Disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter

[skipster]

I have a rebuilt desktop computer that has a Maxtor HD and a secondary HD that I installed in it immediately after purchase. It has been running fine ever since I purchased it. Although I have internet on it, the primary function of this computer is to store information off my surveillance my cameras around my home. Although the cameras don't run 24/7, I do not shut the computer off and it is on continuously.

When I walked in last night to review the footage of that day, I was greeted with the "Disk Boot Failure, Insert System Disk and Press Enter" message. Needless to say I was shocked by the message and even more surprised when I realized that I didn't have the boot disk cd.

Nothing has been installed or taken off since the first installation. The internet is on only when someone powers up the hot spot wireless device. As I am the only one that has access to the computer, I can imagine it having a virus because I don't surf on it. Very seldom do I use the internet.

My OS is Vista and the Maxtor is a 40GB HD while the secondary is 80GB HD.

Could anyone tell me how to fix this problem?

 

[Tmagic650]

That Maxtor 40GB must be over 5 years old, right? If so, you will need to replace it. They don't last forever. One thing, is the clock and time correct?

 

[skipster]

Disk Boot Failure, Inseret System Disk and Press Enter

Thanks for responding Tmagic. I assume it's older than 5 years because I remember they seller telling me he had the machine for a long time. As well I've heard Maxtor is not a good HD.

I think this computer is SPOOKED!!! All day yesterday I kept getting the disk error. This morning the same thing. I turned it on, got the same error, turned it back off because I wanted to see if it had a date and time stamp when I would cut it back on, turned it back on, and the thing booted up as nomal! In addition, the date and time stamp is correct as well.

The only awarkward thing I see besides that is a Microsoft Windows message box saying "The System has recovered from a serious error". As you know I can either send or not send the report.

I'm at a lost but happy it did boot up. Any suggestions or explainations? I think I'm going to try to move the important programs to my second hard drive in case this thing does it again.

Thanks
Skip

 

[skipster]

I just noticed that the computer is not recognizing my second hard drive. It's not showing up at all. As far as I remember, they were set in a Master and Slave relationship. I can't see it in Explorer anymore.

Can you tell what happened?

 

[Tmagic650]

PATA hard drive are getting scarce... SATA has taken over. I'm sure that computer has no SATA connectors. That second hard drive may be formatted differently than the C drive... NTFS or FAT32. It could have died though

 

[skipster]

I hope it hasn't died. I remember when I was getting the error, that a red light on my tower was lit. Now that the computer is back on, only the green power light is lit.

I used to be able to pull up my data on the second hard drive from Windows Explorer.

Thanks for your responses and help. I'll just proceed from this point and hopefully I can get everything functional again.