windows xp does not load unless with boot disk

[sniker]

I just loaded a fresh installation of Windows XP Home on a computer with a new harddrive. The hard drive works fine.

I used XP Quick Boot Diskette from
http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm
It is only one disk big and it contains the following files:

Ntdetect.com
Boot.ini
Ntldr

I know it says nt but it is for xp and the installation went smooth and XP loaded up just fine.

The only thing is, when i take out the floppy disk, then XP doesnt load and it just goes to a blank screen with the little cursor blinking. If i restart the computer with the floppy disk inside, then it reads the disk and loads XP.

I do not know why its doing that but i dont want it to. i have changed the order of the drives to be read in the bios but it didnt help. If anyone can help me out without doing a fresh new installation, then i would be very grateful.

[s7p9a2m4]

I am curious to know why you used the boot floppy for the Xp install?
Of course Xp will not boot without the floppy. The floppy contains all the boot files.
You should have booted from the Xp cd and did a normal installation. You can partition and format from the cd as part of the normal install procedure. You can copy these files over to xp and regain a proper boot and here is more info on how to do it. If all else fails you can do a repair install from the cd.

http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/repair_xp.htm

[sniker]

well i booted from the XP cd and it loaded the setup files and it restarted the computer when it finished, but it went back to start the whole process again of loading the setup files and not the actual installation.

I tried a few mroe times and got frustrated. Thats when i popped in the floppy and restarted. After the floppy was in, it read the floppy, and went to the installatin screen and did the installation error free.
It loaded up XP and went to the desktop also no errors. Just that when i restarted without the floppy, it would go to the blank screen with the little cursor blinking like in dos.

I dont want to leave the floppy in there but as of now, i do not have an option.

[Viktoria]

Originally posted by sniker
well i booted from the XP cd and it loaded the setup files and it restarted the computer when it finished, but it went back to start the whole process again of loading the setup files and not the actual installation.

I tried a few mroe times and got frustrated. Thats when i popped in the floppy and restarted. After the floppy was in, it read the floppy, and went to the installatin screen and did the installation error free.
It loaded up XP and went to the desktop also no errors. Just that when i restarted without the floppy, it would go to the blank screen with the little cursor blinking like in dos.

I dont want to leave the floppy in there but as of now, i do not have an option.

The floppy you are using is very helpful, but it's not good to have to use it all the time.

Does your event viewer have any logs in there which suggest a problem with loading something?

Any error files or messages that windows cannot locate Ntldr or ntdetect?

~Viktoria

[ultrasolve]

Boot to to XP using the boot floppy then copy the three files on the floppy to your system directory usually C:\ drive.

This is directly into the C:\ drive if that is the drive your OS is installed on and not the windows directory on the drive.

[Viktoria]

Originally posted by ultrasolve
Boot to to XP using the boot floppy then copy the three files on the floppy to your system directory usually C:\ drive.

This is directly into the C:\ drive if that is the drive your OS is installed on and not the windows directory on the drive.

Correct.........or repair through recovery console

[ruudt]

Ahh crazy problem!

My pc doesnt start when i dont leave the windows xp installation cd inside....

I tried copying

Ntdetect.com
Boot.ini
Ntldr

but didnt help. Checked my boot.ini and nothing seems wrong with that either!...Who can help?

[plthayer]

Boot from the orginal Windows XP cd and when you have the option go to the recovery console.

Log into your windows installation by following the prompts on the screen.

Do the following after you are in:
1. Type chkdsk /p and hit enter, let this run to fix any possible partition problems.
2. Type fixmbr, press enter and tell it yes.
3. Type fixboot, press enter and tell it yes again.
4. Type bootcfg /list and verify that Windows XP is listed here, if doesn't list anything type bootcfg /rebuild and add the windows installation when it asks. It will prompt you for a name, type Windows XP and press enter through the other prompts.

Reboot and see if this works.