T
Tom Kane
I have recently built my own PC and installed Windows XP Pro. I'm using it
now to write this. Everything is fine, except the computer refuses to boot
from the hard disk ... I have to have the installation CD in the CD drive to
boot. As you can imagine, this is an incredibly slow boot.
I've come to believe that I missed a step in the install and did not
indicate that the hard drive (C should have the MBR (master boot record)
installed. (Note that the BIOS is set to use the hard disk prior to the CD.)
But I would have thought that the install would have been bullet proof and
would have forced me to put a MBR somewhere, so that doesn't make any sense.
Anyway, I loaded the Recovery Console so I could straighten out the MBR
problem. When I entered RC during the boot process, i got this error message
after I typed in the Administrator Password:
The password is not valid. Please retype the password.
Type the Administrator password:
At first I didn't have a password and simply pressed enter. Being clueless,
I added an adminstrator password and got the same message the next time I
tried RC. I've found out that there is a hotfix for the RC, namely, Q308402.
Supposedly, Microsoft will waive the fee for contacting them in this case. On
the other hand, they indicate that this could be the OEM's problem for using
Sysprep. Well, considering I must be the OEM as I built the computer from
scratch, so that doesn't help -- especially considering that the XP install
was on a virgin hard disk.
So I guess I have 2 questions:
1. Does anyone have any suggestions about my basic boot problem (i.e., CD
only)?
2. Will Microsoft give me a freebie on hotfix Q308402 -- which I probably
need regardless of how I resolve my boot issue.
Thanks for any help.
Tom Kane
now to write this. Everything is fine, except the computer refuses to boot
from the hard disk ... I have to have the installation CD in the CD drive to
boot. As you can imagine, this is an incredibly slow boot.
I've come to believe that I missed a step in the install and did not
indicate that the hard drive (C should have the MBR (master boot record)
installed. (Note that the BIOS is set to use the hard disk prior to the CD.)
But I would have thought that the install would have been bullet proof and
would have forced me to put a MBR somewhere, so that doesn't make any sense.
Anyway, I loaded the Recovery Console so I could straighten out the MBR
problem. When I entered RC during the boot process, i got this error message
after I typed in the Administrator Password:
The password is not valid. Please retype the password.
Type the Administrator password:
At first I didn't have a password and simply pressed enter. Being clueless,
I added an adminstrator password and got the same message the next time I
tried RC. I've found out that there is a hotfix for the RC, namely, Q308402.
Supposedly, Microsoft will waive the fee for contacting them in this case. On
the other hand, they indicate that this could be the OEM's problem for using
Sysprep. Well, considering I must be the OEM as I built the computer from
scratch, so that doesn't help -- especially considering that the XP install
was on a virgin hard disk.
So I guess I have 2 questions:
1. Does anyone have any suggestions about my basic boot problem (i.e., CD
only)?
2. Will Microsoft give me a freebie on hotfix Q308402 -- which I probably
need regardless of how I resolve my boot issue.
Thanks for any help.
Tom Kane