Boot failure?

[Elusive]

I just finished doing a fresh install of XP Pro a few days ago.
After my computer sits for a few hours turned off, I start it up and get a black screen with the message: Boot failure: system halted.

But when I restart it everything is fine.

My specs are:
P4 2.4 ghz
Intel D850EMV2 mobo
2 Corsair pc800 RAMBUS 256mb sticks
WD 120gb hdd.
Win XP Pro

Any ideas?

[meese]

Usually that message is caused by the system (BIOS) not seeing the boot drive at startup. Like if you forgot to plug in the IDE cable or you try to boot to a drive without an OS on it.

If its intermittent like yours then I would verify the power cable and IDE cable are all plugged in securely to the hard drive and the motherboard. And check the BIOS to make sure it is recognizing the drive properly.

[Elusive]

I rechecked all the connections and everything is plugged in properly.

Went into bios and it shows the drive and the right capacity, so I have no clue as to why it does this

[Bill in SD, CA]

This is as much a question as it is a suggestion.

Could a weak CMOS battery possibly be the culprit?

Bill

[Elusive]

Originally posted by Bill in SD, CA
This is as much a question as it is a suggestion.

Could a weak CMOS battery possibly be the culprit?

Bill

Not sure, the motherboard is about 10 months old. Is there any way to check the battery?

[meese]

If the battery were bad then the clock would have to be set in the BIOS. Do you have to set the clock?

After you boot the system, open c:\boot.ini. boot.ini is a hidden file so you need to unhide your hidden files first. Open this file in notepad and post the content.

[Bill in SD, CA]

Battery should last longer than 10 months.

Need multi-meter to test.

Bill

[Elusive]

Originally posted by meese
If the battery were bad then the clock would have to be set in the BIOS. Do you have to set the clock?

After you boot the system, open c:\boot.ini. boot.ini is a hidden file so you need to unhide your hidden files first. Open this file in notepad and post the content.

No problems with the clock.

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect

[meese]

Looks Normal to me. Trying to think what to try next.

[Elusive]

Originally posted by meese
Looks Normal to me. Trying to think what to try next.

I appreciate all the help. It's not really a big deal, just curious why it does this. I installed XP on a friends WD the same way and didn't have this problem, so who knows.

And for some reason it takes longer just to boot the system up.
Before it would take around 30-35 seconds to get to the desktop, now it takes well over a minute.