Hey all, I've got a serious problem with what I think is bios, when my computer starts it searches for the boot records like usual but when it searches the IDE one it comes up with OK but then just stops. I then restarted and went into bios to find my master hard disk was not being detected so I set the bios to detect it and wallah, XP started with no problems. I then had to restart due to installing something and when it came to searching the boot records the same error occured. Anyone know what is causing this and how I can fix it? I was thinking of flashing the bios but I ain't too sure if it will work. Cheers.

shouldn;t the bios be set to disk 0 ?? mine are

I dunno, it's just saying the primary master is not installed and when i change it to detect it, it changes itself back to not being installed. Boot Sequence is Floppy, CDROM and IDE -0

Good thing you aren't a doctor :-). Unless your cmos battery is dead and the bios is losing its settings the problem isn't your bios. Its your drive. This is not a OS issue but a hardware one. "when i change it to detect it, it changes itself back to not being installed." Download the drives test utilities from its web site. Get ready to RMA [return merchandize authorization] to the drive manufacturer if under warranty. If not replace the drive after confirming you have it configured correctly.

If the operaing system is installed, the boot sequence should be IDE(1st), CDROM(2nd) and whatever for the floppy. Did you check the master jumper on the harddrive, and is it connected to IDE1? Check the CDROM for the jumper master settings and that it is connected to IDE2. Make sure the cables are connected to pin 1 in the IDE slots and drives.