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Can't boot



 
 
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  #1  
Old April 14th 11, 05:52 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
metspitzer
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 555
Default Can't boot

I have a computer that doesn't boot. I have reset the cmos. Every
time it tries to boot I have to hit f1. It then tries to boot. The
Windows screen will come up with the progress bar. About mid way
through it just reboots. If I press f5 it will display the screen
that lets you pick safe mode. One of the options is to turn off
"retry boot on fail" I turned that off. I can pick safe mode or retry
last good boot. Neither option works.

I should mention I started having trouble after a storm. I just put
in a new hard drive and freshly installed XP. It worked once so I
sent it back to my sister "fixed" It is still broke.

Any suggestions?

--
O'Neil to General Hammond:
For the record Sir, I wanted to blow it the hell up.
  #2  
Old April 14th 11, 06:58 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
Paul
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 13,364
Default Can't boot

Metspitzer wrote:
I have a computer that doesn't boot. I have reset the cmos. Every
time it tries to boot I have to hit f1. It then tries to boot. The
Windows screen will come up with the progress bar. About mid way
through it just reboots. If I press f5 it will display the screen
that lets you pick safe mode. One of the options is to turn off
"retry boot on fail" I turned that off. I can pick safe mode or retry
last good boot. Neither option works.

I should mention I started having trouble after a storm. I just put
in a new hard drive and freshly installed XP. It worked once so I
sent it back to my sister "fixed" It is still broke.

Any suggestions?

--
O'Neil to General Hammond:
For the record Sir, I wanted to blow it the hell up.


The hard drive companies sometimes offer self booting (DOS)
diagnostic floppy discs. You could prepare one of those with
your good computer and give it a try, and see what the diagnostic
thinks of the disk.

You could boot a Linux LiveCD and watch for symptoms while it is
booting. Some of the older distros have nicer "text dribbling" on
the screen, which allows a certain degree of health analysis.

I'd go through my collection of diagnostic toys, for more hints.

*******

Stopping in the middle of a boot could be a processor stability problem.
It could be that Vcore isn't stable (bad caps). Or the power supply
isn't stable for some reason.

If you don't allow the computer to boot, and just enter the BIOS, is
the computer stable for long periods of time there ? That would be
comparing how happy the hardware is, without attempting to boot, versus
otherwise. If it crashes in the BIOS, that will give you another data
point to work with.

If it passes that test, it could be disk or storage controller (or
a million other things).

*******

If the disk was SATA, the cable was kinked or pinched, perhaps data
corruption has rendered the OS corrupt.

Paul
  #3  
Old April 14th 11, 09:08 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
metspitzer
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 555
Default Can't boot

On Thu, 14 Apr 2011 13:58:50 -0400, Paul wrote:

Metspitzer wrote:
I have a computer that doesn't boot. I have reset the cmos. Every
time it tries to boot I have to hit f1. It then tries to boot. The
Windows screen will come up with the progress bar. About mid way
through it just reboots. If I press f5 it will display the screen
that lets you pick safe mode. One of the options is to turn off
"retry boot on fail" I turned that off. I can pick safe mode or retry
last good boot. Neither option works.

I should mention I started having trouble after a storm. I just put
in a new hard drive and freshly installed XP. It worked once so I
sent it back to my sister "fixed" It is still broke.

Any suggestions?

--
O'Neil to General Hammond:
For the record Sir, I wanted to blow it the hell up.


The hard drive companies sometimes offer self booting (DOS)
diagnostic floppy discs. You could prepare one of those with
your good computer and give it a try, and see what the diagnostic
thinks of the disk.

You could boot a Linux LiveCD and watch for symptoms while it is
booting. Some of the older distros have nicer "text dribbling" on
the screen, which allows a certain degree of health analysis.

I'd go through my collection of diagnostic toys, for more hints.

*******

Stopping in the middle of a boot could be a processor stability problem.
It could be that Vcore isn't stable (bad caps). Or the power supply
isn't stable for some reason.

If you don't allow the computer to boot, and just enter the BIOS, is
the computer stable for long periods of time there ? That would be
comparing how happy the hardware is, without attempting to boot, versus
otherwise. If it crashes in the BIOS, that will give you another data
point to work with.

If it passes that test, it could be disk or storage controller (or
a million other things).


Yeah. That is why I decided to scrap it.
Thanks

*******

If the disk was SATA, the cable was kinked or pinched, perhaps data
corruption has rendered the OS corrupt.

Paul

 




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