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"Disk Error Press any key to restart"

Discussion in 'Other Hardware' started by lechevarria89, May 27, 2009.

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  1. mailpup TechSpot Special Forces

    If you only have one IDE device, you can set it to master. I didn't realize the hard drives were SATA.

    Your BIOS has to allow booting from a USB device or the device connected to the PCI card you tried earlier and that device has to be selected in the BIOS for it to boot from it for the installation of Windows. Not all do, of course. To answer an earlier question regarding your PCI card, yes, you have to install the driver for the card itself before an attached device will be recognized. So under the circumstances, I don't think you will be able to install Windows with it.

    If I were you, I would try a new optical drive. Set it to master, make it the first boot device and try to boot it with the Windows CD in it. While it does seem unlikely your two existing optical drives would both fail at the same time, stranger things have happened.
    mailpup, Jun 21, 2009
    #21

  2. lechevarria89 Newcomer, in training

    Well, my DVD drive is already set to master so that couldn't be the problem. I tried my CD drive a few weeks ago while set to master but still had the same problem.

    I'm pretty sure that BIOS allows booting from a USB device because I'm able to boot my Windows XP CD with my old drive. I'm assuming that since there's already an OS installed in my old hard drive Windows is able to install the adapters driver.

    This is how my BIOS boot sequences looks:

    1. Onboard or USB CD-ROM Drive
    2. Onboard or USB Floppy Drive
    3. Onboard SATA Hard Drive
    4. Onboard IDE Hard Drive (not present)
    5. USB Device
    6. Onboard Network Controller

    When I turn on my computer, using my OLD drive, while my Windows XP CD is inserted into my DVD Drive, I get a black screen that says 'Press Any Key To Boot From CD'. If I decide not to press any key, after a few seconds, Windows Vista starts up. However, if I turn on my computer, using my OLD drive, WITHOUT my Windows XP CD inserted, I get a black screen with a white blinking line on the upper left corner of the screen. Whether I decide to press any key or not the screen stays this way and Windows doesn't boot up. In order for Windows Vista to boot up without me having to insert the Windows XP CD, I have to change the order of my BIOS's boot sequence so that the Onboard SATA Hard Drive boots before the Onboard or USB CD-ROM. If not, my computer will not get pass the "Black Screen of Death," as I call it.

    When I turn on my computer, using my NEW hard drive, whether my Windows XP CD is inserted or not, I once again, get the "Black Screen of Death."

    Also, if I change BIOS's boot sequence so that 'USB Device' is first, I get neither the 'Black Screen of Death' nor the 'Press Any Key To Boot From CD' screen, instead I get a black screen that says Missing Operating System. This happens with both the new hard drive and the old hard drive and, also, whether or not I have my Windows XP CD inserted.
    lechevarria89, Jun 21, 2009
    #22

  3. mailpup TechSpot Special Forces

    That's true but if you are trying to install Windows with an optical drive attached to that adapter it likely won't work. That's because the card driver installed in Windows doesn't kick in at that point, only after Windows starts. But when you are trying to install Windows that driver will never kick in because it will be wiped out along with everything else on the old hard drive. That's all I was trying to say regarding that issue.
    mailpup, Jun 21, 2009
    #23

  4. lechevarria89 Newcomer, in training

    Yeah, that makes sense. So then that means that I still can't install Windows XP not even on my old hard drive although it says 'press any keys to boot from cd.'

    What if I buy a usb external dvd rom drive? will I be able to boot from that?
    lechevarria89, Jun 21, 2009
    #24

  5. mailpup TechSpot Special Forces

    Evidently not with your current setup. In theory you should be able to but if there is something wrong with the optical drives you've been using or if there's something wrong with the motherboard (the IDE controller), it appears not.

    According to the choices in your BIOS boot sequence, you should be able to boot from an external optical drive. For what it's worth, in a PC I recently built (it's in my System specs at the upper right) I used an external USB optical drive to install Windows on a brand new hard drive. I assembled the external optical drive myself from a separate enclosure and a regular IDE DVD writer drive.
    mailpup, Jun 21, 2009
    #25
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