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Community Newsletter: Q&A: Disk boot failure: What is it and what can I do to resolve it
- 8/17/07 10:22 AM
Disk Boot Failure on initial startup.
by Wolfie2k5 - 7/28/07 7:21 AM In reply to: Disk boot failure: What is it and what can I do to resolve it by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Marlene,
I've seen this bit of weirdness in the past. The issue is actually fairly simple to diagnose.
What seems to be happening in this situation is as follows:
The computer starts off in a "cold" state - meaning it's been off for some time.
1.) You hit the power button
2.) The power supply engages, starts feeding power to the peripherals and the motherboard.
3.) The motherboard "wakes up" and begins it's POST (Power On Self Test) sequence.
4.) Peripherals (hard and optical drives) being their POST sequences as well.
Now then, the POST for the motherboard finishes before the hard drive finishes spinning up and POSTing itself. Therefore, when the motherboard's finished, the hard drive is still not ready for action. The motherboard decides it's not going to wait for the hard drive to finish and the motherboard fails the drive.
Now, if you hit the reset switch, the next time the computer boots, it recognizes the hard drive as it's already had a chance to power up at least partially.
So... What's the cause? When you power up a computer, all of the devices that are connected to it are activated at the same time so they can, if nothing else, be at the ready when the system comes online. So, if you've got a LOT of devices - two hard drives, two optical drives, multiple USB devices that draw power from the USB port, etc..., then it may be the power supply is inadequate for the task at hand. Additionally, things like video cards/chipsets can be quite power hungry.
Having a weak power supply can be the problem. Unfortunately, vendors these days tend to be as cheap as possible with their hardware. After all, they do want to make a profit. The problem lies, however, when the system and the components in it require say, 350 watts and the power supply installed is only rated at 300 or even 250 watts MAX. The word "MAX" appears on many power supplies these days - and means the power supply can deliver a maximum of it's rated wattage for a short period of time. It doesn't mean it can deliver that for an extended period of time.
However, it can also be the hard drive itself. Some drives tend to be "lazy" and not come up to their "ready" state fast enough.
Either way, wiping the hard drive and starting over isn't going to be a solution.
So...what to do about this... Given your post, it would seem you've only had the system for a couple of months and that means it should still be under warranty. The obvious fix would be to power it off, crack open the case and look at the power supply. If it's fairly small - say a 250 or 300 watt PSU, a replacement with a 400 or 450 watt PSU would be the quick fix - however, replacing it yourself could possibly void your warranty. Contact HP for assistance.
If the power supply is rated to be a reasonable amount, it could be faulty. It happens. Contact HP for a replacement.
The first thing I would suggest would be to have the computer checked out by someone who's got a larger power supply handy. If it seems to solve the problem, take the results of the test and going to HP and insisting (politely, of course) that they do something about it.
Battery on motherboard.
by Lancashire - 8/4/07 12:47 PM In reply to: Disk Boot Failure on initial startup. by Wolfie2k5I have had some experiences like this with HP computers.
Take the battery out of the motherboard socket, check it for output, reinsert it or replace it, and start the computer. If the battery is bad the settings in the CMOS are not being retained when the computer is shutdown. Once the computer is restarted, the CMOS has has had time to pickup the hardware settings, so the computer will start.
Power Supply
by tim wiggins - 8/4/07 1:27 PM In reply to: Disk Boot Failure on initial startup. by Wolfie2k5I thought H41N and Wolfie2k5 gave you some great advice. I have seen this on one computer and doing extensive testing found it to be a weak power supply and the hard drive not POSTing in time for the motherboard's call. Even though the power supply voltages seemed to be coming up in time and to spec. this was the problem.
An easy check is to disconnect some of the hardware such as the CD, DVD or floppy drive and try some startups. If the system starts up consistently with less power load on the supply, it is a "too small" power supply.
Of course, an actual failing hard drive is a real possibility also.
Boot delay
by Mojo_58 - 8/7/07 9:42 AM In reply to: Disk Boot Failure on initial startup. by Wolfie2k5This was a common problem in the past as well. Some motherboard manufactures even put in a spin-up delay option some BIOS. The delay would pause the mobo's POST test for the hard drive long enough for the hard drive to spin up to it's proper speed.
Basically, you don't really need to spend any additional money for repairs IMHO. Just know that you will have to warm-boot your PC several seconds after a cold-start.
If your motherboard has an updated BIOS which includes the boot-delay you can try to using it. I still wouldn't throw money at a machine that works OK after you give it time to warm up.
(NT) Buy a Dell
by blkenvoh - 7/28/07 7:29 AM In reply to: Disk boot failure: What is it and what can I do to resolve it by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Answers for Marlene-disk boot failure
by dovestar - 7/28/07 7:32 AM In reply to: Disk boot failure: What is it and what can I do to resolve it by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Sounds like you know a few things about computers. That being said, I'm surprised you bought one with someone's name on it--Dell, HP, etc. This doesn't mean they are bad computers, but if you want to upgrade some things like memory, etc., you would have to go back to them to get a component that would work in your system. Although some things don't work like that, other components do.
Back to the matter at hand, I'm assuming that all your data files are also on your "C:" drive. If you can boot, burn these to a CD ASAP so you don't lose them. If you wind up having to wipe your hard drive, then reinstall WINDOWS ONLY on the C: drive. Partition the rest of the drive to hold the other stuff. The way my system is set up has Windows and some antivirus on the "C:" drive, programs and utilities on "D:", data from that software on "E:". I also have video drives and other special storage areas, but hopefully, you get the idea. That way, whenever you have to "Format C:", all you'll ever lose is Windows. And you're going to replace that anyway.
