As I got my new motherboard, processor, and RAM I've ran into multiple problems. First was a bad motherboard with capacitator problems, then onto this. So, after 2 weeks, I've finally came to a sure-thing solution.
My Situation:
I have 2 hard-drives:
- Disk 0: Windows XP: SP2
- Disk 1: Windows Vista x64
Now, this originally worked. But as I reformatted my XP to 'gaming only', meaning I want only bare necessities for the best gaming from it, it started to give me either:
Disk Read Error
or
Disk Boot Fail
I got either of these messages from the order I booted my HD's. Before the format, it was XP, then Vista. From what I've read, if you install Vista on a Hard Disk that isn't your Master/1st Priority and is not Vista, then it will rely on the BOOT.INI from the 1st HD.
So, this was my first mistake. What I did to try to fix it was boot from the Vista Installation CD and go to the Recovery Menu and Fix Startup problems. This actually worked a few times, but when I restarted Vista, I got the same set of errors again. Only this time, my Vista install was not appearing on the OS Recovery list.
Solution:
- If, or if not, your OS is showing up on the Recovery Menu, click Next
- Open up a Command Window
- Type in: diskpart
- Once loaded, type: list partition
- Find the partition you want to select as your primary one, and then type: select partition x
- If the partition was successfully set as active, type exit to leave the diskpart program.
- Type: bootrec.exe /FixMbr
- Type: bootrec.exe /RebuildBcd
- Restart your computer, load the Vista Installation CD.
- In the Recovery menu, repair your boot, then restart. (If you're OS did not show up before, it should now)
- Your OS should boot now if everything goes well.
This is an unusual situation with very few responses, hence why it took me so long to find a solution. But I hope this helps the people in need with this error!