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No boot devices found.....

I'm sure this question has been asked many, many times.  But I couldn't locate an answer, so here goes.

I have a Maxtor 60GB drive which has operated well for three years.  Twice recently, I received the message "No boot devices were found-System Halted" when booting my machine.  Each time, I re-tried and the machine came up fine.  

More recently, the machine just stopped booting - same message.  Here's a quick rundown:
1) gets through POST/BIOS fine
2) will boot with floppy
3) will boot with CD

Here's the kicker - I ran Maxtor's PowerMax software.  It 'sees' the HS and identifies it correctly.  When I use PowerMax to run a test on the drive, everything checks out perfect.  Yet, I still can't boot.

So, my question is this:  How do I get it to boot (again) and can I accomplish this while retaining the existing partitions and data?

I'm *hoping* this is actually something simple and that it is indeed a common problem/solution.  

System:
Dell XPS1000b
500 MB RAM
60 GB HD
OS=Win XP Pro

Thanks in advance.........

Mark

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CrazyOne
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   Windows XP to run on your computer:

   To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.

   To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.

   To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.
                              
Press ENTER to set up Windows XP.

On the Windows XP Licensing Agreement screen, press F8 to agree to the license agreement.
Make sure that your current installation of Windows XP is selected in the box, and then press R to repair Windows XP.
Follow the instructions on the remaining screens to reinstall Windows XP. After you repair Windows XP, you may be required to reactivate your copy of Windows XP.

For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
310064 HOW TO: Troubleshoot Windows XP Setup Problems When You Upgrade from Windows 98 or Windows Me

After You Perform an In-Place Upgrade
After you perform an in-place upgrade or repair installation, you must reinstall all updates to Windows. To reinstall Windows updates, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com

For additional information about how to troubleshoot specific Windows XP Setup issues, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
312369 You May Lose Data or Program Settings After Reinstalling, Repairing, or Upgrading Windows XP

312368 Data Loss May Occur After Reinstalling, Repairing, or Upgrading Windows XP

For additional information about Windows XP Setup, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
286463 Release Notes for Windows XP Setup Contained in the Pro.txt File

306824 Release Notes for Windows XP Setup Contained in the Home.txt File

286647 Windows XP Read1st.txt File Contents

The information in this article applies to:
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Microsoft Windows XP Professional
=======================================

Visual aid to the above procedure
http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/repair_xp.htm
Click on How To Run a Repair Install

You May Lose Data or Program Settings After Reinstalling, Repairing, or Upgrading Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;312369

Data Loss May Occur After Reinstalling, Repairing, or Upgrading Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;312368
You might also try disabling QuickBoot in the BIOS or changing the boot order to Floppy, HD or Floppy, CD, HD, and see if that gives the HD time to get ready.
Avatar of gmark
gmark

ASKER

Tried coral47's suggestion - no dice.  

Will try CrazyOne's suggestions from the Recovery Console tomorrow evening, when I have ample time.  

Thanx.  

Avatar of gmark

ASKER

Additional info before I "take action".........

A couple nights ago I sat down to try solution as recommended by CrazyOne.  I put my XP CD in and turned on the PC.  The PC booted from the CD, but then found the (elusive) drive.  
Using this CD to boot, I now have access to everythings as it was before the problem started.  

So...I still can't boot to HD, but can get to partitions when booting from a WinXP CD.  

Does this sound like a MBR problem?  And if I replace the MBR, will I still have access to my partitions?  

Thought I'd supply the additional information in case someone can verify the above questions.  

Thanks,  

Mark