Had posted earlier but still have not solved the computer startup problem. Think either the motherboard is bad, or a hard drive has failed, since the computer will not start.
I did manage to start it once after the initial failure, and was smart enough to do a Norton ghost to another hard drive in the desktop computer. Already had an older image on a portable drive so all was not lost anyway.
Question is....assuming it is a hard drive failure, to determine if it is a failure of the boot drive, can I start the computer from the system discs I received with the computer? I did not get separate Microsoft XP Home edition discs but these programs should be on the discs received with the Best Buy store brand computer.
I have spoken with BB but want to perhaps fix before spending big bucks with them. They suggested I just go buy a new computer before even seeing my 2.8 Gig Hz machine with two 100 GB and one 120GB internal drives . I just want to determine if the MB is toast, or if the drive is simply bad. I have two other internal drives and should be able to make one bootable, at minimal extra cost. I could do this with the old Windows and DOS when I built up computers, but did not keep up with the technology, and am now literally a lost puppy.
Need lots more information. Firstly, if you were able to ghost from the boot drive, there is a pretty good chance the drive is still good (but it could be bad).
If this is the case, there is a chance that you're motherboard is bad. If this is the case, as much as I hate to ever agrre with them, it probably would be cheaper to just replace the tower, keeping in mind however, that the drives in your current system would still be good in the new one.
There is a lot more troubleshooting that has to be done - forget the idiot squad and find a local computer place with "real" tech's and get an estimate.
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It sounds like you have some computer savvy'ness about yourself so here are a few suggestions.
- I've known HDD to apprear to be bad, when in actually, they just needed the IDE cable reseated. So I would suggest opening it up and puill the IDE cable and reseat it. Now try to boot the PC, if it fails, continue to the next option.
- Next, if you can get it to boot to the BIOS, then you can generally see (or not see) the primary IDE drive... if the BIOS cannot read it, then more than likely it's the HDD that has failed.
I have found over the years that MB failures are less common than HDD failures. The reason: HDD have moving parts that will eventually wear out and fail over time.
- If you cannot get in to the BOIS, then it is more than likely a MB issue.
As far as making a different HDD bootable, you sould be able to swap out the Primary IDE drive with one of the others, then use your orginal OEM Restore Disk. in order for the restore disks to work, you need to check the BIOS and ensure that the boot order is set to 'Removeable Drives First' (or it could list CD and A drives), then insert the Restore CD and reboot the machine.
Mark & Tammy
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use a working machine to build a PE boot disk, then you can use it to start others...
For instance, friend of mine had a laptop that the boot sectors got corrupted on. Was able to boot with a PE disk, get the laptop on the network, via the built in ethernet jack (PE disk figured out the drivers), then copied all the data over to a file share on another PC...
You can get a utility from the disk manufacturer to test the HD integrity. You'll need to know who made it tho....such as Western Digital, Maxtor, Seagate. Download from the appropriate website.
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I have spoken with BB but want to perhaps fix before spending big bucks with them. They suggested I just go buy a new computer before even seeing my 2.8 Gig Hz machine with two 100 GB and one 120GB internal drives .
Somehow, this doesn't surprise me! Keeps them in business.
It's difficult to say w/o more info. Does the system POST? What are the messages are you getting when you try to boot the system? Besides resetting all cabling, I'd also take a look at the power supply. Then the hard drive. And finally the motherboard last in that order.
If you have a win 98 program or a boot floppy for 98 you can boot from it. but, first try to boot. As soon as you turn the computer on keep punching the F8 key. That will bring up several modes to start from. select either last time it ran good, Or boot up on safety mode. Then you can fix your problem. All is in DOS.
* This post was
edited 05/16/08 04:02pm by Tenn Stud *
There are two bootable disks I think everyone who does PC troubleshooting should own:
Ultimate Boot CD, which is a collection of utilities that will test memory, motherboard, harddrive, video, allow disk wiping/cloning, etc. Most of the major hard disk manufacturer's drive utilities are included on the CD, so you don't have to go looking for downloadable routines. Very handy...and free!
Knoppix (click on the English flag), a bootable Linux distribution that will also allow you to use your machine WITHOUT requiring a functional OS or hard drive. If your system works properly with Knoppix, then most likely the motherboard, memory and hardware is fine. From the Knoppix desktop screen, you can browse the files on your hard disk drive and save them if desired (to a USB, firewire or network drive)). If you can't retrieve them from the hard disk via Knoppix, most likely your hard drive is shot. Oh...and it's free too!
BartPE is a good tool to have at your disposal as well.
~Rick
2005 Georgie Boy 3625 DS on a Workhorse W-22.
Rick, Gail, 2 girls (11 & 6), 2 boys (7 & 4), 1 plump Golden Retriever.
2001 Honda Odyssey with Demco Aluminator tow bar & tow plate, SMI Silent Partner brake controller.
Had already reseated the cable connectors, and can access the BIOS, but that is not through the processor, right? I was able to get access once only, at which time I backed up the drive via Norton Ghost. I no longer can get any system access except to BIOS and the only message I receive on the screen is "NO INPUT". That is the sum status of the desktop. I could reconnect the master/slave HDs (all WD) but am concerned that I would then wipe out my ghosted image or the other files on the other drive(s). Same concern with the system CDs. Do not know how they are structured, so it could just reinstall the system on the HD without asking for operator input.
As a general note, if it is the HD, am done spending money on Western Digital. Might be a lot of name and little quality. Have had too numerous WDs bite the dust to stay with them.
Will talk to Norton...maybe they can shed some light on making a operable HD the boot drive without wiping out the existing data.
Thanks for taking time to respond and all the ideas.
Oh, BTW, already had checked the PS. All voltages nominal.
3D wrote: Had already reseated the cable connectors, and can access the BIOS, but that is not through the processor, right? I was able to get access once only, at which time I backed up the drive via Norton Ghost. I no longer can get any system access except to BIOS and the only message I receive on the screen is "NO INPUT". That is the sum status of the desktop. I could reconnect the master/slave HDs (all WD) but am concerned that I would then wipe out my ghosted image or the other files on the other drive(s). Same concern with the system CDs. Do not know how they are structured, so it could just reinstall the system on the HD without asking for operator input.
As a general note, if it is the HD, am done spending money on Western Digital. Might be a lot of name and little quality. Have had too numerous WDs bite the dust to stay with them.
Will talk to Norton...maybe they can shed some light on making a operable HD the boot drive without wiping out the existing data.
Thanks for taking time to respond and all the ideas.
Oh, BTW, already had checked the PS. All voltages nominal.
I built my own PC's for 15 years when I couldnt buy what I wanted ( lots different now) and always used WD hard drives! Had 1..ONCE that I thought went bad...got replaced free...and the new HD acted the same way. Come to find out channel 1 on the motherboard had died instead.
2000 Country Coach Allure; Cummins ISC 330 HP; 71/2 - 8 MPG regardless
2002 Jeep Liberty
. I just want to determine if the MB is toast, or if the drive is simply bad. I have two other internal drives and should be able to make one bootable, at minimal extra cost. I could do this with the old Windows and DOS when I built up computers, but did not keep up with the technology, and am now literally a lost puppy.
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