Invalid System Disk

elduderino · Feb 28, 2005, 10:04 AM

Hi
XP Pro
I am getting a Message Invalid System Disk at start-up,after the post screen.There are no disks in any of the drives.
I have a SATA hard drive.
F8 does not bring up the boot menu (Safe Mode)
Does this mean i have corrupted boot files.

can anyone help on this please

Thanks

PangingJr · Feb 28, 2005, 10:52 AM

try setting your computer BIOS to start in the following order:
1) Hard disk
2) Drive A
3) CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.

Tipstaff · Feb 28, 2005, 10:54 AM

Couple things can cause this:

1) the computer doesn't see the drive any longer (can be caused by the hard drive not being connected, or the bios is no longer detecting it)

Remedy, check to make sure that both ends of thethe SATA cable are connected(motherboard and drive), and that the power cable is connected to the hard drive. Also, check to see if your motherboards bios is seeing the drive. Make sure that the boot order shows your hard drive somewhere in the list. Also, remove any CDs you might have in your CDROM/DVDRom drive.

Edit: hehe.. you got that out fir CTRL-Alt-Del. hehe.

2) hard drive failure

If the bios is no longer seeing the drive, even when the cables are connected, it could be that your drive has failed. All you can do about this is to get it replaced. If it's under warranty that shouldn't be too costly.

3) the boot partition is toast.

If the computer is seeing the drive then it's possible that the boot table, or boot partition is corrupted. If the drive has failed, then it's back to option 2. If it's just the partition, then a reinstall of the system might be in order. Also, check around the net for utility disks that might help recover boot tables/boot partitions.

- Tip

elduderino · Feb 28, 2005, 05:32 PM

Hi

Thanks to you both for the replies.

As i could not boot into Safe Mode,i thought it might be Corupted Boot files so I used recovery console, with the commands FIXMBR, and FIXBOOT, and it did not fix things, but before doing a reinstallation, i went into the bios to check that the hard drive was being recognised, but of course its a SATA drive, so the only setting i could check was that the SATA controller was enabled, and it was. I then enabled Fail safe defaults as a last resort, and restarted.
To my surprise, the Computer booted into windows OK!
Now that does not tell me anything except the computer boots OK, but hopefully it might tell you something, and if so could you let me know.
Is it something to do with the Hard drive or Motherboard.

Thanks

PangingJr · Feb 28, 2005, 05:43 PM

An "Invalid System Disk" Error Message When You Start the Computer
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=330141

cause of this error can be from others several reasons,
some of them have already been mentioned above.

Feb 28, 2005, 10:04 AM	#1
elduderino DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 13 Rep Power: 0	Invalid System Disk Hi XP Pro I am getting a Message Invalid System Disk at start-up,after the post screen.There are no disks in any of the drives. I have a SATA hard drive. F8 does not bring up the boot menu (Safe Mode) Does this mean i have corrupted boot files. can anyone help on this please Thanks

Feb 28, 2005, 10:54 AM	#3
Tipstaff HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Real capital of Canada: Torauna Posts: 6,773 Rep Power: 191 System Specs	Couple things can cause this: 1) the computer doesn't see the drive any longer (can be caused by the hard drive not being connected, or the bios is no longer detecting it) Remedy, check to make sure that both ends of thethe SATA cable are connected(motherboard and drive), and that the power cable is connected to the hard drive. Also, check to see if your motherboards bios is seeing the drive. Make sure that the boot order shows your hard drive somewhere in the list. Also, remove any CDs you might have in your CDROM/DVDRom drive. Edit: hehe.. you got that out fir CTRL-Alt-Del. hehe. 2) hard drive failure If the bios is no longer seeing the drive, even when the cables are connected, it could be that your drive has failed. All you can do about this is to get it replaced. If it's under warranty that shouldn't be too costly. 3) the boot partition is toast. If the computer is seeing the drive then it's possible that the boot table, or boot partition is corrupted. If the drive has failed, then it's back to option 2. If it's just the partition, then a reinstall of the system might be in order. Also, check around the net for utility disks that might help recover boot tables/boot partitions. - Tip __________________ Portal: The Flash Version _________________________________ Brain: So, you sacked the cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker? Mr. Sackett: The second cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker I've sacked since the sixth sitting sheet slitter got sick.

Feb 28, 2005, 10:52 AM	#2
PangingJr Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 5,989 Rep Power: 71	try setting your computer BIOS to start in the following order: 1) Hard disk 2) Drive A 3) CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.

Feb 28, 2005, 05:32 PM	Thread Starter #4
elduderino DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 13 Rep Power: 0	Hi Thanks to you both for the replies. As i could not boot into Safe Mode,i thought it might be Corupted Boot files so I used recovery console, with the commands FIXMBR, and FIXBOOT, and it did not fix things, but before doing a reinstallation, i went into the bios to check that the hard drive was being recognised, but of course its a SATA drive, so the only setting i could check was that the SATA controller was enabled, and it was. I then enabled Fail safe defaults as a last resort, and restarted. To my surprise, the Computer booted into windows OK! Now that does not tell me anything except the computer boots OK, but hopefully it might tell you something, and if so could you let me know. Is it something to do with the Hard drive or Motherboard. Thanks

Feb 28, 2005, 05:43 PM	#5
PangingJr Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 5,989 Rep Power: 71	An "Invalid System Disk" Error Message When You Start the Computer http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=330141 cause of this error can be from others several reasons, some of them have already been mentioned above.