error loading operating system

[bolivar]

i reset the bios, change the boot order, boot xp cd, repartition, format, setup copies files, setup reboots, system asks if i want to boot from cd...i let it go so the setup uses the flat file it copied, i then get the "ERROR LOADING OPERATING SYSTEM"
the xp cd and hardware ive had since ive ordered the parts for the system
bios is up to date and ive ran it for months
i tried another xp cd, since my hard disk is IBM i ran the drive fitness test utility from IBM, i tried fixmbr and fixboot in the recovery console

as an aside, linux runs fine, on system. i only mention this to show the hardware is functional

the only thing ive noticed thats 'odd' is after xp partitions the hard disk and when i look at it with cfdisk i dont see that typical 8mb section at the end of the drive. dont know if that helps but after years of using pc im stumped

thanks a ton for reading this
hope we can figure it out

[Play_The_0dds]

some motherboards have a boot from hotkey, even if you set the boot order to load the cd rom first and it does it it will not allow the mbr to be written to unless you use this function.(this is a protection feature for virus among other possible problems) if this is the case you will see the key listed on the bios startup screen for example press F10 for boot options. segate hard drives come with the same kind of utility, if you install it you can only alter the mbr by using it's loader function. you can use third party software to secure erase the drive which will remove anything like this. then you will have to recreate the partitions and format the drive.

[bolivar]

known_criminal

although my system bios doesnt have that option i do thank you for repsonding
what i ended up doing was using IBMs drive fitness test to write 0s to the MBR (i forgot it was in the tool)
so for some reason xp setup wasnt rewriting the MBR and the fixmbr wasnt working either
but im up and running so all is good

[Play_The_0dds]

you can use third party software to secure erase the drive which will remove anything like this. then you will have to recreate the partitions and format the drive.

ok slap me around sometimes, the solution you came up with is what i meant by that, low level format(packet write) sometimes i dont explain things well, sorry

[tamriilin]

I'm having the same problem, being that I'm getting "error loading operating system". The only difference is, I have two HDs - a 120gb Western Digital as my master, and a Samsung as my slave. I was going to reformat by deleting the windows XP partition on my master, but as soon as I deleted the partition my PC shut down. Now, every time I try to boot, it gets to "boot from CD-rom..." and then says "error loading operating system". I decided to try to install again, but it said "boot from CD-rom..." and sat there for roughly 7-8 seconds, then gave the same error message. So, in summary, I can't boot from a CD-rom, and I don't have a floppy drive. I tried setting the drive access to "large", but to no avail. Any help?

EDIT: I wouldn't mind reformatting either drive, so long as I find a solution to this problem. I already transferred all my most important data (all my games and documents...Heheh) to 3 USB thumbdrives.

[Killercalfe]

Yesterday I was playing Battlefield 2 and I felt I should restart to fix a problem with sound. When I did that, I got that error. All my hardware except the HD's are less than 2 weeks old.

SATA 160GB has the OS

eVGA nForce 590 SLI Mainboard
Phoenix - Award WorkstationBIOS v6.00PG
Windows XP Pro Service Pack 1
AMD X2 5600+
BFG 8800 GTS OC
2 Gig Corsair ddr2 pc6400
x-fi platinum
SATA 250GB

[Killercalfe]

Before my computer gets to the dmi pool, it gives me 3 options: Go to bios, choose boot device, and a wierd choice i know nothing about. i just picked the choose boot device and windows loaded up, so i guess my bios messed up a little during that restart.