Message INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE

[Xenogear900]

Hey, I get this message on my PC along with a blue screen that says "INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE". I didn't add any hard drives or CD drives. I did put an ipod in the USB port for a few hours but that was it. I took that out and that was that. How do I stop this error message from coming up? Do I need to put my Windows CD in and reinstall the OS (if so, how exactly do I do that?) It won't even let me boot up in Safe Mode!

Xenogear900@yahoo.com

[Bodyslide]

Your PC no longer thinks it has a bootable drive. Check in the PC Bios to see what device is selected as the Boot drive. It might have gotten changed somehow.... Good Luck

[Barnabas]

Either your HD has quit, or your bios is messed up. Try putting the windows CD in and turn the computer off, then back on.

[TJohns]

We get this a lot on our school PC's (where the kids don't do clean shut-downs when they're done - just hit the power switch). Try this...

* boot from your Windows CD
* select the normal "install" options for the first few screens
* after a few screens it finds the existing Windows folder, and gives you the option to REPAIR rather than a fresh install.

This will remove & re-load a heap of EXE & DLL files, as well as boot sectors, etc. Works in about 90% of cases, unless the systems REALLY trashed. You'll need to re-patch, etc afterwards to bring it back up-to-date.

Trevor

[MOVIEGEEK]

Well since the OP doesn't say what OS he's using I would first look at the obvious:
When booting enter the BIOS(Delete key,F12,etc) and make sure the HD is recognized,if it is then set HDD-0 as the first boot device.If that doesn't help then set CD-ROM as the first boot device and boot from Windows CD.
If the drive isn't recognized then open the case and make sure all cables are connected properly(eg IDE,power),if that doesn't work try a new IDE/SATA cable and replace the mobo battery.
A final test is to move the HD to another computer(that way you can rule out the mobo or PSU)and see if you can boot,if not then it's time to do a clean install or buy a new HD.
There are PC shops that can transfer the data from the old HD to a new one..that is if the old HD isn't borked.

[Bjs]

Firstly ... take cover off pc ... see those little metal can's , make sure none have any form of discolouring , brown mark's ... or worse , oozing brown crap ... if so , motherboard is problem ... consider replacement asap .

Pc erratic restart's are a good indication of this problem .

If ok ... that is pc run's day in , day out without restart's ...

Enter bios .
Make sure boot options are set to 1 = cdrom , 2 = hd , 3 = floppy or null (none) , save , pc reboot's ... should be normal .

Upon cold startup , if returned ... replace your mother board battery ... a common problem .

If persist ... place windws cd in cdrom ... and see if it boot's ... yes , proceed next
Check in bios if hd is listed ... if hd keep's dropping out ... change ide cable and try again .
If problem ... if hd is set to master , change jumper to cs , and try again ... some maxtor's and wd's were crap on master .

If still no go , then hd might be failing ...

Buy an new drive , set as master , connect to primary ide ... set old drive to master and place on secondary ide cable
Go to new drives manufacturer website and download their "new hd install" utility ... create floppy .
Boot system from floppy .

New drive setup :

Use the utility to partition and format the new drive to suit current os choice ... ie ... win98 use fat32 .. xp may use fat32 or ntfs .
If old drive is fat32 ... stick with it .

Once this has been performed , reboot pc ... turn it OFF .
Reboot pc and use this same program to transfer all the data from the old drive , to the new drive (partition 1 on new drive) .
When done , shut down pc , remove old drive ... reconnect cdrom ... restart pc , enter bios .
Make sure current installed drive's show in bios , if so , reboot pc and enjoy .

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If hd has bellied up completely ... nothing you can do ... it's very expensive to recover data ... this is why it is important to alway's keep up to date back's on portable media ... in case it bite's the dust ...

Programer's know this well ...

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Ipod on pc :

Connect ipod to pc ... startup pc ...
Leave device connected till recharge has completed ...
To remove device ... shutdown pc ... then disconnect ipod .

This is how to avoid problems under all os's ... even under linux

Under window's xp , or nt 2000 + sp4 ... use safe removal tool .