Upgrading
by terrymiles09 - 8/4/07 5:51 AM In reply to: Answers for Marlene-disk boot failure by dovestarI also know how to build my own machine. However, in recent years, it has been much less costly to buy a new machine instead of building your own. It does seem like Dell's prices are starting to climb higher than the others right now, but the CPU costs still make it a huge savings to buy a new name brand machine. A new dual core CPU alone will be half the cost, or more, of building a machine.
About upgrading... You DON'T have to go back to Dell, HP, etc. to buy the proper memory for the machine you purchase from them. The last few Dell's which I've upgraded memory in (for others) have had slower memory than the board could accept. Also, the price of buying from Dell has usually been 50% more than buying elsewhere. There are many online tools available to select the proper memory.
Check the DVD Writer Drive for disc left inside
by mercerik - 7/28/07 7:41 AM In reply to: Disk boot failure: What is it and what can I do to resolve it by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Have you used your DVD Recorder and see if there is a disc inside? This sometimes happens if you accidentally leave a disc inside. This happened to me once. After removing the disc, the problem is gone.
Hope this helps.
Boot Failure
by Lakemen - 7/28/07 9:20 AM In reply to: Disk boot failure: What is it and what can I do to resolve it by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Marlene:
Seeing it is a new computer and the boot problem is erratic, I would check for a hardware connection problem especially the hard drive connection ribbon to the hard drive and to the board. Also check that the power connector is firmly connected to the hard drive.
'disk boot failure'
by VMMan - 7/28/07 9:48 AM In reply to: Disk boot failure: What is it and what can I do to resolve it by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
First of all you asked what the error actually means: before the operating system is loaded, your computer knows just enough to read one chunk of data off the hard drive and start executing it. That chunk is smart enough to read the system loader and start executing it. The system loader then loads and starts the operating system--this is why it is called a 'bootstrap load' as in 'lifting yourself up by your own bootstraps'. The 'disk boot failure' message indicates that the process broke somewhere. Since this only happens when you first turn on the computer I would expect that the Hard Drive is too slow to come up to speed but it could also be that when your computer is too cold it causes an open circuit because of a misaligned plug, a bad solder joint, a broken trace on a circuit board, or some similar problem.
This is the point where the CE for our Mainframe used to start swapping parts to see if the problem moved so it's time to bring the computer to someone who has the resources to do that--the repair technician.
Answers for Marlene
by rwilliams9 - 7/28/07 10:16 AM In reply to: Disk boot failure: What is it and what can I do to resolve it by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I would do these in the following order
1. Check the hard drive using the drive manufacturer's diagnostic tool. If it returns A-OK for the full tests (no zeroing, please!,
2. Can you access the drive consistently and repeatedly from a boot floppy, like Tom's root boot floppy? If not--I'd suspect the drive, or the signal CABLE to the drive before I look elsewhere.
"disk boot failure"
by Thomasskins - 7/28/07 10:18 AM In reply to: Disk boot failure: What is it and what can I do to resolve it by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I have hade this "disk boot failure" message after running windows registry pro i was runing it for Classes Section, invalid known DLLs, File associations & system services, i have to be honest i really diddnt know what i was doing and i obviously removed somthing i should not have, even worse i diddnt back up before doing it.
My comp would run fine but i would still get "disk boot failure" message when i boot up.
The only way i could resolve my problem was buy putting in a recovery disk & rebooting my whole system & loosing everything i had on comp.
That is yhe LAST thing you should do.
My advice is - To do a System restore if you back up often?
Try & run a windows registry to refind the missing file/DLL.
Ignore it and carry on if its causing no problemms untill you 100% know how to fix it, dont mess with what you dont know even though the "disk boot failure" message is annoying.
I'm no PC Pro im just learning through the misstakes i have made so please take my advice with a pinch of salt & i hope it is of some or any use to you.
PC Experts Quote Me If I'm Wrong!
Good luck & i hope you solve your problem soon Marlene 
.
This Might Help your disk might be corrupted!
by rrreilly58 - 7/28/07 10:42 AM In reply to: Disk boot failure: What is it and what can I do to resolve it by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
After Hitachi took over IBM's HD division they came up with some neat drive utilities i was impressed that DFT & FT worked on a whole slew of problems! try the HD manufactuers web site for possible fixes. such as any utility that will rebuild the mbr (boot segment)of your drive! In any event your going to need access to another computer to download the software and create a bootable cd. While i'm on this have you tried to reinstall windows when it comes time to create the software it will ask you if you want to repair (note the software will ask this twice answer yes the SECOND time) this will rebuild the bootsegment and retain all your settings and software!
All thde best!
Bob
addendum to my post!
by rrreilly58 - 7/28/07 10:47 AM In reply to: Disk boot failure: What is it and what can I do to resolve it by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm
hope this helps!
Bob
Re: Disk boot failure
by Dagda - 7/28/07 11:21 AM In reply to: Disk boot failure: What is it and what can I do to resolve it by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi Marlene,
I had a similar problem some time ago and tracked it down to a faulty power supply. I think the hard drive was not getting up to full speed fast enough for the boot process so resulting in the error message. At other times the computer would boot up okay. I recommend installing an alternative "good" power supply as a replacement in order to test this out.
Best of luck
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