startup problem

[village idiot]

for the last couple of days i've had a problem with startup
when i startup as normal i.e. press power button & go make a cuppa while windows powers up & does it's business but now getting boot disc error massage
i can work round it by pressing power button & tapping the [esc] key until i get the boot menu, select hard disc option then select drive c & it'll startup no problem
various scans indicate no problems but it's getting to be a pain in the backside
any ideas as to cause & solution

[RichieP]

Have you left a USB memory stick connected?

[kellys_eye]

Run scandisk

[dave.m]

VI,
Not got a disc in the CD Drive, have you?

[village idiot]

no USB stick, no CD in drive, getting on my thruppeny bits now

[dave.m]

VI,
It sounds as if the Boot order has been changed if it starts when you select C: drive.

Check the boot order and ensure the C: drive is the first choice:

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/fixthepro ... change.htm

dave

[village idiot]

checked that already, goes in order floppy(a), hard drive(c) then cd rom(f)

[dave.m]

Follow the instructions above and set the Hard drive as the first instead of floppy.
The bios could be sensing that there is a floppy disk inserted and is trying to boot from that, even if there isn't one in.
I am trying to eliminate the possibility of a faulty floppy disk drive.
dave

[village idiot]

i have altered it to just hard drive c

drives at the moment
(a) floppy
(b) empty
(c) hard drive 40gb IDE CH0 M
(d) & (e) hard drive 40gb, partitioned IDE CH0 S
(f) dvd rom IDE CH1 M
(g) empty
(h) hard drive 500gb SATA CH2

i think i'll disconnect all drives but (c)

[dave.m]

No!
Just change the order of boot with C: drive at the top and then either floppy or DVD Rom as second.

dave

[village idiot]

i tried that dave, also disconnected everything but c & kept adding drives till it stalls, everything back but the floppy & it boots up fine, add in the floppy & it stalls so looks like the floppy's fecked

[dave.m]

It may not be goosed, just trying to be active when there is no disk in it.

Do you have an old floppy disk hanging around, if so just pop one in when the computer is up and running then either see what is on thwe disk or send something to it and remove it, BUT remember to use the 'Safe To Remove' icon before pulling it out.
That way it will stop reading/writing to the floppy before you remove it.

dave