Boot from CD failed

Infinite0 · August 22nd, 2005

I'm not sure if this is in the right place, but here goes ...

I wanted to reformat a Dimension 4100. I inserted a Reinstallation CD provided by Dell with XP Home SP1 in the CD drive. I rebooted and followed the directions listed here: http://support.dell.com/support/topi...l=en&cs=&s=gen

I get the following error: "Invalid Boot Diskette Insert BOOT diskette in A:"

I tried upgrading the BIOS to A11 (it was A03) and received the exact same error message. The CD is not scratched, and the drive (there is only one) is working properly.

Suggestions welcome!

**LeeJend** · August 23rd, 2005

The boot disk is in D: not A:

Did you follow the instructions in the "Boot from CD drive" link on the page you refer to above?

Alternatively you could change the boot order in bios to look at the CD first. Then when done installing change it back to C: first.

Infinite0 · August 23rd, 2005

Originally Posted by LeeJend

The boot disk is in D: not A:

Did you follow the instructions in the "Boot from CD drive" link on the page you refer to above?

Alternatively you could change the boot order in bios to look at the CD first. Then when done installing change it back to C: first.

Well, I did both, because aren't they the same thing? Holding down "del" accesses the bios.

I'm telling it to boot from the CD, which is in D:, but why is it trying to access A:?? The floppy disk was eliminated from being a boot device completely. When I press +/- I end up with:

1st boot device: ATAPI CD-ROM
2nd boot device: disabled

Should it look any different?

**Mastershakes** · August 23rd, 2005

Does the light come on on the CD when you boot?

I've seen this only once, and changed every single boot device to CD-ROM. After several reboots, it caught.

1 other thing: on that link you posted.... it says Insert a bootable CD in the CD drive.

I'm thinkin, that Dell CD is not a bootable CD.

Psyborg · August 23rd, 2005

download a win98 boot disk image from bootdisk.com, that will get you as far as the dos prompt, then do

d:
dir/w

and there should be a setup.exe file listed, try to run it from there...

**LeeJend** · August 24th, 2005

A better plan would be to download the Windows XP Home Boot floppy from

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310994

Its specifically for systems that won't boot from CD.

And yes, you did everything right in trying to use the Reinstallation CD.

Infinite0 · August 24th, 2005

Originally Posted by LeeJend

A better plan would be to download the Windows XP Home Boot floppy from

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310994

Its specifically for systems that won't boot from CD.

And yes, you did everything right in trying to use the Reinstallation CD.

Okay, I must be a glutton for punishment.

I followed that link, and downloaded "Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2 Utility: Setup Disks for Floppy Boot Install." The computer has all the most recent windows updates, but the reinstallation CD is for SP1, am I downloading the wrong file? Anway, it said "dmio.sys" was corrupted, that setup could not continue, and I had to restart (twice).

I got some new floppies and a different computer to download the file and load them up to try again.

/edit I'm going to format each one of these disks, stuff keeps getting corrupted. *$#@&!

Psyborg · August 24th, 2005

you are not alone:

http://www.opentechsupport.net/forum...threadid=22086

he is also using the six floppies.

i suggest again that you download a win98 boot disk image from here:

http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm

that's only ONE floppy, and once you get to the dos prompt, you can go from there, i used use it all the time for creating partitions, formatting, etc, before i'd do a FRESH install of xp...

Infinite0 · August 24th, 2005

Originally Posted by Psyborg

you are not alone:

http://www.opentechsupport.net/forum...threadid=22086

he is also using the six floppies.

i suggest again that you download a win98 boot disk image from here:

http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm

that's only ONE floppy, and once you get to the dos prompt, you can go from there, i used use it all the time for creating partitions, formatting, etc, before i'd do a FRESH install of xp...

Hehe, I found that, too. I'm a bit of a noob at this, I've only reformatted one other computer ever, and it took little more than going into the bios and telling the CD to boot first (Inspiron 5100). This computer has been around for five years with nary a reformat, so it was due!

