Boot Disk Failure: after replacing hard drive

[superboyac]

I get a "Boot Disk Failure, Insert system disk" error when I replaced one of the hard drives in my pc, windows 7 (NOT the os drive).  I haven't found a solution for it yet.  I booted from the windows 7 install disc and did a repair, but it doesn't do anything.  I picked the "fix startup" options in the repair console.

I have 3 drives in the computer.  I replaced one with a larger size and that's when this happened.  And I think this has happened before.  when you take a drive out of a windows computer, it causes these boot up problems.  I plugged the old drive back in, but it won't work.  I've probably tweaked the MBR too much with all the repair tools at this point.  Shoot!  every time...

what is the proper way to go about replacing a drive??  and how do i get around this without doing a full reinstall?  and i thought I can do a repair reinstall, but windows 7 boot disc doesn't seem to have that.  It only has this repair console where you can fix a few things, but there's way to just reinstall everything over the existing installation to fix missing files.

[Renegade]

This sounds like a question for Stoic Joker!

[edbro]

I've had this before and it was booting from the wrong disc. I had to reorder the boot sequence in the BIOS.

[40hz]

IF the drive is formatted as a primary partition, has the bootable flag set, and does not contain your OS, what edbro suggested is most likely the problem. Usually your system will try to boot off the first primary/bootable drive it "discovers." Some BIOSes seem to reorder the boot sequence after a drive is replaced. Probably has something to do with how discovery works fror that particular BIOS/mobo combination.

You could try disabling the hardware BIOS discovery feature by selecting the "OS is plug&play aware" option in the BIOS settings if there is one. That sometimes prevents that problem from occurring since P&P discovery won't take place until after Windows loads.

[Carol Haynes]

I've had this too - it is a BIOS boot priority issue - check you are set to boot from the correct drive

[f0dder]

You could try disabling the hardware BIOS discovery feature by selecting the "OS is plug&play aware" option in the BIOS settings if there is one. That sometimes prevents that problem from occurring since P&P discovery won't take place until after Windows loads.

That should only affect stuff like IRQ assignments and device initialization, and not affect boot order, though.

Superboy, give more details.
1) which kind of disks were involved in the replacement? Were they both of the same type (thinking IDE or SATA here), and did you use the same motherboard port?
2) do you have the old drive available, or is it dead or wiped? If you have it available, you should check if it has bootable partitions, and whether it has the "hidden Windows setup" partition (the important one with the BCD).
3) have you tried the "select boot device" thing from BIOS? (Usually F12 or F8 during BIOS initialization).

[40hz]

You could try disabling the hardware BIOS discovery feature by selecting the "OS is plug&play aware" option in the BIOS settings if there is one. That sometimes prevents that problem from occurring since P&P discovery won't take place until after Windows loads.

That should only affect stuff like IRQ assignments and device initialization, and not affect boot order, though.

*gobsmack*

Absolutely right. I was thinking of the Auto assign Boot Device Priority setting some boards have.

[Deozaan]

I've had problems with Windows 7 using the largest drive to store all the boot info, even if the OS was on a smaller drive. So if you swap out the non-OS drive that has the boot info on it, you will not be able to boot to your OS.

I'm not sure if this is the problem you are experiencing or not.

[tomos]

I've had problems with Windows 7 using the largest drive to store all the boot info, even if the OS was on a smaller drive. So if you swap out the non-OS drive that has the boot info on it, you will not be able to boot to your OS.

I'm not sure if this is the problem you are experiencing or not.

I had something similar during Win7 install (I cant remember why, but it did choose a different drive for the mini-partition. I resinstalled with the second drive temporarily disconnected.)
So check if the 100MB boot partition is on the same drive as the OS.

[superboyac]

I'm going to try all these suggestions when i get home.  Here are some more details in case someone thinks of something:

I had three drives:
OS drive, 300GB velociraptor
storage #1, 1TB, WD caviar black
backup #1, 1TB, WD caviar black

All of them are SATA, connected directly to the motherboard.
I removed the backup #1, and replaced with a 2TB Hitachi drive.  Before I did that, I first copied the files over using the drive in an external esata enclosure.
Then I removed the cables off of backup #1 and connected to the new drive.  now the computer gives the boot error.  That's when I tried using the Repair install on the Windows boot disk.  I chose the "startup repair" option.  It overwrote the MBR a time or two.  I also tried fixing the MBR using Liveboot 2012.  Neither did anything.

I did come across some online advice saying to do something with my boot order.  You guys mentioned that here as well.  I'll try that tonight.  i don't want to reinstall Win7 from scratch.  I just did that last month.

[Stoic Joker]

Let us know how it goes. My vote is BIOS boot priority issue also.

(posting from Windows 8 RTM)

[superboyac]

Let us know how it goes. My vote is BIOS boot priority issue also.

(posting from Windows 8 RTM)

That's encouraging.  Probably the least amount of headache if that's it.

[superboyac]

Problem fixed!  Thanks everyone!


First thing...and you are all going to kill me...the sata cable to the os drive got unplugged.  yup.

Secondly, boot order was also an issue, as the boot drive was last in the list.  Fixed easily, computer is running perfectly.  Never knew about this setting.  The only boot order stuff I've ever used is the order of booting for cd, usb, drive, etc.

Don't need to say it, but you guys are the best.  There are many places I can go to for computer advice, and I'm glad I chose DC.  I hope to fly again with you guys soon.  Thank you and have a great stay in New Cody.

[edbro]

I'm glad you got it solved!

[40hz]

Yay!

Please forgive all of us for not asking if it was plugged in.

That is supposed to be the first tech support question you ask.

[superboyac]

Yay!

Please forgive all of us for not asking if it was plugged in.

That is supposed to be the first tech support question you ask.

It's funny, I'm paranoid about that and before I started the whole thing, I triple checked all the cables.  But I bet it got dislodged during one of the many reboots and whatever else I was doing.  But thanks for not asking if it was plugged in because I would have most likely scoffed at such a condescending remark and said something sarcastic...and that's a hole I don't like digging out of.  But that's usually how it goes for me anyway!

[f0dder]

LOL!

Well, if it's any comfort, I've often had really really stupid things like that when dealing with hardware, programming or debugging. Spend ages trying more and more esoteric stuff, only to realize that you should be smacking your head against the wall for not seeing the obvious =)

[Stoic Joker]

First thing...and you are all going to kill me...the sata cable to the os drive got unplugged.  yup.

Look at the bright side...at least it "protected" the OS from corruption during multiple startup repair attempts. 

Well, if it's any comfort, I've often had really really stupid things like that when dealing with hardware, programming or debugging. Spend ages trying more and more esoteric stuff, only to realize that you should be smacking your head against the wall for not seeing the obvious =)

+1 - Like troubleshooting a device that is plugged in...to a powerstrip with a bad socket. That one cost me about two hours before a demo in the lobby last year.

[40hz]

LOL!

Well, if it's any comfort, I've often had really really stupid things like that when dealing with hardware, programming or debugging. Spend ages trying more and more esoteric stuff, only to realize that you should be smacking your head against the wall for not seeing the obvious =)

Or me the first time I encountered one of those super-deluxe Compaq NetShelter server racks and not being able to find the keyboard tray. Something that prompted the client's office manager to ask "Um...remind me...how much are we paying you per hour?"