Resolved Error Message Loading PBR for Descriptor

Last week, I replaced my mother's computer with my son's computer, as hers was getting extremely slow. His is a generic that we built, while hers was a Dell. I put her hard drive into his computer so she could access her old files, but that drive was listed as Disc E and wasn't set up to boot. I used Easus to wipe and merge her extra partitions that probably contained Dell information. She had no problem with the computer for a week, but today she found she couldn't start up the computer, and it showed the error message listed in the title above. Apparently, the Dell drive is trying to start the computer. What can I delete from her hard drive that would prevent that hard drive from being anything other than just accessible storage? Till I can fix that, I'll have one of her neighbors unplug the Dell drive from the computer. I can access her computer using Team Viewer once it loads properly. How can I alter the Dell drive remotely? If I have to drive 100 miles to access it in person, how do you recommend I address this problem? Thank you.

 

Evan, I did edit the boot.ini when I put the drive into the computer, so there is only one drive listed as a boot drive (just as your instructions stated). The drives are IDE. The neighbor disconnected the power to the Dell drive and attempted to start the computer. It got to the XP start up screen, with the dots going across the page, and wouldn't go any further. I'm sensing something may be wrong with the primary drive's OS. My sister will be going over there tomorrow morning, and I'll see if she can get it to open with last known good configuration or safe mode.

 

Arie, since I'm not using the Dell drive as a boot drive, attempting to fix the Dell drive makes no sense. I have to wait till my sister can see if the other drive will boot to last known good configuration or safe mode. The Dell error message hasn't come up since that drive was disconnected from the computer. If she can't get it to boot, I guess I'll have to drive down there and see if I can get the OS to repair itself or reinstalled with my XP CD.

 

I've worked on a lot of dell machines both laptops and desktops. If your mother's Dell came with XP preloaded you're trying put an OEM HDD with recovery options and diagnostic tools preloaded into another machine. It is most likely a BIOS problem. Your best bet would be to perform a reinstall the OS.

 

Everyone seems to be focusing on the Dell aspect. This isn't a Dell machine. The Dell HDD was originally installed on a Dell machine, so won't work in another computer. I merely have the Dell HDD in it so she can access her old pictures. I'll be deleting the Windows folder from that Dell HDD once I'm able to boot the HDD with the working OS.

 

I understand what you did try reading this Might help you to understand PSA ePSA or PSA Diagnostics

 

I still feel the problem is with the generic Seagate drive, not the Dell drive. I don't see any reason to work on the Dell drive, other than to delete the Windows folder. The Dell drive is presently disconnected from that computer.

 

Is the dell drive plugged in when the generic machine boots? If so the dell drive is searching the BIOS for the pre-boot environment error codes associated with say a HDD failure or an optical drive failure. It searching for a bios that is no longer available. It's now searching the generic machine's bios and it's not finding what it's searching for. It's a combination of things. At least that's how dell tech explained it to me. It not the Seagate hdd.

 

At this point, the Dell HDD isn't plugged in, but the OS on the Seagate is having trouble loading. I sense not deleting the Windows folder at the start from the Dell HDD probably started this problem.

 

Other than deleting the Windows folder, along with reformatting the extra partitions, on the Dell HDD, what other folders or files or programs should I make sure I delete?

 

They are both set at CS, so I guess I'll have to reset that when I next get down there. Until I can get there and rid the HDD of everything, are there any specific folders, files or programs that may have caused this problem in the first place?

 

Barry, the comp you gave your mum was running XP? The Dell was XP?
The Seagate HDD is the original XP and set to CS on jumper and is the only HDD connected?
You may have to use the XP CD to start and use Repair to get things going.
This may be useful: "Recovering an XP System that Won’t Boot from the Har
d Drive"
http://nordicgroup.us/xprecovery/recoveryxp.pdf
Hope this helps. Neil.

 

Neil, I figured as much, but I was hoping I could avoid the trip down there. Unfortunately, it won't load in safe mode or last known good configuration. I won't be able to get there till mid January, but I'll do the repair and hope I don't have to reinstall XP. At least I have a slipstreamed XP CD with all the service packs on it. Both HDDs were running XP. My son's Seagate HDD, running XP, is the only HDD connected to the computer, and it is set to CS.

 

I appreciate your predicament. My brother lives about 140Km's away and when he get's a problem which I can't fix for him on Teamviewer, he has to go to a local PC shop and pay. Let's hope a Repair will fix your problem. Neil.

 

Thanks

 

I finally got here and have reinstalled the OS. I'm still working on it and will post when complete.