After formatting all six disks and loading SP2 on them I found out I needed SP1. I would venture to guess that some of these floppies haven't been used in over a year, some at all (who uses floppies anyways these days?). Anyway, I went back, loaded SP1 on the floppies from another computer, at the same time disk 4 was loading disk 3 was in the comp I was trying to fix.

So far so good, thanks for the suggestion, though!

Psyborg · August 24th, 2005

no bother, but just a real quickie before you actually insert the cd, try it in a computer that NOT a dell computer and see what happens... i cant really be sure, maybe it'll happen, if its a bootable cd of course, that an error should come up stating that the computer you are tryin to install it on is not a dell computer, or something to that effect. as far as i remember, it has something to do with the software detecting what mobo ur using, and if its not dell, etc...
actually my toshiba backup cds are the same, if it's not toshiba, it aint installin...

Infinite0 · August 24th, 2005

Well, now my ass is really up a creek without a paddle! Setup was chugging along, I'd deleted the old partition completely and XP was loading from the CD. Apparently "hivedif.inf" was corrupted at "Line 0."

Psyborg · August 24th, 2005

hmmm, i've come across this before... yep

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportfor...sage.id=151595

i came across it when i was trying to install xp pro on a comp which incidentally was a dell as it happens, and indeed it was a dell dimension 4100 (remembered the service tag, lol)- p3 933mhz, 128mb SD-RAM (NOT DDR, just in case

), so try switching around some sticks if you can, took me an awful lot of switching in and out parts and a lotta heartache before i finally found the cause!

i nearly forgot to include - GROUND URSELF AGAINST STATIC before trying that one, ok?

Infinite0 · August 24th, 2005

Thanks for the tip. I may try this later, it's already sucked up a great deal of my time. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.

**mlakrid** · August 24th, 2005

Originally Posted by Psyborg

i nearly forgot to include - GROUND URSELF AGAINST STATIC before trying that one, ok?

Ditto.. grounded and powered off...

not like it needed to be said, but you dont want to be the ground path for a live circuit.. LOL

Psyborg · August 24th, 2005

not like it needed to be said, but you dont want to be the ground path for a live circuit.. LOL

hmm, also a good point mlakrid, but i was kinda thinkin more bout ESD affecting the circuits, the RAM n stuff, lol

**mlakrid** · August 24th, 2005

Originally Posted by Psyborg

hmm, also a good point mlakrid, but i was kinda thinkin more bout ESD affecting the circuits, the RAM n stuff, lol

Infinite0 · August 25th, 2005

Well, I don't know WHAT happened, but just for a laugh I attempted reformatting after I received that "hivedef.inf" error. Somehow, without removing any RAM (or any other hardware alteration for that matter), the install went through fine!

**mlakrid** · August 25th, 2005

Originally Posted by Infinite0

Well, I don't know WHAT happened, but just for a laugh I attempted reformatting after I received that "hivedef.inf" error. Somehow, without removing any RAM (or any other hardware alteration for that matter), the install went through fine!

thats not good man...

sounds to me like you might have a bad sector on your CD... get a working copy of it as soon as you can... also find a friend that has one, and do the same...

Dells can be tempermental especially if your using their CD vs a winXP CD...

glad it worked out!

Infinite0 · August 25th, 2005

Originally Posted by mlakrid

thats not good man...

sounds to me like you might have a bad sector on your CD... get a working copy of it as soon as you can... also find a friend that has one, and do the same...

Dells can be tempermental especially if your using their CD vs a winXP CD...

glad it worked out!

Well, therein lies the rub.

**mlakrid** · August 25th, 2005

OH NO.. you didnt have to buy a new one man...

Oh well... if you had called and complained that you were trying to re-install it on the same PC they would have given you an activation code over the phone...

sometimes you just have to be a little snippy and tell them you didnt buy the XP, that dell did and that that CD came with the PC...

Oh well, glad you are up and running....

