"Non-system disk, press any key..." message on boot-up

I successfully restored a disc image from my external hard drive, but now when I start the computer (or restart it) it freezes on a black screen with this at the top left : "Non-system disk, Press any key...".
If I press any key, the system continues and boots to windows just fine. Anyone know why that message shows up now, and how do I get rid of it ?

 

Sounds like a boot loader has gone a bit strange.

If this is XP you can check the boot.ini file either by hunting it down in the root directory or from (Win button + Pause) click on the 'advanced' tab, select the bottom button SETTINGS and click EDIT and see if your entry looks similar to this.

[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect/sos /NoExecute=OptIn

The other solution maybe to boot into the console and remake the MBR, but if that goes wrong you're stuffed, so use with caution.

Colin

 

That's what it was. I got it fixed, thanks! It was like this :

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default= (and the rest was just like you have in your post except the ending looked like this "Home Edition" /NoExecute=OptIn /fastdetect"

I switched the two entries at the end around to read:
"Home Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn"

That fixed it. I noticed your timeout is "5" and mine is "30"...what is that for? And, I don't have the "/sos /" in mine ?

 

As I only have 1 OS on the drive, I don't need 30seconds to display the # of OS choice entries.

SOS = allows you to see what system files are being loaded at boot time.

Colin

 

I also have only one operating system. If I changed the "timeout=30" to "timeout=5" would that speed up my bootup time, or does that only apply to when you go into the choices of operating systems screen?

 

Only by the 30 seconds it pauses to display the OS menu choice, or until you hit the enter key.


Colin

 

Hmmm ... odd .. just for the record, my entry is as your original one, (but with the timeout= 3). Of course this hard drive is the original XPHome setup. I'm just curious as to why you had the boot up error.

 

I'm fairly new to PC stuff, so bear with me (I do have UNIX experience though)

I too receive this message upon a restore. I followed the above recommended changes but this did not resolve my problem which may have a slight spin on it. My PC (also XP/SP2, Home Edition) goes thru the bios like this:
Verifying DMI Pool Data ...
Boot from CD:
Non-system disk, press any key..

When I hit any key, Windows then comes up OK.
Upon reading this dialog, "thebigdintx" post has a double quote (") after Optin
(Optin") and "bodgy" post does not have this. I assume the bodgy post is syntactally correct. Any other thoughts on how I fix this? One other item;
My bios setup shows the following:
First Boot CD
Second Boot Floppy
Third Boot HDD-0
Boot other device [enabled]

What do these MBR utilities do that Acronis mentions in one of these forums (https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=55317) and if it fixes this problem, how safe is it?

 

Sorry for any confusion. The way my boot file is now, and it works fine, it as follows:


[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn