i could even format the HD. No way that i can think of to get to it. The only thing i can get into is the BIOS. I have changed the order for every device. I am stuck at the error. That is why i am asking for help. Don't know what else to try. I cant even format. Any other suggestions?
osprey4
4 Operator
•
34.2K Posts
0
March 31st, 2011 11:00
An external drive is not bootable on this old machine.
Again, what is happening is that your CD drive is not accessing the bootable disc, so the boot drive defaults to your hard drive and the error repeats. Please try disabling the hard drive as a boot device. Then the only boot device listed will be the CD drive, and if it fails to access the bootable disc, you should get the old "hit any key" message and you can repeat the attempt.
fermage
6 Posts
0
March 31st, 2011 11:00
I made the CD the only boot. As soon as i turn it on it cycles and comes up with, Invalid Boot Diskette, Insert BOOT Diskette in A:
osprey4
4 Operator
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34.2K Posts
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March 31st, 2011 16:00
And you've got the XP disc in there, right? Either the disc is bad or the drive is not reading properly. Do you have another CD drive you could try?
fermage
6 Posts
0
April 1st, 2011 07:00
Yes, the CD is in there. I am a Support Services Manger for 23 years. I have tried many differnt things. That is why i am at a loss and asking for suggestions. I have tried a different CD also. I cannot figure out how to format the drive either. I am asking for suggestion to correct the corrupt file. If you have any other suggestions, please let me know.
osprey4
4 Operator
•
34.2K Posts
0
April 1st, 2011 17:00
Even if you could format the drive, for example, in another system, you'd still be stuck since you cannot load the OS without booting to the CD drive. My only suggestion would be to try another CD or DVD drive.
My old Dimension 4100 served us well for years, then was handed down to a family who used it for several more before it was retired to the recycle bin. That was the heaviest case I've ever had.