"INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE"

[dpasswat]

I'll try to make this as brief as possible. I bought a used homemade machine (950 MHz). It had Xp on it, and I loaded Win2k on it. However, I keep getting the error message, as Windows is loading, "INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE" with a bluescreen. I've replaced the IDE cable. I've replaced the battery on the mother board. I've taken the HDD out and installed it in another machine and formatted and loaded Win2k again with Spk4. I still get this message. I went into CMOS and selected F3. It sees the HDD, but it acts like it doesn't when trying to start Windows. Has anyone haad a similar problem? Could anyone help me?

Thanks in advance for any and all assistance.
Daniel

 

[Rick]

This is a really common problem relating to hard drive failure, file system corruption and drive controller hardware / driver problems.

If there's no important data, I would beging the Windows XP/2000 setup, delete the partitions on the drive in their entirety, recreate your partition(s) and fully format the drive.

When you install XP/2000 the next time around, it should go smoothly. That is, unless there is a hardware related problem, such as failing drive (most likely) or drive controller / driver problem.

I would attempt to run a drive diagnostic utility, which you can find here: https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic7602.html just to rul out the possibility of a failing hard disk.

 

[dpasswat]

Thanks. She's up and running like a charm. Thanks for the help.