Disk Boot Failure Please insert boot disk and press enter!

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Kgarvin

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I built a computer and I have a Mach motherboard and Seagate HD. I have a WIn XP from a friend to install. I do not have a floppy drive on my machine. When it tries to boot from CD, I get the error Disk Boot Failure, please insert boot cd and press enter! I have tried various boot sequences so I not sure where I should go from here. I dont know if the XP disk I have is what I should be using or not.
 
Hello and Welcome to TechSpot

Lest get some questions answered so we can assist you better.

1. Is your hard drive IDE or SATA?
2. Do you have a legal license for the operating System. 1 license 1 computer.
3. Is it an OEM cd or a burnt copy?
 
Both my HD and CD/ROM are SATA. The cd is a burnt copy I got from a friend. I think that is probably the problem because I have a Dell OS cd for my laptop which seemed to get slightly further than the win XP cd I got from my friend.
 
DO NOT try to use your Dell cd in this machine !!! Your wasting your time

You do know you need to install the SATA drivers to install the OS? Do you have a floppy drive? Do you have the SATA/RAID Drivers?

Having a burnt copy gives huge chance that is your issue.
And, are you ready to install? Having the proper software at hand will make for a smooth and successful installation. Heres small checklist you may want to get in order before you begin.

Windows XP software cd. (Legal license)
SATA/RAID Driver (floppy)
Motherboard driver cd
Adapter card driver cd
 
I understand what you are saying, I just didnt want to spend the money to buy a legal license of windows. I have the drivers for the motherboard and adapter. Is there a cd version of the sata/raid drivers or would I have to buy that as well?
 
Unfortunately you have no choice, you must have your own OS license to be able to benefit from a healthy, updated OS. Any other way is a waste of time and a huge headache.
You can d/l SATA drivers via the mobo manufacturers site
 
If you're saying the Dell CD booted and loaded files before giving up it sounds like your copy of XP is at fault.
If not, does the bios detect all your drives?
Did you set all the bios options 1,2 & 3 to boot from CD?
Is the Seagate new or secondhand? If it's been used does it still contain files?
Can you get hold of an original XP disk and check if it works?
 
The pc didnt boot or load files from the dell cd, it started looking for the configuration and then it would shut down. Everything on the computer is brand new. i am going to have to just go buy the xp cd and go from there. I always wanted to build one but I just never took the time so it has beena learning experience for me and will help me with my job as well.
 
Still no luck

I was able to download the sata drivers off the Mobo site and I have an external floppy drive to use instead of an internal floppy drive. It doesnt seem like the pc is recognizing the floppy to boot from it. I have the settings as floppy, cd/rom, hard drive. IS there something else I should change in the settings?
 
Sorry, that last one was me replying to your decision to buy a new copy of XP. Now you've introduced an external floppy drive into the mix we have to start wondering why your new build, with no operating system installed and so with a big bagful of drivers missing, won't detect usb, which can give problems with well established systems. Your best bet is to go ahead and solve the XP problem like you said. There's no reason I can see why a new build like yours shouldn't boot from any genuine copy of windows
 
Changed to USB floppy

I went in the BIOS and changed the boot sequence to USB-floppy, CD, HD. It was able to recognize the usb floppy but the only response i get is for me to "remove disks or other media and press any key to restart". If I remove the floppy disk, the computer shuts off. I am going to just take it into work on tomorrow and work on it some more. One of the guys builds computers so he will be able to tell me what the problem may be. I appreciate everyon's help.
 
Still having problems

I bought the Win XP disk and it was going through the windows setup but then it just turned off completely. I turned it back on and it would get to the "boot form CD" line and then to the setup hardware configuration line and keeps shutting off. I have boot sequence set at USB floppy, CD\ROM, HD. I just turned it on again and it got to the windows setup screen and turned off before giving me the option to load third party drivers. I need help.....
 
wait a minute. slow down and take a few deep breaths. fffffffffffffffffffffffffttt haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

ok. first off, all of the mbs iv ever used to built pcs never needed the mb driver disk for any drivers. there are exceptions to every rule, but this one i think is pretty much solid.

your ONLY problem is that u cannot use a burnt copy of the windows disk to boot or install windows. geek girl is right. there are files on the windows cd that cannot be copyed to another, so it keeps you from doing exactly what your doing now, pirating a copy of windows. even if you could, then ur windows would have to be registered to your buddy who owns the disk before microsoft would activate it. win xp home with sp2 disk is roughly 80 bucks in any store. when u install the cd, the setup program will install drivers for any device specific to your computer, and you should have no problems, barring any of the hardware you have is either compatible with the board or not damaged. iv installed windows countless times for hundreds of my customers.
 
I already bought the OEM cd for WIn XP and it is still shutting off. I talked with few other techs that I work with and they advised me to check my ram and the power supply so I will check that out and see about changing out the power supply. I Have a 350 watt PS but I am going to try a 400 Watt PS and see what it does.
 
If you've got a kosher OEM XP disk and a new hard-drive this is pretty mysterious, so much so that it's back to first principles. So you'll have to excuse me if I state the obvious:-
The bios should be set to boot from CD, hard-drive second, doesn't matter what comes next. (You may be asked to press a key to boot from cd). The XP disk should boot and load drivers into memory and then check where to install. If you've got a single hard-drive (with one partion) that's the only possibility. Make sure the drive is completely clean if it's not brand-new and format it when asked choosing (NTFS). After that' the installation procedure should start automatically, The machine will reboot several times. Do NOT choose to boot from CD during installation or the process will restart from the beginning!
If it still doesn't work you'll need to provide detailed notes of messages received and the exact stage it failed.
 
The first stage is to load drivers into memory, so if it fails here you could have a memory problem. Confirm that the motherboard supports whatever you've installed and that it's seated properly. (And don't use more than 2 gigs!)
 
Found out the problem was I didnt have my spacers installed and the heatsink wasnt properly seated onto the CPU. Machine is fully operational.
 
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