August 22nd, 2005	Top \| #1
Infinite0 Universal Translator Joined: March 2002 Location: MA, USA Posts: 102 Reputation: 0 Power: 125	Boot from CD failed I'm not sure if this is in the right place, but here goes ... I wanted to reformat a Dimension 4100. I inserted a Reinstallation CD provided by Dell with XP Home SP1 in the CD drive. I rebooted and followed the directions listed here: http://support.dell.com/support/topi...l=en&cs=&s=gen I get the following error: "Invalid Boot Diskette Insert BOOT diskette in A:" I tried upgrading the BIOS to A11 (it was A03) and received the exact same error message. The CD is not scratched, and the drive (there is only one) is working properly. Suggestions welcome!

August 23rd, 2005	Top \| #2
LeeJend OSNN Veteran Addict Joined: January 2003 Location: Fort Worth, TX Posts: 5,261 Reputation: 3386 Power: 199	Re: Boot from CD failed The boot disk is in D: not A: Did you follow the instructions in the "Boot from CD drive" link on the page you refer to above? Alternatively you could change the boot order in bios to look at the CD first. Then when done installing change it back to C: first. Thought for the new millenium: In a world without walls and fences, who needs Windows and Gates? - Open Office - Firefox - Thunderbird - Gimp -Ubuntu - Red Hat -

August 23rd, 2005	Top \| #3
Infinite0 Universal Translator Joined: March 2002 Location: MA, USA Posts: 102 Reputation: 0 Power: 125	Re: Boot from CD failed Originally Posted by LeeJend The boot disk is in D: not A: Did you follow the instructions in the "Boot from CD drive" link on the page you refer to above? Alternatively you could change the boot order in bios to look at the CD first. Then when done installing change it back to C: first. Well, I did both, because aren't they the same thing? Holding down "del" accesses the bios. I'm telling it to boot from the CD, which is in D:, but why is it trying to access A:?? The floppy disk was eliminated from being a boot device completely. When I press +/- I end up with: 1st boot device: ATAPI CD-ROM 2nd boot device: disabled Should it look any different?

August 23rd, 2005	Top \| #4
Mastershakes OSNN Veteran Addict Joined: July 2004 Location: Montreal Posts: 1,721 Reputation: 1040 Power: 124	Re: Boot from CD failed Does the light come on on the CD when you boot? I've seen this only once, and changed every single boot device to CD-ROM. After several reboots, it caught. 1 other thing: on that link you posted.... it says Insert a bootable CD in the CD drive. I'm thinkin, that Dell CD is not a bootable CD.

August 23rd, 2005	Top \| #5
Psyborg google addict Joined: April 2005 Location: Limerick, Ireland Posts: 109 Reputation: 90 Power: 88	Re: Boot from CD failed download a win98 boot disk image from bootdisk.com, that will get you as far as the dos prompt, then do d: dir/w and there should be a setup.exe file listed, try to run it from there...

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August 24th, 2005	Top \| #6
LeeJend OSNN Veteran Addict Joined: January 2003 Location: Fort Worth, TX Posts: 5,261 Reputation: 3386 Power: 199	Re: Boot from CD failed A better plan would be to download the Windows XP Home Boot floppy from http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310994 Its specifically for systems that won't boot from CD. And yes, you did everything right in trying to use the Reinstallation CD. Thought for the new millenium: In a world without walls and fences, who needs Windows and Gates? - Open Office - Firefox - Thunderbird - Gimp -Ubuntu - Red Hat -

August 24th, 2005	Top \| #7
Infinite0 Universal Translator Joined: March 2002 Location: MA, USA Posts: 102 Reputation: 0 Power: 125	Re: Boot from CD failed Originally Posted by LeeJend A better plan would be to download the Windows XP Home Boot floppy from http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310994 Its specifically for systems that won't boot from CD. And yes, you did everything right in trying to use the Reinstallation CD. Okay, I must be a glutton for punishment. I followed that link, and downloaded "Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2 Utility: Setup Disks for Floppy Boot Install." The computer has all the most recent windows updates, but the reinstallation CD is for SP1, am I downloading the wrong file? Anway, it said "dmio.sys" was corrupted, that setup could not continue, and I had to restart (twice). I got some new floppies and a different computer to download the file and load them up to try again. /edit I'm going to format each one of these disks, stuff keeps getting corrupted. *$#@&!

