"Disk Boot Failure Insert System Disk and Press Enter"

[Roosky]

Ok so I have got this problem as of last week, my computer froze up and I had to restart it, then when I went to boot it up would be stuck on the loading screen for ~5 minutes, then it would be stuck on the Welcome screen. Whenever I got to the point where I could Log into my computer it would take about ~5 minutes again to get off that screen and then would just go straight into a black screen but I could move my mouse around and get the task manager up.

So I go ahead and put the Windows 7 System Disk in and run all the repair tools but they all say nothing is wrong and it being a new computer I forgot to put a restore point (doh), so I had to reinstall windows but kept my old files.

After a few hours of playing WoW again my computer turns off and I go through the whole process again but THIS time after running all the repair tools etc and then going back to reinstalling Windows 7 there is no drivers to try install Windows onto, so I just shut my computer down and waited a while and when I booted it back up I get "Disk Boot Failure Insert System Disk and Press Enter" and ive tried everything but nothing works.

So if anyone knows whats going on and can help me that would be great, but im thinking my hard drive is f**ked and I need to buy a new one?

Also is it possible to buy an external hard drive and install Windows 7 onto the external hard drive and boot my desktop off the external hard drive?

[Wozarib]

this sounds alot like a busted hard drive. do you have a spare one you can try to install windows onto? just to completely rule out anything else.

if you havent already, and you've got the money, get an SSD - the performance gain will be very very welcome

you could install onto an external drive, but you're better off replacing the hard drive that's inside already with a new one or an SSD

[Roosky]

Im no genius with computers or anything but when my dad (who works with computers every day since he was a teenager) looked at it he said when I brang my desktop over to a mates place for a LAN it screwed my comp because it was on a new network or something? it was the first time my desktop had been anywhere but my house too btw.

and buying an SSD would improve but how much do you think?

[Misen]

Sounds like a failing harddrive just briefly reading over.
Your in a good spot though. Teras are only about 60 bucks.

As far as an external drive?
I would advise to just buy an internal drive and call it a day.
You will only be able to go as fast as your USB ports can take you and thats not very fast...


If your worried about how to replace a drive its actually really easy.
All you need is a screw driver and you'd only be removing 4 screws max.
2 for the case and 2 for the ones that hold the harddrive in.

[Roosky]

So what you're saying is if I run off an external hard drive I wont be able to play WoW as fast or things wont load as fast?

[Misen]

So what you're saying is if I run off an external hard drive I wont be able to play WoW as fast or things wont load as fast?

Things wont load as fast.
USB drives go at about 25 MBytes/s.
SATA hdd hits around 50-60 Mbytes/s.

[Roosky]

But will WoW run the same speed as it normally would?

[lockblock]

just replace it yourself or pay someone to do it for you
more then likely the cost of getting an external will be roughly the same as getting an internal + paying someone to install it

[Punks]

But will WoW run the same speed as it normally would?

Faulty Hard Drive....Had nothing to do with bringing it to your friends house. Surprised he even said that. Unless you banged it or your buddy has a huge magnet there lol

Just buy a good Hard Drive non SSD, They are too pricey anyways and small. Not worth it yet,

---------- Post added 2011-03-04 at 09:32 PM ----------

It is extremely easy to install a Hard Drive.

[ispano]

While i'm sure it's possible to run Windows off a USB drive, jumping through hoops to do so. It really does not like to do so. Even linux distros had issues booting fully from USB at first.

No, it's not a good idea, assuming you can even get it to work.

[Darksideblues42]

Depending on how old the OP's computer is, he may have run smack into the Cougar Point issue....If it is Intel Based, uses a Second Gen Core i series CPU, AND uses the 3G SATA ports, there is a serious hardware flaw that Intel introduced in this chipset that causes the drive read/write performance to degrade over time and might cause delayed writes, delayed reads, and significant data corruption.

Intel has a fix in manufacturing, but the OP will need to replace his Mobo (under warranty of course) and that should fix the issue.

[Roosky]

the computer was custom built for gaming and its about a year old

[Darksideblues42]

If it is that old, it can't be that issue.

The Cougar Point /Sandy Bridge issue has only been around for a little over a month.

Bad hard drive, Flaky SATA cable connection, Flaky Power Supply....so many options...

Maybe you could run something like Speedfan, use the SMART check on your hard disk, and see if it is yelling at you for having a bad hard drive or one that is about to fail.