Error loading OS?

[sleepygamer213]

I just bought all new parts for a custom pc i was building and when i put it all together and started it up i got an error message saying: Error Loading OS. I don't have an OS on this computer yet, even if i try to boot off of a floppy disk or CD i still get the same message. Ive switched the floppy drive out and still i get the same message. So i had my brother come over (who is A+ Certified and CISCO Certified) and he said it could either be the floppy drive or the area you connect the floppy cable to on the motherboard. I was wondering if it could be my Maxtor harddrive(40GB). My A: drive registers as the harddrive, my C: drive doesn't register as anything, and my X: drive is the CD-ROM.

My setup is:
ASUS A7N8X-X motherboard
AMD Athlon 2600+ with L2 512MB cache processor
Corsair 512MB DDR400 PC3200 RAM
Maxtor 40GB harddrive
and a 400Watt Power Supply

Little help please?

[goldfish]

Have you set everything up in BIOS correctly?

Are you sure that the 1st boot device is the CD-Rom drive? When you see the POST, when it boots, do you see all over the drives being enumerated?

[sleepygamer213]

im pretty sure ive got everything set up correctly and yes the CD is first boot... I dont know what could be wrong...

[goldfish]

Have you checked that the CD is definatley bootable?

Hmm.... have you checked the jumpers on the CD/HDs? (master/slave configuration). I can't think what else it might be, other than fried BIOS, incorrect drive configuration, or a drive malfunction.

[sleepygamer213]

my bro thought it might be the motherboard.... the area where you connect the floppy cable too.... I dont think its the BIOS because i can still access it.... Is there a boot CD out there on the net?

[goldfish]

Well if you're installing XP then you can certainly use the Windows XP Pro Startup Disk, if you can boot from the floppy drive, or the Ultimate Boot Disk.

The former will let you start the installation process from a non-bootable Windows installtion CD. The latter gives you a load of tools which you can check over the drives.

I applogise if this program is a bit on the risky side, but BartPE Builder I've found is very useful for this sort of situation.

[sleepygamer213]

Originally Posted by goldfish

Have you checked that the CD is definatley bootable?

Hmm.... have you checked the jumpers on the CD/HDs? (master/slave configuration). I can't think what else it might be, other than fried BIOS, incorrect drive configuration, or a drive malfunction.

what do you mean by incorrect drive configuration, or a drive malfunction?

Do you think it could be my harddrive?

[sleepygamer213]

YES!!! Ok i was able to boot into DOS now : ) but it gave me some missing files... IE Himem.sys was one of them.. i forgot the rest, it still cant boot off my Win98SE disk but i think that was because i made a backup copy of Win98SE, lost the original disk and am trying to boot off of my copied one that is all scratched up.... I am thinking of buying a new OS CD/disk.. Would this help?

[sleepygamer213]

Ok I put XP PRO on but it rebooted itself and now it says:

Boot From CD:
Press Any Key To Boot From CD: .....Error Loading Operating System