August 24th, 2005	Top \| #8
Psyborg google addict Joined: April 2005 Location: Limerick, Ireland Posts: 109 Reputation: 90 Power: 88	Re: Boot from CD failed you are not alone: http://www.opentechsupport.net/forum...threadid=22086 he is also using the six floppies. i suggest again that you download a win98 boot disk image from here: http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm that's only ONE floppy, and once you get to the dos prompt, you can go from there, i used use it all the time for creating partitions, formatting, etc, before i'd do a FRESH install of xp...

August 24th, 2005	Top \| #9
Infinite0 Universal Translator Joined: March 2002 Location: MA, USA Posts: 102 Reputation: 0 Power: 125	Re: Boot from CD failed Originally Posted by Psyborg you are not alone: http://www.opentechsupport.net/forum...threadid=22086 he is also using the six floppies. i suggest again that you download a win98 boot disk image from here: http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm that's only ONE floppy, and once you get to the dos prompt, you can go from there, i used use it all the time for creating partitions, formatting, etc, before i'd do a FRESH install of xp... Hehe, I found that, too. I'm a bit of a noob at this, I've only reformatted one other computer ever, and it took little more than going into the bios and telling the CD to boot first (Inspiron 5100). This computer has been around for five years with nary a reformat, so it was due! After formatting all six disks and loading SP2 on them I found out I needed SP1. I would venture to guess that some of these floppies haven't been used in over a year, some at all (who uses floppies anyways these days?). Anyway, I went back, loaded SP1 on the floppies from another computer, at the same time disk 4 was loading disk 3 was in the comp I was trying to fix. So far so good, thanks for the suggestion, though!

August 24th, 2005	Top \| #10
Psyborg google addict Joined: April 2005 Location: Limerick, Ireland Posts: 109 Reputation: 90 Power: 88	Re: Boot from CD failed no bother, but just a real quickie before you actually insert the cd, try it in a computer that NOT a dell computer and see what happens... i cant really be sure, maybe it'll happen, if its a bootable cd of course, that an error should come up stating that the computer you are tryin to install it on is not a dell computer, or something to that effect. as far as i remember, it has something to do with the software detecting what mobo ur using, and if its not dell, etc... actually my toshiba backup cds are the same, if it's not toshiba, it aint installin...

August 24th, 2005	Top \| #11
Infinite0 Universal Translator Joined: March 2002 Location: MA, USA Posts: 102 Reputation: 0 Power: 125	Frickin' Spectacular!!!! Well, now my ass is really up a creek without a paddle! Setup was chugging along, I'd deleted the old partition completely and XP was loading from the CD. Apparently "hivedif.inf" was corrupted at "Line 0."

August 24th, 2005	Top \| #12
Psyborg google addict Joined: April 2005 Location: Limerick, Ireland Posts: 109 Reputation: 90 Power: 88	Re: Boot from CD failed hmmm, i've come across this before... yep http://forums.us.dell.com/supportfor...sage.id=151595 i came across it when i was trying to install xp pro on a comp which incidentally was a dell as it happens, and indeed it was a dell dimension 4100 (remembered the service tag, lol)- p3 933mhz, 128mb SD-RAM (NOT DDR, just in case ), so try switching around some sticks if you can, took me an awful lot of switching in and out parts and a lotta heartache before i finally found the cause! i nearly forgot to include - GROUND URSELF AGAINST STATIC before trying that one, ok?

August 24th, 2005	Top \| #13
Infinite0 Universal Translator Joined: March 2002 Location: MA, USA Posts: 102 Reputation: 0 Power: 125	Re: Boot from CD failed Thanks for the tip. I may try this later, it's already sucked up a great deal of my time. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.

