steve smith

I have a Windows XP computer that gives an "Invalid System Disk" error when it attempts to boot. I can boot off of a Windows 98 floppy and browse the drive and the files are all there and they look okay. I ran diagnostics on the drive and it passed all the tests. I then placed the drive in another computer and scanned for viruses. A couple of Trojans were found and that was it.

It appears there's a problem with the boot sector, or the Windows XP boot files. I'm not sure how to fix this. I placed the drive back in it's computer and booted off the Windows 98 floppy and ran the fdisk /mbr command. The command ran without an error but it didn't solve the problem. I then tried the Sys A: C: command. I know this works for Windows 9x, but I doubt it should be used on Windows XP. Maybe I made the problem worst. The computer will now boot off the hard drive, but it shows the Windows 98 splash screen and then goes to a C: prompt. I can see the files with the dir command, but I don't know how to restore the Windows XP boot files. Is there an XP equivalent to the Sys command? Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Steve Smith

charlie cassidy

Boot from the XP install CD and select R for repair to boot the Recovery
Console. Then use "fixboot" and "fixmbr" to fix the boot record.

More info on the Recovery Console can be found here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/using/productdoc/en/recovery_console_overview.asp

-Charlie


I have a Windows XP computer that gives an "Invalid System Disk" error when
it attempts to boot. I can boot off of a Windows 98 floppy and browse the
drive and the files are all there and they look okay. I ran diagnostics on
the drive and it passed all the tests. I then placed the drive in another
computer and scanned for viruses. A couple of Trojans were found and that
was it.

It appears there's a problem with the boot sector, or the Windows XP boot
files. I'm not sure how to fix this. I placed the drive back in it's
computer and booted off the Windows 98 floppy and ran the fdisk /mbr
command. The command ran without an error but it didn't solve the problem. I
then tried the Sys A: C: command. I know this works for Windows 9x, but I
doubt it should be used on Windows XP. Maybe I made the problem worst. The
computer will now boot off the hard drive, but it shows the Windows 98
splash screen and then goes to a C: prompt. I can see the files with the dir
command, but I don't know how to restore the Windows XP boot files. Is there
an XP equivalent to the Sys command? Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Steve Smith