I converted my primary HD (C:\) from FAT32 to NTFS this evening. (I had already converted my secondary HD, D:\, from FAT32 to NTFS earlier today.) Everything looked like it had completed correctly, and my system restarted. After it went through its start up screens ("Gateway" and the like), all I got was a blinking cursor in the top left corner of my screen--Windows never started back up. I had created a boot disk, so I tried to boot up my PC from that. When I did, and I tried to change directories to my C:\ HD or my D:\ HD, it didn't recognize that any HDs were installed. When I went into the system set-up and looked at the HD configuration, the same thing--it didn't look like the HDs were even installed.

Luckily, I have a case for an internal hard drive to be used as an external hard drive, so I was able to verify that everything on my primary HD (C:\) was still there.

Any ideas on what happened and what I can do to fix this? Thanks!

Is this what you did:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314097/

Is there an Auto Detect option in your BIOS?

Perhaps the BIOS cannot recognize the change.

If you cannot find an Auto Detect to Enable you might try clearing the CMOS.

Thanks for the quick response.

Yep, that's what I did (using Convert).

As far as I can tell in my BIOS setup utility, my BIOS is set to auto detect.

One thing I'll backtrack on a little: right before I get the blinking cursor, I get this on the screen:

D0 IBM-DPTA-373420 LBA 32634MB Ultra DMA 4
D1 WDC WD1600JB-00GVA0 LBA 65535MB Ultra DMA 4
D2 Not Detected
D3 Not Detected

IDE Bus Master Enabled

So, it is recognizing that the HDs are there (I think), but for some reason in my BIOS setup utility, my Primary IDE Master is [None] and my Primary IDE Slave is [None].

Any thoughts?

Is the IBM your boot drive C:?

One idea is the next time you see this screen:

D0 IBM-DPTA-373420 LBA 32634MB Ultra DMA 4
D1 WDC WD1600JB-00GVA0 LBA 65535MB Ultra DMA 4
D2 Not Detected
D3 Not Detected

IDE Bus Master Enabled

Press F1

Yes, the IBM is my boot drive C:\.

I hit F1 when I saw the screen, and it took me to the BIOS Setup Utility (where I've been). This is where my Primary IDE Master = [None] and my Primary IDE Slave = [None].

Suggestions now? Thanks.

Just to verify: The IBM is Primary Master & the WDC is Primary slave? Jumpers are Cable Select on both?

Are you running any SATA and or RAID drives?

Are you using an IDE Controller card?

I would recheck all your connections even tho the recognition at one point and not another is very mysterious.

Perhaps leave the WDC out of the equation for now.

Again clearing your CMOS might be a possibility. You will just need to reset your BIOS Settings afterwards.

Bizarre, isn't it?

The IBM is the primary master and the Western Digital is the primary slave. Jumpers are cable select on both. Not running any SATA or RAID drives. Yes, I'm using an IDE controller card. Connections have been rechecked, and the Western Digital has been removed from the PC (and the screen that pops up right before the cursor shows that it's gone).

How do I clear out my CMOS? And I'm guessing I'll need to write down all of my BIOS settings so that I can reset them afterwards?

Thanks again!

First off I would try your motherboards IDE connection.

Is there some reason that you are using a card? This could be the issue.

Do you see the Card detected during the BIOS POST?

IDE cards have their own BIOS. You usually will see the Gateway POST go to the IDE POST.


What is the Gateway model? The manual should have the CMOS details. Usually you remove the motherboard battery and temporarily short the CMOS jumper.

Unless you've customized BIOS settings there is no need to record them. Everything will go back to default. You will have to reset the date and time.

As I am leaving for the evening I just wanted to post my current thoughts.

Your motherboard does not detect your hard drives as they are connected to a PCI Controller card.

In general the motherboard BIOS will shift to the PCI card BIOS then commence to boot.

If you observe the BIOS POST you should see this transition. In some cases you have the option of turning off the Logo screen (Gateway) in order to observe the BIOS POST.

All that being said you might just need to fix the boot in XP.

If the Gateway XP CD has the means of accessing the Recovery Console I would suggest running FIXBOOT

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;EN-US;314058

Thanks for your assistance.

I've attempted to clear my CMOS and reset my BIOS, but I'm still getting the same thing. I've also tried to follow your advice by running the Windows Recovery Console. After Windows Setup loads in all of its files and says "Setup is starting Windows", I get the following (blue) screen:

A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

If this is the first time you've seen this Stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

Check for viruses on your computer. Remove any newly installed hard drives or hard drive controllers. Check your hard drive to make sure it is properly configured and terminated. Run CHKDSK /F to check for hard drive corruption, and then restart your computer.

Technical information:

*** STOP: 0x0000007B (0xF79F2524, 0xC0000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)

Thanks again for any assistance.