August 24th, 2005	Top \| #14
mlakrid OSNN BASSMASTER Joined: February 2005 Location: Land O Lakes, YES, JUST LIKE the CHEESE! Posts: 2,338 Reputation: 1410 Power: 126	Re: Boot from CD failed Originally Posted by Psyborg i nearly forgot to include - GROUND URSELF AGAINST STATIC before trying that one, ok? Ditto.. grounded and powered off... not like it needed to be said, but you dont want to be the ground path for a live circuit.. LOL Quote: "Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity." R.I.P. the best comedian of our time; GEORGE CARLIN.

August 24th, 2005	Top \| #15
Psyborg google addict Joined: April 2005 Location: Limerick, Ireland Posts: 109 Reputation: 90 Power: 88	Re: Boot from CD failed not like it needed to be said, but you dont want to be the ground path for a live circuit.. LOL hmm, also a good point mlakrid, but i was kinda thinkin more bout ESD affecting the circuits, the RAM n stuff, lol

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August 24th, 2005	Top \| #16
mlakrid OSNN BASSMASTER Joined: February 2005 Location: Land O Lakes, YES, JUST LIKE the CHEESE! Posts: 2,338 Reputation: 1410 Power: 126	Re: Boot from CD failed Originally Posted by Psyborg hmm, also a good point mlakrid, but i was kinda thinkin more bout ESD affecting the circuits, the RAM n stuff, lol Quote: "Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity." R.I.P. the best comedian of our time; GEORGE CARLIN.

August 25th, 2005	Top \| #17
Infinite0 Universal Translator Joined: March 2002 Location: MA, USA Posts: 102 Reputation: 0 Power: 125	Re: Boot from CD failed Well, I don't know WHAT happened, but just for a laugh I attempted reformatting after I received that "hivedef.inf" error. Somehow, without removing any RAM (or any other hardware alteration for that matter), the install went through fine!

August 25th, 2005	Top \| #18
mlakrid OSNN BASSMASTER Joined: February 2005 Location: Land O Lakes, YES, JUST LIKE the CHEESE! Posts: 2,338 Reputation: 1410 Power: 126	Re: Boot from CD failed Originally Posted by Infinite0 Well, I don't know WHAT happened, but just for a laugh I attempted reformatting after I received that "hivedef.inf" error. Somehow, without removing any RAM (or any other hardware alteration for that matter), the install went through fine! thats not good man... sounds to me like you might have a bad sector on your CD... get a working copy of it as soon as you can... also find a friend that has one, and do the same... Dells can be tempermental especially if your using their CD vs a winXP CD... glad it worked out! Quote: "Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity." R.I.P. the best comedian of our time; GEORGE CARLIN.

August 25th, 2005	Top \| #19
Infinite0 Universal Translator Joined: March 2002 Location: MA, USA Posts: 102 Reputation: 0 Power: 125	Re: Boot from CD failed Originally Posted by mlakrid thats not good man... sounds to me like you might have a bad sector on your CD... get a working copy of it as soon as you can... also find a friend that has one, and do the same... Dells can be tempermental especially if your using their CD vs a winXP CD... glad it worked out! Well, therein lies the rub.

August 25th, 2005	Top \| #20
mlakrid OSNN BASSMASTER Joined: February 2005 Location: Land O Lakes, YES, JUST LIKE the CHEESE! Posts: 2,338 Reputation: 1410 Power: 126	Re: Boot from CD failed OH NO.. you didnt have to buy a new one man... Oh well... if you had called and complained that you were trying to re-install it on the same PC they would have given you an activation code over the phone... sometimes you just have to be a little snippy and tell them you didnt buy the XP, that dell did and that that CD came with the PC... Oh well, glad you are up and running.... Quote: "Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity." R.I.P. the best comedian of our time; GEORGE CARLIN.