DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER

go into the Bios and insure the boot order is set to harddrive first.

QUOTE     F1 takes you into the BIOS.    UNQUOTE

above from here

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you should also change the cmos battery as it is probably dead if pc has been off for a long time.

The hard drive may have failed.  Here's one way to test (adapted from material by frequent contributor Jose Ibarra (ElderK)).

[On second thought, if the "Boot Order" was CD-ROM then Hard Drive then Hard Drive, it's possible that the computer has two hard drives and that it is attempting to boot from the wrong one.  I still think you should follow the instructions below.  When you get to the point of opening "My Computer" (after booting to Hiren's) see if there is more than one hard drive listed there.  If so, look at the contents of each drive and see which one has Windows on it.  Then go ahead and do chkdsk on all hard drives that are shown.  Report your observations as well as results from running chkdsk.]

First, go back into the BIOS and set the start order so that the CD-ROM is first.

From a working system, first download the latest version of Hiren's Boot CD from here (it is a substantial download but worth it): http://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/    (look near the bottom of the page).

Unzip the Hiren's file to some folder where you can find it.  There is a file named Hiren's.BootCD.15.x.iso in there that you are going to need next.

Download the free utility ImgBurn --> http://www.imgburn.com/

When installing ImgBurn, DO NOT install anything from UniBlue or the Ask toolbar (never install the ASK toolbar for anything).

Here are some instructions for how to use ImgBurn to create a bootable CD from the Hiren's iso file --> http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?/topic/61-how-to-write-an-image-file-to-a-disc-using-imgburn/

Put the CD you created into the CD drive of the problem computer and restart the computer.

When the Hiren's menu comes up, choose the Mini XP Mode and it will start loading and eventually you should see a Windowsy looking desktop.  You should recognize that part and feel comfortable, but it is not your desktop - it is the Hiren's desktop!

Remember:  You did not boot on your hard disk - you booted into the Hiren's desktop.

One way to check the disk for errors is to open My Computer and right click your afflicted drive and choose Properties, Tools, Error-checking, Check Now... put a check mark in both the boxes and then Start.

Sometimes that doesn't work, so you can also click Start, Run and in the box enter:

cmd

Click OK to open a Command Prompt window and enter the following command (assuming XP is installed on your C drive)

chkdsk  c:  /r

This disk checking can take a long time (perhaps several to many hours) depending on the size of the volume, the amount of data on the volume and what the disk checking finds to do.

Let chkdsk finish and correct any problems it might find.

Depending on the the speed of your system, the size of the volume, the amount of data on the volume and what chkdsk finds to do, it may take a long time for chkdsk with error correction to complete (several to many hours) or it may appear to be 'stuck'.  Be patient.  If the HDD light is still flashing, chkdsk is doing something so don't interrupt it.  It will finish eventually one way or the other.  Keep an eye on the percentage amount to be sure it is still making progress.  It may even appear to go backwards sometimes.

You may have to run the chkdsk  /r  it more than once.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1711336/disk-boot-failure-insert-system-disk-press-enter.html

you can read the above thread,

there are several options to try:

• unplug everything from pc and wall, then hold power button for 5 seconds to release static, then insure all  cables are seated properly and all dust bunnies are cleared out, do not use a vacumn cleaner, get a can of compressed air for this; then restore everything, plug in keyboard + mouse + monitor and restart pc.
• 
  
• run fixmbr from the recovery console
  see here
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKUX13G3qgc
  
  

several causes listed in the above video

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"The hard drive may have failed"

Can BIOS even "see" the hard drive? This should be the first troubleshooting step.

If not then it could be drive failure or it could just be a bad data or power cable connection, or maybe a bad jumper setting if its an old IDE/ATA drive. Whatever, if the drive is not visible to BIOS you can try as much as you want with Hiren's or any other bootable media and you will get nowhere.

Thank you so much for the quick response! I used all of your steps and got as far as the last. When I enter in chkdsk c: /r   , I recieve a message saying "Cannot open volume for direct access." And as you expected, the Error-Checking didn't work as it displayed the message "Windows was unable to complete the disk check." Also, the drive "C" isn't present, but "B" or "RamDrive" is. Is that what I should call the command instead? As in: chkdsk b: /r? I await your response.

http://superuser.com/questions/231273/what-are-the-windows-a-and-b-drives-used-for

a and b drives are floppy disk drives, read above thread, xp starts with c: drive for os.

I recieve a message saying "Cannot open volume for direct access."

Funny that I get exactly the same message if I disconnect my hard drive, boot to Hiren's and then run chkdsk on C:

Repeating:

Can BIOS even "see" the hard drive? This should be the first troubleshooting step.

@ in the sticks :

quote

But, when I checked first it was: CD-ROM to Hard Drive to Hard Drive,

unquote

It would seem that it is seeing the harddrive??

RedGourami states "the machine is from so long ago"

I don't have access to a really old PC to check this out but my memory tells me that many of the older BIOS versions had a standard set of boot order options which did not necessarily bear any relation to the actually installed/connected hardware devices that might be used for booting. For example the space bar would cycle between

A, C, CD-ROM

A, CD-ROM, C

C, A, CD-ROM

C, CD-ROM, A

CD-ROM, C, A

CD-ROM, A, C

This is an illustrative example only, not taken from an actual PC in my possession. Any of the above 6 combinations would be selectable even if there were no floppy drive, cd-rom drive or hard drive connected.

The main BIOS setup screen would show any attached hard disk drives, some even had manually configurable heads/cylinders/sectors and a (manual) auto-detect option. Images by way of illustration only and RedGourami's BIOS may look completely different.

Later BIOS versions featured hdd auto detect during POST without the need to enter setup and had smart boot order options which would only show attached devices.

IMO, the boot order should not be taken as an indication that the hard drive is seen by BIOS. BIOS should be fully interrogated to see if a hard disk drive is shown on the appropriate page.

I cannot find a BIOS manual for this PC.