Hello ...I have this pc when at boot up error message comes up "invalid system disk"...now there is nothing in a:\ For some reason it is not seeing hard drive...please help Thanks http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

GammaBoy - Welcome to The PC Guide

We would appreciate some more information, such as what kind of PC, what OS? Is PC still under guarantee? When did this first occur?

However, meanwhile you might like to consider the following three causes:

a) Hard disk drive does not have bootable files on it.
b) CMOS is not setup properly.
c) The hard disk drive is bad or not connected properly.

If stuck get back and someone will tell you how to rectify this.


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Grigory Sokolov, a pianist of extraordinary talent . . .

With the computer off insert the Windows boot floppy, start the computer, select 'Start Windows Without CD-ROM Support', press Enter, type C: at the A:\> prompt, press Enter, type fdisk /mbr (note the space between fdisk and /), press Enter, remove the floppy, restart.

If this does not work, restart with the boot floppy inserted, select the same option from the menu, type sys c: at the A:\> prompt, press Enter, remove the floppy, restart.

If still no luck, then the hard drive or its cables may be defective, or the cables are not securely connected.

Well thank you for that warm welcome =).... First you see it is a friend pc, second I know he runs 98 se and as well it is not under any guarentee( somebody built it for him)First mistake! He did not give any kind of explanation What he actually said he clicked on an icon on his desktop.then pc rebooted and he got that message. Now I have not had a chance to look at pc locally...so it could be anything!!!

Kind of like closing the gate after the critter has run off....but, get a good virus scanner and run it....from the emergency floppy.

But it may not help...one of the common items in virus infected files is a line that basically reads format c:\...which of course will erase the hard drive....and one of the the indicators of a blank hard drive is the "invalid system disk" when booting......so prepare him for the possibility if reinstalling everything...(hope he had backups.....)

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

Hmmmmmm, critters.

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This space reserved for highly intelligent observations and witty remarks.

"Once I thought I made a mistake, but turns out it was the other guy."
Myself

Well here is an update Thanks Again for feedback...I gave my friend a Windows Boot disk and he used it . He got a message that diagnostic tools were installed successfully and then just went to an a:\ prompt. What next please help!!!

At the a;\ type in c:\ that wil take you to the hard drive, after that type dir, if there is anything on the drive then it will show up as a long list (you can also type dir_/p, with a space instead of the underscore...it will pause after the screen fills with directory listings)...if nothing shows then he needs to do a complete re install, if items do show up the you can try typing sys_c:" at the a:\ prompt.

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

[b]Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

Hey Thank you ....just to be clear..this this correct from a:

a: sys c: Do I need to put underscore?

No, no underscore needed.

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

Hey have update I am thinking I will need to reinstall OS because from a: I change to c: and check with dir and it gives a message Volume in c: has no label...Is this correct????? Thank you again !!!!

It is beginning to look more and more like whatever that icon was he clicked on was indeed a destructive malware application, and it did wipe eveything off the drive...at the c:\ try typing dir and see if there is anything at all listed....if nothing shows up then yes you need to reinstall everything; the OS and everything else he had on the drive. It would be a good idea to run some form of virus scan on this system (one that can be run from a floppy...like an emergency recovery disk from a virus scanner from a working machine). Then you need the Windows boot disk, use fdisk to remove the existing partitions, reboot and use fdisk to create a partition or partitions, reboot use fdisk to set one (or the only one active) then format the drive...then install the OS.

After all is said and done get a good anti-virus program on the machine, use it and update it often...I use AVG (http://www.grisoft.com)...also a firewall application like ZoneAlarm (http://www.zonelabs.com/) wouldn't be a bad idea.

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.