Why does my computer do this every few days?

[drmlvr]

Got XP and every 7-10 days it kicks me out and says:

Boot disk error- insert floppy

Don't have a boot disk.  Any help or tips would help.  THANKS 

Mike

[ChadTower]

It's coming on to you.  Go with it.

[sphetr2]

It's coming on to you.  Go with it.

That is too hilarious....

Anyway, maybe you are booting your computer with a floppy in it? Back when I was a computer noob, I left a floppy in, and remember getting an error. I think the BIOS is set to booting from a floppy, and then it realizes that the floppy is not bootable, and shows that error.

When does this error show up? At boot or during your use of XP?

But judging by Chad's response, it would seem that he's had much experience with it, so perhaps you should take his advice. 

[USSEnterprise]

When did this start? Could it be the hard drive in its death throes?

[AtomSmasher]

When did this start? Could it be the hard drive in its death throes?

agreed, could be the harddrive going bad.

[drmlvr]

[/quote]



When does this error show up? At boot or during your use of XP?


[/quote]

NO disk is the floppy.  It started to do this recently on its own.  It just shows up during use of XP, sometimes every other week.  Otherwise everything works fine.  Boot, Shutdown, etc. 

[ChadTower]

It happens when his leg has been pressing up against the case for too long.

[quarterback]

Got XP and every 7-10 days it kicks me out and says:

Boot disk error- insert floppy

Don't have a boot disk.

Don't confuse your boot disk with a floppy.  If you have a computer that 'boots up' from a 'disk' then you have a 'boot disk'.

What people are saying is that, since you're getting this error it's possible that your 'boot disk' (whatever hard drive that you have your operating system installed on) might be going bad.  If your hard drive goes bad then (frequently) the next bootable-item is your floppy drive, which would explain the message.

That being said, if this is happening WHILE you're in XP (which is what you imply) then there's something else weird going on because your computer shouldn't be prompting you to boot from a floppy (or any other device) while your OS is already running.

[USSEnterprise]

Do you get the message when the computer comes out of hibernation, should you use it?

[drmlvr]

Do you get the message when the computer comes out of hibernation, should you use it?

Now that you mentioned this.  I remember now that when it does give me this error, it is mostly when I leave the computer on overnight.   Maybe has something to do with the power save thing........ 

[sphetr2]

It happens when his leg has been pressing up against the case for too long.

Yes, and then the fan starts spinning like crazy. 

[RayB]

The drive is going bad. Also check that the IDE cable is very securely attached.

Back up any important data you don't want to lose.

[fredster]

I had SCSI drive that did if it didn't reach a set RPM.  If it didn't hit that speed then it was not reading the drive.

It was screeching toward the end.  Poor thing.

[Kevin Mullins]

I agree with what has already been mentioned a few times........ the hard-drive is on it's way out. Start shopping for a new one.

Backup all your data you don't want to lose.

Or slave in a new drive and copy stuff over before the old one dies for good.

It could last quite a long time, or it could come to a sudden stop and never work again.

[fredster]

Is there any software or proceedure to say put an identical drive and just make an image on the other drive?

One that has the boot sector, etc on it?

I have two stock computers. Both are identical. Same hardware/software/etc.

If I have say a segate 80gb drive and it's dying, can I get a Maxtor drive (100 gb or the same size) and copy the first computer's drive to it so that I don't have to re-install the drivers?

[AtomSmasher]

Is there any software or proceedure to say put an identical drive and just make an image on the other drive?

One that has the boot sector, etc on it?

I have two stock computers. Both are identical. Same hardware/software/etc.

If I have say a segate 80gb drive and it's dying, can I get a Maxtor drive (100 gb or the same size) and copy the first computer's drive to it so that I don't have to re-install the drivers?

I've used Norton Ghost to do that.  It can make exact copies of harddrives, including boot sectors.

[ChadTower]

Put it in a Linux box.  Use dd.